So in the back of my head I began thinking kayak-canoe thoughts, (pure, wooden ones, of course). I was headed well in the kayak direction when I remembered a gorgeous boat that I�d seen built by Harry Bryan at WoodenBoat School � a double-paddle canoe called Fiddlehead. Fiddlehead looked much more beamy and stable than the typical kayak, and is certainly a beautiful craft. But Harry builds them of solid wood in real clinker fashion, and I just didn�t want to take that on without his class. There was no way I�d have time for that, so I began going through my boat design books and magazines and was led almost inevitably to Ian Oughtred's beautiful Wee Rob.
Wee Rob is definitely much more of the double-paddle canoe persuasion than a kayak -- although 99% of the people who see her say, "What kind of kayak is that?" or "That's a great-looking kayak." What throws them off are the decks. American canoes aren't usually decked, while the British versions are. And I definitely had to have a decked boat for the Norwalk Islands where I would use the boat. These are "protected" waters -- that is, protected from everything but guys in gold chains from New York making huges holes in the water in their gigantic sportsfisherman. "Surfs up" far too frequently in our cove for an open boat.
Iain Oughtred is, with John Brooks and Paul Fisher, one of the high priests of glued lap construction � which makes Joel White a saint, I suppose. He is a staple of the British traditional craft magazines, and I knew from looking over a couple sets that his plans are absolutely beautiful in their details and completeness. What put me totally over the edge was the fact that he had just published his book �Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual� while John Brook�s book for glued lappers was going through one of the most agonizing births in the history of publishing. I think I could have gotten through the building process without the book, but it sure helped in a couple places.
I still feel guilty about not building Fiddlehead, since Harry is such a great character and teacher. So I deviated from Oughtred a bit and built a backrest that is pure Harry. (As nice as he is, Harry probably thinks a better tribute would have been the purchase of a set of plans).
