Hi Matt,
I thinK you might be right mate and it would have been much quicker to build the coaming as drawn..
I just didn't much like the look of the vertical coaming and becaus the boat would be resting on the coaming when tied down onto the roof-racks of my car, I had doubt about its strength in the long run.
Hi Jack,
Thanks mate, but I don't plan on sleeping in her. Where I will be padding her, there are lots of sandy islands with trees to hang a Hennesy.
Hi Mike,
They don't compare. Wadefish is a planing hull and as such is a very good down wind/wave performer, She takes more effort to maintain good hull speed when punching into either.
South Wind is a true displacement hull along the lines of a big sea kayak.
While she is not capable of achieving the speeds of the wadefish, she has better glide and takes less effort to maintain an acceptable hull speed.
It is a bit like trying to compare apples to oranges.
Wadefish is a purpose built fishing machine that is capable of touring some distance. She is superb as a fishing machine and rough water boat but storage for touring was a compromise.
Southwind, is an expetition/touring machine and will be superb in that role. Very good hull performance in all conditions and immense storage and load carrying capacity. She also is a very useful fishing boat.
I originally built Wadefish to fish a patch of reef some 8 miles off-shore for very solid pelagics. I wanted a boat capable of taking the most advantage of the prevailing trade winds and swell coming home.
Since building her, I have had a couple of health problems and that patch of reef is no longer an option.
I tend to target more sheltered waters and calmer, easier paddles now and have develloped a real love for the single blade paddle. for the conditions I am paddling at the moment, Southwind better suits my needs.
