Hello Lew

I'm the owner of a professional non-profit website dedicated to "Travelling without fuels". Just now we are working on the creation of the english part of it (it's available in german only today). You can see an example of a journey report (still in German) here http://www.oeko-travel.org/en/travelogue/000002/00_index.php.

The site also contains information to activities, means of transportation and equipment.

We are interested in journey reports and other information to this from all around the globe.

Do you or anybody else have any interest in publishing fots and stories about your journeys on it? Please let me know with an e-mail to [email protected].

Happy rowing

Ruedi from Switzerland

Hi Llew,

I am currently working on configuring my NE Dory for sleeping aboard. I've entered Watertribe's Everglades Challange (March 3, 2012 - Tampa Bay to Key Largo - 300 miles) and would like that option. I have a few ideas, but haven't settled on one yet. I have a local boat canvas guy working on a few things, including a boom tent and supported Sunbrella decking from the bow back to the mast partner (my Dory is Lug Rigged). I'll keep you posted and send pics when complete.

Sounds like your dory is rowing only, but you might get some ideas.

Neil

Hi

I've found this one some days ago. Could be of interest, and could deliver some ideas how to make what you want.

http://angusrowboats.com/blog/

Angus will sell plans from his "camper row boat", too. At least some day, I hope :-)) ... When clicking the big image beisdes the title "Rowing Yacht" you can see a slide show of the boat.

Happy rowing

Ruedi

Llew, I have added some splash decking, about 3.5 inches, along the sides. The advantage, besides keeping wavetops out of the bilge, is that you get many more places to fasten "things", possibly like a collapsable storm top or foldup sleeping platform across the thwarts.

The hanging knees and inside rail secure a 3.5 inch plywood splash guard running the length of each side.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2s14y90.jpg

I am fitting the oarlocks into the cover now; will have a photo of that in a few days.

Think mosquito netting! Between greenhead flies that prey of pelican chicks, gnats and mosquitoes, restful sleep means netting.

I've gotten emails from builders contemplating serious beach-cruising in the Northeaster Dory, which I endorse with vigor.  I'm one of the few people I know who have cruised in rowing boats, including sleeping aboard.  This was one of my teenaged experiments in cruising under oars:

It was open down the center, with a folding seat instead of a thwart, so you could sleep on the floor.  It worked very well and I'm told the boat is still going strong 25+ years later.  (Sharp eyes will note that it is a lightly modified Bolger "Teal".)  Sleeping aboard was necessary because almost all shoreline on the Chesapeake is privately owned and beach cruising as on the Maine Island Trail is very difficult.  (Finally they are doing something about it.)

The Chester Yawl design, with the same rowing stool to keep the floor clear for sleeping, built on the early experiments in a rowing cruiser.  At least a few builders have used the Chester Yawl that way, though it seems like most would prefer to knock their shins on thwarts.

There is no reason the Northeaster Dory couldn't be modified to eliminate the thwarts so that there was a sleeping area amidships.  (This wouldn't work well with a sailing version, sorry.)  I would take to such a boat in a heartbeat for extended cruising.

Some of the correspondents sent sketches with cuddy cabins added to the Northeaster Dory so the crew could close a hatch at night.  I appreciate the impulse;  tenting options are lighter and more practical but you still end up with a wet sleeping bag oftentimes. But they used these things as inspiration:

It's hard to overstate how perfectly ghastly those boats are for anything but running downwind in the trades at sea.  I know a guy who crossed the Atlantic in one and his description suggested all the torments of Hell.  For coastal cruising of any duration it's a full-stop dead-end.

I got as far as drawing up a dedicated "coastal endurance rowing boat" for one correspondent.  A Northeaster Dory with a cuddy just has too much windage thanks to decking and coach roof;  you could never function in a strong head- or crosswind.  This sketch shows how far you have to go in streamlining a rowing boat so that you have a roof over your head at night but still make good speed in all conditions.  Great effort went into balancing the wind loads so that good control is maintained on all "points of sail."  (Pragmatically, a kayak-style downwind sailing rig is provided.)  And you can close up the hatch and wait out a rainstorm at anchor.  

At cruising speeds. an oarsman might generate 1/25th of a horsepower, so efficiency is absolutely paramount!

John Harris, is that last post yours? There's no signature and the message system lost the login, but it sure looks like a John post.

Laszlo

Odd.  Seems like when I'm logged in as an Admin (rather than as a human) it drops my handle.  Ghosts in the machine.

John, thanks for confirming.  If ever someone else joins this forum who could have written that post, your signature will be from that moment forward essential.

   Reviving this thread. Thinking removable decking for rear half of boat over the seats with a simple tarp hooked to the mast and proped up with a boat hook at the  back and a bivuac to be used seperatly or together. Any thought on how to go about the decking?I'll want to take them up and stow while underway.what would be a good material? Strong ,lightweight, possibly snaps together

   I think one could make a comfortable canvas cot for the NE Dory. With the aft thwart removed, the rails of the cot could be fashioned to slip over the hanger bolts in the center of the cot to provide support. The foot of the cot would rest on the stern seat and the head on the center thwart. It would all be covered, as you suggest, by a tarp-tent draped over a line from the mast to the gudgeons. With a bit of craftsmanship the tarp could be fashioned to snug up along the underside of the rails. Roomy and cozy with protection from all but the worst of storms.

   Considered something similar but I'm in florida and what I really need shelter from is the mosquitos and gnats ,that's where the bivuac comes in and that won't work well with a cot

This was commissioned by someone who wanted to do an extended coastal expedition in a Northeaster Dory in European waters:

I like it better than some concepts I've seen, and it has de minimis sleeping accommodations.  There was a requirement (not insensible) that the boat be self-righting, and this is what you end up with if you try to make a Northeaster Dory self-righting.  That said, it would be no fun to try to make progress upwind in something with this much freeboard.

