Hairymicks Swampgirl

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:14 am

Nerver! I am way too young and good looking and modest for that sort of nonsense.

Oldsparkey · Post by **Oldsparkey** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:35 am

hairymick wrote:Nerver! I am way too young and good looking and modest for that sort of nonsense.

Matt.....

We are in trouble ... NOW.

Mick sounds like Kayak Jack

..... We have two of them to contend with......Whoa , is us poor mere mortals.......

We better run and hide someplace safe.

Chuck.

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:36 pm

Mick & I have all you other blokes outnumbered.

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:30 am

Sorry about the late post guys. i got called in to work today and have just got home. I think the piccy problem has been fixed.

I took the swamp girl for a walk in the local wier yesterday and she floats!

I am very, very happy with the way she performs. stability and tracking are very good and manouverability is amazing. she will turn through 18- degrees in her own length with no more than three paddle strokes.

I originally intended to just go for a short jaunt to work out seating etc but was enjoying her so much, I couldn't stop.

Speed is adequate for what I want to do with her (extended tours and fishing and crabbing all day on skinny water) When propery fitted out, she will be a very comfortable boat indeed.

She has enough carrying capacity (even with the 2 inch less freeboard) for all of my needs. She has room to spare for a good sized ice box and to drag serious fish aboard.

In short, I am in love with this little girl. There is nothing like her out here. In fact there are very few home made wooden boats here at all any more. I am working on changing that.

Although, I am a little dissappointed in my workmanship. I have learnt a lot from building her. The next one will be much better (and there will be a next one) and much quicker to build. She weighs in at 19 kgs (41.8 pounds) at the moment and the next one will be lighter. I have shown some piccies to some colleagues at work and two of the ladies there want one. I have refferred them on to you Matt.

An expedition touring version of this boat at around 18 or 19 feet in length with less rocker and a shallow V hull might be worth a thought.

A couple more piccies.

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:19 am

Got the thwartes in and started fitting the seats today

Not long now.

A couple more piccies.

Post by **jem** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:06 am

Mick,

Have you tried sitting that high in the boat before you install the seats?

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:48 pm

Hi Matt,

Yeah mate, My foam blocks were higher than that and the boat was as stable as a house. My gunwhales are 2 inches lower than on your plan so the seats probably look higher than they really are.

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:13 pm

I had the same thought. Seats look higher than usual to me. Mick must have a heckuva sense of balance, ehh? ... or maybe, like me, a lot of lead low in his arse to lower the CG?

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:43 am

Hi Jack & Matt,

The seats are 71/2 inches off the bottom of the boat.

This is the widest and most initially stable boat I have ever paddled. If the sides were higher, I would have built the seats higher still. I don't understand the concern re stability in a boat with an allmost flat bottom and as wide as it is. If I build another one, i will be asking matt to modify his plans to make it 3 inches narrower.

I am 6 feet tall and weigh around 200 pounds. While no longer an athlete, I maintain a reasonable level of physical fitness and have been using paddle craft of varous sorts all of my life.

Got the seats fitted and in today. Will be finishing the epoxying tomorrow then a clean up - some varnish and then to blood her.

I have some time off work in May and hope to paddle our Mary river from Gympie to Tiaro in her. About 100 miles by river. There are gentle rapids and long slow flowing stretches throughout the trip and no towns or facilities along the way. It is mostly cattle farming land and wildeness and camping is permitted pretty much where-ever one stops each evening (provided no mess is left behind).

If I can organise this, will post lots of piccies of the girl in some of our pristine wilderness.

A couple more piccies

Kayak Jack · Post by **Kayak Jack** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:17 am

I'm too clumsy, I guess. Nice thing about building your own boat is you can customize it to suit your needs and tastes. Nice job, Mick. I hope you enjoy the trip.