HOME-MADE BOATS
Birth of the "Man-Friday" Catamaran--The Crusoe Raft
and Chump Rafts
NOT so very many years ago I remember visiting, in company with my
cousin Tom, a small lake at the headwaters of the Miami. High and
precipitous cliffs surround the little body of water. So steep were
the great weather-beaten rocks that it was only where the stream came
tumbling down past an old mill that an accessible path then existed.
Down that path Tom and I scrambled, for we knew that large bass lurked
in the deep, black holes among the rocks.
We had no jointed split-bamboo rods nor fancy tackle, but the fish
there in those days were not particular and seldom hesitated to bite
at an angle-worm or grasshopper though the hook upon which the bait
squirmed was suspended by a coarse line from a freshly cut hickory
sapling.
Even now I feel the thrill of excitement and expectancy as, in
imagination, my pole is bent nearly double by the frantic struggles of
those "gamy" black bass. After spending the morning fishing we built
a fire upon a short stretch of sandy beach, and cleaning our fish and
washing them in the spring close at hand, we put them among the embers
to cook.
While the fire was getting our dinner ready for us we threw off our
clothes and plunged into the cool waters of the lake. Inexpert swimmers
as we were at that time, the opposite shore, though apparently only a
stone's throw distant, was too far off for us to reach by swimming.
Many a longing and curious glance we cast toward it, however, and
strong was the temptation that beset us to try the unknown depths
intervening. A pair of brown ears appeared above the ferns near the
water's edge, and a fox peeped at us; squirrels ran about the fallen
trunks of trees or scampered up the rocks as saucily as though they
understood that we could not swim well enough to reach their side of
the lake; and high up the face of the cliff was a dark spot which we
almost knew to be the entrance to some mysterious cavern.
[Illustration: Fig. 8½.--The Man-Friday.]
How we longed for a boat! But not even a raft nor a dugout could be
seen anywhere upon the glassy surface of the water or along its rocky
border. We nevertheless determined to explore the lake next day, even
if we should have to paddle astride of a log.
The first rays of the morning sun had not reached the dark waters
before my companion and I were hard at work, with axe and hatchet,
chopping in twain a long log we had discovered near the mill. We had
at first intended to build a raft; but gradually we evolved a sort of
catamaran. The two pieces of log we sharpened at the ends for the bow;
then we rolled the logs down upon the beach, and while I went into the
thicket to chop down some saplings my companion borrowed an auger
from the miller. We next placed the logs about three feet apart, and
marking the points where we intended to put the cross-pieces, we cut
notches there; then we placed the saplings across, fitting them into
these notches. To hold them securely we bored holes down through the
sapling cross-pieces into the logs; with the hatchet we hammered wooden
pegs into these holes. For the seat we used the half of a section of
log, the flat side fitting into places cut for that purpose. All that
remained to be done now was to make a seat in the stern and a pair
of rowlocks. At a proper distance from the oarsman's seat we bored
two holes for a couple of forked sticks, which answered admirably for
rowlocks; across the stern we fastened another piece of log similar to
that used for the oarsman's seat (Fig. 8½). With the help of a man from
the mill our craft was launched; and with a pair of oars made of old
pine boards we rowed off, leaving the miller waving his hat.
Our catamaran was not so light as a row-boat, but it floated, and
we could propel it with the oars, and, best of all, it was our own
invention and made with our own hands. We called it a "Man-Friday," and
by its means we explored every nook in the length and breadth of the
lake; and ever afterward when we wanted a boat we knew a simple and
inexpensive way to make one--and a safe one, too.
The Crusoe Raft
is another rustic craft, but it is of more ambitious dimensions than
the "Man-Friday." Instead of being able to float only one or two
passengers, the "Crusoe," if properly built, ought to accommodate a
considerable party of raftsmen. Of course the purpose for which the
raft is to be used, and the number of the crew that is expected to man
it, must be taken into consideration when deciding upon the dimensions
of the proposed craft.
All the tools that are necessary for the construction of a good stout
raft are an axe, an auger, and a hatchet, with some strong arms to
wield them.
The building material can be gathered from any driftwood heap on lake
or stream.
For a moderate-sized raft collect six or seven logs, the longest not
being over sixteen feet in length nor more than a foot in diameter; the
logs must be tolerably straight. Pick out the longest and biggest for
the centre, sharpen one end, roll the log into the water, and there
secure it.
Select two logs as nearly alike as possible, to lie one at each side
of the centre log. Measure the centre log, and make the point of each
side log, not at its own centre, but at that side of it which will lie
against the middle log, so that this side point shall terminate where
the pointing of the middle log begins (see Fig. 9).
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--Plan of Crusoe raft.]
After all the logs needed have been trimmed and sharpened in the
manner just described, roll them into the water and arrange them in
order (Fig. 9). Fasten them together with "cross-strips," boring holes
through the strips to correspond with holes bored into the logs lying
beneath, and through these holes drive wooden pegs. The pegs should be
a trifle larger than the holes; the water will cause the pegs to swell,
and they will hold much more firmly than iron nails.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--Skeleton of Crusoe raft.]
