Incurable Rapid Happiness I.R.H.

Some of you may know others may not that after the completion of my dory Florence I started a design of my own.

Admittedly I haven't had Flo on enough water to really  know all her quirks but several things struck me as I was rowing about. First and foremost it is a big boat. I know that at 17 ', she is smaller that many dorys and most of the oar rafts out there, but her size and the spread of her oars 18' really limit the rivers/streams row-able  Another issue is the oar lock angle, its steep. I could build some monster oarlock that allows me to mount the locks in a more verticle orientation (giving more range of motion) but that seams to go against the aesthetics of the original design. Finally its a big job to move a dory in and out of the river when the rivers being run don't have boat ramps (or really shitty ramps) and your by yourself.

So I tossed these thoughts in the ol' salad spinner and let them twirl with the rest of the random thoughts.  A few weeks went by, I was out in Port Townsend visiting the Northwest School for Wooden Boat Building (where I'll be going in a few weeks) and I saw some fine row boats with double chines. Hmmmm, that would solve the oar lock problem. But how short is to short?

Pen to the sketch book I started thinking about it. 15' seemed good but what's 2ft. If I 'm gonna go small I may as well go really small sub 10'? So it turns out that a sub 10' dory looks like a weird bath tub. Than I started drawing 10' double enders. These looked OK but really more like some cracked out kayak or canoe. adding a transom really fixed that right up.

After a couple of drafts I started to circulate the hull drawings to a few people. I had a couple of folks (namely Tom Martin) get me thinking, why I had drawn that flat spot in the bottom?  My reasoning originally was for carrying capacity and stability. After some thought I realized that longitudinal stability would be just as good with a continuous rocker (rocking chair). As for carrying capacity, this thing will already be able to hold enough beer I won't need a tent.

I really didn't need to name this thing, after all whomever builds one can call it whatever the hell they want. But originally I was going to go with Stupid Fish (I wish fish were stupid than I might be able to catch more) but I found a much better name in Tom Martins book Big Water Little Boats Inside there is a quote by Marston, "Incurable rapid happiness." I shortened it to IRH as the intended goal of this boat is indeed "incurable rapid happiness".

Here are some snaps of the drawings at this point.

So where does this stand now? Well in the next week or so I'll  get these drawings off the graph paper and inked onto something better. Then off to Kinko's to have copies made. I want this to be a free design, you can decide to stitch & glue (what I am planning) or ladder build the boat. I should have the drawings available for some small (copy and shipping) fee really soon, so if your interested comment on this post and I'll make sure you get them.

Oh, and here is a stencil of a snail.

Yep, a snail.

That Grand Canyon Portfolio

I don't think I have written much about my Grand Canyon trip on this blog yet. I can honestly say it was one of the most trans-formative experiences of my entire life. If you ever get the chance to go on a  private trip go. Figure out how to skip out for a month and go. If you come back and think, "hey that sucked". I will let you beat the crap out of... ...some one else. Point is the place is Magic. Not rabbit out the hat magic but Magic faeries, unicorns, elves, gnomes and shit, Magic.

So when one decides to take such a trip one must record it for posterity. After the tragic loss of my camera gear a couple of years ago I decided to just take a sketch book, old school.  In doing this I thought I would come back and make... I have no idea what I thought I was going to make of this. What has ended up happening is this, I have created a dream. Every time I go to make art the canyon is  there right under the surface.

After getting home and the usual recuperation I tried to change my life. Took what I thought would be a better job. Moved to a different place, was hopeful. But life like the Colorado can sometimes eddy fuck you if  you don't pay attention. (sorry mom that's what its really called.) It took a couple of really hard pulls, building a boat to stay sane, making art to stay sane, dreaming about the canyon to stay sane, and getting the hell out of that eddy!

Well as you know I made it this far. Trying to stay on the bubble and still thinking about the Canyon.

Back to the Art. I thought I would end up getting a canyon portfolio together and that would be the end of it. But the pieces just keep boiling up, less and less like the original place. More and more just a dream. But good or bad they are what they are. This project isn't going to end so here is an update two years later.

Some of this was done on the river, some much much later. These are not the best photographs of the work, I would like to keep it safe from copy.

Pic

Up to Speed

I have been getting some grief for not having any recent posts so I'm gonna hit you all with three in a row.

Lea and I after a wonderful stay at the Stuber family homestead moved to our new diggs just outside of Port Townsend, WA. In between here and there  I had one hell of a road trip back to Wisconsin for my sister in law's wedding. Like usual our family weddings do not disappoint,  it was an amazing time. I will say that for the near future (unless the wedding is on a river somewhere) I think I'll be avoiding the wedding scene. So Sara and Scott got the wedding thing out of the way.

I was also able to visit my family in La Crosse. Its a beautiful city I recommend a visit. After something like 70 hours of windshield time and a new water pump Mom and I were done with driving.

So what did I do after such a big road trip? Loaded the car up and headed out to our new place. For those of you who are geographically challenged from Marysville to Port Townsend Wa, there is a big hunk of water blocking the way. So unless you have the stomach to drive from Marysvill to Tacoma (through Seattle traffic), and around the Olympic Peninsula the ferry is much easier. Did I mention that Lea was gone for most of this? Anyhoo, she at least got to see the last load. It sums up what a Stubegge move is all about, a bunch of gear on boats on a boat.

So our new place kicks ass. Here are some pics of it.

It hasn't rained in something like 70 days here.  Just about like what heaven aught to be except all the rivers don't have enough water in them to paddle. If there isn't water in the rivers just jump in the sea kayak and go for a little tour. It is is strange being here for almost a month and not touching moving water. I am going to go ahead and count the tides. There we go, I feel much better.

What else has happened? Oh, some Lexingtonians showed up Bethany and Neil.

After Bethany lost a fight with a Cuban plantain from Chicago (it put her down for 17 hours) they were quite pleasant to be around, that is until the Portlandians showed up. 

Have you ever been to Portland? Do you remember 1998? Me neither. I have it on good authority that its a lot like Portland, grunged out and stoned. So in Walk Massy and Rocio. As we would say in ol' Kentuck "bless their hearts". I digress.


It was great! I hadn't seen these two for something like two years and it was with Bethany here.

So we basically bored the shit out of Neil talking about our Canyon trip the whole time. All was not lost however as a spring break trip is shaping up for the Grande Rhonde. On a funny note, Lea was not here for the Portlandians to meet. so Rocio thinks she is a fabrication.  I dont think I would go to an imaginary sister in law's wedding unless I went completely bonkers. So the time of the great Rocio-Lea meeting  has yet to come, so it goes.

Neil and Bethany went camping in some super boring place called the Hoh Rain Forest. I know, I know walking, stupid. Than Lea got home from her Alaskan adventures and there was drinking and reminiscing with friends. Then they were gone, back to the somewhat south-land of horses, stacked rock walls, and bourbon, god speed. I miss y'all all ready.

Couple of days hanging out with a visit from my parents tossed in for fun and that brings us to now. At my desk with an IPA typing this blog.

Cheers!

Shout out to the Skypers, Jess, Luke, Sara, and Scott. Sup y'all?!