Preview: Camp Cruising Georgian Bay In An Open Boat

August 31, 2018

Steve Stone Steve Stone

If you’ve ever dreamed of heading way north to sacred waters with an open boat — to cruise for days without seeing another person — be careful with video, because it may send you packing…

Tom has provided more details about his boat below the video:

More About the Boat:

The boat featured in the video is an Alaska beach cruiser, built by Tom Pamperin and his brother.

Alaska was designed by Canadian designer Don Kurylko for extended cruising on the Inside Passage: LOA is 18′ 2″, beam 4′ 6″, and draft (board up) is 8″ (Tom’s boat features a pivoting centerboard, but the plans show a daggerboard option as well).

The hull was built with traditional strip planking, using 1″ x 1/2″ pine strips, edge nailed and glued with epoxy, and then covered in a layer of 6 oz glass for abrasion resistance. The oars are 8′ 8″ as shown in the plans, and built of pine.

Viewers should note that Tom’s boat departs from the plans in a few ways: first, the laminated frames have been replaced by plywood and epoxy tape construction in the thwart webs, creating sealed watertight chambers rather than space for foam. Second, the designed anchor well in the bow–perfect for carrying 400′ of anchor rode to deal with the tidal swings of the Inside Passage–has been replaced with another sealed chamber. And where the plans show folding benches to create a full-width sleeping platform, Tom’s version uses filler planks set on simple cleats. And finally, rather than the designed lugsail ketch rig (134 sq ft), Tom is sailing his Alaska with the mainsail alone (85 sq ft), stepped in the center mast step–plenty of sail area for all but the lightest airs–and then it’s better to row, anyway.

The mainsail was sewn by Stuart Hopkins of Dabbler Sails, and was given an extra third set of reef points.

Anyone interested in plans or information can contact Tom at his website (www.tompamperin.com), and he can put them in touch with the designer.

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