Bus Bailey plans available

Larry Westlake has written to say that plans are now available for Colin Masson's beautifully restored double-ended Luoma handliner, built for salmon fishing in 1937 and which he uses for commuting to work. It is named Bus Bailey after a previous owner.
Colin writes in his excellent blog:

“Bus”, a thirteen-and-a-half foot, double ended carvel-planked rowboat, is well-proportioned with a well-defined and balanced sheer providing a solid “sweet” appearance. Frank Hackwood, the third owner (at right in picture, with Colin), tells me that Bus Bailey paid twenty dollars in 1946 for a fully outfitted boat with the original pair of fine spooned oars of tight-grained old-growth fir and an oak ‘dry-ass’ seat.

More about the plans can be found at Larry's website - click the 'Heritage' button. It is a treasure-trove of plans for traditional North American rowboats, including a long and slender Fraser River Skiff of 1905 originally used by fur traders.
The heritage plans assume traditional construction in solid wood, but if you prefer modern clinker ply you could look at the pretty Brightsides hand troller, Larry's own design.

"Lively water"

One of the most interesting  boats in the Shipyard School Raid in British Columbia this year was Bus Bailey, a traditional handliner built in the 1930s to fish for salmon around the islands off Vancouver. Owner Colin Masson won a leg of the Raid under oars alone, and he reveals the secret in his new blog, Colin's Rowing and Sailing Stories.
It's very simple - he rows a lot. In the summer he commutes from Gabriola Island to his work at the Pacific Biological Station in Departure Bay.
Colin's first post is a long one but well worth reading right through. He covers his childhood exploring his local bay with his kid brother, the joys of fishing when he was finally deemed experienced enough to venture out of the bay, how Bus Bailey came into his possession, the history of handlining and the types of water he experiences:

Waves and wind, or the lack of them, dominate the daily conditions. As with snow to the Inuit, they come to me in a myriad of forms and shapes, many of which I’ve come to describe with words and names of my own. Often in the early morning, the waves are short, slurppy and choppy as the north-west wind resists the tide moving along Gabriola’s exposed shore. Sometimes they make for what I call “lively water,” with following waves on the starboard quarter - slightly countered from a pressing south-east breeze. Just occasionally, there is a flat calm, with no discernable movement showing on the slick and glimmering surface, save the inevitable wash from a distant boat or a ghosting zepher-breath.

I like the lively water best as I slowly work my body and the Bus into an intuitive all-connected movement through the water. It’s the ‘magic zone’ that I search for. The one that has me smiling – even breaking out in laughter between gasps for air.

 It's great stuff.

Shipyard School Raid 2009

The Shipyard School Raid takes place in the rugged and beautiful scenery of British Columbia, with names like Jedediah Island and Desolation Sound. This year it was blessed with great weather, with none of the rain for which the region is famous.
Two interesting rowing boats entered.
Bus Bailey is a 1930s handliner, a sleek double ender. Owner Colin Masson rowed her to victory in one leg and an overall second place, demonstrating that you don't have to sail to win.
Tuvaak is an umiak, a skin on frame boat built by Sea Scouts in Kent, Washington, helped by kayak guru Corey Freedman. The 26ft boat can be rowed by a crew of up to twelve, though the Raid crew consisted of seven youths and two adults, so it could be sailed as well as rowed. She came fourth.