Boat Building Plans And Kits | Hauling Out

Boat Building Plans And Kits

I direct you to this thread for Haul-Out techniques and discussion.  The thread does not start at haul out techniques but transitions to it.  Below is my first attempt at hauling out my Goat Island Skiff to a location that will keep her off the rocks, but keep me from swimming in grassy waters or wading up to my waste in mud depending on the tides.  Basically, its a way for a voyaging sailing dinghy to access unfriendly places without undo damage to her hull.

Here I am hauled out at high tide...

...and low tide...

As you can see, I set one anchor, and to it attach a loop of line that will be secured ashore.  The skiff is tied to the loop and can be hauled in.  Again, I strongly encourage the intrepid reader to read the above linked post for more details and minutiae on this theory.

And now some VIDEO!  Goat Island Skiff Amateur Style is hitting the silver utubes screen!  This is really the epitome of dorkiness as this blog, these videos, and myself attest.  Im a little loud initially near the camera, but then not so loud later, so have your finger on the volume button.  All taken with my little point and click camera.

Haul Out!  The Automaton Goat Island Skiff!



Haul In!



YEAH!

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Boat Plans Wooden | Saturday Night Special

Boat Plans Wooden

Saturday Night Special build

There are several builders of this design aiming at next years Texs 200,  we’re hoping for a fleet of them, some to be available as fundraiser charters  to raise money for cancer research.

To recap the project, the build projects and the sponsorship to help build them is being managed by Jackie Monies ,  and we’re hoping for half a dozen to front up on day one of the Texas 200 next year.

Phil McCowin decided that this sounded like fun, and is busy building one with which to participate, I’m pleased to say that I’ll be his crew.  I’m very much looking forward to this event.

Phil has his SNS all planked up, she’s looking lean and slippery.  Do bear in mind that the design is intended to be a very quick build so the build standard is not fancy, just basic carpentry rather than a lesson in “how to build a heritage standard boat”.  To give you an idea of how the build goes I asked Phil how long it took to plank her, and he tells me that it took about 6 1/2 hours, thats the chine panels and topsides, essentially from a basic frame to "a boat". One day with coffee and lunch breaks.

She has just the simplest structure and basic interior which means shes light, quick and easy to build, and may well be the most bang you’ll get for the buck.

She’ll be fast, capable of planing on most points of sail, has a lot of bouyancy built in and in the strong quartering tailwinds that characterise the T200 course at that time of year should be a fun ride.

Here are some of Phils  pics from the Saturday Night Special Facebook page,  you can see more over there.  Thanks Phil.

 Plans are available from www.duckworksmagazine.com  

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Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport | Gluing BH 4 and some things I found out about gluing

Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport

Alright, Im a little frustrated at myself right now, because things are coming along nice, but not coming along like I want them too. Everything will be OK in the end, but it wont be as nice and neat as I would like to see, and thats aggravating. A lot of the mess stems from excess epoxy squeezing out and making the seams look all lumpy and dumb. A faster clean-up job before anything even begins to think about setting up would have saved me from having stupid looking frames.

First, Ive been having some problems at work that are pretty significant, and I wasnt as focused on gluing as I wanted to be or could have and that led to sloppy gluing work.

Second, I just dont have wood gluing experience. My epoxy/fiberglass experience is solely focused on my Laser, hull #194, from the early 70s. This boat has hit submerged objects, sandbars, docks, buoys, other boats, etc. at speed. Laser speed. Fast. Rig humming with 2/3 of the boat out of the water fast. Once, it fell off my car... while I was driving. Needless to say, Id just slop some epoxy on and keep going. Now that Im gluing together my wood boat, I cant be as messy, or at least, Id rather I wasnt as messy.

BH1 is messy but will be hidden mostly from view. BH2 is somewhat in view and the frames are going to visible, and its kind of messy. BH 3 could have come out perfect, but it looks messy too because I rushed and didnt STOP.THINKFIRST.NOTSOFAST. BH 4 came out really nice and clean, but the frame is mostly hidden within the rear airtight box, so no one will see my clean job! Dammit! Roar!

