Building "Alison Anne" from Jim Michalak's design "Roar2."

A couple of years ago, I decided that I would like to cruise the Gulf Islands and the inside waters of Georgia Strait on the coast of British Columbia by row boat. There are over 200 miles of somewhat protected waters between Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and Port Hardy on the northern end. I live in Comox, a small town on the inside coast about halfway between. Although these are inside waters, there are strong tidal currents and strong outflow winds. Seymour Narrows, with tidal currents in restricted passages reaching over fifteen knots, has claimed the lives of many people and several ships, especially before the infamous Ripple Rock in the middle of the narrows was blown up with the largest non-nuclear TNT explosion in history. Sudden winds can also create hazardous conditions. Bute Inlet outflows can generate winds that have exceeded 100 mph, and that have been known to hurl beach rocks at homesteaders' cabins. When the weather is agreeable, however, these waters are among the most beautiful and serene in the world.

I have cruised the area in both power and sail boats, but I really find rowing is a good way to get more in touch with my surroundings and to gain a deeper appreciation of nature. Because of my need to be able to get on and off the water quickly in case of a sudden weather change, I wanted a fast, seaworthy, lightweight, and rugged dinghy. I also wanted a design that could handle rough water, that would track well in a cross wind, and that could carry a reasonable load of camping equipment. I also wanted something that would be quick and easy to build and that would be easy to car top.

I knew that I was asking for a lot. I browsed through libraries and the Internet for several months in search of suitable designs. After reviewing dozens, I finally decided on Roar2, a design by Jim Michalak.

I ordered four sheets of 1/4" marine Meranti (Philippine Mahogany) - Brand “Hydro-Tek” BS 1088 plywood from WestWind Hardwoods in Victoria. The Meranti is cheaper than Okume (African Mahogany) plywood, and about the same price as Douglas Fir. It also has more plies than fir (five plies, not three) and has virtually no voids.

I trimmed two, 2-1/2" pieces off one of the plywood sheets for the butt joints. I still had enough plywood for all the other pieces, including the temporary frames. 1-1/4" overlap with epoxy for each side of the butt joint was plenty strong enough.

I screwed the butt joints together with 1" screws right through into a temporary strongback (with waxed paper between the strongback and the plywood panel), then removed the screws and filled the screw holes once the epoxy had set.

 

My daughter, Alison Anne, for whom Roar2 will be named, was very helpful in laying out the hull panels.

 

Bottom plank tied into place with a single nylon tie wrap fore and aft.

 

Before I filled the panel seams with thickened epoxy, I ran a skilsaw between the panels to fair out any tight spots.

 

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After I screwed the cut out panels to the temporary frames, I used plastic tie wraps to hold the panels together until the first application of epoxy filler had cured.

I like to use System Three epoxy. It uses a simple 2:1 mix and I can mix fast and slow hardeners to any degree of "medium" that I might need, depending on the temperature and the pot life I require. I use disposable graduated paper cups to measure (and mix in the same cup for small batches). It seems to be an accurate and convenient method.

After the first application of epoxy filler on the outside of the hull had cured, I epoxy filled the inside seams between the temporary frames and let it cure before removing the frames.

Polyethylene "Short Stuff" Mini-Fibers mix very readily with epoxy to make an easy-to-use filler.

 

Before taping the seams inside and out, I sealed the entire surface with epoxy. I also installed the gunwales and spreaders to maintain the hull shape before taping the seams.

 

For the gunwales, a strip of 1/4" by 3/4" mahogany was epoxied and screwed onto each side of the 1/4" planking to create a 3/4" square section. After the epoxy set, the screws were removed and the holes filled. There are no metal fastenings left in the hull.

After the spreaders were placed, the inside seams were taped

 

As I indicated earlier, I wanted a rugged hull, so I covered the bottom of Roar2 with a layer of 9 ounce biaxial cloth, the same material I used for the seams. The seam width is 2-1/2 inches, to allow a 1-1/4 inch overlap on either side.

I applied several layers of cloth over the skeg in case I have to drag a gear-laden boat over rocks in an emergency.

