Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Draft
I am curious as to the draft of the various boats that have been built from this forum.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on
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Stephen,
That question can only be answered based on what kind of load you are hauling and how wide the bottom of your boat is, not only the overall width, but how much the boat bottom holds its width from front to rear., think teardrop vs.diamond shape so to speak.
I would say my Tatman 17' wood boat draws about 8 to 10 inches of water with me plus two passengers and day trip gear, but I've never actually measured it for the record. My 16' aluminum boat cuts those numbers by probably a little less then half, cause the entire floor of the boat is wider from stem to stern, its bottom flare starts immediately gets big quickly, its even pretty wide by the transom.
Everybody looking to build a boat seems to be more concerned with overall length more so then anything else, I would argue that bottom width/shape is way more important than length. I've rowed quite a few different style/ types of boats and for me a wider bottom boat not only handles better, hauls more of a load, and floats higher, its just easier to row period. I know this isn't the easiest thing for most people to do but I would suggest rowing lots of different styles of boats before building or buying, because its truly the only way to find out what will work best for you.
Mike
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Permalink Reply by Jesse Ronnow on
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Stephen,
I would have to echo the thoughts of Mike. I have rowed several different manufacturers (Hyde, Clack etc.) and different models as well. There is no doubt in my mind that the overall width of the bottom is the most important part of draft. The other component to this is the trim and shape of the bottom as Mike mentioned tear drop or diamond shaped. Most of the framed wooden boats are tear drop shaped or "A Symmetrical". Which is to say wider from the center line forward than from the center line back. Also with these A symmetrical boats, the position of the rowing seat and load balance play a part as well. If you think about it, it's just physics. A wider surface requires more weight to displace the water, thus (provided your not floating cattle down the river) the boat will ride higher.
Bottom line, I agree with Mike, do what ever you can to row some other boats before you build one. Then once you have decided on what you like, try to construct your boat to match that "style" as much as you can.
I hope this helps,
Jesse
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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on
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I basically decided on the shape for my boat based on what I gathered from asking other boat owners lots of questions... Seeing what guys were using on the water I planned to float, and generally compiling info until I felt like I had a good compromise for the design. I knew I wanted a wider bottom though... felt like I wasn't going to go wrong with that decision. It really depends on what type of water you are running... and what you are using it for...
Randy/Sandy at Tatman were super helpful (and patient) in helping me come up with something that would work well.
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Jason,
How wide is your boat?
Jesse
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My boat is 52" wide
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Jason, is your boat 16' or 17'? My wood boat is a 17' with a 52" bottom and its fine for me and one passenger, but with two dudes up front the thing turns into a pig. The extra guy pushes the boat to far down into the water and when you try to hold the boat in place you can feel the water pushing up against the transom with every backstroke. It doesn't matter how far I move the seat up either, the bottom is just not wide enough to support the weight of two passengers the way I want it to.
If I ever build another boat I will scale it after my Willie boat, 16' with a 54" bottom. This size seems to work very well for me and two passengers for day trips, but is also a great multi day trip boat for two people with camping gear. If I were guiding it would be a 17' with a 60" bottom, I rowed a Willie with these dimensions and it was the easiest rowing boat I have ever been in, even with two passengers I couldn't believe how little effort it took to move it across the water, very nice.
Mike
Mike
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Permalink Reply by Herb Jacobsen on
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When I first guided on the Rogue I had a 16X48. In it was 3 people, luggage for 4 days for 3 people, an outboard motor and tank of gas, a lunch cooler and fishing gear as well as a few other things. It was a lot of weight. We made sure that the boats were balanced by shifting the weight til the boat was sitting even on the water. The same amount of boat out of the water on the bow as well as the stern. You would not believe how much baggage some of the people would show up with. We figured we were rowing at least 1500 lbs. for 4 days.
Even on my 17X52 it was the same. I used small spring clamps on the seat pipe to get the seat where I wanted it. Sometimes I carried 3 fishermen at a time. I never had any problems with it. For me the 17X52 was the best boat I ever rowed. I have had Alumawelds, Fish-rites, Clackacraft and have tested a few other boats as well. My favorite has always been the 16X48 Keith Steele and the 17X52 Tatman. I rowed a 17.5 X 54 Tatman a few times but did not like it as well.
Again, it is all how you load them and how you are set up with the right length oars, Oar lock height, weight distribution, and how your seat is set up(meaning height). We found that a lot of times we had to add a little height to our seats to get them right.
I boated a bit over 200 days a year so I knew when the boat fit and when it did not. That meant how it handled also...... All that rowing and weight was how you got the big shoulders and big butt.......
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Herb,
I've got the big shoulders and I'm gaining on the big butt...;)
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my boat is 17'. I am surprised that two passengers up from gives you a hard time. What about if you have a guy up front and one behind you? Is the bottom of your boat symmetrical? Does your rowers seat and passenger seat move to adjust the trim?
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Jason,
My wood boat is not symmetrical. I don't know if or how much Randy/Sandy has changed the shape of the bottom ever since he bought Tatman boats, but mine is almost ten years old and was a boat kit Greg built and delivered to my house. I've tried a guy up front and a guy in back, it only makes it worse with the rear end of the boat sinking further into the water. I know its almost blasphemous to bad mouth a wood boat on a wood boat forum, but all I can tell you is for what I do and how I fish my aluminum Willie works best for me. I don't fly fish much so my boat is not just transportation for me to get to the next hole and get out to fish. I'm a gear fisherman and I pull plugs or back bounce almost exclusively. So when I'm fishing I'm slowing the boat down all day long, holding it in water that in some places is pretty fast, other times not so much. I have rowed my boats back to back more than a few times and the Willie's bottom shape and rocker is key to why it work's better for how I fish. Its much wider over the whole length of the boat, way more so under where the guys up front sit. Its width and rocker provide more lift, it simply rides higher in the water making my job of back trolling much, much easier. I understand what Herb is saying about load distribution and I have experimented with moving it around, but the bottom of my wood boat is much narrower over its length and it just wont stay on top of the water like the Willie will.
Mike
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Permalink Reply by sanderson on
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the boat Jason has is a very different shape than the classic tatman 17x52 it has a symmetrical bottom, more flare and a movable rowers seat. it sounds like your being pushed on the transom with the tatman. that has to be the most frustrating thing with any boat. i have had me and two people in a tatman 17x52, 16x48, 16.5 inline and a 15.5x 48 all of us are 230+ pounds and the only boat that got a little sloppy was the 15.5. you should be able to put two people and gear in a 17x52 and have lots of transom out of the water, the last time i had the transom in the water was when i took about 15 inches or so of water in the boat. i have to say it rows like a pig with that much weight in it, but i have never come close to that in gear weight, also if your weighing a boat down you don't always want the boat to sit even in the water, it is good to trim it forward so that the transom is more out of the water, especially if your going to back row a lot or in bigger water. the 17x52 tatman and any other boat with the wide spot forward of center will want to float higher on that spot and the back will sink a little lower. the willie boats have a wider transom lot of rocker a good amount of flare and a more symmetrical bottom. this means you can put more gear in the back of the boat with out sinking the transom. here are some pictures to try and show the differences between the shapes. the first two are a willie the third one is a 16.5 inline and the last two are a 16x48 tatman
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Permalink Reply by Karl Mueller on
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I think my 16 x 48 Hill Guide model draws about 4+. Even after many years I am sometimes surprised as I look down floating over crazy skinny water. Next time out though I will measure and get a definitive answer. Here's the shape:
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