A house gives birth and a maiden voyage - yet again!!

Back in April of this year, I launched a new boat and I made a blog entry titled - A house gives and a maiden voyage. Well, now its just over 5 months later and I am making a second blog entry with the same name.

With the exceptions of deck rigging and stem/stern keel strips, my Disko Bay is finished.

Below are some pictures showing the boat leaving the house and of its maiden voyage.

Look familiar??

No snow on the ground this time!!

Disko Bay meeting the rest of the "family"

Hanging out by the pool, i.e, fish pond.

The blunt end!

The pointy end!!

Very nice profile!!

Very nice lines!!

Lean and mean at a mere  28lbs!!

Obligatory standing-on-end shot!

Baffin and Disko ready to hit the water!

I decided to take the boat to the pond for its maiden voyage. I made this decision for a couple of reasons - a) there was a bit of wind on the bay and I was not sure how the boat would handle, b) I was not sure how hard it would be launching from the beach and c) I do not have my flotation bags made yet.

Cheryl and I packed up the car, racked the two boats and hit the pond.

The boat certainly handled a lot better than the last time it was on the pond!!  Freeboard was a bit low, as to be expected, but at least it did not sink (hahahaha)

I'm not sure if the low freeboard is affecting edged turning but it seemed like the boat wanted to turn to the edged side as opposed to away from it. Still experimenting to check this out.

This boat is no pig. It can be brought up to pretty good speed.  Initial stability is a bit low but easily gotten used to!

As was anticipated, this boat rolls very nicely. The total height at the back (including the coaming) is just 6.75" so lay back rolling is a piece of cake. My first roll went so easy that I came flying up like a rocket. My current boat rolls easy but the force required for this one is far less - I guess I used too much power!!  Sculling braces are a breeze and balance bracing will come very easily!

Sittin' pretty!

Just scullin' about!!

Image form a video capture of sculling.

We spent about 1.5 hours puttering around the pond.

I'll admit that I was bit disappointed in how the boat felt and handled. It just seemed pretty much like any other of my boats - with the exception of the rolling and other stationary manoeuvres. I figured (hoped) it was just that it was new to me. We packed everything back up and headed home. On the way home we drove through St. Philips, an area where we often take short paddles. There was a good breeze blowing but the water at the shore was calm. A great chance to take the boat out on the salt water. I'm sure glad I did.

I launched without incident. The low masik on the boat makes my regular entry impossible - one leg followed by the other. This boat requires a lot more balance. Inside the harbour it was pretty calm - a good place to get a feel for the boat. As I moved out around the headland, the wind/waves increased a fair bit. The weather station at the local yacht club was recording winds of 14 knots at the time. Nothing out of the ordinary but at least it gave me a better feel of the new boat. After paddling for a few minutes, I came to a decision that this boat will never touch the pond again!! On the salt water it was a different beast. The movement of the water brought the boat to life. It seemed to turn quicker. It flexed with the waves. I was happy to see that it did not plow through the waves as much as I was expecting. It rode them quite nicely. There was enough wind and wave to create some surf-like conditions as well. I caught a few waves and the boat tracked nicely - it was not pushed off to the side, nor did the bow dig in nor the stern get pushed under. I was impressed given its low volume and my weight (just under 200lbs).

Putting in a St. P. There was a crowd of about 30 people on the beach!

In the end, I'm glad we made the detour to St. Philip's. It showed me the capabilities of this boat. Besides, it is a West Greenland replica, so shouldn't it be more at home on the salt water?  I think I'm going to enjoy seeing what it can do!!

Thanks for dropping by.