Carougie In The Water
Building her was a lot of fun, but putting her in the water for the first time was even more fun. When you put a boat in the water for the very first time, rationally you know it will float, but emotionally there is a lot going through your mind. Will she really float or will she sink, and if she floats will she sit properly in the water as intended.
Carougie surpassed all of my expectations and my son and I had a wonderful time testing the little boat out. Since my son helped to build her I gave him the honor of being the first to use the boat, and he loved it. After a few minutes he brought her back to the dock.
Then I climbed aboard. It is a very stable boat for such a narrow beam, boarding was very easy, and the little seat we built was much more comfortable than I ever expected. I paddled out in the river a ways and then just sat there for a few minutes enjoying the view over the bow, and loving that I was afloat in a small boat I had built with my own hands from regular materials in just a few days of actual work.
Looking forward to taking her back out again tomorrow and doing some exploring. Since she is the only completed boat I own at the moment we are going to rent a pirouge for my son to use for the day.
The next boat is already on the drawing board, and will be my version of a Pirouge. She will be based loosely on the lines of Carougie, but a little bit smaller and lighter. She will have a very small flat transom and will not have any storage compartments or hatches. Since she is a sister of Carougie I think we will call this design Pirougie.
If you are interested in building a Carougie plans will be available very soon – just as soon as I get my hand scribbled notes and sketches put into some format that is actually readable by others that is.
