[Rhodes22-list] Windrose Rowboat?

[Lowe, Rob]

I bit of a different use for an old sailboat.  Turn them into an ocean crossing rowboat!  Anyone have an old Rhodes they want to covert?? - rob



Check out this Laguna Windrose Rowboat!

[cid:part1.06070705.07000809 at swva.net][cid:image001.jpg at 01CDB1C8.D2B9F430]

Someone decided that the well-designed and sturdy Laguna Windrose 18 sailboat would make a seaworthy and inexpensive offshore rower. Modifications to the boat included lowering the cockpit cowling and installing oarlocks, replacing the companionway (entrance) with a sealing hatch, fiberglassing all deck hatches permanently shut and reinforcing the front ventilation hatch to prevent leakage.

Total cost of the modifications to make the boat seaworthy and ready for rowing was just over $1000. The boat was used to cross the Bering Sea, and the vessel performed very well.

Ballast is in the form of a 400 lb cast-iron swing-pivot keel. Interior space is enormous compared to a conventional offshore rowboat. Storage hatches accessed inside the vessel can carry enough supplies to last a year. The pictured rowboat contains three bicycles, five months freeze-dried provisions for three people, three sets of skiing gear, winter camping gear for Siberia and a whole lot more. In total it is carrying almost two tons of cargo. It is the same length as a mid-sized sea kayak and travels at about the same speed in calm conditions fully loaded. (I found details about the passage on this website: http://www.angusadventures.com/beringstrait.html.
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