The Zeiger Family Boatbuilding Page
Selkie
(Phil Bolger's Martha Jane design)
Construction continues . . .
Page 4
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The mizzenmast and boom are complete. Hatches to cover the vents are almost finished. I've started installing heat guards for a small woodstove.
I designed the yuloh based on various articles in the magazine, Messing About in Boats. I laminated two 2x4s together, cut a long diagonal scarf, then trimmed 8° off of one piece, and glued them back together. I then shaped it, and installed a blade. Although I later trimmed it thinner and made a few other modifications, I'm very pleased with the results!
The Yuloh. The mizzenmast
is on the right.
The
trailer hitch sits on a base that is installed in the stern of Selkie.
View of the pivot socket.
The yuloh worked the first season, but not very well. The person using it had to concentrate on even strokes to avoid sending the boat around in circles. Often one of us would stroke while the other steered radically to counteract this.
Over winter I trimmed the loom or "handle" of the yuloh significantly to reduce its weight and bulk. I also added a dowel extending at right angles from the loom, perpendicular to level, which helps flip the oar as it pivots. I also started using a lanyard connecting the dowel to the deck. These modifications worked very well, and in the 2002 sailing season we used the yuloh extensively. One person can use the yuloh from a seated position, steering with a foot on the tiller. It can even be operated one handed.
The lanyard includes a small plastic device that's used for tightening tiedowns for a tarp or tent. It's similar to a rolling hitch that doesn't loosen when tension is slacked. This allows minute-by-minute adjustment to the lanyard length. When the yuloh is momentarily not in use (as was often the case in flukey winds) we could secure it close to the deck and out of the way with a couple of wraps of the lanyard around the loom and dowel.
The new yuloh can be stowed on the leeboard guards, to be pulled out with relatively little effort and put in position in less time than it would take to start an outboard motor.
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©2019 Mark A. Zeiger
