Sailing the Bolger Bobcat
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ย. 2020
- In 2019 and 2020, I bought, restored, and sailed a Bolger Bobcat catboat. Phil Bolger designed the Bobcat as a plywood-built, hard-chined version of the Beetle Cat. It's like sailing a sofa. So relaxed, so nice. This was my last sail with my Bobcat, which I called Polliwog, before selling it. I love boats and enjoy getting to spend time in many different boats. This might be the one that got away.
Awendaw is located about half an hour's drive from Charleston, SC. It's just inshore of Bulls Bay and the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. I launched from Garris Landing and sailed NE up the ICW. You get a sense of what the South Carolina lowcountry looks like with its seas of spartina grass salt marsh and ambling tidal creeks.
Phil Bolger was one of the world's most out-of-the-box boat designers. This boat isn't very far out of the box, but it's a joy to sail!
i have a soft spot for beetlecats, an uncle worked in their shop, back in the 50's
but the cat rig does get troublesome off the wind, quartering sea.
they have good qualities too, just be careful.
These are great documents. 👍❤️
Hey, Sean. This video randomly popped up on my screen, and I immediately watched it because Bobcat is one of my favorite Bolger designs. (In my opinion, it's also one of his best.) I'm pleased and proud that I knew Phil back in the day and actually sailed with him off South Thomaston, Maine, in a catamaran that he designed and Dynamite Payson built. Phil was certainly an eccentric, but his design work bordered on genius.
I glanced at some of the other videos on your channel, and this left me wondering where you get all these wonderful small boats. Do you, yourself, build some of them? If so, I think documenting the process (WITHOUT speeding up the footage, please!) would be a great addition to your channel. Just a thought, Chris
"Fostering boats", what a great term.
Awesome little boat, thanks for posting this video! I am getting a newly built boat from someone that can't sail anymore, I'm excited, cheers
Awesome video Sean. Back again cause of the shout out by Susanne Alternburger on the bolgerboats mailing list!
Looks great. Love everything Bolger.
I built a Bobcat 20 plus years ago. Fun boat to build and sail. If I rasn out of wind I found I could stand with the tiller against
my leg and use a single oar to paddle .
Great video!
I paddled it with a canoe paddle pretty well … until the tide turned!
Love the way you are exploring your waterways! Very jealous as I live inland...I miss P.Bolger
You can't really row it, but I'm thinking you could put an electric engine on it,
either on a mount off the stern or build a motor well somewhere. You could have two batterries, one up front and one in the stern. Then you could even have solar panels on it to charge the batteries.
Great boat. She really moves well!
Much relax, such chill, is nice
Very cool.
Excellent video for the dreamer in me. Looks like a really fun time. :-)
Thanks! I miss the Bobcat. I would definitely consider another one someday.
Damn, I miss phil
I built one of these! LOVE THIS BOAT! 😁👍
Put a cabin on it. Makes it a great little over nighter / weekender.
I circumnavigated several islands in the puget sound.
I'm hoping SELKI is still hosting adventures!
Did you sell that boat? I saw one for sale on Craigslist that had a cabin.
@@seanmccambridge I did sell it. But that was almost 20 years ago.
where was it?
I'm in Washington.
@@MagVair My memory is foggy. I want to say it was the Seattle Craigslist. This would have been about five or six years ago. I have a hazy recollection that it was called OTTER. I gave some thought to buying it, but it was too far away to be realistic about.
@@seanmccambridge very well may have been Selki? Tan bark sail?
I had painted her hull white, top sides grey with whit water ways, comings and cabin sides were varnished.
The portlights were round, 1/8" plexy I just let into the cabin sides and captured with a bronze ring.
Black bottom with a red boot stripe.
She was a real looker.
Her transum had a varnished mahogany doubler at the top.
I laminated the cabin top in 2 layers of 1/8". You could walk on it with no flex.
She was bomb proof 😄
WOW! Sean, I can't tell you how happy I am to see someone actually sail a Bobcat. I've been intending to build one of these for many years and still haven't gotten to it as yet. I built a model 20 years ago from the Dynamite Payson stitch & glue plans that I scaled down to 19" LOA and it is an exact replica of the boat I just watched you sail and enjoyed so much. I really love the Bobcat with it's wide beam and cat rig and now that I've seen you sail it, I may just have to do that build for my Grandson CHEERS my friend !! - - However, It may be coin toss against the Stevenson "Weekender"
Glad you enjoyed it! I definitely miss this boat. Such a joy to sail. I’ve read that a lot of people find this one of Bolger’s greatest. Of course, it’s based on the Beetle Cat, which is a fine little catboat. Between the Bobcat and a Weekender, it’s not even close in my opinion. I’ve never sailed a Weekender, but I have done some research and people who know a lot more than me about boat design seem to think it isn’t very seaworthy. The Bobcat really shines in shallow water. But she’ll take a chop and behave well (when appropriately reefed). I have a long list of boats I’d like to own and experience. But it wouldn’t surprise me if I came back to the Bobcat later in life. Good luck!
