I used eyebolts to secure the ourtrigger. These are just general connect points. For instance, if I want to plop a galley box down on the outrigger while I'm at anchor I can secure it to these with bungees.
And that's about it. I guess I'm pretty much finished, apart from a few ongoing tweaks and touchups!
My reward is a pat on the back, self administered.
Of course, nothing is perfect, but overall I'm pretty dang pleased with the results.
@Kellan Hatch it was my plan to do the standard sliding hatch with turtle as well, until reading Colin saying it wouldn't work. Still not sure WHY though. I really like what you did with yours. Where did you find those latches?
Finally on the water!
My friend who was going to take photos had to bow out, so this is all I have so far:
Then it was back in the shop to make some additions and adjustments. Onve thing that was obvious was that I was having a little trouble rowing into the wind. I have now added a rudder with a mechanism to lock it in place. My centerboard isn't far enough forward to make a huge difference (although it is great at preventing side-slippage). A bow board would be nice for rowing upwind.
I rowed into a cove and dropped anchor so I could slide into the cabin for a rest. Very comfy!!
Big Big Congratulations Kellan.
That boat is a thing of beauty !
Isent it a great feeling to finally get out onto the water.
I wish you many great voyages.
T
That looks fantastic! Well done! Enjoy your days ahead on the water.
@Colin Angus Thank you, Colin. That is the ultimate compliment. And thanks for making it possible!
Thank you too, Tony.
I also made a new thread that details how I store and transport my RowCruiser. You can see that here: https://angusrowboats.com/community/xenforum/topic/180042/cartopping-my-rowcruiser
A couple of pictures of me rowing on Jackson Lake, Wyoming. As you can see, I have now added a rudder to help compensate for wind. No breeze today, so I left the rudder up and the daggerboard stowed.
Due to the complexities of lifeI haven't been able to get away for a cruise with overnighting yet, so I still have that to look forward to.
My wife accompanied me on this day trip. She sat comfortably in the cabin on cushions and read a book. I added payload to the aft storage compartment to compensate for her weight forward.
That is very nice. Well done. I am in Livingston, MT, and dream of building the same boat and using it in Grand Teton and Yellowstone NP, Flathead lake, etc.
I know that Jackson Lake is more of recreational boating scene than Yellowstone Lake (high use marinas, more big power boats, etc.) and is managed as an irrigation reservoir, so it might have different boat inspection requirements. I'm curious to know if you had to go through an inspection, how thorough it was, and whether they looked cross-eyed at your weird not quite a canoe or a sailboat thing.
@Paul Hook Hi Paul, sorry it took me so long to respond. I just got back from Jackson Lake. The surprising thing about it is how few boats are on the water. From the far side, where my friend and I get backcountry passes, you will see maybe two fishing boats in the distance. Kayakers and paddleboarders seem to stay close to the ramps. You must go through boat inspection in Wyoming and Idaho. For a boat like this they generally just ask where and when you had it in the water last and give you a slip of paper to show that you have been inspected. In Wyoming you also need an annual invasive species sticker, which you buy online or at a gas station for $15. Grand Teton National Park also has a boating sticker that, I think, cost $25 for the year. The biggest problem with Jackson (and many) lakes is the low water level. The beach where we landed was more than 1/2 mile from the campsite where we could build a campfire. My friend (Hobie Adventure Island) had to huff all his gear up there. I was going to sleep at anchore but the weather was kinds horrific, so I slept in my RowCruiser on the beach. It was a good trial, because it was my first time sleeping aboard. Very comfy. I look forward to doing a multi-day camp cruise. The great thing about a RowCruiser at somewere like Jackson Lake is that the backcountry camping permits for only 5 camp spots on the entire lake vanish in the first hours of January 1, and even then, considering the water level, are not near the water. With a RowCruiser you can just drop anchor and sleep wherever. My only problem is that my cruising friend doesn't have a sleep-aboard boat. I'll have to keep working on him!
Hi Kellan, thanks for the response, and the tips on Jackson Lake campling. I had a medical detour over the last year that stalled boat projects and most everything else. Due to the lost year, I decided to buy a secondhand RowCruiser if I could. I was fortunate to find one and drove it home from Port Angeles two weeks ago. Now I am getting familiar with it and thinking about how I should work up to overnight trips like Yellowstone Lake or the Missouri River. When I stopped at the inspection station in western Montana (near St Regis), they did look at the boat cross-eyed, but in a "This is interesting, but what do we call it?" way, not at all skeptical. FWIW, they checked the box on their form for "canoe" based on it being primarily human powered and sort of that shape and size. I also talked to the NPS staff at the Bridge Bay inspection station in Yellowstone on my last trip through Yellowstone (before I got the boat). They seemed pretty accomodating and mainly wanted to be able to access all parts of the boat for inspection.
