thinking about a new rowing boat

hi all

i am thinking of building a new rowing boat, something simple, I have built two boats previously. Emphasis is on simple build, good rowing performance, good handling in rough weather, and ability to get in and out of a beach in moderate surf.

I was thinking a lot of flare to handle the rough weather. A narrowish sloped transom for following seas and coming into a beach in small surf. Optimised for one, but can carry a passenger at times. I have shown a place for a small outboard in an outboard well, this is located at front of aft thwart/buoyancy compartment. Thinking 6mm ply sides, stringer frame construction. Build the frame first on a strongback, add ply afterwards, using staples and stainless steel screws. Use epoxy to keep out the rot.

I have used an outboard well previously, and was very impressed. It keeps the center of mass close to the center of the boat, and I found it safer and easier to move about compared to a motor on a transom when the transom is narrow and or sloped. The downside is that it cant kick back if you hit something.

Have not shown in detail, but theory is large buoyancy compartment which double as fore and aft thwarts in the center and also aft. The center thwart would have no buoyancy underneath as this restricts the legroom of the front rowing position, if the rower has long legs.

For simplicity sake, was thinking of a narrow bow transom, rather than complicated rabbets etc. Was thinking of making the bow transom out of 1 x 6 timber, cut and shaped of course.

The bottom is a little wider than my second boat at a max width of 680mm,, (might go to 700mm)..This is 20mm wider than my last boat, and 100mm wider than the boat I built via free plans off the internet years ago. Midesection keel to gunnel distance is 380mm,,, width overall 1250mm (4ft 2),,, length overall is 14ft 3 inches. There is some sheer, this adds to windage but everything is a compromise.

I was thinking of adding a keelson using 39mm x 19mm wood (just very cheap and very available softwood, and placing this keelson just above the transverse floor frames.

I intend to use a separate inwale and outwale, separated by 20mm or so. It turns out that if you just have a solid timber as your outwale, and have no inwale, when you drop your boat on its side, the ply can break along the frame. (someone told me this of course.. I would never do something like that being all so so smart etc)

From experience, making those small blocks that are spacers that go between inwale and outwale is easy enough, having those small blocks look nice is hard. I am thinking that the timber grain in those blocks goes lengthwise, to improve appearance. I am not sure exactly how to secure inwale and outwale together, maybe a screw from both sides? I think for appearance you are meant to drill a small hole, put in a timber cap, cut off and sand, so that the screw is hidden,, idea is to make it look nice.

I found that galvanised screws rust a bit even in epoxy after a few years. Still hold strength but dont look as nice, may as well pay the little extra money and get the 316 stainless screws. Oars going to be around 7ft 8. I have build three pairs previously so that is OK,

Maybe small timber blocks just outside of outwale in order to mount the rowlocks. They would also give an extra inch or so or rowlock to rowlock spacing.

The boat as drawn is quite similar fore and aft. This means it could be rowed backwards for short distances, however I cant think of any scenarios where this ability might be useful.

For background, I have built 2 rowboats before, the first 18ft x 4 from plans off internet, the second which was pretty good, but not perfect, was my own design at 13.5 x 4. The one drawn is a slight modification of the latter, with a few small improvements here and there

 

She looks nice, and obviously well thought through in your description above.
Dare I say that I am reminded a bit of Bolger's Light Dory re your plans above? (I hope that this is regarded as a compliment)

The Gloucester Light Dory - Small Boats Magazine https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/the-gloucester-light-dory/

Gloucester Light Dory – 15′-6″ x 4′-0″ – H.H. Payson & Company https://www.instantboats.com/product/gloucester-light-dory-15-6-x-4-0/

 

Looks good Peter, I had thought of using a drill press and holesaw for the spacer blocks to give them a bit of concave profile at the ends rather than square, but never tried it. We used to row backwards sometimes on a beach landing to avoid one over the stern or getting beam on and rolled or both, but there is no benefit doing that with a boat pointy at both ends. You will sometimes see fishermen rowing backwards deploying a net over then bow, but they often stand facing forwards to row anyway, so their backwards is your forwards.

