August Update - A New Boat

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Oxford Wherry[/caption] It’s been an action packed summer! We haven’t been outside enjoying the sunshine as much as we’d like to, but instead have been working on the finishing touches for the book Olive Odyssey, due out in the spring of 2014, doing presentations, and growing our other business, Angus Rowboats. It’s been a lot of work developing full kits, creating marketing material, etc., and in many ways we find it similar to an expedition. First comes the idea – the fun, easy part – and then many, many little steps to bring that concept to fruition. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, Colin and his friend, Steve Price used a prototype for our latest boat, the Oxford Wherry to break the non-stop speed record from Whitehorse to Dawson City (a 51 hour 50 minute non-stop slog). This month we completed the showboat version of the same boat built from one of the kits we sell. You can see pictures of the boat in our flickr gallery with more information on our www.angusrowboats.com website. And speaking of the boats, we’ll be at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival (Sept 6-8th) with a booth displaying the Expedition Rowboat, Oxford Wherry, and a top secret prototype currently in development. Colin will also be giving a presentation on three of our expeditions – around the world by human power, Scotland to Syria by rowboat and his circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. Another exciting upcoming event related to human powered boats comes from our Calgarian friend Greg Kolodziejzyk. He holds the world record for the greatest distance travelled by human power on flat water in 24 hours and is going to try breaking his own record. Traditionally, the record was held by surf skis, but Greg, a very innovative guy, created an entirely new craft – a trimaran with a specialized propeller drive system. He comfortably beat the old record, voyaging more than 245 km in a 24 hour period. That was back in 2008, and since then nobody has been able to take the record away from Greg. So Greg’s going to try doing it himself. But to add a further twist to the attempt, Greg has partnered with Carter Johnson, the fellow who previously held the record with a surf ski. The two are creating a two person race, each vying to beat the other and to lay claim to a new world record. They’ll be going around the same course at the same time, so it will be exciting to follow – the surf ski vs pedal power. Who do you think will win? And they’re using their quest to raise money and awareness for an organization providing assistance for those with mitochondrial diseases. You can check it out on their website www.pedalvspaddle.com. In our previous newsletter we talked about a couple of other expeditions: Kevin Vallely and crew attempting to row through the Northwest Passage and Sarah Outen’s attempt to row the Pacific. Well, the headwinds have diminished for the Northwest Passage voyage, and the guys are making great progress now. It’s still touch and go whether they will make it through before the ice starts closing on them, so it will be particularly exciting to follow from here on. Sarah Outen’s progress has been a little slower, and it is now unlikely that she will make it to her destination of Vancouver Island before the November storms start picking up. Her route has taken a sharp northerly drift which could be a good thing. We calculate she could possibly reach the Aleutian Islands, a much shorter distance, before the weather degrades too much. From here, it would just be a series of hops to mainland North America. Again, it will be exciting to follow her progress, and we’re all hoping to see her in North America soon. Anyway, we hope you’re all having a great summer full of adventures, and hopefully we may see a few of you at the Port Townsend Boat Show.