Currently (3-1-05) on ebay there is a 17' Van Duyne Rowing Surf Boat for bid. Item # 7136876013 Located: Long Island NY. Time to go on bidding is 5 days (3-6-05). My questions are : This boat is fiberglass but apparently needs some fiberglass as well as rub rail replacement. This seems minor to me, yet there are few bids on the boat and the price looks low to me ($153). Are these boats common? Are there any special requirements for rigging, such as special oar locks ? Are regular sculling oars used on this type boat ? Just in case anyone wants to express an opinion, how would this boat compare in performance and weight to an Adirondack wherry ? What would be the best way to recondition the existing fiberglass. And sorry if some of you were silently watching it trying to catch it at a low price. Or maybe the boat is in such bad condition that the price is warranted, I can't tell.

-- joe white (geraldray_hgr@yahoo.com), March 01, 2005

Answers

Sailing World has an article on repairing a well worn glass sailboat hull. You might want to find a copy and read it.

In performance to an Adirondack Wherry, its going to feel like driving a station wagon (or maybe a truck) vs a sport sedan. Sea Brights are wide for lauching through the surf and hauling a load back, (fish, people & cargo from a wreck.) But that makes them better sailboats and surf boats. But this one doesn't have a centerboard trunk or mast step, lots of work to add the sailing rig.

-Gary-

-- Gary Powell (gwpowell@hotmail.com), March 01, 2005.

Dear Joe,

I don't know what your rowing experience is, but surfboats, ALL surfboats, are notoriously poor general purpose rowing cruisers. They are great in frothy water that's as much air as water, but they are heavy, sluggish and suffer from too much windage everywhere else. They are as specialized at one end of the rowing spectrum as flatwater racing shells are at the other.

Yours,

Andre

-- Andre de Bardelaben (middlepath@aol.com), March 01, 2005.

Joe,

If it's a surfboat you're looking for, I can recommend a cross between a wherry and a surfboat. Go to www.lifeguardboat.com and check out the black boat on display on that page. Patroni Surfboats makes CUSTOM surfboats which are over 100 lbs lighter than typical surfboats, are cut lower to reduce windage, and are much faster that any other surfboat. He can do just about any custom job you want. Check it out and best of luck.

Rich Schlatter Director New Jersey State Rowing Championships www.vikingpromotions.com/njsrc

-- Rich Schlatter (rich@vikingpromotions.com), March 02, 2005.