Shelter Island Boat Works

Getting the Wherry out of the scuttle proved easy. She went out quickly with only two people. It took about a minute and we set her on the grass.

It was time to take a look in the light of day. She was beautiful. Hats off to the designer, John Harris, who also runs Chesapeake Light Craft. He got it just right. She is long, with flowing lines, a lovely shallow shear, and the lapstrake lines accentuate the elegance of the fluid shape. Forgotten was all the work that I put in to arrive at this point. Now it was time to see how she rowed.

I made a simple dolly to move her in and out of the water. She was so light I could lift her myself, and with the dolly, she was very mobile – at least on land.

The next part was getting her onto the roof rack. Initially, that was a bit of a circus, until I worked out the process. Pull her up to the back of the car on the dolly, lift the bow up onto the first rack rung, slide her on top so she balanced, and strap her down. I had padded the roof rack with some pool noodles to protect my paint job. She slid easily on them. I practiced the reverse to make sure it would be a quick and easy launch. Only took a minute.

Since the launch area is only a block away, I didn’t need to strap her down fore and aft. We weren’t doing 65 mph on the highway!

Her 18 feet was quite a spectacle on the little Audi. But she balanced well and was so light those long cantilevers didn’t create a problem.

Into the back of the car went the one-piece Row Wing, ungainly because it is one piece. The oars fit inside also, alongside the dolly. Then it was off to the water.

The Launch

To adjust the riggers I had to row out and back a few times. Because one’s hands need to pass one above the other when rowing, the oarlocks have to be at different heights. It also means that you have to always row with the same hand arrangement as it is some work to make adjustments. However, the foot stretchers can be tuned while inside the boat – a big plus.

The Starboard Oar is Too Low. Another adjustment.

With the adjustments complete, I was off for a row. She was nicely balanced, tracked well, and was remarkably fast. I hadn’t expected her to be so fast. I was surprised to find myself at distances I hadn’t anticipated. Nice! Also, she carried way extremely well for such a light boat, so it was a smooth ride.

Headed Out