Which boat, LONG and lots of pics....

[swamprat]

Ok folks, I have been waflfing back and forth now for several months on which boat for this winters build. I relize this is stretching the bounds of southern paddler but I am contemplating a POWER BOAT!!!!
On my trip to Maine this summer I ran across what is known as a "guide canoe" 16-20 feet long. Beam of 4 or 5 feet.Here is the one that got me on this line of thinking...

I'm standing on the banks of allagash lake Northern maine,and looking at this boat and thinking it would be the IDEAL boat for running around down in the 10K islands. Flats fishing, camping,exploring and such. They typically run little 9.9 hp motors and are getting speeds in the 18-22 mph range.Could cover allot of ground and carry allot of gear in one of these eh?
Stopped at a dealer for these boats on the way back to Boston to catch our plane and they really aren't terribly expensive. About $4500, Boat motor and trailer. But, they are out of Canada and the closest dealer would be somewhere way far away from south Florida.Plus, I am feeling the need to make some sawdust! :shock:

I have pretty much narrowed my choices down to three boats. Or boat plans I guess would be a term.
In no particular order.
The swift canoe from Bateau.com

Here is more info.
http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=SC16&cat=11
I think this would be just a bit small and more gheenoe like but not so sure it wouldn't make a better little fishing skiff than my other choices.

Next up would be the fs18. Also from Bateau.com
No real life pictures of this boat as one hasn't been splashed yet but this hull might work if I left the deck off and installed bench seats and a smaller casting deck up front.
More info
http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=FS18

The last possible is the Lutra Laker. Much closer to the actual guide canoe hull. But it takes almost twice as much wood and glass and it is a glued lap contruction. One I am not familiar with, but think I could learn pretty easy.

More info
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/des ... /index.htm

Is there twice as much boat there?( lutra laker compared to the sc16 or the fs18) With twice as much wood and glass one would think so but I haven't been able to convince myself that there is ,but I may be wrong.

So. If you were looking for a low power hull to camp, cruise and fish out of. Needs to be able to handle some chop on semi protected bays and inlets. Enough room for 2 adults and 1 small kid at times.But probably 90% of the time it would be just myself.
Thoughts, concerns. New ideas, Any other plans out there that I am missing?
Throw it all at me folks!
Brad
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[hairymick]

Mate the Laker appeals to me more than the others.

Not sure what it is, but something about the bateau boats just doesn't look right to me. Perhaps, it is the slab like sides and the arse just looks like it was put on as an after thought.

Now the laker is a different thing. I love this boat. it just exudes class and style. beautiful lines to my eye. Why don't you pop Dave Nicholes a email and ask him to re-draw it for you for a S&G build. That is what I would be doing. I am tempted to do it myself.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

boat

O K. go ahead and build one. THen you can stink up the land with your exhaust and shatter the silence with the noise.

But I won't say a thing against it, not me. :roll:

 

[hairymick]

Or,
you could consider this,

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/proddetail ... ce05325267

Simpler build, proven plans and requires less horspower.

 

[cctyer]

I like both the Laker and the DKdingy the laker has a very sexy look to her as does the DK. I have been looking at the same boats so I could take a passenger or 2 and also fish from easily. The Dk like Mick says would probably be easier to build for less money and is not a flat bottom. Unless that's what you are looking for. Sorry A Bald Cypress but some of us need the versatility of powerd watercraft at times and there is no reason why you can't use an electric trolling motor as well. I would love to get over our nations dependancy on fossil fuels and there brethren but it would be hard to commute to work in a canoe or any paddle craft unless you live in Venice Italy. I appreciate your love of the natural sites and sounds of the wild and prefer the quite of a paddle to a motor myself. I also like to fish and that requires getting to and from some places that are remote and not accesable to paddling without a great deal of effort just to get there and back.

Have fun choosing your next build Swamprat! please keep us posted!

