YOU CAN ROW IT, PADDLE IT ONE UP, TWO UP OR THREE UP WITH A DOUBLE PADDLE OR A SINGLE PADDLE

(MATARIKI - The Pleiades, or the north-east sea breeze) The rising of the Pleiades
was the signal to the Maori of the first months of the new year, Matahi o te tau.

Matariki - a kayak to rowing boat conversion Part 1 The concept emerges

Matariki was a concept project to explore the joining of a composite hull of known performance to an interior that would be adaptable for both kayaking and rowing with the benefits of being unsinkable.

For something like 15 years I had pored over countless books and drawings of dories and skiffs looking for the ideal design for solo adventure rowing.
Open boats in rough water are vessels waiting to be swamped. At last I decided to take a shot at using the hull of a Ron Augustin Sea Bear double sea kayak for my concept.
Ron willingly sold me a bare kevlar hull with no bulkheads. That was a very interesting drive home as a 20 foot long hat on my vehicle became an introduction to hang gliding.
Then came the gestation period as I tried to work out the best way to do this job. The best part of a year passed before I finally made up my mind.
In the end the job came together quite easily and you will see from the various drawings and explanations to follow that the project is one that is well worth the effort.

The Sea Bear double started life as a stitch and glue plywood single. In its time in New Zealand it was revolutionary and unless you paddled a Nordkapp you paddled a Sea Bear. Ron later developed the single into a double configuration which too was an instant success. You can still buy plywood kitsets of both these boats but sales are prodominantly of the composite versions. The double is also available as a Packhorse with a large centre 'hold' for expeditions. This configuration is also used as a triple sea kayak. The sea kayak version has heaps of rocker and high bow.

Matariki is a project boat - in all probability it will never ever be finished as new ideals are put to the test. No attempt has been made to dress her up, the various holes and fillings you can see are where different things have been tried. There will be some filling and painting soon lest the water gets into the plywood.
We are going to use Matariki in this issue to show you a few 'rowing' projects that could well lead you to try out a few things for yourself.
There is also another dimension. The blending of a composite hull with a wooden deck. A worthwhile project that can well set you up with the skills and ambition to try building a boat that is completely made out of wood.

This was taken the day Matariki had here first dip. Just a check to see if the project was going to work.

First day out! You can see the skeg fitted in anticipation of some directional problems that would occur if the original underwater configuration was retained.
The deck has been glassed but has not yet been painted. Had I taken more care in building I would like to have retained the wood finish.
The riggers are at 90 degrees which was to prove difficult to row with a side swell.
The 7'6" oars were borrowed from Roy Meehan, a local identity with plenty of marathon rowing accomplishments under his belt. The were great in really rough water but a bit short for this hull form in other conditions and I did not enjoy the high stroke rate they demanded.

Matariki sitting patiently waiting for her first cargo. All 110kg of me. Even in her unfinished state I think she looks a pretty little boat. The decks are clean and it was quite a few months later that I decided to take the next step and fit hatches in the deck ready for a camping trip. The deck was finished in Rescue Yellow for a while but after the hatches were done I had a dose of the magnificents and painted the hull dark green and white with white and eggshell blue trim inside. It still looks good but you can't really pass up on a white boat with bright finished wood for appearance.
By this time Matariki had fore and aft hatches. The riggers had been cranked up 15 degrees and a new set of 9 foot oars set up. The 'mast' has a flat car mirror which looks back over my head to where I am going. I can just see the top of my hat in the bottom of the mirror and can now normally row straight to a mark several miles away right on the button. Of course I still make very frequent 360 degree sweeps making sure some Gin Palace is not going to run me over.
Since this picture was taken I have fitted a swing down rudder (like the picture at the top of the page) and a tacking compass made for yachts. It has big alternating red and white sectors and helps me steer a consistent course (even when I have the GPS).

You can see here that Matariki is all buoyancy. I have an electric pump which will clear it in 4 minutes. You can sit with your legs over the side and eat your lunch and when at last I got frustrated waiting for the sea to do the job I deliberately capsized her. She flipped back easily with only a couple of cups of water still in the bottom. She loves rough water.
The boat has an incredible amount of storage/buoyancy space.