I used a paste of epoxy and Mini-Fibers to fair the seams before sanding and applying a coat of "Steel-Kote" epoxy primer and topcoat (the Steel-Kote was expensive, but I wanted a long lasting, abrasion resistant, low maintenance boat.). In all, I used about 7 liters (about 2 US gallons) of epoxy for filling, taping, and sealing.

I used "Brightsides" one-part polyurethane finish coat to protect the epoxy from UV damage from the sun. Any scratches in the topcoat shouldn't show up readily because the epoxy coat underneath is nearly the same color. I chose a light color to minimize heat build up and heat-related epoxy failure. I once read about a black-painted stitch and glue epoxy sail boat cruising the tropics that failed at the hull deck seam due to excessive heat.

 

Here is the finished hull at 68 pounds.

I made the oar looms from spruce hollowed out on a table saw, and the blades from two layers of mahogany plywood.

I bent the two layers of the blades over a jig and epoxied them together to put a curve in them before grinding them to shape with a disc grinder.

Here is a pair of 9'4" oars. I also made a pair at 8'4" but I prefer the longer oars.

I used 2" ABS plastic plumbing pipe and plastic "butcher block" to make the leathers and buttons. The ABS can be shaped after heating it with a heat gun or in an oven and forcing it over a wooden D-shaped mold. The "leathers" were set in place with marine caulking. To the right is a sliding seat made with plywood and skateboard wheels. (I had to save some money somewhere after blowing it all on finishing the hull.)

The seat truck has a tether and snap attached in case of a capsize.

I built a sliding seat rig based on a design by Owen Cecil that a friend of mine had made. Owen Cecil's design uses welded steel for the riggers. Lacking welding equipment, I laminated two layers of plywood together with epoxy and drilled lightening holes to reduce weight. I used Western Maple flooring for the runners because I've been told that maple wears quite well.

Here is a view of the drop-in rig with the oars and sliding seat in place.

 

Stainless steel threaded rod and screws (and epoxy, of course) holds it all together. The foot stretcher is adjustable fore and aft, and the belt can be adjusted for different sized feet.

 

After a few trials, the rig was attached at the gunwales, two bolts through either side.

 

Oars out. The starboard oarlock sits about one inch higher than the port side.

 

Oars "shipped."

A view from aft. That's Daisy, our pet dog, a lab cross.

And here are Alison and Daisy with our cat, Tom.


The following are a few pictures of Alison Anne in various stroke positions:

Full slide.

 

At the catch.

 

Mid-stroke.

 

At the release. (The foot stretcher needs to be moved forward for Alison to get a full stroke.)

 


I don't want to have to rely on help when I want to go for a row, so I made a launching dolly out of a few pieces of plywood, a two-by-four, a couple of wheels (one wooden) and two large galvanized spikes for axles. The dolly just slides over the transom. I place the bow on the aft end of the roof rack and slide the boat up on top of the car.

 

One addition to the original plans is a keel on the bottom section to assist in tracking in a cross wind. The keel also protects the bottom to some degree when beaching.

 

My son, Murphy, with me on the maiden voyage. Roar2 (Alison Anne) really moves out. With the sliding seat, I can row at a good pace for a couple of hours because most of the work is done with my legs. I ride my bicycle to work each day (about 15 miles return) so I find the sliding seat makes good use of all the major muscle groups, including my legs, without wearing out my arms.


I try to get out on the water with friends a couple of times a month throughout the winter. The temperature seldom gets below freezing here on the West Coast, and is usually about 5 to 10 degrees C (40-50 degrees F) between October and March. One friend paddles a geodesic aerolite Arrow 14 designed by Platt Monfort, and a couple of other friends paddle ocean kayaks. I have no trouble keeping up with any of them and I enjoy the relative freedom of being able to move about and even to stand up in "Alison Anne," as she is much more stable than I had expected.

On one of our excursions, we went out into 15 knot winds to see how we would fare in a mild blow. The wind increased to 20-25 knots with gusts greater than that. Roar2 handled it all in stride, and I felt completely at ease in her. She rose and fell over the waves without excessive pitching, and tracked quite well, even though I had not yet installed the bottom keel. I made the shorter oars for such conditions, but I had little problem with the longer ones so I did not bother to change over.

Thanks to Jim Michalak for answering my needs for a very versatile rowing design.

 

Brian Walker

bawalker@shaw.ca

Comox Valley, BC.