The Wood Duck 14 is here.

Ready to go.  Neat boat!  At 165 pounds, I need a rudder in a kayak with that much volume. 

We can thank Jock Yellott for inspiring this one.  Last year he paddled around at OkoumeFest with his big black lab in his Wood Duck 12.

The Wood Duck 14 is with us here in Madison this weekend, along with all the other Ducks.

We don't have a hybrid version yet, and as usual it'll take me a few weeks to clear off the drafting table backlog so we can offer plans.

Wood Duck 14

 


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RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

May I be the first on this post to congradulate you on one fine looking boat. The rumers did prove to be true after-all. I am currently on my first boat the W.D. hybrid 12 and all is going well so far. The 14 interest me because my 2nd son is large--6'6" @280# with less than 10% body fat and I think the specs on your new 14 will be closer to a fit for him than my current 12 project--I do not think he will need a rudder either. I was wondering on my 12 if the top half of my boat is secure enough with the recommended fastening proceedure to handle the stress of practicing Eskimo victory rolls or not? THanks

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

John,

Good to see that Ed's kid is no longer in danger of being brained by Dad's paddle. It certainly is the SUV of the paddling world.

BTW, have you guys proofread the ad copy on the WD14 page?

 

 

Thanks for the belly laugh.

Laszlo

 

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

Quite right.

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

I was considering the capabilities of the WD14 and it just occurred to me that it has enough volume and weight capacity for a battery and electric motor. If I can trust my back-of-the-envelope calculations, anything over 10 lbs of thrust should easily drive that boat at over 4 miles an hour. With a little reinforcement and carelful attention to the center of gravity, a medium paddler should be able to carry a fairly heavy battery and stay out all day. Sounds like an easy 20 - 30 mile long day trip would be possible.

Who's going to be the first to build an Electric Duck?

Laszlo

 

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

I agree that that would be a neat boat!

At the Jersey Shore recently I was putting in my Tupperyak in the back bay.  Next to me a guy put his e-yak into the water, turned on the juice and just silently slid away down the waterway to do some fishing.  It just looked so cool!

Please share your calculations with us gearheads.  Our slide rules are at the ready.

(John will have a hissy fit when he reads your post, of course.  We'll all think about it a bit, and finally realize that he's right...why try to turn a vessel that was so perfectly designed to do a simple thing well into something else, whilst seriously compromising the original concept?  Also, how about adding a small diesel coupled to a rare-earth magnet BDC generator as a battery range extender, and solar panels?...)

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

Camper,

I like to think that an electrified WD14 isn't really compromising the design at all. It can be done with no change to the mold lines while staying within the boat's weight limits. Mechanically, it can be as simple as a highly modified rudder which (along with the battery) could be removed in a few minutes to convert the boat back to its original design. The permanent weight difference would only be a pound or less (out of 50+). So I believe that the electric mod could be done in a way that worked with and was respectful of the original WD14 design.

As to why, there's quite a few reasons. Wildlife observation, for one. In an electric duck there would be no moving paddles with their attendant splashes to scare the animals. You would be a silent drifting log as far as they were concerned.

Then there's all those paddlers (or wannabe paddlers) who have arrived at that point in their lives where they just cannot climb into a Chessie or a Shearwater and paddle for hours on end (and face it, that's going to be all of us one day, assuming we don't die off first). An electrified WD14 with its large comfortable cockpit would allow people with joint problems, injuries or other conditions to easily climb into the boat and stay out on the water all day with their friends & families, or to independently go places where they've never been.

Finally, not only is John way too dignified to have a hissy fit, (CLC gang, fell free to jump in if you've got something to say :-) ), but I've heard enough rumors about an electrified NE Dory coming to life in the secret workshop on George Avenue that I feel pretty sure that there's no philosophical objection to the concept.

Laszlo

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

I think an electric Wood Duck 14 would be awesome.  I love that sort of thing, especially when it's done artfully.

The Coast Guard has a requirement that powered vessels float upright and stable if swamped.  That will be relatively hard to arrange in a kayak, even one as substantial as the Wood Duck 14. 

 At minimum you'd want to augment the Wood Duck's positive flotation to offset the weight of the battery.  And ponder the consequences of being in sudden watery proximity to a shorting 12v battery.

RE: The Wood Duck 14 is here.

Dang, I am chastened.  Again.  I'm almost tempted  to confine myself to expressing my own opinions, rather than stating what others probably think. But what would be the fun?

All attempts at humor aside, it is a very neat idea, notwithstanding John's slightly depressing update on the (non-negotiable) advice of the feds.  

 

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