Although the boat turns pretty easily, it tracks very well for longer straight line rowing and it carries it's momentum nicely. It is easy to row.
At one point I was laying on the foredeck, with my head over the bow, watching all the perch, sunfish, and bass that seemed to be hanging out with the boat like the dolphins do on the ocean, and it was just stable enough to relax up there.
I get the feeling that the boat will sail well when we get to that point.
She leaves no wake behind her, but for my sloppy use of the oars and the sound of a little bow wave is very pleasant when I am really pulling at a good steady pace.
We got a few very nice comments from people at the launch. When the first thing somebody says is, "Did you build that?" I wonder at how bad it might look, but the next thing they say after I tell them that I did build it is "You did a really nice job", or the other guys reaction was "really?, wow, nice job". Then all the "guy" talk follows, how much did it cost, What's it weigh, what's it made of, and usually does it leak? I can happily say that no, not a drop.
The truth is, I like being able to tell people how little it cost and how easy it was to build and the Jim Michalak's name and the title of his boat building book that I got the plans from. I'd like to see more wooden, homemade boats than tin or fiberglass production models. It feels good to have built a boat.
I am getting better at getting the boat in and out of the truck and to the water, even though I dropped it about 2 feet from the bed of the truck to the cement today. No apparent damage.
I hope to build some longer oars at some point. The 6'6" ones I have are a foot shorter than I think I'd like.
I feel as though the choice of boat and the modifications I made where all very good. I'm a happy guy
 |
| Whisp even got in Wooden Boat Magazine (online) |
No comments:
Post a Comment