Re: [Paddlewise] Panache

At 03:42 PM 4/23/02 -0400, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote:
>Hey, all.
>
>Sorry to interrupt all the fun we're having with the legislation, safety 
>and PFD debates, for a silly question about paddling a specific boat  :-)
>
>Anyone have any knowledge of or experience with both building and paddling 
>the Panache by Laughing Loon?  The link to the web page 
>is  http://www.laughingloon.com/panache.html
>
>According to the manufacturer, it will take a new boat builder about 300 
>hours at a materials cost of between $500-$700.  Does that sound accurate?

Both of those estimates sound fairly accurate but there are lots of things 
that can affect the total time and amount of money you spend.  A 
significant portion of the cost is the epoxy/resin and fiberglass.  Shop 
around.  I went with Raka (www.raka.com) for the cedar strip boat I'm 
building (Jay Babina's Outer Island) and it ran right around $300.  Living 
on the east coast, western red cedar is not as easily found for real good 
prices so you have a few options.  You can buy pre-milled strips from a 
number of places but that can get fairly expensive and your choice of wood 
colors (which varies a lot with red cedar) is dictated by what they send 
you.  Many places will ship a combination of red and yellow cedar.  You can 
also mill your own strips. This gives you more flexibility in the color, 
quality, and even different types of wood. I used a bit of white clear pine 
in my Outer Island.  Depending on what you settle on for your choices of 
wood, it can bring down the cost of the wood considerably.  I chose to mill 
my own strips and didn't find the task that difficult.

One of the biggest impacts on the total costs is what tools you need to 
buy.  If you've already got a table saw, router table, random orbital saw, 
sabre saw, and lots and lots of clamps you won't have any big expenditures 
for tools.  While you *can* build a cedar strip boat without a lot of some 
of the more expensive tools it goes a lot easier if you've got them. If 
you're not going to mill your own strips you won't need the table saw and 
router.


>How does it paddle in terms of speed, efficiency, tracking, edging, 
>rolling, handling rough water/wind, etc?  It might help to know the 
>following. I'm 5'9" and 170 pounds (if I take my PFD off).

I haven't paddled a Panache but I looked into one when I first considered 
building a boat.  From what I've seen it looks like a good fit for you.


>I've had the beginner, intermediate, and rescue  skills classes (including 
>rolling) but am not extremely proficient at them....still need lots of 
>practice, especially the rolling.  I'll primarily be paddling in the 
>Chesapeake Bay, up to about 30 knot winds and/or 3 foot waves, and also in 
>and through very, very shallow salt marshes and creeks which will be 
>extremely protected.  I'll also do some traveling with it, primarily up 
>and down the east coast (I hope!).  With the traveling goes camping, so it 
>needs to have ample room for a week's worth of gear.

I think the Panache would be a pretty good match for all of these things.


>I also intend to do some modifying - add a day hatch,  additional deck 
>rigging,  a compass mount and a skeg (or rudder if skegs can not be added 
>for some reason).  A torpedo tube would be great, but......

All of these are doable.  You might consider building in a foot pump as well.

Have you checked out Ross Liedy's site"  (ross.secant.com).  He built a 
Panache and has a bunch of pictures describing the process.  I sent him 
email before starting the Outer Island and he's seems eager to talk about 
boats and gave me some good advice.  Since he's build a Panache, Guillemot, 
and an Outer Island he could likely give you a good comparison of the 
different models.

I *highly* recommend the Home Grown Boats video (www.homegrownboats.com). 
It is a two tape set (about 4 hours) which chronicles the building of a 
Panache from selecting the wood to carving little figures out of hardwood 
for the hatch cover hold downs.  It's a bit expensive ($80 plus shipping) 
but it's worth it.


>Any and all help is much appreciated. Some unexpected but necessary 
>expenses  have forced me to reconsider the expenditure  for a nice new 
>fiberglass boat to replace my Carolina.  So, I'm back to thinking about 
>building one.

The other option is to look for a nice used fiberglass boat.  It's pretty 
easy to have the final costs of building a cedar strip boat be in the same 
ballpark as that of a good quality used fiberglass boat.

>The big turn off is the time required to build it

Building it is part of the fun.  Don't think of it as a chore, but as a way 
of bonding with your kayak before you ever put it in the water.


>and the difficulty in finding one locally to test paddle.  SNG is a lot 
>faster to build, and CLC is within 4-5 hours drive, but frankly, I'm not 
>attracted to the looks of the SNGs.

Depends on the S&G boat I guess.  The patterns and swirls on a well built 
okoume deck look gorgeous.


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