So heres a tip to you beginners out there: First, read all you can about epoxy. I have yet to find a nice primer/tutorial on wood gluing for boats, and that would have helped. The Storer forum, my thread in particular could help you out. Second, my biggest mistake in neatness is that I waited for the epoxy to firm up to a putty and then tried to hack off the excess. This is a mistake. This evening I glued BH4 together, let it sit for a few minutes to excess epoxy oozed out, and just cleaned it right up. Presto besto pesto yum done. A nice neat job. Why I didnt think about this 3 BHs ago, I know not.

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Boat Plans Bolger | Ive been out having little adventures

Boat Plans Bolger

Last week I took the ship out up to Kawau Island, about 2 hours away by sea, visited friends their then went to meet up with the beginning of the Kiwi Raid at Sandspit.

I was the “baggage barge” for the first day, baggage including camping gear for about 30 people was a good sized cargo but there is plenty of space in the covered cockpit aft so apart from needing four loads in the inflatable to get it all ashore at Martins Bay where they were to spend 3 nights at the motor camp while exploring the river at Mahurangi and the islands in the area, it was no problem at all.

I had the pleasure of the company of Roz for a couple of days, she is the organiser behind the Taweh Nugganah raid in Tasmania, those people being the bulk of the participants in our raid here.  Nice to meet you Roz, thanks for the pleasant time, you’re a great “deckhand”.

Raid progress reports here, I wish I could have stayed longer,  next year!

http://nzcoastalrowing.org/page/2/

More Kiwi participants too, this is a fabulous event, well organised, well supported with escort boats, the campsites all arranged, food provided, well done all the organising team.

From there, it was Mahurangi Regatta time, the annual event for classic yachts held in the entrance of the Mahurangi River,  there are usually between 250 and 300 boats there and while I’m primarily interested in the small boats, and admit to being biased and wanting pics of some my own designs, this is a fabulous event and one that I hate missing. 

This time, with the aid of Denny on the helm I was able to get around the fleet, hopefully not inconveniencing any of the racers, and got some very good shots.

Waiting near the beach, this is Carlotta Ann, soon to be renamed Kairos, I dont have any connection to the original name and she was an opportunity not to be missed.  Shes my most of the time home, big, comfortable and capable. I still have five other boats two of them with sails so Ive not defected from the small boat fold.

Breeze, 65 ft on deck, operated by an Auckland Maritime Museum volunteer group, a lovely sight at the Mahurangi Regatta, she sails the course with all of the racers and adds much to the spectacle. Yes Ive been up on that yard, while shes not a big ship its still a long way down.

Four of the St Ayles skiffs from the raid, all Tasmanian crews. Thanks for coming over people, great to meet you.

A sloop rigged Pathfinder,   http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/pathfinder/index.htm 

At this stage of the race  lying second to a boat that has won the event multiple times, local knowledge makes a huge difference on this course.

Rogue, slim, easily moved by that big sail. She finished second, well done. 

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/rogue/index.htm

Saturday Night Special, designed to be a really quick and easy build for events such as the Texas 200, while not at her best in the very light winds ( the T200 is a notoriously windy event, there is an alternative larger sail area rig) she more than held her own among a fleet of very competitive small racers.   http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jw/sns/index.htm

No excuses for just chasing pics of my own designs, the opportunity does not come up very often so I take it where it happens.  But Ive more pics and will post again.

We took the ship up the river to Warkworth, the town at the head of the navigable part of the river, being a midday tide and a holiday weekend, plus the Raid boats were up there with John Dory their escort,  it was way too crowded and no space at the dock so I managed to turn us around in the smallest space imaginable without touching anyone else, a maneuver that I was very proud of, tied up at the kayak jetty ( not being used at the time) for an hour then headed back out.

Perfect weather, light winds, just enough to move the boats, sunny and calm, itrs a lovely venue and ideal for boatwatchers, birdwatchers as well, there was a big flock of Fluttering Shearwaters resting just off the point as we came in.

