Vinegar Stroke

A Pulling Boat

September 24, 2017

Inshore and Coastal Rowing

This blog servers as a record of the development of a Chesapeake Light Craft Kit Boat called the Chester Yawl to suit my interest in Inshore and Camp Cruising. Hopefully it will serve as a history of the vessel that many well be pass on to the next owner.

A Pulling Boat called Vinegar Stroke

Oh No, what have I done… A ‘Pulling Boat’ called Vinegar Stroke..! If I have to explain, you probably don't want to know…

For me it’s the play of words and the visualization of the quintessential expression of exertion... The whole of body experience that is Sliding Seat Rowing (SSR) juxtaposed with the gentle and graceful sweetness of the Whitehall design.

Perhaps someone could suggest another name better than the likes of Seaquest or Ocean Marauder both of which could be construed… But I must say, it will be some time before I tier from the enjoyment of watching onlookers bewilderment turn to rye smiles of realisation as their synapses fire up on times gone by….

And to a classic boat buff, if a Whitehall’s origins were to be a guide, Vinegar Stroke as a name is spot on, capturing the essence of their design intent. As my understand has it, their development (with probably a little embellishment) was derived from the Gigs that were carried on Tall Ship that supplied America’s harbours like Boston & New York.

The story has it that there was a flotilla of similar inshore boats built to service the trading ships as Water Taxis. Firstly, these small vessels would row out and ferry the Officers ashore then load up with as much whiskey as good seamanship would allow and a parasol carrying prostitute and race back to the waiting crews to service their needs. The crews weren't allowed off the ships as they had a habit of not returning.

This need for speed lead the Whitehall's design to evolve into fast inshore boats of great renown for their ability to carry ‘precious cargo’ in all but the worst conditions.

Whitehall's have quite long waterline length for their beam, proud, upright bows and beautiful wineglass transoms that dreams are made of .... They have just the right amount of goodly displacement amidships for stability, but windage insured low slung freeboard giving them a seductive curving sheer line accentuated by their lapstrake construction.

A testimony to their usefulness and speed under human power has bestowed the honour of being called “the bicycles of the sea” by the experienced inshore men that used them.

Early days

Vinegar Stroke off Ephraim Island, Gold Coast. Dec 2016

The kit is basically the ‘white part’ of the hull, the ‘Lid’ / roof, the decks, sliding seats and various other features like the coxswain wheelhouse for Lilly are my additions to suit daily rowing and Camp Cruising.

Lilly on watch in the wheelhouse….

Overnight aboard Vinegar Stroke, Gold Coast, Australia

The kit was originally imported into Australia by someone in Manly, Brisbane. It was built by a professional boat builder for daily constitutional rowing around the canals of Manly. The build & finish was immaculate. Nicely rounded & large epoxy coves on the bulkheads & ribs. Not a scratch on it till I got it …!

Early Days…. single slider, no decks, funky navigation mirror

It had a very nicely made single sliding seat arrangement on an alloy bar that ran down the middle of the boat that made the vessel useless for anything else due to its size & position in the boat. It was one of those rigs that you would put in a skull but just didn't make much sense in a vessel of this scope.

Upon purchasing the boat I removed this apparatus and installed two side lockers with full length tracks for a sliding bench seat. A second sliding seat was added and the folding outriggers were changed to alloy for some reason which escapes me now.

I converted a Jetski trailer into a wooden, flat deck, roofed, road trailer. Although the boat sticks out both ends of the roofed trailer, the addition of some sail track & canvas covers allows the trailer to doubled as a garage for the boat.

The Big Woody (foreground) and the Kalgoorlie Gold Miner (along the side)

See silkwoodcycles.com & https://plus.google.com/photos/103835411107818496467/albums/5683151754749439553?banner=pwa for info & pics

The trailer also transports two of my wooden bikes along the side and is useful for moving furniture and the like…

Although misguided, I choose a Jetski trailer in the hope that it means there will be one less stinking Jetski to contend with out on the water.

Roll on roll off, Clarrie Hall Dam, Northern NSW, Mt Warning in the background

I made a beach dolly to launch & retrieve Vinegar Stroke which rolls onto the trailer, which in turn means no saltwater problems for the trailer. Launching off a beach dolly over the bank means that I'm not restricted to launching at boat ramps… And guess what, that means less stinking jet skis to contend with …

Over the bank launch at Paradise Point (EPHRAIM Island in the background)

I built side decks, a back deck & also a front deck which opens up like a trunk to a large storage compartment in what was a flotation compartment.

I still haven't replace this buoyancy but if I end you venturing offshore I promise I will. There is also a hard to reach anchor locker way up front.

Where's the Stout, must be in here somewhere !

The decks serve the purpose of keeping waves & rain out when rowing in heavy Arctic weather….And has made living aboard the vessel possible in conjunction with a tent.

Lane Cove River, The start of 10 days rowing round Sydney Harbour

The tent opened in the middle to allow getting in & out from a jetty, rafted up, or on the hard.. It had polycarbonate hoops and a line running between two masts. It flapped a lot in strong winds & was painful to put up & down. It also didn't afford any shade or shelter from showers or the sun while rowing.

