Alloy Rowing Dory

[kmorin]

Being somewhat less active than I used to be and realizing I needed more exercise I decided to build an aluminum row boat.

This was not a huge sucess as the boat is really too heavy at 170lb to be called a real recreational row boat. But remember that our beaches are mostly gravel or recently broken rock and you might see why I built her a little heavier than ideal rowing weight.



First a picture of the gunning dory on the Davis Jig while we wrapped some extrusion to the sheer.



then a shot of the dory as she looked at that stage of build.



Here, the boat is done and bright finished in 'brushed aluminum' ( :D ) I will get around to painting her but I can't say when.



Stern to view of the three rowing seats from the stern looking forward - she's only 17' LOA but the photo make her look way out of proportion.



Under her bow showing the dory 'garboard' or plank to her hull. The false bottom runs from the dory shoe or flat plate under the inner most chines up to the deck at the level of the garboard's top line. In this photo the air tested bottom chamber is the volume of which this plank is the side.



Detail of one of the seats which is just a nylon truck strap wrapped around some 1" pipe. The dory's ends are 'tanked' in the same way as the background of this image with the Schrader valve recessed into the pipe cup on the vertical seat back. I haven't swamped her to see how she handles awash, but I hope she'll be well behaved with all the air voids.

cheers,

[Bullshipper]

Just and idea, but you might want to add some foot stops at the main rowing station.


I really like your use of thinner gauges to get the weight, power and costs down.

[kmorin]

Bullshipper,
you're completely right, foot boards are needed- but what I've been doing is to put my boots against the pipes of the next seat - its not the best foot board but has worked OK.

I'm designing and building sliding riggers to go in this dory so I'm not spending too much time on this set of seats. I've rowed from the center seat with a few people and she's fine, then a friend and I rowed from the fore and aft rowing seats and that was pretty nice.

I'd like to get three guys (maybe I should say people?) to rowing so I could see how she handles with a full 600-700 lb load. I've had more than 1,000 in her and she was OK as long as we didn't have to go anywhere quickly- but I was the only one with oars at the time. With three people pulling she might move along more handily.

I'm afraid I'm not doing to well with thinner material welded, I need to work the designs to create different joints to take advantage of the pulsed MIG but that's in the 'next' boat. Oddly enough the same boat in thicker material would have been less effort because of the faster fab time not fiddling with thinner sheet.

I wish I could find 5086 in 0.080 or 0.100" so I could enjoy its clean bending and forming, but I had to use 5052 for this one too as that was the only alloy in thin material I could find when I bought the stock.

cheers,

[Bullshipper]

[quote="kmorin"]Bullshipper,
you're completely right, foot boards are needed- but what I've been doing is to put my boots against the pipes of the next seat - its not the best foot board but has worked OK.

I'm designing and building sliding riggers to go in this dory so I'm not spending too much time on this set of seats. I've rowed from the center seat with a few people and she's fine, then a friend and I rowed from the fore and aft rowing seats and that was pretty nice.

I'd like to get three guys (maybe I should say people?) to rowing so I could see how she handles with a full 600-700 lb load. I've had more than 1,000 in her and she was OK as long as we didn't have to go anywhere quickly- but I was the only one with oars at the time. With three people pulling she might move along more handily.

I'm afraid I'm not doing to well with thinner material welded, I need to work the designs to create different joints to take advantage of the pulsed MIG but that's in the 'next' boat. Oddly enough the same boat in thicker material would have been less effort because of the faster fab time not fiddling with thinner sheet.

I wish I could find 5086 in 0.080 or 0.100" so I could enjoy its clean bending and forming, but I had to use 5052 for this one too as that was the only alloy in thin material I could find when I bought the stock.

cheers,[/quote]

If you look up www.metalsales.com, click the tab under Stock, sheet and plate, I believe you will find the 5086m and 5083 in most dimensions. Thyson Krupp is another source too.

I have a couple of designs I would like to try in the future, but have been chicken to plan on using thinner material than the 5083 in 4 mm as we only have the standard, not pulsed, mig guns. But as I am trying to get 6 mpg in a 24 deep vee, I feel I have to be under 1600 lbs + motors and its impossible using 3/16-1/4" plate.

Anyway, I very much admire your designs and craftsman ship.

[JETTYWOLF]

I could sell them here, because I would buy one to get around in the shallow creeks. Kayakers here are a dime a dozen, and that's alot of uncomfortable work, for a fat guy like me.

Make a "flatback" so I can drop a small 4 HP 4 stroke on the stern of that and you have something way better than a "Cajun Pirogue" That can also be rowed!


"SPUD-HOLES" can be added to any of our pirogues during the construction process. These are made from 2 inch diameter tubes that penetrate through the hull and allow poles to be driven through the pirogue and into the marsh.

Spud-holes allow you to anchor your pirogue and make it a stable platform for hunting/fishing. Spud-holes allow your pirogue to become your blind too!

For shallow-water anchoring, with a push pole. And then cast to them big fat "tailing" Redfish on top of those crusty oysterbars, which will not hurt that boat.

YOU need to sell me one!!! I can go to shows and be seen in one and thats all she wrote.

