Candlefish 13

Specifications
Length:	13ft 4in
	4.1m
Beam:	4ft 11in
	1.5m
Draft:	4-1/2in
	.14m
Displacement (load waterline):	445lbs 206kg
Dry weight with outboard:	165lbs 75kg
Power:	6 - 25 HP outboard motor

• See photos, homebuilt testimonials and Devlin Shop construction photos in the Candlefish 13 Photo Gallery

Did the horse come before the cart or the cart before the Horse? A dumb question but in the case of the Candlefish 13 and the Candlefish 16, which came first is a legitimate question. The answer is that the Candlefish 13 was the first of these two designs and while the Candlefish 16 was built before the Candlefish 13, by no means does this diminish the importance of the design. 

The Candlefish 13 was originally designed for Tom McLain of Fairbanks, Alaska and I include the original copy of the design commission listing the requirements for the boat and parameters:

• January 30, 2006
• Custom Design for Tom McLain
• Fairbanks, Alaska 
• Work Number XXX-XXX-XXXX
• Charge for Preliminary Design - $XXX with rights for first boat only
• Paid by check #XXXX 
• 50% down to start design and 50% on delivery of plans 
• Total cost of the design - $XXX
• 14 ft. cartoppable outboard skiff 
• Length 14ft 
• Beam 48in
• Needs to be less than 150-180 lbs for the basic boat, has to be lifted overhead to a rack on a 5th wheel towing Dodge one ton truck 
• For use in the far North on lakes and non-whitewater bodies of water 
• Wants to use a 6-10hp. outboard engine on the stern for power. 
• As stable and deep a boat as what Tom and friends, or wife, can manage to lift onto rack 
• Floorboards could be removable and seat thwarts also 
• Will be carried upside down on the truck rack 
• Gregor Boats H 42 model is an aluminum boat that Tom likes (good research) 
• Coming down on June 30th to visit... Likes idea of cargo hatch in middle of the boat.

To respect Toms privacy, I have x'd out the vital money details and address of this agreement but you can plainly see a small, cartoppable, very seaworthy skiff was desired. Did Tom ever build the first boat to the design? I can't answer that for sure as he has not sent me any construction or action photos of her yet, but I still think that she would fit the bill of cruising, hunting, exploring far northern waters on freshwater lakes very well.

During the design phase of the project, I always find myself using these boats in my mind, in some cases, for the same use and waters as the customer is planning on but sometimes my own mental voyages are even more exacting than the original design commission. For this design, I could easily see myself planning to do a couple of weeks of moose hunting on a far northern lake with my friends Sven and Ollie using the Candlefish to transport all the gear necessary from our launch site to the hunting campsite. Each day would involve using the boat to travel to a different part of the lake for the day's hunting and if we were really lucky and good shots after getting a moose down, we'd use her to transport the meat back to camp and then finally back to the launching area and road. A big moose can weigh over 1,500 lbs. and this would be a lot of meat, more than most boats could handle with one load. So I did a bit of calculation on how efficient the Candlefish 13 would be as a meat freighter. At her normal lines, she displaces 441 lbs., just enough for an adult and the weight of the boat and motor and at this weight, she only drafts or draws 4.5 skinny inches of water. If I figure that the boat weights in at 150 lbs. and she uses a 100 lb. motor, we can come up with some interesting figures of weight and loading. By increasing the draft 2 to a still skinny 6.5 total draft, now she displaces 538 lbs. By increasing it again 2 to 8.5 total draft, she weights or displaces 918 lbs. And on the ultimate hunting trip or in this example ferrying out a moose carcass, she could draft 10.5, carry 1,323 lbs. of weight total and still have over 13 of freeboard at the lowest spot of the sheer. This little Candlefish 13 was designed to do just that job and with her cargo hold in the middle and forward bow stowage areas, a really great seaworthy little boat resulted. But how about those of you that want to use her on a lake in Minnesota, or maybe even trailer her down to Sea of Cortez for a camp cruising adventure? Truth is she is up for all of that or even the more mundane crabbing expedition on Puget Sound or a fishing trip to a high mountain lake.

How is her performance? Well with an 8hp. outboard, even with some good loading, she will still go well over the 20 miles per hour mark and with a boat like this, you can go as fast as you have horsepower to apply to her. Her transom could take anything from a modest 6hp up to a 25 hp motor and youll just have to make those decisions on your own -- how fast you want to go, how much money you want to spend on the outboard, and how portable (how heavy an outboard ) do you want to keep on her?

I think she accomplishes Toms goals with panache; in fact, maybe I should have named her just that, but in any case, a simple, seaworthy, trailerable or even car-toppable skiff can be a real joy to build, own, and play with.

With about $850 dollars worth of materials, you can build your own. Both American and Metric measurement plans are now available.