Buehlers River Walker

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by easywake, Nov 19, 2012.

  1. shantyboat
    Joined: May 2013
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    shantyboat Junior Member

    Go for it

    The designer says, "To me, this is about as hideous a craft as you can get; a box, sitting on a box, yep, real talent in this design." He has his right to his opinion, for sure. But that's all it is. One person's opinion. I disagree with his opinion, which is my right, too. I built a Theil Escargot and have used it for ten years, spending countless nights aboard in the sloughs and rivers of western Washington. I can't tell you how many experts and armchair designers told me the boat was bad. To this day people either laugh at it or love it. Escargot is also a box on a box. But... it works.. it works well... it's efficient... you can't believe the attention it gets. If you like the River Walker.. and it suits the water you intend to travel upon.... go for it. There are SO many ways to do something... and River Walker has it's merits.


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    Bryan
    http://shantyboatliving.com
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. shantyboat
    Joined: May 2013
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    shantyboat Junior Member

    Triloboats

    The guy at http://Triloboats.com has been told his boats were in impossibility, too. But he's done years of sailing in Alaska in boats with barge like hulls. Any mocking of the functionality of his designs would be utter nonsense, given how he has used them. Now you could argue esthetics... but that is very much a personal choice.. not a functional one.

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  3. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    messabout Senior Member

    Let it be said that: "one mans meat is another mans poison".

    For those interested in houseboats there are several books that expound on the subject. Among them: Handmade Houseboats By Russell Conder From International Marine books. Much detail about building in that book.

    For a shanty boat adventure, the book: Shantyboat by Harlan Hubbard. From University press of Kentucky. An odyssey of two people who built a shantyboat on the Ohio near Cincinnatti. The boat and most of its gear was made almost entirely of scrap materials that the builder could collect for free. Six years later they arrived In New Orleans, a distance of 1385 miles without power of any kind, save a sweep oar. High adventure for a man and his wife who entertained themselves by playing classical music with their violin and cello.
     
  4. shantyboat
    Joined: May 2013
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    shantyboat Junior Member

    Amen to that!

    Well said. Those are great books by Hubbard. Superb armchair sailing material.
    Bryan
     
  5. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    I am keen on function over aesthetics, but I also note than the most ardent enthusiasts of a boat design are usually the owners. ( especially if they are about to sell it )

    The term 'efficient' doesnt mean anything if you dont compare it with something else.

    Usually, the words 'box' and 'square' indicate anything but efficiency in a boat, from a performance and/or a material/build perspective.

    " spending countless nights aboard in the sloughs and rivers " can be done on a raft or a pontoon made of plastic drums, so its no indication of any merit as a vessel.

    I am glad that there is a happy owner who uses their boat extensively, but I would need a lot more information before I would be convinced that this design had more merit than a dozen other similar performing designs.
     

  6. shantyboat
    Joined: May 2013
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    Location: Seattle

    shantyboat Junior Member

    It doesn't have more merit. It just has merit.
     
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