From: "Gene Smith" <SmithFrow@worldnet.att.net>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: Re: baidarka [what is it]
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 07:23:03 -0000
Dear Mr. Cornelius,
Let's start over. Thank you for explaining the reason for the terseness of
your original question. I am afraid I am old fashioned enough to respond
negatively to the current fashion of communicative carelessness, but I can
certainly appreciate why you wouldn't have time at work to be expansive. I
was suggesting Chapelle because he shows so many traditional solutions to
your design requirements. And, as a point of information, even though
"sailing" is in the title, in many cases it is by way of auxiliary power for
a workboat that is primarily driven by oars of one form or another.
I think you may still have left out one other clue - are you planning to
make this boat yourself, or are you looking for the proper type to buy or
have made? I quite agree that many traditional small boat types, especially
if very nicely made by a well known individual or shop can be the price of a
small car, but many - if not most - can be made at home for more like the
price of taking a friend to a very nice restaurant for lunch. So tell us -
is it make or buy?
You also make an excellent point about Lake Superior. Anybody who treats
Superior like "just a lake" is not long for this world. Even just poking
around, you run the risk of being blown away from shore at a really
inopportune moment, so I think "seaworthiness" is a factor that should be at
the top of your list. Any boat that is primarily meant for puttering around
in very protected waters would be asking for it - at least a bit. That's
also why I suggested some research into traditional boats - there's all
different kinds of "seaworthiness", and what is appropriate to one area can
be a very bad idea in others. I also suggested it as a matter of safety.
If you look at what was used when a sail under nice circumstances or oars
and your own strength in a hard chance meant life or death, you'll see what
works the "mostest with the leastest". Many modern designs (like modern
houses) depend utterly on the availability of power in large amounts -
engine failure means close to utter helplessness. One of the "efficiencies"
of traditional design is to get your funny butt home in one piece with very
limited power.
Having said that, I think the best sources on this list would be people who
have navigated the waters you are interested in, and that ain't me, so I'll
just shut up and let them tell you their experiences. Again, I apologize if
your need for a shorthand style in your original post gave me an (admittedly
flimsy) excuse to be curt in return. Good luck, and I am sure there are
some on this list who have practical experience in similar waters.
Gene Smith
in Houston with a better back - but still grumpy because it's now good
enough to allow the return to work
>Hello to the list; Let me try again. 1st/ I wrote my question from work in
a ICU,so I used my clipped charting type of writing. We tend to leave a lot
of the message out. Just the facts ,but I see I left out important items. I
have looked at Chappell's work , but unless I am willing to sell the house ,
the price of a sailing dory , gunning skiff,or a Klepper for that matter is
out of my range. Duck hunting would not be the main usage , exploring the
islands ,messing around in a boat, trying to troll for lake trout. Lake
Superior may not be a ocean ,but anyone out there in a duck boat is going to
be very dead very soon. Locals use big deep-vees with big motors. I was
thinking more of sneaking back into rice fields off of big bays . Do
AK.Boats [Aleut.] have wider beams ?Would flat bottom boats work better? I
hope this may provide facts to help the list help me.For me to read a book
to get info that all of you have already learned in the doing ,seems kind of
counter-productiv!
> e .I have looked at many books , but this list could give me feedback from
people in the field so to speak. Again sorry if my 1st pot was incomplete .
thanks for your time Bill