WWW.WOODENBOAT.NET.NZ DESIGN PRESENTATION

WALKABOUT

Designer John Welsford

Hi Dave
An update on Queenslander Wayne Jorgensens Walkabout. There are two building that could end up sailing with the Auckland group.
John

First one, caption.



Caption two.

All dressed up and nowhere to go! The sails up and set for the first time, Plonk is looking good, that rig is designed so a solo sailer is able to strike the masts in extreme conditions, or to drop them to reduce windage when rowing a long distance. This boat sails well in moderate and heavy weather, and will keep up with most specialist rowing boats in open water when being rowed. Shes a "motor sailer"if you like, one which has space to sleep her skipper on board in reasonable comfort.

Waynes done a really nice job, well done sir!

Walkabout is a little over 17 ft long but quite slim in proportions, she's
designed to row well in light to moderate condition and to survive in almost
anything that an open boat can be expected to cope with so has easy lines
and a small rig.Here is Wayne Jorgensens "Plonk" in frame with the shape beginning to appear.

A camping cruiser for the latter day explorer .

I have never met my client,  emails are instant but Stephen Paskey lives an hour or so’s drive from the shores of the Chesapeake harbour on the US East coast,  for me here in NZ that’s about half way up the right hand side of the map of the USA on a harbour famed for its huge expanse of shallow water and the several giant river  estuaries that feed into it.

He wanted a rowing boat that would really sail, or a sailing boat that would row well enough to cover long distances under oars.  The Maine Island Trail was a criteria that was used to outline the range of the boat, it’s a string of islands that runs from a bit north of Boston clear up to Canada,  I’d flown over this amazing archipelago some years ago and was hugely impressed with the potential for small boat cruising.  WoodenBoat and the sadly defunct Small Boat Journal had run articles on the establishment of Maine Island  camping trail for small boat cruisers  so I had a fair idea of what would be required for a successful “Maine Island Cruiser”.

I got  weather and climatic information,  studied the maps and charts,  read up on the historical small craft of the area so I could draw a boat that would look as though she had a historical connection with the area in which she lived, and,  almost as an afterthought, asked my client how tall and wide he was so I could fit the boat to him.

After a few exchanges of thoughts we called the design Walkabout, as in “He’s gone Walkabout” . Its an Australian term meaning “ a journey, undertaken without notice or warning, of no fixed duration, with no particular destination in mind and usually undertaken for  reasons of spiritual well being”, a really good description of an ideal small boat cruise.   She is a long slim dory shape, with a narrow flat bottom and very rounded lapstrake sides to keep her waterline beam narrow enough for rowing, her stability high enough for sailing and her  seats far enough apart to lie down between them. 

I drew side seats with 700mm between them to clear Stephens shoulders and the removable rowing seat leaves a clear space close to 3metres long down the middle of the boat. Plenty of room for an airbed and sleeping bag under the fitted tent with its modern fibreglass tent poles, and enough headroom under that tent to row the boat with the tent side flaps rolled up.

She has long end decks with airtight spaces underneath, these along with the closed in volume under the side seats is enough to both carry a large volume of stores stowed away through  the built in hatches, and to still support the boat should the unthinkable happen and the boat be swamped.

I chose this low rig to keep the length of the spars short, the centre of effort low and the masts out of the accommodation area.  The cat yawl rig is a favourite of mine, powerful for its sail area,  very quick to rig and self tacking. I have placed the masts well inboard to enable the skipper to reef or hand the sails if caught out at sea, and was able to keep  the spars short enough to stow them inside the boat.

A mizzen placed where it is has caused lots of designers problems in getting the tiller in, but with this log slim boat the best seating position is just aft of amidships, so by pivoting  the tiller on the mizzen step, and running lines back to a detachable yoke on the rudder stock I have a system that is both accessible and nice to use. Note that the tiller stands up alongside the mizzen when not needed.

This is a powerful boat, her length will give her speed under sail as well as making rowing easier.  She will sail nicely in anything more than a whisper of wind, and row well even when loaded up with family or camping gear. There is a lot of space, the original client is a big man and the sleeping space, seating and rowing spaces are designed for his height and length of leg . As a daysailer for a family where Dad has ambitions to get away for a couple of week exploring a year this is ideal. 

She’s big enough to carry all of a growing family and light enough to manhandle on his own, seaworthy well beyond the capabilities of most open boats, and comfortable enough for  overnight camping aboard.

 John Welsford

 Designer

Walkabout.   Camp cruising rowing and sailing dory.

LOA.                                      5.000m                                    16 ft 5in

Beam                                      1.520m                                    5 ft

Sail area Sloop                         8.2  sq m                                 88 sq ft

Weight ( est)  .                         120 kg                                     242 lbs lbs      

Plans are                     

                                    Stg    85 00

                                    Euro 125 00

All prices include airmail post and packaging.

Plans from      John Welsford Small Craft Designs

Email     jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz

Site         www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz

Phone/fax  (64)  7  3575354

Post  Po Box 314 Ngongotaha

New Zealand