This tent has been superseded by a hard roof that I call The Lid.. This Lid is generally left up for protection from the sun etc

It's actually two Lids so if it gets really windy or when rowing in big seas in Arctic regions I can drop the Big Lid & pop up through the Little Lid... although this has not been necessary. The second small Lid also makes it easier to raise & lower the larger Lid from within the boat.

It was made from the staves of an old kitchen chair and 3mm ply. The Staves had just the right amount of curve.

In moderately strong wind, say 20 knots, the Lid doesn't seem to tip the vessel rowing across the wind. Wind drag is not so bad either, indicative of not needing to lower the Lid so far.

The big Lid’s down for heavy weather rowing

Breakfast in bed ..

The good thing about the Lid is that it has made rowing sooo much more enjoyable in the hot Australian sun. It can also be locked down over the deck opening to add some security when away from the boat. It's also made conversing with my rowing partners possible. Voice sound just used to disappear but now the acoustics are just great under the Lid. There are some dragonfly shower curtains held by Velcro to keep the driven rain out, canvas side covers...and fly screens yet to be made.

Until the Lid installation, there was only one mirror on the nav light mast on the rear deck which was fine when rowing two up, but a little too far away for good vision when rowing alone in the front position. But now it's possible to mount a second navigation mirror forward under the Lid where its needed to see oncoming vessels.

Crossing Port Stephens pre Lid ...

Still to come … I have to arrange the smaller Lid to be set as a roof on its own when the big Lid is down in windy conditions. This will hopefully reduce windage, while still giving protection from sun & showers and allow the second navigation mirror to be close enough to be useful.

The Lids could do with some graphics and the addition of a flexible solar panel. A full size chart holder on the underside of the Lid would be quite good for referencing in unknown waters.

It seems that rowing under a roof is rare but so far the complexity is outweighed by the benefits for the kind of camp cruising I like to do.

Do I need to say anything more about the Lid !

Stage Two….!

Erection Day ….
The Little Lid is up !!
Only took two years but it seems to work OK.

The Big Lid has worked so well I've neglected till now taking the next step to get the Little Lid ready for heavy weather solo rowing…

The setup above is intended to reduce windage and with the Big Lid locked down over the boats opening wayward waves and rain have less chance of entering the boat. Both Lids work together. If things get really bad I'll throw the sea anchor, drop the Little Lid & read a book ….Only time will tell.

As for look and function the difference between the two Lids are miles apart. The Big Lid somewhat suits the boats period with a kind of Thames River cruiser look about it. There's room to do everything under it, and really makes this vessel ‘a home’.

But this Little Lid is a different story. My mind is in turmoil....All classic below the gunnels, Antarctic passage maker above !

When onboard rowing under it, I feel like I need aviator goggles, and in my mind I'm somewhere in the Southern Ocean……. But I know I'm not because I can see the bottom !

I sometimes stop & wonder where I'm going with this… Am I making a monster, an RV on water… Pullout sides, now that's a thought !

No, it seems to be a kind of evolution of function.

Firstly, suffering from ‘Boom Tent Blues’ the journey began. Along the way so many advantages of this setup have revealed themselves….. The lock-ability, the reprieve from the sun, the acoustic benefits, the ability to row with the ‘tent’ up, plenty of solar panel real estate, Drone landing pad...the benefits are many.

The disadvantages, weight (aloft) & windage are issues that choice of hull have a lot to do with the success. So far It's been a success, I haven't once muttered “what have I done” !

The Little Lid configuration is probable my answer to some of the issues when things start to go pear shaped.

(Why such a big panel… & talk of another?)

I've managed to use the same stays etc that are already present to raise the Big Lid.. Headroom was an issue but with 'raising blocks' under the Little Lid I have sufficient air draft to sneeze !
The backrest can reposition, so reading seems to be about the extent of 'other activities' when passage making in Arctic Waters under the Little Lid.

There's enough real estate on top for another PV panel and Dragonfly shower curtains all round will help to sit out summer showers & round out the options in this mode..

Laundry Day...

Some thought is needed before operating in Little Lid mode because it's almost impossible to access anything like the galley, media room or yoga studio down the back when the Big Lid is down. I guess this is the price of passage making on the high seas….

All these complications from simply not sleeping in the bottom of a canoe has lead to another paradigm shift.

Augmented Rowing …

Before the Lids I wanted to sail as well as row but the Lids have made this problematic. I wanted to join the ranks of countless Raiders, Inshoremen, ‘pre Moth’ canoe sailors and Camp Cruising Explorers that have gone before me. Unfortunately, in such a developed space it just wasn't going to happen. And I didn't want to loose all the advantages that have come with rowing & sleeping under a ‘hard top’.

Stowing mast, sails and lee boards when rowing while keeping sliding seat access along the whole boat, plus stowing the Lids when sailing presented me with multiple dilemmas. The increased weight of the Lids along with windage taking a knot off my ‘canter’ all served to point me to what seems to be a new frontier.