I’m back at my home dock now, have a few jobs to do before I catch the bus into the airport and fly across the Pacific to Santiago to meet up with Howard Rice to help prepare the way for his planned Southern Ocean adventure with his SCAMP.

Check it out here.   http://www.below40south.com

The fundraiser is to make a movie so everyone can share the adventure. The cameras are organised, the filming planned, it’s the production costs that we need to cover, even ten dollars will help.  Please.

I’ve not been to Chile before, New Zealand has strong trade ties with that country and quite a few Chileans live here, but this is a first on that continent for me.

I’m very much looking forward to it.

Watch this space for reports.

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Boat Plans Arch Davis | Working on the mast for SEI

Boat Plans Arch Davis

Beefing up the mast.

Chuck Leinweber at Duckworksmagazine.com has been using a woven fiberglass sleeve to reinforce the wooden masts he’s made for the various boats he’s built.

As far as I know he’s been using fairly cheap lumber for the birdsmouth system spars, and with the glass sleeve over them there has been no failures even when pushed very hard in events such as the Texas 200 and Everglades Challenge.

Heres his catalogue listing along with a little video showing how the glass sleeve is applied.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/supplies/cloth/sleeving/index.htm

When visiting last year I had a look at what he’s done, looked over the material and decided that I’d give the stuff a try.  So, today, got the parcel out, sanded the mast blank off a little and got into it.

Its like a Chinese Finger Puzzle, push the ends together and it gets bigger in diameter, pull and it gets skinnier.  To apply, I shoved my hand down it while pushing the ends in, made it big enough to fit the mast through easily, and slid it through.  Taped the butt end to the wood and smoothed out the glass sleeve running my hands toward the other end making it smaller and a close fit as I went.

 I put a tape around the mast at the top end of the sleeve, this to provide a clean end to cut the strands of fiberglass to.  Next, I taped the end to the mast to control it while wetting out, and got into it with a brush and epoxy.

With two layers of gloves on, I smoothed the layup out, working from the start end up to the top of the mast pushing any bubbles out as I went.

This is fairly heavy fiberglass, and it soaks up quite a lot of resin, this 3.5m length took 300ml of resin. 

To see how the sleeve would work if I were to use Peel Ply or a similar substitute to control the resin content and finish, I wrapped plastic masking tape around the lower 800mm or so ( I ran out of tape)  and checked the rest to make sure it was properly wetted out.  I’m away for two days, and will pull the tape off when I get back so lets see how it comes out.

After all this was done, I was sitting on my bunk reading and sipping my mug of tea, watching this guy sitting on the end of my dock.  He or she is a Pied Shag, quite a big bird, similar to a Cormorant.  There are lots of them here as well as their cousins the "Little black shags" and the occasional King shag.  Its that time of year when the birds are seeking mates and making nests, so there is lots of interest and activity here on the river.  

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Boat Plans African Queen | Casco Bay ME

Boat Plans African Queen

Today, I went sailing off of Portland on Casco Bay in Maine.  Joining me was Clint Chase, Boatbuilder who builds Goat Island Skiffs and cuts GIS kits for the homebuilder, amongst many other fabulous pleasure craft.  We had a delightful sail in light to an increasingly steadier sea breeze.  The pictures dont do the place justice, the water was cerulean, the sky deep blue, the clouds white... Casco Bay is amazing.  In the 60s era videos, Clint Chase Boatbuilder (yes, another shameless plug, this dude is the real deal) is skippering "I am Zinea, Pterodactylus" solo, while I took pictures from terra firma. 

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Boat Designs And Plans | Its cold out there!

Boat Designs And Plans

Its the shortest day of the year today, here in the southern hemisphere anyway.  Its calm after the mayhem that yesterdays fast moving winter storm caused, and while there is some light cloud its mostly sunny.

The significance of the day though is that  springtime, warm weather, boisterous early season breezes and the promise of summer is just a couple of flips of pages on the calendar away.

Maintenance, lots to do.  Haul, antifoul and paint my ship.  40 ft. of motor cruiser is a lump of a thing to do,  its three years since the last one,  the first since I bought her, and she not only needs her bottom done but the topsides are looking tired as well so it’s a big job.