 

OK, thanks Bajansailer and C Dog for your replies

I still need to do a little more refinement. When I scaled up the image, and tired to correlate x y and z coordinates, they dont match,, the solution is to change the sheer line a little.

Most simple hulls like this when viewed end on, have a straight line for the sheer. I am pretty sure this is because the sheer line (gunnel) formes a curve in 3D space, so I need to go back and make sure my xyz coordiantes all match

I think having an outboard well is superior to a transom mounted motor on a small rowing boat with a narrow sloped stern. Yes you have use wedges on inside and out, which technically works, but there is always going to be this big weight at the extreme end of the boat, and feel is fair to say that the boat will not handle well in waves with the motor way back there.

I was thinking about spacer blocks, how to make them, and how to make then look nice. The idea I came up with was to get a strip of timber, maybe 1 inch by one inch, and make off intervals every 65mm or so. Also mark the center of this one inch timber, Next using a drill press, drill 20mm diameter holes (maybe 18mm diameter, maybe one inch diameter, but this would need tempory wood blocks on either side when drilling holes otherwise it would fall apart) at every intersection, that means every 65mm.. Next cut the timber at the marked intervals so that one half of the hole is on either side of the cut,

Fit in place a fraction high, then plane and sand down until outwale, spacer block and inwale are all at same level, The air spaces inbetween the blocks should form ovals, which should look nice. If wales and blocks are different types of wood, the difference in colour should look good.

There is another boat, which is very similar, I am very impressed with, It is called Tommy Cod by Antonio Dias. One little thing of note is that the frames on the side get narrower as they get higher, maybe almost 2 inches at the bottom, to an inch or less at the gunnel. At one inch they then fit neatly between inwale and outwale. How to make this look good when viewed from above with the rough grain facing up is a challenge

I was thinking of small handhold is bow transom and stern transom, about an inch below the top. Good location for lines and also for picking up the boat and moving it around, I think I mentioned this before and am repeating myself?

Overall the shape looks quite good. There is a little more beam that the Gloucester Gull, thus a fraction slower, but should be a little more forgiving and pleasant for all round use

Below I have shown lines from Tommy Cod, a similar boat at 14ft x 4ft 2. One difference is the hull depth aft is less, the vertical distance between floor and gunnel. So maybe I should go a bit more in that direction. Antonio Dias seems to have employed a lof more rocker than me, perhaps i need a bit more rocker. The transom bow versus normal sharp bow would only give a very small increase in drag, and in flat water about zero.

 

Bolger's Gloucester Gull is one of those timeless masterpieces, nothing to add or subtract; I'm sure it would enjoy a little company ;-)

Re spaced gunnels. I've used them on my canoes for decades now, many advantages. In the 12-14' boats I'm partial to spaced gunnels let you have a craft without a thwart and provides an almost infinite way to tie in gear. Spacers are usually prefinished and fabricated cedar bits applied cross grain to act as shear web between the inner and outer gunnel strips. Assembled with thickened epoxy with a precoat on the end grain and a multitude of clamps, slit PVC pipe works well here. I've whacked a few things over the years and busted a glue joint or two but never really had a problem.

 

I happened to be thumbing through an old Wooden boat magazine yesterday. A Sam Devlin dory called Fairhaven Flyer was the object of my attention. One of them was used for a solo rowing adventure from Ketchikan Alaska to Anacortes Washington. A trip that involved two months of rowing in all sorts of conditions. The Dory did its job admirably well. Of course the solo oarsman deserves some praises too. His description of the trip gave much credit to the dory itself.

The Grand Banks dory is said to have been developed when steam powered giant band saws or reciprocating saws gained the ability to rip wide planks. The Banks dory used three main planks and that made the boats cheap, quick, and easy to build.

Your Dory appears to be an authentic example of the type, simple, capable and for many of us, handsome in its own unique way.