Expedition Sailing Canoe

[Phelonius]

newby asks

Hi, new to this forum.
First question, I did not see a place to click on if I wanted to start a new thread. How is it done?
Second question, some day I would like to build an expedition grade sailing canoe. Am I in the right forum to ask about that?
I am thinking of starting with an Old Town Tripper 20'.
Building a keel trunk with either sliding or swinging keel
Unstayed mast with either lateen or lug sail.
Steering rudder and provision for small electric transom motor.
Patrial decking over with float bags.
Other possible starting point could be Old Town 17' square stern canoe.
Area where it will be used, Puget Sound waters.

Any comments?

Phelonius

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I'm not sure you're really going to be gaining anything other than installation headaches and a heavy canoe by trying to build a centerboard or daggerboard into a plastic canoe. The lateen and lug-rigged canoes sail quite well with leeboards and you can later remove them and go paddling in a normal boat. A daggerboard or centerboard trunk needs to be a very solid assembly and a Tripper hull is unfortunately, far from solid. The spot where a flexible plastic hull is joined to a rigid centerboard trunk is very problematic and often quite fragile - one piece can't flex and the other can't stay rigid. Considering that it's sailing performance will likely not be any better than the same hull with leeboards would be, you may want to rethink the trunk.

I suppose you could start with a bare Tripper hull, add hard decking and watertight bulkheads, a centerboard trunk and a smallish cockpit to sit in or on and make a big, dedicated sailing canoe, but it might be easier to start from scratch using strips, plywood or similar constructions that have more rigidity. Part of the reason that Royalex boats are so tough is that they are quite rubbery. When you start introducing rigid elements you lose some durability and also have some fairly serious installation/design problems to wrestle with.

 

[Phelonius]

Yeah I've sort of had mixed opinions about the trunk myself. The rubberyness of royalex is one of the things I like about it. Beaches I could be landing on range from sand to rock. My old pathfinder was royalex and I used it a lot for 5 years on the Priest river in Idaho. Again sand and rock beaches.
It's flat bottom with minimal rocker allowed it to skim in 3 inches of depth.
A big tripper won't skim like that but in bigger waters, a bigger canoe would be safer.
I like the idea of lace on decking over inflatable bouancy bags. The bags help hold cargo in place in the event of a capsize. They help minimize water in the canoe upon re-righting.
One of the features I like about a lateen rig is the ability to quickly douse sail in the event of a sudden strong gust. This being done by running the halyard through a camlock within reach of the pilot. Mainsheet, same, although I would only make fast when running full and by. For close hauled and pointing up I hand tend.
For extended ouring of open water I have given thought to a small kayak as an out rigger. It would not only offer stability but increased cargo capacity, and the option of a quick recon vessel once camped.

Phelonius