In Fig. 11, which is a stern view of the rowing catamaran, one of the paddle-wheels is shown in place, and it also shows the location of the axle, the sprocket-wheel, and the chain that leads to the large sprocket-wheel by means of which the axle is turned.
An old bicycle chain and sprockets, together with the axle, cranks, and pedals, can be arranged on a frame, so that a saddle may be mounted the proper distance above the pedals. This arrangement is clearly shown in the illustration, which shows also the outrigger timbers at the stern, to which a sheet-iron rudder may be made fast. It is operated by a handle and bar, which turns the rudder by means of flexible wire-rope run through two deck-pulleys at the outer rear ends of the deck planking. The iron rod is held in place to the forward upright of the seat-frame with metal straps. At its lower end a wooden wheel having a groove is made fast, around which a wrap or two of the wire-cable is taken to hold the rudder steady.
Chapter XV
ICE-BOATS
A Sloop-rigged Ice-yacht
For travelling over the ice there is nothing to beat an ice-yacht, and some that have been constructed on the Hudson River are of gigantic size and power. Boats of this kind, and having the speed of an express-train, are dangerous for boys to play with, but the ordinary ice-boat that will go from ten to twenty miles an hour is within the ability of any well-grown boy to make and safely handle.
It is quite a simple matter to make a good ice-boat, for it is but a framework properly put together and bolted, on top of which a deck is nailed, with a mast-step arranged at the front.
Fig. 1 shows the elevation view of a moderately sized sloop-yacht; and in Fig. 2 the deck plan is shown, the joints and deck boards being clearly indicated. The triangular body of the boat is ten feet long and eight feet wide, and the bowsprit projects out six feet beyond the timber A in Fig. 2.
The frame is made of clear spruce timbers six inches wide and two inches thick. The timber A is eight feet long, B B are eleven feet long, C is five feet long, and D D are each three feet long.
At the front corners and at the back the timbers are bevelled, as shown in the plan drawing, and they are joined with long bolts as indicated by the dotted lines. Timbers C and D D are set in place and securely fastened with long, steel-wire spikes. The bowsprit E is mounted against timber C and laid over timber A, to which it is bolted fast. A half-inch iron pin is driven in the butt end of the bowsprit, and it fits into a hole made in timber C.