I've put in at Garris Landing a few times! I am on the hunt for my next sailboat and live in the Charleston area.
Just seeing this comment. How's the sailboat hunt going?
@@seanmccambridge I found one but sold it. Too much agility required for my old bones. I have had multiple size sailboats over the past 40 years.
I have a Boston Whaler 15 now.
Planning to restore one of these, any idea what a 14 footer goes for restored ?
Nice!!!! what’s is plans?)
What is a good small boat like this that you can also row?
There are many. It depends on the other variables you're looking for. What ratio of row:sail? How many people? What kind of waters (protected/open/ocean)? Are you camping or just daysailing? Etc. If you're on Facebook, I'd recommend the Duckworks group and the Wooden Boat Forum group. Lots of opinions there, many of them good ones. A few boats top of mind: I own a Jim Michalak designed Piccup Pram. It's small at 11'. But it's a big, stout 11'-er that can sail in some pretty dangerous conditions. It rows okay, but I only row when the wind dies or when I need to manuever somewhere I can't sail. Bonus: it slides into the back of my pickup truck! Great little boat for one or two people. But it's not intended to go that fast (maybe 4 kts most of the time). It is very chill and relaxing. Another boat is Michael Storer's Goat Island Skiff. This, however, is bigger at 16', faster and much more exciting to sail. Much greater risk of capsizing. But also much greater chance of getting up on a plane and going really fast. Also rows okay, faster rower than the pram but also more effort. If you're looking for a Bolger boat -- there are so many -- I don't really know which ones are good row/sail combos. Also check out John Welsfords boats and Ross Lillistone's. Not meaning to forget any great designers here, but for homebuilt plywood boats, these are top of mind for me. Good luck!
thinking about building one of these. hmmm. is there any ballast and/or water tight compartments?
No ballast. Mine had foam under the seats. I’m sure you could figure out bow and stern compartments if you wanted to. But it is a wooden boat after all. 😆
@@seanmccambridge true, should float deck awash regardless but if I dumped it, I'd like to be able to right it and be able to recover, at least enough to manage on my own without having to get towed in or something dumb like that. Is she tender at all, or am I over thinking this?
Hey Sean, great video. Would you mind making a comparison between Bobcat and Piccup?
I’m my experience with them, I’d say there are many more differences than similarities. The Bobcat is way, way more boat. If feels like sailing your own little ship, whereas the Piccup feels like sailing a large Opti. The size and beam of the Bobcat makes it far more stable and able to carry a huge rig. But that size also makes it a little harder to rig. And, of course, you need a trailer. I put my Piccup in the back of my pickup. My brother cartops his. Both boats are comfortable with a passenger. The Piccup more so because of the open interior and leeboard. I prefer the lug rig on a small boat for ease of rigging. Neither are oceangoing vessels. Boat are plenty seaworthy for the kinds of waters I sail. The Piccup would be vastly simpler to build. It is easy to row, and the Bobcat is not rowable at all. That was a big deal for me. I like oars vs carrying a motor. I prefer the Piccup for its simplicity. But I’m all over the place exploring. If I lived somewhere where I could keep a boat on a mooring, I’d prefer the Bobcat for that. They’re both easygoing boats and tons of fun. But neither are going to set records. Hope that helps!
@@seanmccambridge thanks Sean. My Woobo has a lot in common with Piccup and I get what you mean about them being easy to use - I worry I am in danger of becoming a lazy sailor. Cheers.
@@grahamparton1822 I also have a pair of duck punts. They're the best mix of lazy and thrilling you'll find.
it would point up better if you set the peak halliard tighter,
Thanks!
I have seen English dinghy sailors do pretty well with a single oar out the back, sort of a gandolier technique.
Just looked it up: sculling!
th-cam.com/video/w4qpNsrtWzM/w-d-xo.html
I built a yuloh, which is the Chinese version of the sculling oar you’re describing if I’m not mistaken. It worked alright. We have some decent tides around here, and I wouldn’t expect to fight the tide with one.