Chad

 

[swamprat]

Mick, You and I would agree on allot of things I do believe. The lutra is a damn fine looking boat. Hadn't thought of asking Dave to run up plans for stitch and glue!The glued lap isn't that hard a deal. Just not as quick and just a bit of planing on the ends and such. I somehow missed Matt's boat in the search. Fine looking little hull but it may be a bit short on total load if we want to take 3 bodies and camping gear. But I have bookmarked it for further consideration. BTW, I do agree about Bateaus builds. He designs proven boats but the can be kinda ugly. Fine lines till the stern and then it gets kinda iffy

Bald cypress, at the risk of turning this into an ugly conversation. If I wasn't concerned with the enviroment and disturbing the silence,I'd just go out and buy or build the biggest, fastest, loudest damn boat I could to get me where I wanted to go as quick as I could.Not my point. I am looking for a low impact hull that will gve me the ability to cover some ground to let the kid explore places that we can't get to by paddling on a typical weekend.

 

[nobucks]

--

I also vote for the Lutra Laker. I was scrolling through the pictures and when I got to the bow shot of the Laker I said, "That's a nice boat!"

Plus, with lapstrake construction, the panels are smaller, which is a benefit if you're working in a garage.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

Laker

Go with the laker. Anything that will get the younguns out on the water has got to be a good thing.

PS. I forgot the :? :? on my first post. sorry


Thought the roll eyes would give a clue.

 

[dangermouse01]

Heres a picture from a build over on Matt's site, and a link to the build log.

Plenty big.

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

DM

 

[hairymick]

G'day Mouse,

Mate, I also like the Buck Extreme Chalk is building but he sums it up well in his opening sentence.

This is a pretty complex little JEM of a boat

The animal functionality of the boat is obvious and as a fishing boat, I think it will be a beauty but if I were going to go to the trouble of building a big boat, I think I would be looking for something a little prettier.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

For me, the beauty in the Laker and Matts DK is in their elegant and graceful lines and very clean entry and exits through the water. They both are similar in lines to what the old masters round here used to build for themselves to use as gill net boats and were seriously good boats to row and could put on a very respectable turn of speed with minimal horsepower.

Hey Swamprat,

Mick, You and I would agree on allot of things I do believe

I think so too mate.

Another boat you might like to look at is the White guide by Gil Gilpatrick.
His plans are for a stripper and from memory, there is a 18 footer and a 20 foot version. Both have the option of squard stern to take an outboard.

Here is a link to his web site, and the book in question.

http://gilgilpatrick.com/strip-canoe.html

The book has, I think 8 or 9 models and the White Guides are at the back. All are magnificent hull forms, but the White models stand out in my memory. One shouldn't be tooo difficult to re-draw for S&G.

Dapper All paddles one of Gilpatrick's models I think - a 14' Puddle Duck. I have a Puddle Duck partially completed in my stink boat shed and hope to fix all my mistakes and finish her soon. She was my first build and is not very pretty just now.

 

[JEM]

Buc X-treme is definately a complex animal. More so than I care for. But it was a custom job for Chalk (tha builder) so whatver he asked for, he got.

I've often thought about a larger, square sterned canoe but not gotten beyond the thinking stage. To get something that can handle a small outboard and some chop on the water, you need to have a V bottom up front. That means bending/twisting/torturing the plywood pretty good. That equates to thinner plywood, 1/4" [6mm] maximum thickness.

To get some that can handle outboard motoring, you need strength. That means thicker plywood, ehich doesn't like to bend, or plenty of fiberglass, which can get expensive.

Check out www.boatplans.dk . The owner of that site, Morten Oleson, is a friend of mine and does some fine work. His Dingy 15 (which I also sell on my site) my just be the ticket.

 

[oldsparkey]

Joe used his 20 foot stripper on a Everglades run we did and it handled the water really well. He has a 3 hp on it and running about 1/2 throttle it moves along while using very little fuel.

Plus it will hold a ton of gear and can even be paddled when you want to.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

That boat's so long that, the bow is at the lunch stop before the aft end leaves breakfast! It's in two time zones!