It was never built, the client apparently not understanding that commissioning a custom design costs more than a $100 set of stock plans.

Years ago I did a study for another endurance rower contemplating a coastal and riverine expedition, and it's still my favorite.  Light, reasonably fast on all points, comfortable interior, good protection from the elements.  It too awaits a commission for working drawings.

Alternative to decked sleep-aboard dory:

Pointy at both ends? Check.

Lapstitch? Check.

Sliding seat rowing? Check.

Comfy bed? Check.

Sails? Check

Also has sails, self-draining cockpit, water ballast, loads of storage and cut-down windage for rowing. It also looks better (OK to say so since John designed it). Best of all, it already exists and is for sale at CLC.

   Love it but alas  I don't have the space, I can just fit the dory in my garage and even that requires an elaborate hoist and trolley system (3 kayaks a dory ,a trailer, my wifes car and all the usual garagy stuff in a one car garage)

Yeah, that totally superfluous wife's car thing. I've got exactly the same problem - 2 kayaks, a sailing dinghy, a schooner on a trailer and the wife's car. Doesn't she realize that it's a boathouse and shop, not a garage? :-)

Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together.

Laszlo

   Just wanted to add this link, which took me a while to find, for those of us searching for sleep-aboard options on the NE Dory: http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/36411.html

   I've used my pvc cot several times now and am very satisfied with it. About the only change I've made since posting those pictures is to fill the pieces of pvc with foam so that they will float in case dropped overboard. I've toyed with sewing a waterproof and bug-proof tent but that's more trouble than it's worth for a fair-weather camper like me.

What would you think about a bivy sack? Not enough room for it?

A bivy sack wouldn't prevent the boat from filling with rainwater, but one could just bail in the morning, no?

   I don't have any direct experience with bivy sacks, but I dn't see any obvious reason why it wouldn't work. Rainwater in the boat is not an issue because one sleeps on top of the thwarts.  One could stretch out in a bivy sack and ride out virtually any storm.

As a fair-weather camper, my main need is protection from the dew. A bivy sack would work and so would a nice, big sheet of  plastic. (So far, I have just put up with having a damp sleeping bag in the morning.)

It would be easy to make a frame for a tent shelter by bending fiberglass tent poles in an arch across the oarlock sockets, but it might be a challenge to keep that "roof" on in windy conditions. Good for a calm night, though.

   I thought I'd revive this thread to draw attention to John Harris's interesting new piece on the subject in The Life of Boats. 

I love his latest ideas on making the dory into a fine camping boat. 

But I think Silver Salt has implemented the simplest solution in his sliding bench seats. To see his modification, scroll down toward the middle of his Flickr photos. The inevitable baggage of camping supports one's feet aft of the rear bench seat.

   Sliver salt has some pictures  on flicker of sliding bench seats on tracks under the existing seats,I'm considering that with a stationary piece between  the aft seat and the first bench. To sleep simply slide the side seats together and put up a one man tent  with a front  entrance. It cheap easy And removable. It doesn't add flotation but when camping your gonna want dry  bags  anyway ( I'm considering a couple plastic barrels)

I enjoyed John's recent article as well and keep coming back to the NE Dory as the boat with the least number of compromises for my intended use. (camping in canoe coountry).

I looked at the SW dory, to large and complex for my use. The sliding benches that Silver salt has are elegant in the simplicity used to solve the sleeping on board requirement. Prior to seeing those I found my unqualified self looking at the first thwart foreward of the rear seat. Trying to guage measurements - if that were not there one would have a nice open space for sleeping. Obviously though that thwart is integral to the design. I was thinking of reduscing its height but have a sister thwart that goes over it but can be removed or reducsing its height but glassing smaller thwart with carbon fiber to increase strength. But both of these ideas require a pesky sleepig platform to still get over the smaller thwart. Not sure about <scary music>eliminating</scary music> it and glassing floor with carbon fiber or carbon fiber tape crossing over in its stead.

This is whimsical conjecture. If I am going to pay a proven designer for boat plans, I am not going to mess with those designs. I view Silver Salt's additionof sliding boards as adding to the design, not modifiying. It is also attractive if one likes to sail off the floor.

I just love the cumulative wisdom in this thread. Like others, I'm searching for a smallish row boat/sail boat that I can overnight sleep in. I'm wondering about the Lighthose Tender Peapod. If the centre thwart was removable, and the floo boards were built horizonntal, woud there be enough room to stretchout sgtraight to one side  of the centreboard case?   

The center thwart looks pretty much integral to the structure of the boat, especially in the way it supports the centerboard trunk.  I do wonder if there might be enough clearance to put ones lower legs underneath the thwart with the upper body lying aft, if you sleep on your back.  Might work, depending on the size of the sleeper.  A side sleeper might get by with, say, legs underneath the starboard side of the thwart with upper body more to the port side of the boat with the sleeper lying on his or her right side.  The tranverse arc of the floorboards might not matter so much to a side sleeper.

This is all pure conjecture.  You'd have to climb aboard and try it, I guess.

I always thought the Chester Yawl would make a great cruising rowboat, as some have mentioned in earlier posts here.  However, trying to make a sailboat of her would likely greatly diminish her rowing without resulting in much of a sailboat.  Maybe a small dipping lug for reaching and running?

.....Michael

I've been giving some thought to the Nesting Expedition Dinghy that way, as well.  Very creative, if not traditional looking, design, with all sorts of possibilities as a solo getaway vehicle with camp aboard capability.  They'll need helicopters to find you...if you don't bring your cell phone. <;-)

.....Michael