Date: Fri, 02 Jan 1998 10:18:32 -0600
From: Wolfgang Brinck <wolfgang.brinck@hksystems.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: Xmas - boats
William J. Russell wrote:
>
> Christmas is GREAT...my wife bought a book for me by David Zimmerly for
> the construction of a "Hooper Bay Kayak"....without having checked the
> measurements in plans that came with book (YET) it looks like the boat
> is fairly high volume as compared to the boat in Wolfgang Brincks
> book...has anyone on this list built a Hooper Bay boat???? If so, how
> do you like the boat and its handling characteristics, volume,
> etc....I've glanced through the book this afternoon and it looks really
> interesting.....Russell
I saw a completed frame at a symposium that someone had built pretty
faithfully to original dimensions. The frame was quite heavy, probably
40 or 50 lbs, skin and paint would add another 10 to 15 lbs. So you
would end up with a pretty heavy boat. My experience confirms the old
axiom that the amount of use a recreational boat gets is inversely
proportional to its weight. I think the Hooper Bay kayaks sat on the
beach and were launched off the beach, so not much effort was involved
in launching. However, if you have to cartop and do solo trips, hauling
an extra 20 pounds and hoisting that extra weight to the top of a car
will make you think twice about taking the boat out.
On the plus side, it is a very roomy boat and very beamy, so you could
fit a lot of stuff inside and not feel cramped, but I would guess that
if you went paddling with other people with slimmer, lighter boats,
you would forever be lagging behind.
Wolfgang