How much for one with a Flat Back, rigged with oars and ready for shipment to Florida? I can sell these!

I'd love one to drag one behind my boat, then get in it and go shallow!!!!!!

[Sculpin]

That's such a great boat man. Looks like a Payson dory with some vee and some serious attitude(i.e toughness). Nice job. An old employee of mine (old Hungarian) was a welder most of his life but loved to work with wood (probably because it was not related to his work) He built a really nice rowing boat out of cedar strip and came up with a great stainless steel sliding rowing seat. I will go visit him and take some photos of his rowing seat design. Thanks for sharing the photos that boat is great!!!!

[kmorin]

The Rock,
I'd really appreciate seeing more sliding seat designs as that is part of the plan for this dory, and for a series of other small boats I have planned.

I look forward to it when you have time and are near your friend's wood boat.

The boat is almost copied (very heavily influenced by) the Chamberlain Gunning Dory shown in John Gardener's "The Dory Book". [Chapter 16]

Needless to say I've fiddle with the lines and its not planked exactly like a wooden one might be, and there is a 1/2" UMHW drag shoe on the bottom which would have been a bit space age for the wooden version.

Thanks for the kind words.

cheers,

[JETTYWOLF]

I guess, they're not for sale.

[kmorin]

JETTYWOLF,

I can't even guess the cost of a little rowboat by the time is was shipped from Alaska to Florida??? :roll:

First we ship the metal from who knows where to Alaska, then we use my snails pace to build and then we give it to SeaLand or someone to haul to the 'Glades'? Whoa, that's gotta make the aluminum into sliver if not gold? [maybe platinum?]

I'll be happy to provide the plans, panel layouts and building methods to you and help with advice and "How-To" for any stage of the work-no cost: you might find a local shop that would give a bid on such a boat? I don't have the plans in a very 'packaged' state now, but if you want them I'll see if I can't get them dolled up so they're useful? Lots of shops would consider my building methods a little off the wall and there are some fairly proprietary extrusions involved at the gunwale, but it could be done .....

Pretty much anyone with a PC can design a skiff with today's low cost software and John Gardner's book is out there so the lines can be had by anyone. If you have a local (eastern coast of US) shop that is willing to give you a price and take on the work (?) I'll help with the plans end.

cheers,

[JETTYWOLF]

Oh yeah....your in Alaska, thats right.

I knew that might get your attention.

Ya know your just killing me. I was sort of was just pokin fun at ya about one for sale, speaking with my affection for unique small boats I wish I could have built, and could probably sell here as lil' skiffs for backcountry fishing.

I know that boat would just be perfect for me. It's like fishing rods.
If I owned every rod that I wish I had my whole house would be nothing but a giant rod rack. Kinda like those wack jobs who fill thier houses full of paper bags full of junk.

[kmorin]

I realize that most of the readers here us the 'iron jib' to move their aluminum boats, and that rowing doesn't have a large following except among the 'dead-plant-boats-and-Birkenstock' set....but this one is still welded a aluminum boat so I'll give a report on her use.

Its fall here in the SouthCentral coast of Alaska and lots of guys have begun to put up their boats for winter. I've been too busy to get out much this summer so I've been enjoying the fall and that enjoyment has included rowing the dory shown above.

http://www.seldovia.com/webcam/bay.jpg ( if its night when you look the frame will be dark) here is a webcam shot that overlooks the route a friend and I rowed a week ago. The two islands are only islands at high tide but they're a good mile or so from the harbor. We rowed from the harbor out to these two 'hills with trees' and then back.

The tide is about 20 - 25' in 6 hours so the flood or the ebb runs from 4 - 8 knots depending on where you're measuring the flow. Beating that tide wasn't as bad as we'd anticipated.

http://www.seldovia.com/pictoftheday/07 ... glover.jpg in this view we began at the low breakwater in the middle of the shot pulled against the flood to the right then out of frame to the far right, then across frame out of frame to the left.

http://www.seldovia.com/pictoftheday/07 ... glover.jpg the route started from this harbor and traveled off frame to the lower right.

http://www.seldovia.com/pictoftheday/08 ... glover.jpg this will give the best context, I think. We began at the harbor and pulled to the far center] islands/ point and then to the farthest right point and back to the harbor.

Once in a while we rested and the current pushed the boat backward fast enough we figured we'd just let it flood us back [downward in the last image] so we'd get home sooner.

It was a couple of hours of fun in a welded aluminum boat that's for sure. We've pulled her up on beaches, (all rock of course) and dragged her on the concrete ramps when we launched her originally but it's metal and has a UHMW plastic drag plate and just slips along without complaining.

Cheers,

[Jay Perrotta]

What you need is a good sculling oar! No sitting down, get to look forward while progressing...





Just cut a nice deep notch in the transom - a bit off center to counter your weight.....

[JETTYWOLF]

Make that dang thang flat back add a lil' kicker on it, a few welded on fishing rod holders, a back rested seat, a hole for a spud pole to stake off in the shallow mud flats and we have ourselves the ultimate N.E. Florida flats skiff.

My vote is tailing Redfish in a foot of water and easy maintenance, while towed behind my big rig to far off waters where no one goes.

Sign me up!