OK, that is the preliminaries taken care of.
To try to put you in the picture, so to speak, before this boat, Robin has only paddled two very good kayaks. (store bought) She is used to paddling, very fast but skinny boats and they can be uncomfortable after a few hours in the cockpit.
This was my first attempt to convert her to the dark side of home built, timber boats and the joys that go with them. At first, she was unsure of the P5 because it is significantly wider and slower that her kayaks.
Once she got into cruise mode and adjusted her thinking to just kick back and enjoy the ride, she looked over at me with a big grin on her mug and said, "This is growing on me. I could get used to this."
After that, we just cruised along downstream with the tide. Rafting up at times and having a chat. Actually Robin cruised and I was working pretty hard just to keep pace with her!
We paddled down stream for about 3 miles and pulled up on a sandbank for some coffee and a spot of fishing.
Robin ran up on the bank in her boat and just stepped out. She looked back at her boat and realized what she had just done and the ease with which she did it and another of the joys of these boats sank home for her. Another of her little gems of wisdom
Oh yeah, I like that."
An hour or so fishing from the sandbank and with a good feed of fish on ice, it was time to head back. The tide was still falling so we hugged the insides of the banks, working the eddies and another one of the joys of these boats came home to her. They float in allmost nothing!
About half way back to the put in, Robin finally relented and let me take her boat for a spin. - At last, I was busting to try it out.
Here are my thoughts based on a very brief road test.
THIS IS A BLOODY GREAT BOAT!
It is light to paddle, quick to get up to hull speed and responsive to subtle adjustments in paddler position. The tumble home panel is a very good thing and is well worth the little extra effort in the build. No knuckle banging.
Stability is very good, as it should be in a flat bottom boat and it tracks very well.
All too soon, Robin was calling me in to shore. She wanted her boat back! she wasn't interested in taking my pirogue
There are a couple of things I need to do to customize this for Robin, namely foot braces and a couple of end thwartes and a slightly lower sit backer base.
Will post more piccies as Robins P5 evolves.
Again, thanks to Matt, for yet another spendid design. I would urge any potential pirogue builders to consider this one. For us, and what we like to do in our boats, it is ideal.