 

[oldsparkey]

That boat's so long that, the bow is at the lunch stop before the aft end leaves breakfast! It's in two time zones!

Got to give you that one Jack , it is long. But it will hold a ton of stuff , float nice and high , move without any effort and take just about anything Mother Nature can throw at it. It handled the bays on the inside route and then going up the Gulf side , camping and fishing. Everglades City to Watson's Place , New Turkey key then up to Rabbit Key and back to Everglades City.

Plus with the little motor it just scoots along and you don't need a gas truck at each campsite , just one little can of gas did the trick for a week down there moving around and fishing during the day. It is also a nice stable fishing platform that can be eased over the flats for Reds or Trout and drift into the side of the deeper holes for Snook.

Unloading and loading it is a breeze , two guys can pick it up and move it anywhere till you get all of the camping gear in it. It took all of Joe's , some of Mack's and mine and even some of Johns and still had plenty of left over room.

 

[swamprat]

Thanks Guys,
The DK 15 is sure a pretty little hull for sure. I have scratched the swift canoe off the list and replaced it wth the dk15. The DK that is on Mortens site was built just around the corner from me in Bonita Springs. I may try to look the guy up and go over and take a look if he still has it.
Still, It is a bit small, I think... So the Lutra Laker is out front, again :? Might shoot and email over and see about S&G but I really do like the looks of the laps build.
One consideration is that I already have a good running 10 hp motor sitting here. Hate to have to by a smaller one. But then again, I once put a 25 hp on a 15' gheenoe. Was getting 38 mph out of her on the river. Never said I was the brightest bulb in the lamp!

Bald Cypress, No hard feelings man. Its all good.

 

[JEM]

e-mail Morten. Maybe he'll draw up a bigger one for you.

 

[oldsparkey]

Thanks Guys,

One consideration is that I already have a good running 10 hp motor sitting here. Hate to have to by a smaller one. But then again, I once put a 25 hp on a 15' gheenoe. Was getting 38 mph out of her on the river. Never said I was the brightest bulb in the lamp!

Bald Cypress, No hard feelings man. Its all good.

My God Man , all I had on my personal Gheenoe was a 9.9 Merc and it was plenty. In fact the one with the Sheriffs Dept we used only had a 9.9 on it. We got a lot of crooks with that set up.

I did have the pleasure of watching the ole boy who makes them try out a new one on the St.Johns river , he had a Jet Drive in that one ... That was one HOT BOAT. and I still want one.

Now I was sitting in a Air Boat with more power in it them most race cars have when enjoying his antics with his trial Gheenoe on the river. The Air Boat was a department boat , 6 cylinder 054 up stack , fuel injected ( air worthy engine) and would break 100 mph before you knew it. It was one mean river mochine , nothing around here could out run it and some nut's did try to. They just did not manage to do it.

GOT YA SUCKER

The dang thing had so much push to it we stuck the Jeep towing it in some mud and instead of running out the winch cable from the Jeep ( 4 tons of pulling ) we started the Air Boat up and pushed it , the trailer it was on and the Jeep out of the mud. That was one great Air Boat.

Actually we could of just dropped it off and run it over ground ( down the road) to the river and did not need to drive all the way down to launch it. Then just run the road back to the trailer and load it up at the end of the shift.

Chuck.

 

[swamprat]

LOL, yeah Chuck, Another case of just having the 25 hp laying around and figured, why not! :shock: Stick steering while sitting on the middle seat was like riding a motorcycle up and down the river... I got smart and sold it before I killed myself.
Matt, I just fire off an email to Morten. We'll see what he says.

Thanks folks
Brad

 

[cctyer]

I hope you build the Laker! I have had my eye on one for some time now and it would be great to have someone with experience to get help from. I know nothing of lap strake contruction but from what I've read it looks to be fairly simple. GOOD LUCK!

 

[swamprat]

Got a reply back from Morten and he is willing and eager to help. Looks like there will be a bigger version of the DK-15 soon!
Thanks folks!

Brad