Love it, perfect for the Salish Sea. My musings on a solar electric river cruiser for 2 keep coming back to a modified Long Steps, stretched to maybe 22 feet and with a soft cabin. Walkabout is working great as a solo river boat, the slippery rowing hull is well matched to low power electric. Whaler looks saltier, but would take more power and with more windage from the fixed cabin would be limited by wind.
Rick - I hope you’ll share a story with us here on your plan for a stretched Long Steps, with solar-electric power. Readers would love to see the resulting boat and hear full details. - Marty
Albert - The good news is that I’ve been cruising aboard “rolly” boats my whole life, so I’m used to tacking forth and back to cross the wakes of monster powerboats—usually our main source of nasty wave action.
So….” Blessings All Around!”….Marty, Kees, John…..with a Pedigree like that…especially with JW’s kind words, a fair wind at your back….go for it Marty!…all very exciting…
It's great to have an endorsement from JW (although with your experience and resources it was always going to be a well-thought through and competent addition).
And just because I'm a complete pedant - John's newest design is Scallywag (a c rather than a k).
One tweak that would make your design more at home (style wise) in Puget Sound would be a forward sloping windshield, which is seen here often on boats with a working pedigree. A vertical windshield is not good, however, because of reflections that can interfere with clear vision.
David - Thanks for the suggestion, but we’re going with more of a traditional look, based on our love for vintage commercial salmon trollers and gillnetters. The forward sloping windshields seen on almost all modern commercial and recreational fishing boats might make sense, but they’re just not for us…at least with this project.
Love it, perfect for the Salish Sea. My musings on a solar electric river cruiser for 2 keep coming back to a modified Long Steps, stretched to maybe 22 feet and with a soft cabin. Walkabout is working great as a solo river boat, the slippery rowing hull is well matched to low power electric. Whaler looks saltier, but would take more power and with more windage from the fixed cabin would be limited by wind.
Rick - I hope you’ll share a story with us here on your plan for a stretched Long Steps, with solar-electric power. Readers would love to see the resulting boat and hear full details. - Marty
Looks beautiful. The only concern I would have is that round bilges and double ends have a tendency to be rolly in a seaway.
Albert - The good news is that I’ve been cruising aboard “rolly” boats my whole life, so I’m used to tacking forth and back to cross the wakes of monster powerboats—usually our main source of nasty wave action.
So….” Blessings All Around!”….Marty, Kees, John…..with a Pedigree like that…especially with JW’s kind words, a fair wind at your back….go for it Marty!…all very exciting…
It's great to have an endorsement from JW (although with your experience and resources it was always going to be a well-thought through and competent addition).
And just because I'm a complete pedant - John's newest design is Scallywag (a c rather than a k).
Chris - Thanks for the kind comment, and correction (which I’ve fixed). Scallywag’s one of those funny words that I’ve stumbled over, clearly!
One tweak that would make your design more at home (style wise) in Puget Sound would be a forward sloping windshield, which is seen here often on boats with a working pedigree. A vertical windshield is not good, however, because of reflections that can interfere with clear vision.
David - Thanks for the suggestion, but we’re going with more of a traditional look, based on our love for vintage commercial salmon trollers and gillnetters. The forward sloping windshields seen on almost all modern commercial and recreational fishing boats might make sense, but they’re just not for us…at least with this project.