I do manage to keep the worst of the barnacles off her, have several times put her on a sandy beach an hour before low tide and walked around with a hard broom to scrub and scrape, an hour means the water goes down about a foot so she leans over just enough for me to get well under with the long handled broom, but she’s about through the soft antifouling paint under there so its up on the hard when I get back from the  next trip.

Same with the little yacht “May” as well, living on a trailer she is not antifouled, but there is much maintenance to do there, even under her sheltering tarpaulin the varnish has peeled and some of the paint cracked, the interior is musty and there is a bit of mould, the rig needs attention and, well, more work.  I want to cruise her this summer, so its time to make a plan.

Paint, paint rollers and brushes, thinners, scrapers, sandpapers and sanders,  scrubbing brushes, all the tools and materials need to be assembled ready for the big days,  the ship will be done in one intense weeks work up on the hard, two ladders, a scaffold plank, mask, tyvek suit, gloves etc.  I’m not looking forward to that but little “May” can be done a bit at a time. Sanding, varnishing, and as the warmer weather dries out the lawn up where she is parked I can take the rig down, assemble it on the grass and make the changes I want.

So there is a shelf and a toolbox up there in the boatshed, devoted to the spring maintenance.  The toolbox has all the sanding and painting gear plus protective clothing, one end of the shelf has the paint and varnish for the little yacht, the other for the ship.  I’ve got quite a lot of it including $450 worth of antifouling,  but there is more to get.

I’ll go and see my friend at Burnsco the boat chandlery about that, but am sorry that they don’t sell bulk elbow grease.  I’m going to need some.

But today I’m going to fit the rowlock plates to SEI. Nothing fancy this time, she’s not a boat that I anticipate rowing for hours at a time, so I am not going to fit my “patent” tufnol lined sockets, just a bronze strap top and bottom of a hardwood block, drilled to suit the rowlocks, and through bolted.

The hardwood came from a shipping pallet, its oily wood, hard, I’ve no idea what species but it is very tough with interlocked grain that should wear well, and like everything else for a serial boatbuilder it was there when I needed something so that’s what got used.

I’ve oars to build for her as well, they’ll be long ones at 9 ft. Again they’ll be simple with narrow blades that wont need to be feathered when rowing to windward and be sturdy enough to push the boat off with.

Stowing  a pair of 9 ft oars in SEI is going to be  a pain, theyll be either in the way or hanging out the end of the boat,  Im thinking of getting myself a pair of Chuck Leinwebers clip together oar sleeves,  this will allow me to make the oars at the correct length, then cut them in half and with these sleeves, clip them together when needed. I have been using a pair of his paddle ones, and theyre very good, those allow me to use the paddle at my usual 45deg left handed configuration and my visitors can use them just straight which is easier than feathering, allows them to concentrate on no falling out.  

The oar ones are shown "Here". 

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/misc/saw-frh/oar.htm

www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/misc/saw-frh/oar.htm

Ive lots to do before springtime. Not a lot of time in which to do it!  On the 14^th of next month I’m on the plane again for what has become an annual pilgrimage to Port Townsend in the USA. It’s a long trip this time, so my spring will be spent travelling rather than doing all the work that’s stacked up at home.

All of the above adds up to the fact that its time I got out of my nice warm bunk and got on with it.

Sigh.

John Welsford

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Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise | A note on tools

Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise

A few things on tools that I have found out the past few days.

A japanese pull saw is awesome. I doubted it at first, hemming and hawing for months before getting a small one-sides saw. A FANTASTIC PURCHASE. Versatile, sharp, easy to use, and precise. Practice first, because youll saw through something important quickly and without realizing it (trust me).

My random orbital sander was a $9.95 DEATH DISASTER I purchased at cheap-tool-emporium Harbor Freight. Its so frustrating to use I want to throw it at the cement wall. I will have to go buy a better one that actually secures the sandpaper.

