Voyager PDF

Voyager Punt for pole or Paddle

Designed by Tracy O’Brien

My first boat building Project (not counting a couple of door-skin surfboards) was a Bolger Yellow Leaf pirogue, built from drawings in Bolger’s “Small Boats”. She was a bit tender in roll, especially when fully loaded, but served us well for over twenty years, exploring every inch of the 80 or so miles of the Chehalis River from Railbow Falls State Park down to the Bridge at Montesano. She spent some time around Stretch Island in Puget Sound and made the crossing out to the Ancient cedar groves on Long Island in Willapa Bay before finally being retired to planter status.

Bolger’s text suggested 12” wide transoms to gain additional speed, but I opted for 15” wide transoms to increase roll stability. The Voyager prototype (Shown in the photo) demonstrated much improved roll stability, and increased load capacity.

A builder in the Land of lofty Balsoms constructed a series of examples with increased beam, moving the design into Northwoods “freighter status”,

Voyager Characteristics:

Length……..…....15’6”

Beam………….....3’0”

Hull Depth….…...14”

Bottom Width…...27”

Weight (*) range...42 to 60Lbs

(*) Varies with material and equipment options

Click HERE for a sample from the plans