What do you do when you need a boat that can travel on land and water, can carry enough supplies for an expedition, and can be propelled using only your own efforts? You make it!

In planning our voyage from Scotland to Syria we wanted to use human-powered craft that have the capability of navigating both land and water. This would give us the ultimate freedom in route planning.  The plethora of canals, rivers, lakes, oceans, bike paths and roads across Europe could all be incorporated into the journey.

There are no such amphibious craft available commercially, and our requirements posed challenging logistical problems.  We wanted a rig that is efficient in both water and land; where performance is not compromised for the sake of novelty.

People have had success towing canoes and sea kayaks behind bicycles, and we felt this concept would work well on land; however, neither of these craft would be suitable for the aquatic element of our journey.  Canoes lack the seaworthiness required for voyaging rougher waters, and sea kayaks don’t have the capacity to carry a bicycle and trailer.

Instead we designed and built a craft that is as seaworthy as a kayak with the cargo capacity of a small canoe.  The vessel is propelled using oars and a sliding seat.  This rowboat has the capability of carrying a bicycle, trailer, and several weeks of camping supplies.  Tony from Tony’s Trailers created a customized boat trailer that can disassemble and fit inside the boat.

The interior space of the vessel is sealed with bulkheads, decks and hatches which provides buoyancy in the event of a capsize, and keeps the cargo dry and secure.  The boat is designed so that if it does flip it can be manually righted, and all water drains from the cockpit in the righting process.  This allows the boat to be underway again within seconds of capsizing.

Rowing is an underutilized art seldom used for recreational touring purposes, despite the fact it is the most efficient way of propelling a vessel with human power.  The sliding seat allows the major muscles of our legs and back to contribute to the driving force.  Upon trialing our new boats we were pleased to learn they could voyage at approximately 1.5 times the speed of an average sea kayak while offering triple the cargo space.  Additionally, it is possible to travel for long periods without feeling fatigued.

The boats are also designed to catamaran together utilizing metal tubes from the trailer system.  The stable platform between the boats can then be utilized for camping or relaxing, while cooking and other camp activities can take place in the cockpit wells.  In urban areas or wild wilderness, this setup is ideal for camping in areas where setting up a tent would otherwise be unfeasible.

For those interested in rowing for exercise and adventure, we will be manufacturing and retailing our amphibious touring rowboat along with several other designs in 2009.  For more information please visit www.angusrowboats.com.