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I was bored last summer and curious what it would be like to make and use a tule boat used by native americans in the San Fransisco bay area. I made it on a local island in about an hour and paddled it about a mile back to my house. Definately needed to be bigger with more tules but I didn't invest much time in it lol....Attachment 7168Attachment 7169Attachment 7170Attachment 7171Attachment 7172
Cool, thanks for sharing. That is pretty nifty!
perrty cool thanks
That is impressive!
That is cool,....and looks effective.
As a young man rafts were kind our speed, as we didn't have enough bucks for boats, but never gave this this type a thought.
Thanks for posting.
Nice. I would like to try that on our lake.
Just tie three individual bundles, then tie the three together in a "V", and push the tules out to make a hull. I sat higher flipping the "v" over and sitting on it upside down.
So what you are saying lt's like a raft.....how come nobody talks about rafts?
I built a raft with the idea that I could float down the stream, to a river to a big river, to the Gulf of Mexico.....Great idea, not so much in actual excution. LOL
I have no idea. I tried a few as a kid but always failed. They looked great until trying to get on them and sinking lol..Quote:
Originally Posted by hunter63
How do you make rafts? This one would definitely not been good for a long voyage. By the time I got home it was so water logged it weighed a ton and I was sitting in the water, but I did use maybe 1/5th of the ammount of tules I should have. According to the article I read the originals were used for a couple days and tossed out.
Trick is to use wood that is relativity dry to start with........Pine seems to float better than say oak or hard woods.
Some wood just about only floats it's own weight.
Raft in question was built using a ceder light poles, cut in about 5 ft pieces as I recall.
they were about 8" in dia, 5 of them, held together by simple nailing a couple of 2X4" across the logs.
It was so buoyant was kinda like a cork and acted as such.
Of the rafts that set out on the cruise that day it truly was the only one that would hold the weight of a 10 years old, all others simple sunk or flipped over.
Of course there was really no good way to control it, so it was kinda a hold on and ride deal......for about 100 yds, till I/we came to a large log across the creek.
The current was pretty fast as it was Easter break, snow run off made the current fast....so the raft got sucked under the log, with me sort of crawling/jumping up on the log........end of trip....Cold, wet, and of course disappointed.
fast forward about 30 years....location of the sinking of my raft was behind a friends parents house, they owned the land, which he had inherited.
Stopping by to visit, he greated me in the drive way by running up to the truck and dragging me out behind his shed.
He had been cleaning out the creek, removed that big log,,,,and there before my eyes was my raft...still intact, but very water logged....after all these years.
And did that look small!
As he was part of the orginal crew that cast off that day, he knew exactly what it was.......LOL
Had to have couple of brewskies on that one
The last raft I made was shaped like a Klingon D-7 war crusier. We used in the "Kenebec Whatever River Raft Race" (Maine)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SARKY
LOL, somehow that just seems right! if it floats, it's good.
I'm not sure what killed it, but the "what ever race" in no more. I think there got to be too many rules, and people that couldn't follow them. I was something to watch for several years.
I would really like to try a reed boat/, but i don't think we have enough of anything small enough, long enough, and enough of it here in Wisconsin to give it a try.
Still a cool idea.......
I had no idea what a "tule" was. I had to look it up. We call them Bulrushes. Now I know. Of all the crap we threw in the Middle Fork and tried to make float as a kid Bulrushes was not one of them. Looks like a pretty good job to me. By the way, you lost a shoe and someone wrote on your arm with a marker while you were asleep on the boat.
So, what was the reaction of the kayakers when you pulled up?
That's my girlfriend and little brother. We took kayaks to the island, I build it there, and we paddled back.
Rick- I have one foot bigger than the other and one bootie was hurting my foot.
Very impressive. When I saw this thread title I assumed it was just about theory but here you are actually doing it!Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyRhoads
I am familiar with the plants that grow along the Sacrameto delta. Looks like you have some sort of rush there, either tule or bulrush. Next summer you might look into using the dry rushes rather than the green ones; they would probably float better.
As far as I know from reading once they turned brown they were regarded as "no good" and discarded. Tule boats where only a very temporary means of water transportation, made from fresh tules
I did leave it on the levee after bringing it back where it dried out. After tightening up all the now loose cords I put it in put it fell apart pretty quickly. Very crumbly. But at the same time the fresh green ones were already water logged by the time I got home. Next summer i'll have to do some experimenting to see what the best way is. Maybe cutting and letter dry a little for a day?
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