Help selecting rowboat style - Long

[BusterB]

A friend recently asked for help building, (I have the tools), a small pram style boat in the stitch and glue method. I am not a boat person or for that matter a real 'water' person, but unfortunately I seemed to get hooked on this building thing. As a first project, I tried a one sheet skiff to get my feet wet and yup I'm hooked. So I decided to try something more ambitious and started looking for a rowing-type boat and needless to say there are a ton of them. I was quite impressed with the Oarling and the Merry Wherry. So after all this, my question is, what to build? My requirements are, plywood construction, room for two, good looks, easy rowing and most important, for the non-water guy, good stability. I have fairly decent building skills, (epoxy not-with-standing) so I feel I can handle a good challenge. If any of you experienced guys would like to make some recommendations to the new guy, I be happy to hear what you have to say. Thanks so much for your time. Stephen PS. What is the basic difference between a dory, wherry, and skiff. See I told you I wasn't a boat guy!

[*LB]

BusterB,

I'm no expert myself, but I recently went through the row boat selection process and I found a few things very helpful.

You might want to read John Gardner's books; "Classic Small Craft You Can build and Use", and "The Dory Book". I also liked R.D. "Pete" Culler's book; "Boats, Oars and Rowing". These books all discuss choosing the right boat for your needs and they provide design and construction details for various boats.

You may also want to check the "search" function on this forum and look at previous posts on this subject, there's some good advice here.

-Good luck!

[Tom Hoffman]

Buster B. I have no experience building stitch and glue type boats, but I am well on my way toward completing a 20' Whitehall row boat. I wanted a boat big enough for day float drifting down rivers while fishing, and be able to row for a little exercise, and put a motor on it to motor back up stream to the car. I will post a link to my pictures. It is built in the strip and glue method. I used many design tips and techniques from, Rip, Strip and Row, the Cosine Wherry. Do a search on the net for Cosine Wherry, there are a lot of pages. There is also an intersting rowing whitehall/wherry design in "Building Skin on Frame Boats, by Robert Morris. My next boat will be the 24" modified skin on frame boat to use as a rowing shell. Should be fun.

Here is the link: http://community.webshots.com/user/slvrgost

[rbgarr]

Given your experience and needs, I recommend this kit boat, the Pygmy Wineglass Wherry: http://www.pygmyboats.com/mall/WGWSPECS.asp

A dory is flat bottomed and either straight or round sided, with a narrow 'tombstone' transom (stern), essentially making it a 'double ended' boat, more easily rowed in reverse than boats with wider immersed transoms like a

Skiff, which can be similar to a dory except have different construction, more vertical sides and a wide flat transom sometimes suitable for an outboard motor.

A wherry is generally more like a round bottomed rowing boat but having a wide bottom made from a plank or planks of wood instead of a narrow vertical keel.

I hope I haven't used too much jargon.

Good luck! :cool:

[joejapan]

Buster, I don't know how far away Ravenna, ON (it's near Colligswood) is from you , but, since you seem interested, it might be worth a drive to meet and talk to George Rossiter. I've been told, by a previous customer of his, that he's a nice guy,and easy to meet and talk with.

He designed and built the Loudon,

http://www.rossiterboats.com/reflectm1.jpg
.

a classic styled rowboat that a guy, Nat Stone, rowed from Natchez, down the Mississippi River,around Florida, and up the East Coast of the US to Maine, and onward.

By now, he probably knows something about rowboats.

I Googled him and found his website (http://www.rossiterboats.com/) .

[JimD]

I always thought Glen-L's Fife was kinda nice. Only 100 lbs and plenty of beam:

Length overall 12'-0"
Beam 3'-8"
Depth amidships (approx.) 13"
Depth at bow 19 1/2"
Weight (approx) 100 lbs.
Hull type: Flat bottom with fore and aft rocker, multi-chine sides, designed for Stitch and Glue construction.
Power: Oars or small trolling motor.


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid185/p6670b6e7aa9da81a40c095c48830f3eb/f27919a6.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid185/p2ebae77a4ae04c05744c82b2979979a9/f2791660.jpg

[Graham Knight]

I'm building Iain Oughtred's Acorn 13 which would probably fit your requirements. Clinker/lapstrake ply construction, lightweight, easy to build, rows great and can be sailed too, and it's a great looking boat. Available in a range of lengths to suit.
It's a little more involved than a stitch & tape boat, but better looking IMO and worth the extra effort.

