The Rowing and Sculling Version

After the sell of the first boat, I started the second, this boat is 12 ft by 4 ft by 1 ft. I wanted to build a row boat that can also be used for sculling. When doing the research on row boats, I found that 4 foot was the optimum width for the boat. I was already planning on a 12X4 foot boat using paddles and push poles but decided to build the row boat version first. It seemed like a fun way to cruise the lakes around here.

I also decided that I would use white oak for the bows and side stiffeners since there would be more stress on the sides and bows from rowing and sculling. The same oars used for rowing are also used for sculling, there are oar locks on both sides and both bows (so you can scull from either end).

It took a little over a week to complete this boat. This is due in drying times for glues and paints. After applying a layer of glue, I would let it cure before adding another layer. This goes the same for the paint. The glue is particularly important to allow to dry before moving the boat and causing the glue not to seal properly.

Now that it is complete, I will be doing another float check and afterwards I am going to let one of my grandsons take it out for a test run. I will be posting pictures and maybe get some videos.

It has been about two months since I started this post. First delay, no older grandsons around to float check so our 10 year old grandson went out with me to do the float check. No leaks and moved across the water with ease. I found that I was very rusty on my rowing and sculling skills. Rowing just took a few minutes to get the hang of but the sculling is another story. I will need a lot of practice for that.

After the float check we ran into other delays, first our grandson got sick just before Thanksgiving, got better over the holiday break from school, went back after the holiday and brought home the flu. He liked it so much that he decided to share it with us. HOW NICE OF HIM! Then came Christmas and back to South Carolina to help out family.

We got back and decided to keep this boat for a little while to take it around, do some fishing and advertising. We haven’t caught anything yet but it has been fun taking it out on the lakes around here. This time I have bought a action camera for recording videos and stills. They show exactly what this boat was made for.

We rowed out from the boat ramp to where we were going to fish. We fished for a while but didn’t get any bites so we went exploring. When we were rowing out we used both seats, I then stowed my seat away and stood at the back of the boat and paddled through the cypress trees. We had to cross two logs under the water but the boat worked as expected and we crossed them both. Take a look (BTW my grandson was the camera man for the video)….

My grandson and I went exploring in the cypress trees after we fished for a bit. This is why I build these types of boats.