Bolger’s Pirogue

Living in the Pacific Northwest, I never considered building a pirogue, a boat I associate with the bayous of Louisiana. But when I was given one—a decked version designed by Phil Bolger—I quickly discovered how versatile the type can be. The 16′ × 3′ 3″ Pirogue, Bolger’s Design #451, can be sailed, rowed, paddled, poled, and cartopped.

Photographs by the author

The Bolger Pirogue’s 3′ 3″ beam requires a long paddle to reach the water. The longest I have is 9′. While it’s a two-piece paddle and stows neatly in the cockpit when taken apart, an 8′ paddle would fit in the cockpit and be ready to use in an instant.

Bolger’s designs are well known for their ease of construction, and the hull of his Pirogue is as simple as it gets. His two-page plans provide measured drawings, where required, and recommend H.H. Payson’s book, Instant Boats, as a construction guide. The plans also include cutting diagrams for getting the pieces of the hull from two sheets of 1⁄4″ marine plywood and the decks, centerboard, and rudder from another two sheets of 1⁄4″ marine plywood.

The sides are cut from a single sheet in straight, parallel-sided, 12″-wide panels and the three pieces for each side are joined by plywood butt straps. Once assembled, the sides are curved around a temporary center form and two bulkheads that create the cockpit. The sides’ ends are brought together at the stem and sternpost. The boat’s raked ends along with the angled sides of the bulkheads and center form create the hull’s curved sheer and rocker—no curves are cut in the plywood sides.

The chines are fastened to the outside of the side panels, simplifying installation, and beveled to accept the bottom panel. For the bottom, three pieces of plywood are laid atop the chines and cut to shape, but slightly oversized. They are then fastened to the chines with glue and nails and the edges are planed flush to the chines. While the hull is upside down, the bottom and the stems can be sheathed in fiberglass and epoxy. Once the hull is upright, the inner corners of the chines and the bulkheads also get ’glass and epoxy.

The outriggers and thwart are listed as options in the plans, but the Pirogue is a pleasure to row and if the wind fails while you’re out sailing, oars are the best auxiliary power.

The decks are supported by and fastened to the outwales, the carlins that wrap around the cockpit area, and central ridges between the bulkheads and their respective stem and sternpost. The decks meet the sides at 90°, so the outwales do not need to be beveled.

The plans call for a skeg, which has been installed on my Pirogue but can be left off if the boat’s primary use will be on waterways where maneuverability is more important than tracking. The two bulkheads create compartments in the ends of the boat and are designed to be filled with cut Styrofoam to provide a total of 350 lbs of buoyancy. Cross-cleats beneath the foam and scuppers in the bulkhead corners allow water to drain and prevent moisture from getting trapped. The builder of my pirogue opted for watertight bulkheads and gasketed hatches to provide dry storage for gear.

The builder added hatches so the covered compartments can be used for gear as well as flotation. The plans call for a leeboard on the port side with a flange on top that rests on the deck. Here, the builder added brackets—one at the sheer, one at the chine—but the lower one snags weeds. While a leeboard has advantages, I opted to install a trunk—the slot is visible just inboard of the upper bracket—and use the leeboard as a daggerboard. After making the conversion, I removed the outboard brackets.

For sailing, the drawings show a leeboard with a flange at its top that rests on the port side deck. It’s not clear how the flange is secured—perhaps with machine screws and wing nuts. The builder of my boat installed a plywood bracket to hold the leeboard, but I opted to install a trunk to use the leeboard as a daggerboard—it’s easier to use and creates a clean chine and gunwale. A fixed-blade plywood rudder with a yoke and tiller ropes is detailed in the plans. I prefer a kick-up rudder and converted the fixed blade to pivoting in a manner used by Bolger in several of his other boats. I also installed a push-pull tiller, which I prefer for its more precise control of the rudder.

The Bolger Pirogue’s cockpit is 8′ 2″ long. The mast and sprit, both 8′ long, with the sail rolled around them, fit in the cockpit and can be tucked under a side deck. For rowing the Pirogue, I installed the outriggers and thwart, which are noted as options in the drawings. The recommended oar length is 7′ and, like the spars, they fit under a side deck when not in use. The boat’s bottom is about 32″ wide amidships and, with the thwart made to be removable, offers a comfortable space to lie down for a rest, prompting me to imagine it as a solo cruiser.

The optional thwart rests on short risers epoxied to the cockpit sides. It is removable to open up the cockpit for sleeping. The outriggers, also optional, are of 3⁄4″ oak bolted to the deck with a backing block beneath to strengthen the deck. The “mast partners” on the aft bulkhead are for a pole that will support a camping canopy.

I haven’t weighed the boat yet, but it’s around 100 lbs, which means I can cartop it by lifting one end at a time.

Bolger Pirogue Performance

The hull has very good stability whether loaded with gear or empty, and I can step aboard with ease from knee-high water or down from a high dock. If I sit on the side deck with my feet in the water, the gunwale stays just shy of touching the water and the boat feels quite steady.

