Define: A "Guideboat" (rowboat style)

Hi,
I am currently looking into building a Rowboat style "Guideboat". I have look up a few "definitions" for "Guideboat" as I am looking into varieties and ideas regarding the different type of options/style available for "Guideboats".

Please allow me to be clearer. (to me is seems) A Rowboat style Guideboat is basically a boat with a bench for the Rower and a comfortable backed seat for the passenger. I have decided already on the boat I want to build. She is 15' with just under a 4' beam. As I don't plan on building until next spring, I am doing my research now. (*L*)

So my question basically is this.
Are there other names/terms/definitions for this style of Rowboat?Thanks so much for bearing with me and your help is sincerely apprieciated.

 

Upstate New York has several Guide Boat Races and there's a few Guide Boat Builders up in the Adirondacks. When I raced in the Adirondack Canoe Classic last year there was a guy that built his own Guide Boat just for the race. Check out the posts by Connecticut Yankee on this thread: http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php?t=12135
There are more than several designs, one man, two man, etc so if you got time you'd might like to search around some more and get feedback from those that already built a boat.

 

Thanks spidennis,
this is exaclty the kind of stuff I'm looking for. Its because of these varuables that I want to be sure to check out all sources. thanks for your input!

 

A Guideboat musts be made from really thin white Cedar to be light.

It must withstand Class II Rapids without getting a hole in it

It must Float full of water

It muts have a remote anchor fore & Aft

It must have a big built in Beer Cooler

It must have Strong Bronze Oar locks

It must have 8 ft log oars with big spoons on them with metal end caps so they wont break off on rocks

It must have a seat facing forward for the Guide

It must have at least one or two comftable seats for the fisherman

a place to hang a lantern is goon for night fishing for hornpout

ait should have runners on the bottom to drag it over sand, rocks, damms etc..


It sould be really cheap so that the Guide can buy a new one ever year.

If you build them Ill gladly beat the crap out of a few ( I mean Field Test Them) for you

15 ft is to short.

Please make them at least 18 to 22 ft long



Capt Walt

Master Maine Guide


WickedGoodOUtdoors@Maine.rr.com


This is a pretty Guideboat

 

Thanks Capt!
obviously I've come to the right place! 'great advise for sure.
its these kind of "simple" alterations and +s that are going to make
for a great "guideboat"
I noticed on another forum, some guys were talking about using spray foam.
this could help it float full of water perhaps. (that probably another forum when I get closer to build her).

 

and depending on how and where you use it (like in the dacks) you'll want to be able to portage it a fair distance.

 

Suiggest you do a search (google's site search is probably the best) for "guideboat" and other terms of interest. FYI Adirondack guideboats entered in races typically have a rower and paddler, the paddler of course sitting at the stern and steering with most of the HP provided by the rower. There's some info on this around post 764 on page #51 at http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/designing-fast-rowboat-14250.html

A boat that is perhaps closer to your requirements - and a favorite of mine - is the "Girling" boat of around the end of he 19th century. It had a comfortable seat in the stern for the girl, with a single rowing station for the guy and - in the very best of circles - a picnic hamper, drinks cabinet and windup gramophone. Guaranteed to get attention then and now! They were also made as canoes with the girl in the bows and the paddler aft. Those were the days!

 

thanks acncient, I have done the google thing (and will continue too), thats what kinda got me started with this forum. I would find similar boats that weren't called guideboats. (but for all intense and purposes seem to be). I will check out the Girling for sure.
what's that saying? a girl in every bow? *L* I'm gonna have a glass of "port" and think about that one. thanks again.

 

Try also Rangeley Lakes Boats http://www.grapeviewpointboatworks.com/rangeleyinfo.html
http://www.smallboatforum.com/PDFfiles/RangeleyBoat.pdf
http://www.rangeleyboats.com/

They are similar to Adirondack Guide boats but probably heavier.
A good place to get info on the Adirondack Guide Boat is the Adirondack Museum http://www.adirondackmuseumstore.com/plans.html

I have been there and they have quite a few of them in the museum and boks about them as well as plans.

 

Once again Capt.
I thought I would drop back to say thanks again for your comment.
I've sort of laughed about it all day, cuz there true. Perhaps it's just me,
but the way it's written, it seems like it reads straight out of a book! *L*
and if it's not, well, &*(!! ... it should be! and somehow I dought it was.

anyway... thanks
I know be chewing on it for a while...

 

The guideboat was built lapstrake style probably using cedar planks over sawn (spruce?) frames or naturally-grown curved wood where available, using clenched copper tacks, possibly braced on the bottom with metal skids. The planks edges were beveled to a feather edge so that the outer surface of the hull is smooth. Construction was very light for a dry weight of 50-70 lb and they were designed to be carried by one man using a yoke-shaped center thwart. Because of their lightweight construction they would have had bottom boards to protect them against clumsy city folk, although many photos of museum boats do not show these.

They were fast, somewhat like canoes in shape but more stable, 15-18 ft long. A guideboat would typically have 2-3 cane seats, one for the guide who rowed, one or two with backs for the "sports" or huntsmen.

Although usually rowed, in tight situations or for stealth when hunting they were also paddled. Some early guideboats had tumblehome suggesting canoe origins but where they were used makes it more likely they evolved from colonial boats.

That's about all I can find. Hope it is of help. The flush plank construction is particularly interesting to me as I am currently trying to develop a method of construction using ply planks glue with butted joints (flush) instead of glued lapstrake and without using the stitch and glue method. It has been a challenging journey which is not yet finished.

 

If you are interested in Adirondack guideboats then you should get a copy of "The Adirondack Guideboat" by Kenneth and Helen Durant. It's been described as one of the best books about an american boat type.

 

A feature I like about the guideboat is the plank keel and 1/3 ratio deadrise angle. Proportioned correctly, this allows you to get your butt down close to the bottom of the boat for great ultimate stability, much like a kayak, while also providing a narrow waterline beam for low resistance and significant flare up to the sheer to provide a wide enough base for efficient rowing. The light weight hull and flare makes for a boat that easily bobs over big waves and reflects the small splashes for a dry ride.

 

I discovered the truth of this while stubbornly trying to design my own canoes. I started off with flatties which were awful, too tippy unless I made them too wide to paddle. Finally when I realized just how low the metacenter is on a small canoe, I worked on reducing buoyancy, setting the bottom width to the minimum required by, er, human engineering considerations and adding bilge planks to get out to the waterline beam. Stunning difference in stability, speed, quietness - and it even looks better.

 

This year during the last/ 3rd day of the Adirondack Canoe Classic the waves on Upper Saranac Lake were just huge, and the guide boats did just fine. Usually no one would go out and row in these conditions, but this was a race, and some others in different boats turned back and took a dnf instead. I drafted behind one guide boat that was trying to catch up to her paddling friend in a kayak, which she did catch, then I pulled off to let them banter a bit , and I put it into high gear and started reeling in the others ahead of me. The lead guide boat broke an oar and pulled over to make repairs, but later finished the day in good standings overall. That was just fantastic! I'd hate to have to portage a guide boat, but they pulled off these 1.25 mile treks on two different days. It's no wonder these boats are still around. They are very versatile boats ! and the oh so nice lines on them ......