ATHELAS

ATHELAS weighs only 81 pounds and floats on the water like a leaf.  She is built using Tom Hill style ultra-light techniques to produce a boat you can roll to the water with kayak or canoe wheels, drag on the beach and maintain easily.  With 7-1/2’ spruce oars she has the optimum rowing efficiency Mr. Herreshoff originally intended, plus a transom to take an electric trolling motor. A moveable center thwart allows perfect trim for one or two rowers while the forward thwart and three steamed or laminated ribs strengthen the glued lap-strake sides.  A drop-in sliding seat unit also fits. Her hull is built on a strongback with frames and ribbands for drawing out and clamping each pair of planks.  Her bottom is 9 mm sepele or apitong marine ply, and her planking is cut from two sheets of 5’x 10’, 6 mm ocoume, (or ¼” fir plywood (4’x 8’or 10’)).  Cost is about $450 and labor about 220 hours. See lines, drag data and pictures at: www.sageboats.com/stock/athelas.html