Collingwood Raft Race 2007 |
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Collingwood - Saturday 29 December 2007
Artistic flair and boat racing skills enabled these intrepid people to race from Hills Beach to the Collingwood Boat Ramp.
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Facts and Footnotes
Captain Fletch describes how to build a barrel raft ...
..... out of 55 gallon plastic drums and plywood.
Perhaps the most stable and durable of the designs, but definitely the slowest.
Construction
We decided to put two 2x4s perpendicular to the plywood, and attached the barrels to the 2x4s, and we repeated this in the back. We used 4 bolts on each 2x4 to attach them to the plywood. We have learned it is helpful to over engineer everything we build. We made little metal 'flaps' that we epoxied to the barrels and ran the steel cable through them so that the barrels would not slip. The steel cable is tightened with clamps and then affixed to long eye bolts going through the 2x4s. We did not, but you may have to put blocks under the barrels to help keep them in place.
Propulsion
We have not figured out how to steer it or sail/row it. I did find some plans for some quick, cheap oars, I'm not sure if they will work. When we tested the raft, we just paddled it with canoe paddles, since this is painfully slow, we are going to build oars. We have learned from our experience with the beachcamper that we need to make sure it can fit on or in a car and it can be lifted.
..... and a raft made out of 55 gallon plastic drums and plywood.
The PVC pipe raft is much faster in the water than your typical Barrel Raft.
This basic raft can be built out of scrap lumber, but finding pvc pipes large enough can be tricky. The above raft was originally conceived with four 6" x 12' PVC drain pipes. The four pipes did not provide enough flotation, so 2 additional 4" x 10' pipes were added.
The key to making this work is having enough buoyancy from the PVC, the pipe is deceptively heavy. I would recommend obtaining pipes of a 10" or greater diameter.
The pipes are attached by drilling through each pipe near the end, and then securing it with large bolts to the wooden frame. Seal the holes with caulk and then plug the ends with homemade wooden discs. [if you can obtain pvc caps, these are much better.]
In order to obtain the true speed potential of this craft, you will need to set up an oarlock system as seen in the photo above on the right.
Since this design is extremely stable, you can easily rig a sail and even a plank!
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