What I'm wanting for my Daughter

[DarrellS]

I want a S&G construction boat w/ stripped decks (not full length decks). Somewhere in the 14-16 foot range and it has to be stable and easy to paddle. Almost all of her paddling will either be day trips or camping trips on the Brazos. I will put some sort of adjustable seating in it for keeping the boat trimmed correctly with camping gear. A good friend of mines wife is an artist so I am going to pay her to paint some sort of mural on the front deck. I have only built two boats so far but I have a mind full of ideas. Too many for only one more boat I am afraid.

These were just things off of the top of my head so I will add to this list as I think about it more.

[gerald]

I'm sure you are aware of the Brazos River Fishing Boats that I've been building. These are 5 panel S&G with a strip deck. I've also been building some 3 panel that look very nearly the same. Of course you can call a 3 panel a pirogue, but I think that limits the view in most people's minds to that of an old fashion swamp boat that is sedately poled along. That's unfortunate because subtle design variations can make a 3 panel boat perform many different functions in many different ways (I can build a racing pirogue!). The 3 panel is the most boat for the money you can buy or build. You can do anything with that kind of boat. The number of panels helps dictate the general shape of the hull. The general shape of the hull dictates how the boat performs in any number of ways. We determine how many panels (or shape of the hull) we need for the tasks that we're going to ask of the boat. Flat bottom boats are great for rivers, but the thing I like most about them is that they sit flat when I beach it. A V bottom boat (4 panel) leans over. Certainly you can live with that but I just don't like to. Flat bottom boats are generally 3, 5, or 7 panel boats. A good general purpose design is 3 or 5 panel. 4 panel is fine if that's just what you have to have. Each can be designed to perform in a number of ways.
Easy to paddle and stable don't really go together. If it's stable--it's not easy. If it's easy--it's not stable. We can have a happy medium though. Let's say that a boat should be efficient to paddle. Length determines the potential speed (I won't go into that formula right now). Basically a 16 foot boat will cruise easily at 4mph. A 9 foot boat at 3mph. Not considering a lot of factors you can say that the wider the boat is the harder it will be to achieve those speeds. The potential is still there--it just gets harder.
The shape of the hull determines how all that stability manifests. Initially tippy, but great secondary stability. Sound good? Maybe--but with side waves it can pitch quite hard and be a handful. A lot of factors go into designing a boat.
As you can see I can talk a lot about boat design. I just posted some pictures of Seashell's new boat. Take a look. Try it out saturday. heck...your daughter can try out my marathon boat. Seashell can motor it pretty good. I'm sure your daughter can too.

[TexaRican]

Of course you can call a 3 panel a pirogue, but I think that limits the view in most people's minds to that of an old fashion swamp boat that is sedately poled along. That's unfortunate because subtle design variations can make a 3 panel boat perform many different functions in many different ways (I can build a racing pirogue!). The 3 panel is the most boat for the money you can buy or build.

I'm sure glad you said that. My boat's designer called it a canoe. It is the fastest boat I've owned yet, beating all of my plastic SOTs easily. I built the boat and I'm neither French nor from Louisiana. Canoe is derived from a Spanish word and that fits better with my ancestry. Think I'll go with Texas flats canoe for mine.

[gerald]

Another name for a 3 panel (pirogue type) is "Swamp Canoe." I almost always gravitate toward calling my boats...wait for it..."...boat..."