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| 5.6 metres stem to stern |
Out today umbrella sailing in 16 knots SSW. Best day yet under 'sail'. Brisk enough that during a gust the umbrella handle separated from the stem with a pop and went flying away.
Sailed downwind of course and had to paddle back...Plenty of drag from my beamy short hull but no whitecaps to drench me.
However, as is the way of it, I happen to be doing my habitual online canoe sailing research when I came upon the craft illustrated above at a very good price. So I asked for an opinion from experienced sailors on the Yahoo Canoe Sailing egroup:
Yes. looks like it would be a great sailer. Obviously needs leeboards but will be a fun boat.Happy Sailing!Ed
5.6 metres long it is offered as a kayak but its design reprises aspects that emanate from the traditional canoe sailer designs of the 19th century like the famous Yakaboo immortalised in canoe sailing mythology in a tale of its cruising exploits:
The Yakaboo ALONE IN THE CARIBBEAN --Being the Yarn of a Cruise in the Lesser Antilles in the Sailing Canoe "Yakaboo" BY FREDERIC A. FENGER (Published:1917)
The Yakaboo is up there with the Nautilus which was a canoe made of paper sailed in nearby waters and written about a few years earlier with similar expeditioner's verve.
VOYAGE of THE PAPER CANOE:A GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY OF 2500 MILES FROM QUEBEC TO THE GULF OF MEXICO,DURING THE YEARS 1874-5. BY NATHANIEL H. BISHOP (Published: 1878)
And before the Nautilus John MacGegor famously sailed the Rob Roy up the Nile and across the Baltic.
Exciting reads -- inspiring boats -- all of them. You can perhaps see how these old timey craft can get under your skin. The Golden Age of canoeing was driven by craft such as these and many tales of some quite extraordinary voyages.
A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe by J. MacGregor (Published 1866).
So when I look at this 5.6 metre craft on offer, I'm tempted.
Can I go back in time?
Would I want to?
