Sailing Angus Rowcruiser Build for the 2019 R2AK

[@brentlygill3534]

Last days of 2023, I have been watching over & over at .25 speed while I'm waiting on my own rowcruiser materials to arrive.

[@dougshoup593]

Good luck with your build. You'll have a great time building it. Feel free to contact me if you have questions along the way.

[@brentlygill3534]

@@dougshoup593 I guess I do have one question. I will message you probably by Facebook or email.

[@maxtonherst6055]

I'm debating between building a rowcruiser or expedition boat from Angus now. This was an incredible video! Thanks for sharing!

[@timschwarze8209]

What a great way to remember all the many hours of work you put in!

[@vipermadman]

Been following your progress leading up to R2AK 2019. Mad props for making it happen! Sorry to hear about your broken daggerboard tho this year. But mad props for making it to Victoria in a gale! Im currently building a Rowcrusier. Just finished the glassing of the outer hull. Can’t wait to get her on the water. I’m planning on doing R2AK 2021. Thanks for posting the video.

[@dougshoup593]

Thank you, and good luck with the build. I'll get a new daggerboard made and be back on the water doing some more refinement in no time.

[@dananderson3183]

Really enjoyed your video Doug, that took some serious dedication and turned out beautiful! Great job,

[@beachfiredude]

Thank you for sharing Great work

[@sdcofer52]

That was fun to watch.

[@timschwarze8209]

Btw, if the timing works out, I still am interested in meeting up with you on Baker Lake and see if I can catch a sockeye out of my canoe while you catch them out of your kayak.

[@dougshoup593]

I'll be there! Season starts in a month.

[@rittirongch.5601]

Great VDO! thank you. I will nearly be a beginner to build the similar. just a question, what method did you cut a plywood in first sec 20 of vdo? jigsaw or CNC or other

[@dougshoup593]

Most of the major pieces of the boat were bought as a kit through Duckworks. They are CNC cut. You can buy plans and cut yourself. To save time I went the kit route.

[@rittirongch.5601]

@@dougshoup593 thanks. i am in small country that may be hard for :). BTW, your VDO provides me a lot of ideas. thanks again bro.

[@craigissod6027]

If one has a bit more money than time or skill, can the AKA's (struts that hold the Amas) be purchased? That would seem a hard part of the build as I know they have high loading - also, you mention a wet ride. Is this true even in 1-2 foot bay waters - and how do you remove the water that flows in?

[@dougshoup593]

Hi Craig, For the Aka's it's possible you could have someone make them. The plans provide good instructions for making them and aren't as hard to make as you might think. I think the hardest part was cutting the ends to the correct length and angle. Depending on direction the waves/chop is coming it will most likely still be a wet ride with a 2' chop. I use an Anderson bailer to drain the water. It will gravity drop to waterline and as long as you are going four or more knots it will suck the water out.

[@pablocesaropaso3401]

Could the hull be completely of fiber..What you think?

[@heikkianttila6296]

Great video! Do you have rough work hours for the build? I am considering rowcruiser but it might be bit more than I can commit to right now. Angus Expedition or CLC expedition wherry are other considerations and simpler (naturally also less boat).

[@dougshoup593]

Heikki, Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. It was a lot of fun to build. As far as the hours I have into it would only be a guess. It was a lot of them. If I recall correctly Collin estimates 200 hours for the expedition cruiser with additional time for the sailing additions. There are a lot of factors that will play into that time. First and foremost is your experience. This was my first time doing any of this. I was learning how to do everything as I progressed through the build (Collins plans provide very good instructions). Second is space. I had a pretty small area to work in and was limited to how many things I could work on at a time. There are points where you need to walk away to let the epoxy cure, so every work session was planned out to get as much work completed before having to walk away. On more than one occasion I could have planned better. Next is how closely you follow Collin’s plans. I deviated from his plans in a few areas. It’s a small boat and his design plans are laid out well with everything where it needs to be. Any deviation from the plans will have consequences. Some good, but most you have to make following unexpected deviations to compensate. One is the biggest deviations I made was a stepped cockpit area for the rowing seat. This led to another main factor that impacts build time. Having build materials on hand when you need them. The way I stepped the seat area made the width between the wheels non-standard. It took a while to find somewhere to get the seat rollers made to a custom width. Anything you need to have made custom takes time. Plan early for them. Some of the other deviations I made were using RDM wind surfing masts instead of the Bic O’Pen masts and the forward mast is mounted forward of the forward bulkhead where the plans call for it on the aft side. The big impact from this is it changed the order of assembly for the boat from Collins plans. Since I wouldn’t have any access to install /align the forward mast once the deck was installed that all had to be done before installing the deck. I would like to build another and feel I could do it in half the time or less than this one took. If you build this boat, one change I would consider would be the sails. I would definitely recommend the RDM Windsurfing masts but would come up with a sail that could be reefed. Wish you the best with your build which every boat you go with.

[@heikkianttila6296]

Doug Shoup wow, thanks for the thorough reply. My use would be inland waters mostly, river on our farm leads to lake system of decent size. It would be a few day treck to the sea with some dams requiring dry passing. And this is in Finland so even sea is quite sheltered by the archipelago, no ocean by any means. So I think the smaller options + tent make more sense for the 1st boat. Also thanks for the info on the sails/masts. I was having hard time finding any info on the sails used on rowcruiser.

[@easy08154711]

What is your experience with the boat so far? Would you do it again? How does it sail? Is it very wet to sail?

[@dougshoup593]

The boat is a blast to sail. In looking into building a modified version. I'm not the greatest rower. So I want to build another with a slightly longer redesigned cockpit and a pedal drive. Boat has a low freeboard its a wet ride.

[@danoyes1]

Such a interesting vessel! And great job with the build and video. Looking forward to more adventures!

[@wckoek]

I've been considering building this or simply the rowing only version as I intended to use it for cruising only rather than race. Does the daggerboard give you some problem in regard to interior space?

[@dougshoup593]

Having the dagger board does take away some interior space. There's still room to sleep. Adding the sailing option also adds weight to the boat. The deck over the cabin is more heavily reinforced so you can walk on the deck. The Rowcruiser doesn't need those supports since there's no need to walk on the deck.

[@wckoek]

@@dougshoup593 I see, I guess I'll go with the Rowcruiser only then. Thanks

[@dougshoup593]

@@wckoek If you don't plan on making it a Sailing Rowcruiser that's the way to go. If you're considering it the Daggerboard would be the toughest thing to add later if you decided to convert it. You'd have access to add additional support for the cabin roof and mast mounts but it wouldn't be convenient.

[@JCGible]

Cool beans

[@nicolesdad0]

Did you do two layers of fiberglass on the hull??

[@dougshoup593]

Most of the hull has two layers. The layers are applied from the outside in and overlap in the middle and about half way up the other side of the boat.

[@H.m.y.Panigalle]

Plans of this boat for free or to buy. Thanks.

[@newlivenewday7951]

i need your skill! :D