So I kept rolling around in bed, mentally rejigging everything. Until... late one night, my guide asked me a question…

“Grasshopper, where does the wind come from….?”

….“Why, the sun of cause ! Sails harness the resulting movements of air.”

It was only a matter of seconds and BOOM ! Another Paradigm Shift !!

The Lids …solar PV panels...a sneaky electric rudder ….

Bingo.! Augmented Rowing, A marriage made in heaven.

And so begins another aspect of Lids... ‘solar sailing if you like..!

Being well acquainted with the benefits & beauty of Breast Augmentation (from a purely observational point) I could not stop thinking this new frontier should be called …Augmented Rowing...Something that is very very good made just that little bit more delightful….

Is it a slippery slope, a step too far on the dark side…? Only time & public opinion will tell… Being a sailor I know I've step over a line, but more so, being until recently, a ‘sliding seat purest’ this transgression is even more bewildering.

But I've traveled these waters before so to speak with Cycling. After years of riding like stink under my own steam I now have electric commuter bikes & soon an electric cargo bike. So in a way I have already been converted.

Now after several months of sea trials in my local waters, and recently, a week onboard Vinegar Stroke camp cruising the Hawkesbury River & Pittwater areas near Sydney... I think it's definitely ‘A Thing’ …

Although still a work in progress, I'm ready to come out of the closet !

It works, and it works well for a first prototype.

I was worried that I would row less but the opposite is happening.

Conditions that would have kept me at home are no longer restrictive.

My daily cruising range has increased. Previously when wind & tides contrived against me I suffered, worried or postponed.

Within reason, these are not issues anymore.

I haven't tested it yet but a small row sailer, beating into ‘20something’ knots against an Augmented Vinegar Stroke running a great circle line to said destination, or in another situation, needing to leave for home from an anchorage but becarmed… I think one can see some of the benefits of ‘augmented Rowing’. If the electrics fail I can always row. A direct comparison should not be attempted, I only wish to reassure myself & others that this is not a folly.

I hacked a Torqueedo 1003 German made electric outboard motor & used their large lipo battery and remote throttle. I mounted the motor pod in a rudder so it can flip up in shallow water. It also has the ability to go unnoticed by all but the most observant or suspicious aficionados…

I hate to disappoint as Vinegar Stroke has a following of people that run along the shores of our local passages waving in delight that someone in a sea of plastic, ‘guppy shaped’ stink boats & Jetski is actually rowing…. It’s a fine line indeed.

The Metrics as I understand them.

The Torqueedo 1003 has a 1000w capacity.

The Lipo battery is 20ah.

My cruise rowing speed with the Lids up, without Augmentation, is about 3something knots . With the motor it's about 4something knots when set at about 100something watts consumption.

As I slide into a stroke the consumption drops to say 60w. As I recover the stroke it goes to about 120w. I can apply as much effort as I wish. The consumption just goes down & the runtime increases to about 14something hours in this example. This kind of run time is unheard of for just trolling along as intended buy the manufacturers.

I say the motor needs me as much as I need the motor.

The speed increase over ‘naturally aspirated rowing’ might not sound worthwhile but 4kn with the Lids up and enough facilities & supplies onboard for a comfortable week away is something to behold. Five, even six knots is just another couple of hundred watts away & these speeds can be maintained daily in boisterous conditions with the right amount of feed in from the PV’s

Dawn, Lower Hawkesbury

The sailing alternative would be rowing & managing a jib & main, tacking back & forth which would be possible in only the lightest wind or a breeze from astern. Or in winder conditions, just sitting there in the hot sun staring at the sail. Augmented rowers just aim straight for Port, swing off the oars merrily, singing sea shanties all the way. It makes sense to me on so many levels.

If I punch it up to say 300/350 watts the run time comes down to 8 or 4 hours, the speed up to 5 or 6 knots. There's not much point in pushing past 350w throttle as hull speed is reached, a pressure wave is evident and only runtime is affected down to hours or minutes.

Peeking out through the canvas per dawn….

In severe conditions, with only the little Lid up I have made way in 35 knots.

In this instance the motor allowed me to control the boat with my oars. I didn't dare let it get across the breeze. A fair bit of effort & concentration was needed to just keep the oars from flying out of my hands.

The important thing was the motor took the pressure off making way. Allowing me to control the vessel. I was making 2 knots at about 150 watts. Plenty of power in reserve or hours run time at that consumption. The limiting factor with forward speed was punching through the wind waves.

Now I have to go back to the drawing board and redesign the decks, coaming & everything to handle conditions that one would not usually be rowing in. This shakedown cruise in quite windy conditions made me realize I should at least do a full capsize test in windy conditions to get the full story. That was something I wasnt keen to do miles offshore, in our so called winter, carrying everything that I own... But it will be this summer.

Just to be sure … no Lids, 30kn Westerlies crosswind predicted

The big difference is ...against any reasonable current or wind with the Lids up in all their glory, I will still be able to cruise comfortably with a moderate elevated heart rate for hours using only about 150w maybe 200w which is replaced by the Solar Panel on way, or if not, when having a cup of tea in the galley…

Tell me it's not wrong …

Bonus Photo Album