[ahp]

I will try replying for the third time, in little pieces.

[ahp]

So far so good. I have rowed a number of boats in my life, and like most people on this forum I have opinions. I rowed a traditional Banks Dory once. It was built by Sam Manning and I rowed down the Five Mile River, thol pins and all, with Sam and his wife.

Banks Dorys tend to be a bit tippy, and this one was too, but it rowed easy. They have a narrow bottom, are double ended on the bottom and have a straight flare to the sides in cross section. They need a few hundred pounds of cod in bottom to stiffen them up. Nevertheless Sam rowed and sailed that dory to Nova Scotia.

[ahp]

I once rowed a Swapmscot Dory at the Mystic sho-and-tell. It was a copy of a dory built, we think, by Chamberlin in Marblehead. I have the plans.

It was an easy boat to row also and a bit more stable. The sides are convex in section amidships. Often they were equiped with a centerboard and a sail. The sail plan was a leg-o-mutton main with the mast shorter than the boom and a small jib. Stability considerations dictated a low aspect rig.

My grandmother bought a new 21 ft Swampscott for my dad when he was about 15 years old in 1915. It cost $25 including sails. built in Bridgeport.

[ahp]

I have never rowed a Whitehall, but I understand they are the Rolls Royce of pulling boats.

Flat bottom rowboats or skiffs can be a joy-and-delight, or a pig. I have rowed both. The secret seems to be that a good boat must have enough rocker to the bottom so that the stem and transom are above the water at all times. If not they plow water ahead and suck water astern, and are pigs.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

How about a "Row 13" from
http://www.boatplans-online.com/
13' 4" x 52"
in 6mm-9mm okoume about 100lb.
in 4mm-6mm okoume about 65lb.
All S&G and big enough for two to car-top if desired.

Charlie

[AngWood]

Obviously there are a lot of choices. I recommend you stick with the building method you are already familiar with, which will narrow the field considerably and make it all a little less mind-boggling. Maybe Sam Devlin--is Oarling his design?

[Bruce Hooke]

One key issue you have not addressed is the type of rowing you plan to do and the conditions that you expect to encounter. These will both do a lot to narrow down your choices:

If you plan to row any distance then I would not consider anything less than about 12' long and longer, to a point, is better. A longer boat just rows more easily and is also more comfortable to ride in. However, for covering short distances out to a larger boat, or for hauling up on shore or a dock frequently, or just for messing around on a small pond, small boats certainly have their place.

There are huge differences between rowing on a quiet pond, rowing in 1' waves (and motor boat wakes), and rowing on open water where larger waves may be encountered. In general, in open water, higher side boats with narrower bottoms are better (e.g., and Banks Dorys, Peapods and the like), but to the uninitiated these boats will feel less stable at first. Such boats are also by their nature heavier and so more work to row than lighter, sleaker boats. On the other side of the coin, really light boats can feel pretty unstable too.

The type of boat that tends to feel most secure to the uninitiated is your basic flat-bottom skiff with a nice wide bottom and a nice wide transom. BUT, such boats do not handle waves very well, and are not great boats for rowing any sort of distance because the transom can create a fair amount of drag.

[BusterB]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply regarding my search for a small rowing boat. I got lots of suggestions to check out, now to do the homework. Thanks Stephen

[Tom Hunter]

One other suggestion, incase you have not done this already, is get into as many types of boats as possible and row them. Most people with good row boats will be very simpathetic to anyone in your situation and give you a chance to try out their boat, I would.

[jzeigler]

I haven't read anyone recommending Chesapeake Light Craft. John Harris has designed some really nice boats for rowing. The Annapolis Wherry and Chester Yawl were among those displayed at the Woodenboat show. Very nice and look relatively easy to build. After I finish my own stripper, I may do one of his boats.

[Steve Paskey]

Not to complicate things further, but Paul Fisher in England has some nice stitch-and-glue designs.

His web site is at : www.selway-fisher.com (http://www.selway-fisher.com)

Under "dinghies," in the rowing section, you'll find a 14' thames skiff (similar to a Whitehall) and even a stitch-and-glue 15' Adirondack guide boat.

Under "dayboats," in the "other dayboats" section, you'll find a 16-foot stitch and glue swampscott dory (the Fisher Swampscott). You could build her without the sailing rig if you want.