"Andrew Butchart" wrote in message ...
Concept proposed over beer with one of my brothers.

A "party barge" for a one-way trip down the river with roughly 12 people and
assorted frosty beverages. Power to be provided by a combination of
scantily clad slave girls (not bloody likely according to my wife who
refuses to be scantily clad) or an old outboard that someone thinks they may
have in their shed. This is intended to be a more "classy" trip than the
current method of multiple canoes lashed together around an old skiff.

Design considerations:
- it needs to be able to be taken down to the river and returned in the
backs of several pick-ups, or on a special purpose - not road-worthy trailer
/ hay wagon.
- it needs to be able to handle various shallow sections of the river
without falling apart, possibly requiring people to jump off and drag it
across (10" draft?).
- the vessel needs to be stable enough to handle people walking around on
it.

What quickly came to mind was to have each couple assemble a small,
extremely cheap boat that "could" be used independently if the barge
survives. Individual boats would be shaped rather like Phil Bolger's
"Brick" and have the ability to be attached together. The over-all vessel
would then be decked with 1/2" plywood leaving the center open for "frosty
beverage" storage, or having this task performed by half-barrels lashed to
the sides.

Ideas?

A little ot but here in CT we have a great raft race every year from
Hartford. One year there were a bunch of guys on this old raft with
oars, a couple of chairs, mugs, and a couple of kegs of beer. The race
started and they were making pretty good way for a bunch of drunks
until they stopped and started moving up stream! Nobody rowing, no
sail, just against the current. Of course we all soon realized they
had a small outboard hidden under the keg right in the middle of the
raft, steered by turning the keg. That was many years ago when
"responsible" drinkers were left alone on the river, ah for the good
ole' days.
Scotty