Dad's Boats

The Story... Dad, David to you, built his first pedal boat in his teenage years. This was in the 1950s. His first boat was a single seater and was designed as a way of following his remote controlled yacht while keeping his hands free for the controls. The drive mechanism was an old hand drill! The ‘Sieve’ as it was affectionately called was moth balled in the garden not long after when National Service got in the way. By the time David got back two years later the Sieve had deteriorated so much all he could do was cut it up for firewood. So, the next generation of pedal boat started to form in his mind. This time a more sociable two seater, facing each other yet both being able to pedal in a forward direction. Over the next few years the ‘Cyclone’ was born. This boat accompanied David on his honeymoon around the Norfolk Broads in the 1960s. It has also been pedaled around the Isle of Wight (don’t try this at home!). David has made three designs of two seater pedal boats; ‘Cyclone’ – the oldest; ‘Cyclamen’ – built in the 1980s which is longer and faster but less stable; and ‘Lifecycle’ – added in 2002 which is the most stable and the model we have developed through Dad’s Boats. Since 2012 we at Dad’s Boats have been developing and testing a commercial model based on Lifecycle. This is The Pedal Boat! David’s children and grandchildren have grown up enjoying the pedal boats.