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Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:42 pm
by TexaRican
Ok, the old timers around here might remember the WYE 13-6 that I built for my daughter out of pink DOW foam. We finally got a chance to paddle it for real today. Took my kid to Martin Dies Jr. State Park for a little campout. At 13 she and I have little in common anymore but I'm blessed that she still wants to hunt, fish and camp with her ol' Dad :wink:

Our screen shelter was only 20 yards from the water, facing directly into the wind. After a freezing night, I found a suitable slide in near our shelter.
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Unfortunately I broke one of the plastic folding seats while trying to remove it from the industrial Velcro fastening that I had installed temporarily in order to properly assess seating position. Let me tell you that stuff is STRONG. The seat broke before the Velcro would give.
So, kiddo sat up front and I ended up all the way rear so that I had something to lean against. This turned out to not affect the trim of the boat at all as far as I could tell and left us plenty of space so we would not be near bumping paddles if we wanted to both paddle. But my kid still thinks she's 5 so I got to paddle her all over today. I am so out of paddling shape that I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
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We had a good time and the boat was everything I expected. I'm 250 right now and my kid is about 130 but I think our draft was minimal.

I have not paddled it solo yet but here is my assessment so far:

Stability - Second to none. I can stand up and paddle/pole or she can stand in front and cast. No worries at all here.

Speed - Well, did I mention I'm out of paddling shape? Paddling for two is not easy but we were not in a hurry. I would not plan a distance paddle in this boat but if she had been paddling, perhaps I would think differently. Time shall tell.

Turning/tracking - Obviously this type of hull lends to straight tracking but it turned more easily than I expected. We were not fighting strong winds today but for now I have no plans to add a rudder.

I paddled with both double and single blade. My preference was with single in a kneeling position. I will work on a better seating arrangement that gets me up higher so I don't bang my knuckles when using the double blade. All in all I am very happy with the boat and looking forward to some solo marsh fishing where I can stand and cast at will!

Re: Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:22 am
by makenmend
FINALLY indeed :) I had wondered about this for a while, and figured that you'd dropped the project. I still use mine from time to time, even did a couple of river camp trips where she did well, she'll carry a load. and as you found makes a good stand up platform to fish from, congtats.

MM

Re: Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:35 pm
by TexaRican
I plan to take up the sport again this year (both fishing and boatbuilding). This boat will be the perfect buddy boat since you can put any newby in it, any big boy, old folks, etc. Nothing could be more stable.

Got the urge to do another one but I want something even more unique. Thinking of building up a huge block of foam and actually carving a boat out of it!

Re: Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:52 pm
by neon14
Pretty cool! Great looking boat. I had the chance to paddle MMs WYE last year and did not because I got to busy talking :D

Re: Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:16 pm
by preacher
Good to heard from you. Us working guys don't get to get out much do we? That boat is sweet, and, yes, that industrial velcro is awesome. I've learned to use a screw driver or putty knife to run between the layers to seperate them and also to pry up and disjoin the velcro.

Trying again to get me a place on Bolivar, maybe this summer, I will let you know and we can jerk a few. That is if they let me retire LOL.

Re: Paddle Report - FINALLY!!!

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:59 pm
by TexaRican
Just an quick update - finally got some solo paddle time in. I also repainted the top section red to get rid of the zebra but the black stripes show through a bit giving a tiger effect. :roll: Anyway, I got out last week to POC and put in a boggy on an extremely low tide. Paddled a couple hundred yards out and let the wind drift me north. I was very happy with the way the boat drifted even without a drift sock. Swung both legs over the side and was completely stable fighting the reds. Unfortunately I let the fun make me forget the paddle home would be up wind. Took almost 2 hours to get back to the struck against a stiff south wind and whitecaps. The boat tracks great as you would expect for this type hull but the hull slap was pretty obnoxious! I guess I was also way out of paddling shape cause I had to throw the stakeout stick in a couple of times and rest. Still, I'm happy with the boat but I think it would be a prime candidate for a trolling motor. I can stand up and paddle/pole it very nicely in the bayou btw.

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