NAUTILUS PADDLEABLE-SAILING CANOE.
The paddleable-aailing canoe is a vessel designed for cruising on navigable rivers, lakes, and seas, and for sailing matches—a craft in which sailing is the chief mode of propulsion. The sailable-padd/ing canoe is intended for navigating inland lakes, rivers, and canals, and in her paddling is the chief mode of propulsion.
A universal feature of British canoes is that they are " decked," and, with the exception of a few river craft, the decks are of wood permanently and substantially built to the canoe. An equally prominent, but not so universal, feature is that, with the exception of the club "fours " and a few two-handed canoes, each canoe is manned by one man only; but, when considering the subject of sailable-paddling canoes as regards their adaptability to extensive foreign cruising and exploration, we shall endeavour to point out the advantages, if not superiority, of double-handed canoes for touring purposes.
The design and construction of a paddleable-sailing canoe will first be considered. The design represented by Plate %XXVII. has stood the test of existence, and has originated several craft highly successful both as cruisers and racers ; but the design has been slightly altered from the one recently built to—as will be duly pointed out— in order to rectify such weaknesses as were made apparent by practical tests ; the centres of " lateral resistance " and " effort of sails," have been placed conformably to the dictates of actual trial; and the various fittings and equipments as to sizes, shapes, and positions, are not speculative, but the tried results of the experience of many good canoeists.
Under the sliding scale of the Club rules canoes have crowded into the lengths between and inclusive of 12ft. and 15ft., and of these perhaps 14ft. canoes are the most numerous. The most generally serviceable sailing canoe (which may be paddled) will be found under the dimensions of 13ft. length, by 2ft. 10iin. beam. Another club rule is that the depth at the fore end of the " well," from under the centre of deck to garboards, shall not exceed 16in. ; keel outside not more than tin. ; centre-board not more than 18in. deep.
On these leading dimensions the design has been constructed : The " sheer plan " is that from which all the heights, depths, and lengths are taken, and is shown at the scale of sin. to lft.
The " body plan " gives the measurements from which the building moulds are to be made. The body plan is shown on the scale of sin. to a foot.
The deck plan is inserted to show the well coamings and locker and the foot-steering gear. Scale }in. to lft.
All the plarui are drawn to the outside edge of the plank, so that in making building moulds, &c., allowance must be made for the thickness of plank, and also a piece must be cut out of the moulds to fit over the inboard portion of the keel to the upper edge of the rabbet. The moulds need only be " half moulds," i.e., representing the shape of one side only to the middle vertical line, and will then be worked for both sides, fixing a fore-and-aft cord as the centre line. If, however, there is any doubt as to the capabilities of the workman (even if with a good man, great accuracy is required), then whole solid moulds fixed in posi tion, form the only safe plan, as with half moulds the sides of the boat may, by carelessness, vary very considerably.
Canoes and other small boats are usually built up from a straight edge building block, and therefore the rocker, or upward curve of the keel from that straight-edge is given ; the heights of stem and sternposts, and their " set " or " rake," will be taken from the drawing, and they will be fixed in position to the keel before the latter is fixed to the building block. The other heights, whereby the correct sheer is obtained, will be taken from the sheer plan table, page 414, and transferred to the building moulds; and, to insure these moulds being in position, the load water-line should be marked on both stem piece and stern post and on each mould; and a hole should be bored through each mould at the cutting of the water-line with the middle line ; or, if the whole mould be not solid a batten should be nailed across each, the top edge of which batten should be level with the load waterline; then a tightly-stretched chalk line, nailed to marks on stem and stern posts, should cut the aforesaid water-line points or battens on the moulds. Without this precaution moulds and " lines " are useless, and one might as well build according to the rule of -thumb plan of allowing the plank to take its own form.