Oars for the Mississippi River Skiff

Having never made an oar before we referred to Shaw and Tenney's beautiful oars for inspiration. On their excellent web site they indicate how to calculate the proper length of an oar for given row boat's beam.

Howard Chapelle's lines taken from an 1870's vintage river skiff indicate a maximum beam of 58.5 inches.  Taking this number and Shaw and Tenney's formula we arrived at 8.9 feet as  the proper length for the oars.

After sorting through our stacked lumber we finally found the ash boards.  (Rough cut ash and poplar look a lot alike.)  One of our two boards was not straight enough for oars so we were only able to cut three blanks.  This gives me a reason to call John again and get back to the lumber yard.

The blanks are cut to 1 & 3/8 ths inches square.  The next step is to order a larger round-over bit for the router. We are looking forward to making these oars.

The ash is sailing through the table saw.

Once you have a clean cut on it, it is a very familiar looking wood,

(every wooden baseball bat you have ever seen).

Setting the mast in the sailing canoe

The  canoe has been waiting in the rain for the past week while we worked on the skiff.

There was sun today so we installed the mast step and cross member.

The step is roughly a 5 x 7 inch by 2 inch piece of cherry.

We cut out a notch in its base so it sits over the end of the stem on the sole of the canoe.

Prior to installation, a 2.5 inch hole was cut halfway through the base then the hole was cleaned out with a chisel.  We then poured in a puddle of epoxy to create a smooth level bottom to the base.  The mast will rotate easily in it.

The surface of the canoe's sole was prepped and we epoxied the base in place

 with a colodial silica epoxy.

Next we cut a piece of Santos Mahogany to fit under the gunnels.

To place it, we found the center plumb over the base, then cut a slightly large hole in the mahogany.

This piece was installed then the mast was set.  To do this we blocked the canoe level side to side and fore and aft.  The mast was set plumb and the snug fitting collar was screwed in.

When the mast isn't being used, the base and collar make two excellent drink holders!

Mississippi River Skiff construction

Since the bottom of the Mississippi river skiff is "flat"  (it bends through only one plane,) is was super fast to finish.

Because of this we could use wide planks. The planks are 4.5 inch wide ship lapped cedar planks.
They are 5/8ths thick. We started with the bottom and are working down to the gunnels.

After the new poplar had thoroughly dried we planed the strips down to 3/8ths of an inch thick and started the hull's sides.  Working down on the form is different.  It is the opposite of our past projects but for this boat it is working well.

We are using edge clamps to press the strips together and additional clamps to keep the strips tight to the form.  The size of the boat meant it was going to require a trailer from the start.  This lessened the weight considerations and freed up up our choice of materials and thicknesses.  The transom is an attractive shape and we are going to cut it out of a cherry glue up.  It will be an inch thick.

The first hull we build will be set up as a row boat with two stations per the plans.  But the transom will be engineered to take the stress of an outboard.  This is always wanted around here. 

A sail version could be next.

A plumb bob is used to make sure the bow is not pushed out of alignment as the sides are built.

The bob is about 150 years old, and it still works!

Custom kayak paddle

A local boater ordered a custom kayak paddle.  He was looking for a looong paddle with no blade offset.
A typical modern paddle has the blades oriented 15 degrees off axis.  This presents less wind resistance on the return path, but it is not required and a paddle without this offset can be just as effective in crossing the river.

This particular paddle is 101 & 7/8th inches long (259 cm).
The shaft is a lamination of local Bass wood and northwestern Douglas Fir.  The blades also have cherry on the edges.

River life

The shake down cruise of the outrigger was great fun. 

Two foot wakes were no problem, and the flex in the iakos seemed just right.

The canoe tracked well and was easier to paddle than expected.  The iakos are spaced to allow paddling on either port of starboard.  The outrigger is on port.

The forward seat requires a shortened stoke on the outrigger side but it is easy enough.  

We had the storage compartment on the outrigger filled with drinks and ice. 
Unneeded ballast with no sail up.  Actually it was up to 97 before lunch so maybe it was needed.  It rode in fine trim with this weight but will have a lighter footprint with a smaller load.

Canoe and outrigger

Together at last.
I picked up the Niangua canoe from our display at St. Louis Sail and Paddle.  It is time to fit the parts together.
After a rough placement, we stretched a string line from the canoe's bow to stern and measured off it to align the outrigger.  Tonight I will fit the iakos to the gunnels.
In the morning we are going to put in at Pere Marquette state park and paddle down river to Grafton, ILL.
Hopefully this weekend will see the installation of the mast and assorted sail rig components.
Check back.

iako design

I recently bought Gary Dierking's excellent book, Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes.
In it, he has three of his designs and general construction methods for this type of boat.  I wish I had found  the book earlier.  It made me revisit the design of the iakos for our boat.
They weren't graceful enough and the attachment points were too ridged.
So yesterday and today I re-cut and laminated a better design.  It now has a nice curve and the attachments will be more traditional with the use of line.
The outriggers pylons pass up through the iako and are secured with line.  The canoe end will also be fastened with line.
Here are pre and post varnish photos of the end of the iakos were they attach to the outrigger.