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"I must admit that all during the building of Madeline I was a bit skeptical, thinking she was going to be awkward to pedal and very tiring and that the moment you stopped pedaling, unlike a bicycle, she would simply come to a halt. Phil hadn't been very reassuring, saying that he offered no guarantee this boat would work. If anyone else had said that, I probably would have said "You're right," and dropped the whole project. But with my experiences building his 31-foot Folding Schooner, the bow-steering Query, and Tortoise with her mast stuck way forward against her starboard side, among other unconventional Bolger designs that were all different from anything I'd ever seen or heard of before and all of which surprised me, I decided this one, too, deserved a try. I'm glad I did, for the first time we put her in the water one July evening, her prospective owner and I pedaled away any negative feelings I'd had about the craft. Pedaling her was easy, not the least bit awkward but a nice pleasant exercise you could keep up for quite some time; Phil had gotten the amount of paddle dip and foot pedal leverage exactly right. I liked the chuffing sound of the paddle wheels, a rhythmic accompaniment that reminded me of an old steam train getting up speed. The speed surprised me, too. Oh, she was no race horse, and she definitely preferred quiet water, but the two of us got her up to a steady seven knots with no strain." [Excerpt from Build the New Instant Boats, by Harold, "Dynamite" Payson] |
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