As you may know, I don't like using motors. I prefer sails or oars as they will always work when they are put to use, they never fail to start or die on you while moving.
My first dinghy (Easter Egg) was an 8 foot cathedral hull. It was extremely stable, but it did not row well at all. It had a flat bottom and a wide entry to the water. As you tried to row, it would scoot all around instead of moving straight through the water and then come to a halt as you finished the rowing stroke.
While under tow, it would fishtail all over the place. It got up on a plane easily, but presented considerable drag on Wisdom.
Easter Egg has now become my work barge. She is extremely stable, allowing you to stand on one side of her and she will not tip. Now she lives flipped upside down (so she doesn't fill with rain water) on the finger pier next to Wisdom.
This spawned my desire for a good rowing boat. I really wanted a Whitehall, they are gorgeous, row wonderfully and gracefully. I think the builders know this and charge accordingly. I found one for $18,000 built, and a kit for $6,000. Due to the price point, I then diverted my attention towards other row boats.
I came across an abandoned Jimmy Skiff from Chesapeake Light Craft and decided to rebuild it. In it's horrible condition, it still rowed wonderfully and won my heart. The reason this boat was abandoned is because the entire port side was rotten. It was so rotten that it was easier to simply make a new one with no rot issues than to try and fix it. Luckily, a new Jimmy Skiff from Chesapeake Light Craft was only $1300. I began building the boat over the winter season and finally launched it on Labor Day.
We named the Jimmy Skiff "Tooth" to go along with the dentist pun Wisdom-Tooth.
Tooth has a much sharper bow, allowing it to cut through the water when being rowed. The skeg on the bottom makes Tooth track straight as an arrow, and the flat bottom lets Tooth plane while being towed. The longer waterline also makes Tooth have less drag on Wisdom while being towed.
