(Re-)building 1930's classic rowing boat "La Revolucionaria"

Unfortunately not the finished product, but this is because it still isn't finished...

Everything started in the summer of 2014 when a fellow camper gave me the tip that the canoe rental on our campsite wanted to get rid of an old boat. After acquiring the hull (got it for free because the owner needed the space) we noticed it had several major cracks and filled up with water.

First step was to tow it from one end of the campsite to the other where I could let it sit a few days before further work.

Towing the hull full of water was quite a tricky job, especially in the canal turns.

First step on land: Sanding. Because it's still on a campsite we need to do this by hand, using machines is only allowed between 11 and 12 AM. Also sanding did take several days. So when we finished this job, the holidays were over and we covered it for the winter.

With the spring '15 coming, I started building the additional and new parts, including seats, flooring and two side hulls.

Two of them will later form one hull. Lenght 4.25 m, Width 0.3 m.

Covering the hull with plywood.

Back on site we started closing the major gaps with plywood as well, before...

...putting epoxy on the outside. This was by far the most annoying part of the rebuild because of the smell.

Main hull, layer one. Three more to come, and don't forget the side hulls...

Laminating the small hulls, part 1...

...and part 2.

Three weeks into that years holiday, the hulls were finished. Unfortunately we were unable to connect the hulls with the old outriggers from the rowing equipment.

Nevertheless we had to take the old lady out on the lake to see if her new dress fits. It did.

Looking for a picnic spot was not so easy because this boat is 11,4 meters long, topping quite some of the motoryachts in the region.

Yet it was small enough to fit into a secret lake, where this photo was taken by my dad.

The next year, Summer 2016. Do you remember the trouble with the outriggers last year? Well I sorted it out with these new and fancy stainless steel parts. After looking for a manufacturer in the region, I phoned someone from my hometown and two weeks later I had the missing parts.

Despite the weather we decided to go for a small tour. It was awesome!

While my 82 yo grandma has problems in a much smaller canoe, this was quite comfortable. It's so stable on the water, she stand up in the middle of the lake and took photos...

Well, she wasn't the only one taking photos.

As the temperatures rose, we did an even larger tour, turning heads wherever we arrive.

Waiting in front of a lock. With the outriggers and rudder it measures 11.4 m long, 2.3 m wide and has a draft of 0.3 m.

Lunch break at the fisher and turning even more heads.

We even had a small kite for sailing, but no wind to test it...

... on the next tour we had no kite, but wind. Hence we had to use what ever we had, towels, umbrellas and the paddles themselves.

As a three masted sailing boat (two umbrellas and one towel) the boat picked up decent speeds and we could enjoy a short leg without paddling.

And it's a great bathing platform, even in the middle of the lake...

Transporting it in and out of the water is something you need at least three people. The hulls weigh around 120 kg, with all equipment added it's around 150 kg...

...and you have to disassemble the side hulls to increase the ground clearance.

Thanks to "Pack and Paddel" for the main hull (a modern day version will set you back around €10k, with probably no old one available, hence nowhere for sale)

Obligatory Cat Tax - also happens to be the boat's flag showing a winged lion