World of Coracles
Quirky elements
Ikea style elements
When
you are preparing for a mass coracle build as part of the Scottish
International Boat Festival, especially when you are working with children,
being prepared to spend as much time on the water as possible is necessary.
That's why coracle maker Dave Purvis has come up with the Ikea style flat pack coracle seat and paddle!
The seats are made with all the necessary holes predrilled and threaded and the slots for the straps pre-cut. The seats are also made lighter than usual. The seat posts are made with one end threaded, and the bases for the seat posts are made with hole predrilled. Putting the seats together is then very simple - prepare the hole with some glue and screw the posts in. Then, the base for the seat posts is prepared with some glue and is slotted on to the seat posts.
From then on, the boat is made as usual, except that the seat is finished within 15 minutes as apposed to the much longer time it would take to build it from scratch on site!
The paddles are just as simple - the poles are made with a slit at the bottom to slide the paddle in. Some glue and a few tacks are added to secure the paddle. The handle is slotted on, with a tack to secure it in place. And voila! The Ikea style flat pack coracle!
Eco-powered coracles
Ok so this quirky element is a bit of a cheat. Using a standard 12v motorcycle battery and a 6 speed electric outboard motor you have yourself an environmentally friendly electric-powered coracle, which in the right conditions, goes very fast indeed!
The electric motor is mounted on the rear of the coracle (of course!) and the battery is mounted on the front of the coracle. The motor and the battery are roughly the same weight, and so the coracle remains balanced.
It's worth noting that we don't use the outboard every time we go on the water - that's just laziness! However, when we do events where newbies have a go on the water, it's essential for us to have some form of rescue system should they get blown off course. We therefore have a coracle acting as a safety boat, with a tow rope and the motor. Even in the most difficult conditions, such as choppy water and high winds, it's still possible to rescue someone using the motor, whereas it's not normally possible under manual power
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