During sea trials, I did a capsize drill with the cockpit emptied of gear, the sailing rig down, and the leeboard out. The Bolger Pirogue floated high, upside-down, with the buoyancy compartments supporting the weight of the hull. It was easy to right, and the decks limited the amount of water that was scooped up while rolling over. Upright, the hull had only about 1 1⁄2″ of water in the bottom—not enough to need bailing to complete the recovery. However, lunging over the side to get back aboard threatened to drive the side deck under and let more water in. I switched to the sea kayaker’s cowboy scramble and pulled myself up on the aft deck, straddled it, and scooted forward until I could drop my seat into the cockpit. The amount of water in the cockpit didn’t compromise the boat’s stability.

In Bolger’s design, the rudder has a fixed blade and a transverse tiller for rope steering. I cut the original wooden blade into two parts and added aluminum plates so the lower half can pivot. The white line threaded through the rudderhead is used to lift the blade. I also added a Norwegian push-pull tiller as my preferred means of steering under sail.

For rowing, the thwart is at a comfortable sitting height of 8″, and 34″ from the aft bulkhead, which I can use as a foot brace. I’m 6′ tall and can rest the balls of my feet on the bulkhead but not my heels. I might add a few inches of closed-cell foam to the bulkhead to serve as a comfortable footrest as well as a padded backrest for sailing. The thwart is 10″ wide so there is room for a rower with longer legs to slide forward and still be fully seated.

I have a pair of 7′ 3″ spoon-bladed oars that are a good fit for the 45″ span between oarlocks. The rowing geometry is right on target with the handles coming to the bottom of my sternum at the end of the drive and clearing my thighs by several inches on the recovery. The Pirogue does 3 1⁄2 knots at a relaxed pace, 4 knots at an aerobic-exercise pace, and hits 4 1⁄2 knots in a short sprint. Bolger’s plans include the note: “Trim with the forefoot clear of the water for best performance,” and the drawings show the load waterline with the forefoot about 1″ above it and the chines at the stern just submerged. My Pirogue has almost exactly that trim when I reach aft for the catch of my rowing stroke.

With a 14′ push-pole, I can stand to propel the Pirogue in shallow water and have a view over the bow.

Tracking while under oars is excellent, and after getting the boat up to speed with several strokes, I can let it coast, and it holds its course without yawing. The maneuverability while under way is very good. I can turn 15° with a harder pull on one oar. From a stationary start, spinning the boat through 360° takes just 11 strokes, alternating forward strokes on one side with backing strokes on the other. I think the quick spin could be attributed to having the bow slightly out of the water.

I happen to have an old 9′ double-bladed kayak paddle that is just right for paddling. I sit facing forward on the rowing thwart and while that puts my weight farther forward and brings the forefoot into contact with the water, I don’t notice any change in the Pirogue’s tracking—it yaws very little between strokes and stays on course. A 9′ paddle is a lot of wood to swing, but I’d be happy to use it for exploring winding waterways that aren’t wide enough to row.

The 39-sq-ft spritsail is of modest size but a good match for the Pirogue’s 3′ 3″ beam. I added the brail so I can douse the sail quickly by gathering the sail and sprit against the mast.

Setting sail on the Pirogue doesn’t take long and I can do it while afloat by crawling forward to deploy the leeboard/daggerboard and raise the bundled spars and sail. Even with my weight at the forward end of the cockpit, the Pirogue has good stability. I added a brail to the spritsail and can raise the rig and move to the aft end of the cockpit to take the helm before releasing the brail to open the sail. To date, I’ve only sailed in light winds, no more than 10 knots, and have been able at all times to sit on the bottom with my back against the aft cockpit coaming. I’m quite comfortable there and the sheet and Norwegian push-pull tiller are both within easy reach. With my weight fully aft, the forefoot is raised a bit more above the water than Bolger’s drawing, but the boat sails well. The bow can be slow coming through the eye of the wind, but a few flicks of the rudder keep it moving until it falls off on the other tack. All it takes to get underway on the new tack is to hook the sheet around the back of the sheer-mounted cleat on the new leeward side.

I don’t often go boating in shallow backwaters like the early pirogues were built for, but I do have a 14′ Chippewa-style push pole. By standing with my lower legs pressed against the deck carlins I was able to keep the boat steady and to propel it with confidence if not skill.

My Pirogue is 30 years old and doesn’t appear to have had any maintenance since it was first launched. When it was given to me, it wasn’t much to look at, it wasn’t outfitted to row, and the plywood brackets for the leeboard were delaminating and breaking away from the hull. I didn’t expect much from it but nevertheless went to work on it and put my trust in Phil Bolger’s design. When I finally got it afloat and underway, it proved itself an able performer whether sailed, rowed, paddled, or poled. The time and effort I put in to get the Pirogue seaworthy have been worth it and I’m looking forward to some summer cruising.

Christopher Cunningham is Small Boats’ editor-at-large.

Bolger Pirogue, Design #451, Particulars

LOA:   16′
Beam:   3′ 3″
Draft, board up:   approx. 5″
Draft, board down:   approx. 2′ 6″
Sail area:   39 sq ft

The two pages (22″ × 34″) of plans for the Pirogue, Design #451, are available for $65 including shipping within the U.S. For more information or to place an order, send email to [email protected], or mail to Phil Bolger & Friends, 66 Atlantic Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.

For more Small Boats reviews of sailing and rowing designs by Phil Bolger, read “Bobcat” by John Leyde, “Sweet Pea” by Ingrid Code, and “The Gloucester Light Dory” by Tom Jackson.

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