Sculling Skiff built by Mike Van Susteren
23 July 2007
The sculling skiff was completed and launched 15 months after I started the project. (lots of down periods believe me) I built the oars myself also which was a very interesting project in itself.
So how does it work? It's really really cool! Pretty shaky at first, maybe 1 in 10 strokes were any good but by day 3 things stated coming together. Wow, it glides so smoothly and every stroke seems so efficient, it is almost effortless to move swiftly across the water. It takes loads of concentration to keep it straight and to keep all of your movements coordinated but when you do it is very rewarding. I haven't tried getting into it from deep water should the need occur and not sure that is possible but will try that soon enough. It is very stable feeling when the oars are out but if you pull them in and your not moving then that's a different story.
The boat with the seat arrangement weighs in at 55 lbs and the oars are 4.5 lbs each. A very rewarding project in the end!