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Crusoe with cabin covered.]
The skeleton of the cabin can be made of saplings; such as are used for
hoop-poles are the best.
These are each bent into an arch, and the ends are thrust into holes
bored for that purpose. Over this hooping a piece of canvas is
stretched, after the manner of old-fashioned country wagons (Figs. 10
and 11).
Erect a "jack-staff," to be used as a flag-pole or a mast to rig a
square sail on.
A stout stick should be erected at the stern, and a similar one upon
each side of the raft near the bow; these sticks, when their ends are
made smaller, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 10), serve as rowlocks.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Sweeps.]
For oars use "sweeps"--long poles, each with a piece of board for a
blade fastened at one end (Fig. 12).
Holes must be bored through the poles of the sweeps about three feet
from the handle, to slip over the pegs used as rowlocks, as described
above. These pegs should be high enough to allow the oarsman to stand
while using the sweeps.
A flat stone or earth box placed at the bow will serve as a fireplace.
If the cracks between the logs under the cabin are filled up to
prevent the water splashing through, and the cabin is floored with
cross-sticks, a most comfortable bed at night can be made of hay, by
heaping it under the canvas cover in sufficient quantities.
The Crusoe raft has this great advantage over all boats: you may take a
long trip down the river, allowing the current to bear you along, using
the sweeps only to assist the man at the helm (rear sweep); then, after
your excursion is finished you may abandon your raft and return by
steam-boat or train. A very useful thing to the swimmers, when they are
skylarking in the water, is
The Chump's Raft
Its construction is simple. Four boards, each about six feet long, are
nailed together in the form of a square, with the ends of the boards
protruding, like the figure drawn upon a school-boy's slate for the
game of "Tit, tat, toe" (Fig. 13).
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--The chump's raft.]
All nail-points must be knocked off and the heads hammered home, to
prevent serious scratches and wounds on the bather's body when he
clambers over the raft or slips off in an attempt to do so (Fig. 14).
Beginners get in the middle hole, and there, with a support within
reach all around them, they can venture with comparative safety in deep
water.
The raft, which I built as a model fifteen years ago, is still in use
at my summer camp, where scores of young people have used it with a
success proved by their present skill as swimmers. But many camps
are located in a section of the country where boards are as scarce
as boarding-houses, but where timber, in its rough state, exists in
abundance. The campers in such locations can make
A Chump's Raft of Logs
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--A beginner in a chump's raft.]
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--Looking down on a chump's raft in motion.]
[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Side view of chump's log raft.]
Such a float consists of two dried logs fastened together at each end
by cross-slabs, so as to form a rude catamaran. These rafts can be
towed through deep water by a canoe or row-boat, with the tenderfoot
securely swung in a sling between the logs, where he may practice
the hand-and-foot movement with a sense of security which only the
certainty that he is surrounded by a wooden life-preserver will give
him. Fig. 15 shows a top view of the new chump's raft. In Fig. 16 the
two logs are connected fore and aft by cross-slabs; two more upright
slabs are nailed securely to the side of the logs; notches having been
cut in the top ends of these slabs, a stout cross-piece is securely
nailed to them and the towel or rope sling suspended from the middle
of the cross-piece. In regard to the dimensions of the raft it is
only necessary to say that it should be wide and long enough to allow
free movement of the arms and legs of the pupil who is suspended
between the logs. In almost every wilderness stream there can be found
piles of driftwood on the shore where one may select good, dried,
well-seasoned pine or spruce logs from which to make rafts. If such
heaps of driftwood are not within reach, look for some standing dead
timber and select that which is of sufficient dimensions to support a
swimmer, and be careful that it is not hollow or rotten in the core.
Rotten wood will soon become water-logged and heavy. Fig. 17 shows the
position of the swimmer supported by the chump's sling. If your raft
has a tendency to work so that one log pulls ahead of the other, it may
be braced by cross-pieces, such as are shown at J and K in Fig. 18.
This figure also shows supports for a suspension pole made by nailing
two sticks to each side and allowing the ends to cross so as to form a
crotch in which the supporting rod rests and to which it is securely
fastened by nails, or by being bound there by a piece of rope, as in A,
Fig. 19. B, Fig. 19, shows the crotch made by resting L in a fork on
the M stick and then nailing or binding it in place. C, Fig. 19, shows
the two sticks, L and M, joined by notches cut log-cabin fashion before
they are nailed in place.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Learning to swim by aid of a chump sling.]
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Details of saw-buck supports.]
Although many summers have rolled around since the author first made
his advent on this beautiful earth, he still feels the call of the
bathing pool, the charm of the spring-board, almost as keenly as he did
when he was wont to swim in Blue Hole at Yellow Springs, Ohio, or dive
from the log rafts into the Ohio River, or slide down the "slippery"
made in the steep muddy banks of the Licking River, Kentucky.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Another way to rig a chump.]