FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015
Outdoor Rec / Sports
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
A Basque boat named ‘Charlotte’ Swim meet
I’ve person-
ally located
a Thomas
J. Hill-de-
signed, 11’6”
canoe, called
the “Char-
lotte,” a
boat that can
weigh under
30 pounds.
The fact
that the ca-
noe could be
easily carried
THE OUTDOOR COLUMN
and placed
on top of a
By Todd Arriola
vehicle, or
The recent 100-degree
maybe in the
heat, followed by cooler
bed of one, is part of the
weather and the two inches attraction. Additionally,
of rain recently, prompted
“…she’s very fast and she
me to fi rst of all, wonder
tracks like a freight train,”
about the schizophrenic
according to Hill. Plus,
behavior of Mother Nature, she’s beautiful, if I can add
and secondly, to think
my humble opinion to the
about a suitable design for
mix.
a boatbuilding project this
It should be noted that, in
year.
the interest of full disclo-
When one thinks of
sure, every time I fi shed
eastern Oregon, or more
around about any signifi -
specifi cally, Baker County, cant body of water, I kept
boats don’t immediately
thinking that if I could just
come to mind, but I take
get out on it with a boat
inspiration where I can
built from scratch, I might
get it.
have more fun.
The two inches of pound-
That, and my inner
ing rain and the angry wind Basque voices were too
may have had something
stubborn to avoid harass-
to do with that, coupled
ing me with visions of
with power outages and
fi shing and boatbuilding in
the warm and fuzzy feeling my lineage.
that my residence wasn’t
I joked to a friend about
far off from becoming a
a possible business name,
houseboat.
“The Basque Boat Builder
Needless to say, as far as of Baker.” Maybe it
the search for a boat plan
doesn’t exactly pop.
is concerned, there is an
Boatbuilding is a “ro-
endless supply available
mantic” idea to many, but,
to everyone of all skill
while I do want to sound
levels, from the mother of
encouraging, the reality is,
all sources, the Internet.
it’s a bit more complicated
than just throwing some
straight planks on a frame,
and hoping one doesn’t
sink to the bottom of the
lake when it‘s completed.
Speaking of the planks,
they probably won’t be
straight anyway.
Think of it this way: if
you cut what appears to be
a straight rectangle on an
orange peel, and pull off
that piece, when you lay it
out fl at, it won’t look the
same.
In reverse, that’s what
planking would be like on
a boat, because it involves
bevels and curves.
Charlotte would, of
course, be my personal
vessel of endless joy, but
on a less selfi sh note, I
believe a boatbuilding pro-
gram implemented locally,
involving school-age stu-
dents, does have its appeal,
and much could be taught
regarding the use of tools
(traditional and modern),
mathematics, geometry,
seamanship, challenging
carpentry projects, and
working as a team to ac-
complish a goal.
While searching for a
boat plan associated with
this idea, I came across
the Bevin Skiff, the plans
for which are offered for
free from the Alexandria
Seaport Foundation, “…
as long as you build it
with kids,” I discovered,
on woodenboat.com.
Students’ elastic minds
and restless bodies are
practically begging to be
occupied with focus on a
project such as this one.
Again, that’s my humble
opinion.
An obvious thought
that comes to mind when
thinking about the summer,
is that I’d rather be using
the boat and playing, than
building one, which is an
activity usually reserved
for winter, for obvious
reasons.
But, we have to go with
the timing life gives us, as
they say (well, somebody
says that, I would like to
assume).
The aforementioned
Charlotte (plans available
at thomasjhillboatdesigns.
com) and other various
boats usually require a
frame, made of wooden
molds, upon which the
boat is constructed upside
down.
Depending on the con-
struction method and the
type of boat, this certainly
isn’t always the case, but
something to keep in mind.
As I’ve yet to order my
plans, I haven’t con-
structed the molds, or even
decided that Charlotte will
defi nitely be this year’s
fi rst boat for me.
I like to “keep it local”
when possible, and differ-
ent materials are suitable
for boatbuilding, but we’ll
see how that goes with
what’s required for con-
struction.
I’d like to think that in
the space between my ears,
there’s plenty of elasticity
left in my own mind for
more learning, and maybe,
just maybe, I can help to
generate some inspiration
this year.
Good luck with your
adventures!
results
Both the Baker and LaGrande Swim Clubs attended the
Pendleton Open swim meet on July 10-12. There were 13
teams from Oregon, Washington and Idaho with 341 ath-
letes entered. Three of the 33 swimmers that La Grande
sent were from Baker City, Jacob Miller, Jared Miller,
and Riana Scott. The following are their results:
Jacob Miller(11) - Boys 11-12 age group
200 IM 7th
50 Back 8th
100 Free 15th
100 Breast 9th
50 Fly 12th
50 Free 15th
100 Back 7th
50 Breast 7th
200 Free 9th
Jared Miller (16) - Boys 15 & over age group
200 IM 3rd
100 Back 1st
100 Free 5th
100 Fly 5th
1500 Free 2nd
50 Free 11th
200 Back 1st
200 Free 3rd
200 Fly 3rd
Riana Scott (13) - Girls 13-14 age group
200 IM 2nd
100 Free 3rd
200 Breast 2nd
100 Fly 5th
1500 Free 4th
50 Free 7th
200 Back 5th
100 Breast 2nd
200 Free 7th
Jared Miller and Riana Scott both were on relay teams
that placed 1st.
Ladies bridge
and golf scores
Results of the July 8 Quail Ridge Ladies Bridge and
Golf Club are:
Golf Winners, Tee to Green, 1st Lavelle Woodcock,
2nd Margo Kenworthy; and 3rd Nancy Buehler.
Bridge Winners: 1st Lavelle Woodcock; 2nd Della
Steele, and 3rd Shannon Sullivan.
ODFW finds salmon die-off in
the John Day River
Softshell clam
JOHN DAY, Ore. – An
estimated 109 wild spring
Chinook salmon in the up-
per section of the Middle
Fork John Day River died
last week, apparently due
to low river fl ows and
warm temperatures.
According to Brent
Smith, ODFW fi sh
biologist in John Day,
water temperatures in the
mid-70s combined with
low stream fl ows likely led
to the deaths of these fi sh.
Like many rivers across
Oregon, stream fl ows in
the Middle Fork John Day
have been extremely low
this summer.
The spring Chinook
die-off was fi rst discovered
by ODFW staff on July 7
near Windlass Creek. The
following two days more
dead fi sh were observed
during a survey conducted
over a 17-mile reach
downstream of Hwy. 7.
Similar salmon die-offs
occurred in 2007 and 2013
with high temperatures
being the main cause.
The Middle Fork’s lack
of riparian vegetation
combined with a wide and
shallow channel exposes
much of the river to direct
sunlight which can lead to
cause quick rises in water
temperature.
Smith said he expects
to see additional salmon
mortalities for the rest of
the summer until spawning
occurs in early Septem-
ber. He said the John Day
basin as a whole is seeing
a strong salmon return this
year and recent summer
rains have brought some
relief.
advisory
The Oregon Health Authority is issuing a health
advisory for the length of the Oregon Coast for softs-
hell clams because they contain high levels of naturally
occurring arsenic. Removing skin from clam’s siphon
dramatically reduces arsenic levels, public health of-
fi cials say. Arsenic levels varied along the Oregon coast:
Clams on the north coast had the most arsenic; clams on
the south coast had the least arsenic; clams on the central
coast were in between.
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