Most importantly, I was perusing my jigsaw blades and saw something called a "scrolling blade." It was small and skinny. "Hmmmm, I betcha this is for going around corners a little tighter than the normal blades!" Hmmmm, I reckon I was correct... and this was after I cut the hole through the transom, BH2 and BH3. Boo me, for not knowing my tools. Again, amateur style is my building style.

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Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum | On the beach waiting out the fog

Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum

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Boat Plans Aluminium | Other Storer boats

Boat Plans Aluminium

As many of you know, Mik Storer is the designer of my Goat Island Skiff.  As popular and as awesome as the Goat is, Mik has also designed other boats as well, all of them excellent.  Obviously my mind wanders to boat building as the days get shorter and water colder.  While I am Zinea, Pterodactylus and I will sail well into the cold season, Im getting a hankering to trying some new boats, if only to demonstrate my new hard won building skills.

For instance, I have had a real hankering recently to get a canoe so I can do some paddling on the local ponds and rivers, freeing me from the 1hr. car ride I have to make everytime I want to go sailing.  Its my water fix, and I need it.  Since Im not working now due to my two ruptured discs in my spine (Im fortunately mobile, but I cannot sit for any appreciable amount of time-- this is why the Goat is so awesome, I can easily stand and sail), Id love a canoe, but it needs to be a cheap canoe.

Voila, el answero:  The Quick Canoe.  Goes together quick and dirty and cheap for fun on the water.  Of course, one could also make it nice.  Csaba in Hungary just put one together, and put together this video for it.



I mean, how much more fun do you want, in 5 hours and a couple of hundred bucks later?  Already Ive seen sailing versions, narrow versions, white-water paddling, a motor-QC conversion, amongst numerous other builds, some really spanky nice, some really cheap.  Get on the water!

Another boat that really has my Goat *joke* is Miks sailing canoe yawl, Beth.  This is a beautiful boat.

  Please see Miks Beth Flickr page and peruse around.

Mik sells this plan with the caveat that you are going to capsize, get wet, go fast, and then capsize again, but boy!  She pulls at my heartstrings she does.  She may not be the best boat for my back right now, but shes on my hit list.  No kidding.

In the meantime, my good friend and adventuring buddy is working on his own Storer design, the elegant and multipurpose Eureka canoe.  Stay tuned to see this boat in person, vicariously through me.

Another boat perhaps on the Storer drawing table is the fabled "Son of Goat," a smaller yet just as capable version of the Goat Island Skiff, except mainly tuned to one person and the occasion passenger.  A thread here, describes the concept. 

A nice stable of boats, if I may say so myself.

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Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum | Specificity ahead

Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum

Time for a little cleaning up. I took care of a lot of little items that needed doing.

I went back to the kick-ass guys at Maine Coast Lumber and got hooked up with some more cedar, primarily for the chine logs, so I can just keep moving on assembly. I also picked up extra cedar just in case. This hopefully is my last cedar purchase, the stuff is getting pricey. I also picked up a good piece of cedar for the STEM. I bought many feet so I can have many attempts, this I feel, is going to suck.

I also bought:

pumps for the epoxy, dammit, I forgot with my initial order.

inspection ports for the bulkheads.

the sail, holy cow, I just had to press the buy button and be done with it.

Next up:

finish the top frame on the transom, which is out of Douglas Fir, which meant that I had the wood for it all along in the form of that long fir plank. Then, when the pumps come in I can glue and epoxy this piece all up.

frame the remaining bulkheads

glue together el bottom and el side-os. This will mean chine longs. I found a 17 foot long piece of cedar, but it was a weird dimension that was going to have to be ripped several times to make it the appropriate size. I have decided to scarf two 9 foot sections together. This will keep one side more uniform (less ripping) and it will teach me a new valuable skill. The scarf joint as spied by gimpslayer3000, but with cedar. This is going to be interesting, because it needs to come out tip-top. Sacramento GIS has built a scarfing jig, which is a fascinating idea, but Im really not interested in that, but it would probably be the best bet for the cleanest scarf. Im wondering about how precise I can get on my own...

and then at some point... the dreaded STEM.

Thats it for now, on the road again. Waiting patiently.

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