Do you speak Boat?

Part I: Tramp — mahogany skerry rowing boat

Tramp was built because she seemed like a good idea to a builder who could. Upon completion, the builder discovered he couldn’t get her out of his parents’ garage. Being able to get a boat out from where she was built is always a good idea unless among your hobbies you count deconstructing and reassembling staircases, handrails, and doorways.

At 62kg, Tramp can be mounted on a car by one strong person plus one spectator-cum-un/willing volunteer. Only one car has been lost in her transportation, very much a driver error unrelated to vessel. She was rowed for seven days in 2012 from one undisclosed location on the Thames to another — she saw all the sights. In 2020, she was rowed 60-miles from West to East Scotland, Fort William to Inverness, on the Caledonian canal, setting a new unofficial world record for 2-persons rowing 23-miles across Loch Ness: seven hours including bladder-emptying, hula-hooping, and a meal between lunch and dinner.

Status: loved
Price: priceless
Tax status: exempt
Location: private

Specifications

Vessel name: Tramp
Vessel condition: settled in
Vessel type: (single) displacement mahogany skerry rowing boat
Designer & Builder: Sir Benjamin Jackson
Model: double-ended, double diagonal skerry I
Year constructed: 2012
HIN: X
Class society: to be invented
Guests: 1 full-size
Berths: you’d have to be desperate and pray for no rain
Cabins: 0
Heads: everywhere around, the world is your toilet
No. of engines: 2–4 rowers’ arms
Engine model: oar-assisted human(s)
Engine power: variable
Engine hours: depends on the rowers
Fuel type: baked beans, oat cuisine, coffee
Drive type: oars + 1 paddle
Cruising speed: 3 knots
Maximum speed: 4.1 knots
Nominal length: 15’
Length over all: 17’
Length of deck: open boat
Length at waterline: 16’
Beam: 4’2”
Maximum draft: 6”
Hull material: mahogany
Hull type: displacement
Hull colour: good value white
Keel type: not really
Displacement: 62 kgs unladen
Fuel capacity: you can fit a lot of stuff in this boat
Water capacity: plenty

Construction

Frameless double diagonal mahogany planking, WEST system — sheathed in epoxy glass.

Accommodation

Three bottom benches with ample space beneath.

Equipment

Rollicks, oars, paddle, sponge, Gorilla tape, sealable waterproof buckets (3)

Disclaimer
No guarantee is given or implied with regards to specification but descriptions are given in good faith. I’m not responsible for any of this.

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