I�m not Lindbergh proving a new technology by flying over the Atlantic or anything, but my homemade tarpboat easily carried me more than a kilometer last week.

Following a dreadful, disappointing and wet episode with a tarpboat-turned-submarine, how shall I refer to my recent success?

Tarpboat Redux? Tarpboat, Part Deux? 2 Tarp 2 Boat? The Tarpboat is back, and badder than ever - and this time it�s personal?

After a learning experience in the First Broad River, I started thinking about what I could do differently with my creation of sticks, rope and tarp. There had been a lot of obstacles in that river, I hadn�t been able to maneuver very well and the lip of the boat was too close to the water - not leaving enough room for error or waves.



LAST THURSDAY I drove down to the Broad River, a more open waterway with fewer things to hit. I took two tarps this time - one to cover the structure of the craft and the second to cocoon the boat, providing a double hull on the bottom and a barrier against waves on the top.

Moving out into the current I tried a U.S. Army entrenching tool - a folding shovel - as a paddle. I also had a spiffy, bright orange life preserver and was dressed about as well as one can to counter hypothermia following a dunking. By the way, don�t try this at home.



I MANEUVERED tentatively at first, mindful of what happened last time I�d tried sailing a tarp on a cold, swift river in December. I went under the N.C. 150 bridge and was feeling more confident by the time I passed where I had parked at the Broad River Greenway.

Overall, things went swimmingly and I didn�t need to use my safety gear. The paddle greatly aided maneuverability and the second tarp kept me almost totally dry - waves lapped up on the boat while going through Class I rapids but harmlessly flowed away.

My improvements worked. I�d basically made a kayak in 10 minutes.



I WAS even comfortable enough with the boat�s stability to pull out a camera and shoot some pictures. Check out some video on The Star�s website: www.shelbystar.com.

After twenty minutes in the water, I made my return to shore and paced off how far I�d gone. One small cruise for me, one giant leap for tarpboats?

Frenchman Louis Bleriot became the first to pilot an airplane across the English Channel in 1909, earning a place in the history.

I should at least get a cookie.



View Video at:

http://www.shelbystar.com/tarp%20boat/video.htm