You can see how this boat is about 4" wider than 4 foot. For a 9' boat with 12" high sides, that's pretty wide. You can't really tell from this camera view, but the rocker is all at this end. From the middle of the boat to the upstream end there is about 4-5" of rocker. This smaller upstream transom will be a good 10" or so higher than the widest part of the boat. I don't really know where it will balance best. So I'll put the rower's seat on a track, and mount some sort of a raised oarlock block in a movable-adjustable way, so I can make it trim right no matter what. Even though it's a small boat, I will be able to use 8-1/2 or 9' oars on this little pip-squeek. I have a hunch it will really fly.

With a 6" thick foam-fiberglass floor this boat will be unsinkable. So I don't care about big water and low sides. I'll be wearing my skivies anyway. Any water that comes over the side will quickly drain out through the anchor hole (in the floor, right behind the rower). As a boat builder/designer I've had numerous dissapointments and successes over the years. We'll see. I think this is a hot idea. If it isn't right the first time I'll keep after it until I get it right.

Pontoon boats suck 12" sticks of dynamite (known as donkey d*%#s by powder monkeys) because they're too narrow and not side-to-side stable enough in big water. Get a typical one-man pontoon boat in big water and you quickly run out of toilet paper. The idea for this boat was to make a tiny but rock-solid-stable boat, still capable of big water. If a kayak can run big water, so too can a small sawed-off, surfboard-like rowboat. Nobody ain't built it yet--is the only problem. One more month of weekends should fix that.