What goes to Baltimore must come back.

I was lucky enough to snag a return haul after delivering the nesting dingy to Baltimore. The good folks of Rowable Classics in Thomaston, Maine acquired a nice Pocock wooden rowing shell from the Baltimore Rowing Club and needed it hauled home. The length of the shell worried me a little, being over 25 feet long, but since I'd seen them atop some very small cars I figured my S10 truck would provide a stable platform. I built up an easily removable rack to support a typical frame with slings to hold the shell. It all worked quite nicely despite the long overhangs.

No trouble on the road either. The shell was very stable and all I had to think about was not backing it into something or having some sleepy trucker crunch it. I wrapped half a roll of orange survey tape around the stern to aid in visibility.

If you use your imagination you might be able to visualize all of the overhang off the back of the truck. It was so hot and humid there at 8am that my minds eye was shutting down. So much for factual composition!

The Baltimore Rowing Club has a nice facility just south of the city that houses a large number of boats. The interior shot seen below represents a small fraction of the entire fleet. I'd never set foot in a real boathouse before and was surprised at the formality and even harsh atmosphere amongst the crews while handling the boats ashore. I suppose I shouldn't jump to conclusions but I could think of much nicer ways to spend my Saturday mornings than having some Drill Sargent (investment banker or something in real life) barking at me while the sweat from just breathing soaks my body from head to toe.

There is no doubt in my mind that this stubburn, independant boatbuilder wouldn't last 5 minutes in that atmosphere! I bet they wouldn't even invite me to the cocktail part after................

I felt sorry for those crew members as I pulled away, ready to wind my way back to Maine.

Nesting Dingy Delivered

I'm happy to say I've finished and delivered my latest, a "nesting dingy" by Danny Greene of Offshore Design, LTD, Paget, Bermuda. This little boat looks great on the water and I look forward to a performance report from the owners.



Don't let the size of this design fool you, it is a big project. (Fool who, me)? I always assume the first build of any design will take extra time to complete, that is a given, but what I failed to see was all the extra work involved in building a boat in two floating halves. The bottom line is, I could have built two conventional dingies in about the same time. So, live and learn, there goes my summer.

Built of 6mm Okume plywood, fiberglass and epoxy, each individual half of the boat is light enough for one person to move around although the size of the aft section makes one person handling difficult. Best done with two. Three bolts join the two sections together. They are located above the waterline so in theory you could place both halves in the water, jump in the aft section and pull the two halves together. I haven't heard yet if this is true or not..............

It should do well with a small outboard if you have some long hauls to make although the 7'-6" oars give plenty of pulling power. The plans also show details for adding a sail rig.

Clean Machine, isn't it?