Saturday, February 28, 2015
I used to think that making a vessel myself was an unfeasible undertaking that can only be finished by a experts Following some months of exploring I found that anybody can erect a boat with readily easy to get materials and sailboat plans than eve
I used to think that making a vessel myself was an unfeasible undertaking that can only be finished by a experts. Following some months of exploring, I found that anybody can erect a boat with readily easy to get materials and sailboat plans than even the newest of carpenters can chase. The plans and resources are readily available, low priced and deliver a build that's strong, sea worthy and best of all looks fantastic!
The procedure most normally used in home builds is called the "stitch and glue" approach and works exactly how it sounds. Two pieces of timber are glued then stitched together with wire or cable ties for a solid joint. You then epoxy and fiberglass the joint to complete the seal and you're done. It's really that easy! You can even fiberglass the complete hull which after sanding provides a fantastic surface for application of paint or other coating material.
By far the most essential aspect of a home build sailboat are the sail boat plans themselves. The wrong plans can lead you up the garden path and cost you literally a fortune in wasted materials and time. Not to mention a completed boat that won't float! The right boat plan will result in a assembly that will leave you with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Your family and friends will be astounded with the quality of the vessel and the fact you made it yourself for a fraction of the price of buying a finished boat.
There are plentiful plans on the internet for every style of boat that you can think of. It's important to do your homework and pick the plan best for you. If you have always wanted to complete your own boat build, I encourage you to begin today. Everything you need is around the corner at your finger tips. You can get the family involved and they too will be proud of what they have accomplished.
For a great illustration of a homemade wooden boat, visit Grant's website at http://sailboatplansinc.com
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Friday, February 27, 2015
Schooner America Design 1897
Built by Goudy & Stevens Shipyard of Boothbay, Maine this replica of America was built for Rudolph J. Schaefer, Jr., head of Schaefer Brewing. America was the first to win the Americas Cup in 1851. This replica was launched on the 3rd of May 1967, 116 years to the day after the original was launched.
This should not be confused with the replica that was built and launched in San Diego in 1995.
General Arrangement
Sail PlanLOA 101-10"
LWL 90-8"
Beam 22-10"
Draft 11-6"
Scantlings
Shell Plating - double planked fir
Frames - laminated double sawn oak
Keel - white oak
Deck Beams - laminated spruce
Deck - Burma teak
Fasteners - bronze
Design 2763 44 LOA Sloop
Heres a 44 LOA sloop in development for a production boatbuilder.
Here are the plans. There are three interior layouts in development.
Principal Dimensions
LOA 44-6"
LWL 41-1"
Beam 13-8"
Draft 7-0"
Displacement 20,985 lbs
Ballast 8,076 lbs
Sail Area 970 sq ft
Gusset Construction Continued
There are two gussets per joint, one on each side of the frame. In addition, there is a filler block between the gussets to fill in the space outside of the frame parts that the gussets lie over. These filler blocks serve two purposes. First, they add additional strength to the joint. Secondly, they fill in an area that would be difficult to encapsulate with epoxy resin later.
There is also a floor timber. This seres two purposes in the construction. Initially, when the frames are mounted to the building form, they will be resting on the form at these floor timbers. That makes the location and size of thes parts important. They must be the correct location and size in order for the frame to be in the correct position on the building form. The second purpose comes much later in construction when they serve as fllor location points. There will also be a filler block for the floor timber, but I havent gotten to that yet.
The gussets are made from 3/8" marine grade plywood and the floor timber is from 3/4" marine grade plywood. I was initially a bit confused on the floor timber because the building materials called out for 3/4" plywood while in the plan it stated the part was 1" (it didnt state plywood on the plans). After studying the plans and the other materials, I determined that the original part had been intended to be made from 1" mahogany which is the same as the frames, meaning that it was actually 3/4" thick after milling. Later, 3/4" plywood was substituted, most likely because of superior strength in this area of the frame.
The gussets where made by lying thick paper over the joints and creating a template to the size and shape needed. This template was then transferred to the plywood and parts cut out and sanded to final shape. Because the floor timber height is critical, I used paper templates for the botom curves only and measured the remaining sides directly on the plywood.Using the old adage of measure twice and cut once, I made sure everything was the correct size and cut out the floor timber and then sanded it to final shape.
The filler blocks were made from leftover mahogany from the frame construction. I initially cut the two sides that fit against the frames and sanded them straight. Then I used the gussets laid over them to get the final lines. These were also cut out and final sanded.
Here are three pictures showing the various parts mentioned in this post.
All of these parts will be glued together and the gussets and floor timbers will also be attached to the frame parts with ring nails. Ring nails (also sometimes called boat nails) are nails that have small ridges running around the shank of the nail that help to prevent the nail working out later on. These nails will be made from bronze which is he recommended material for fasteners in boat construction (to avoid corrosion issues later in the life of the boat).
Remaining tasks for this frame are cut some notches to accept the keel , chine block, and sheer. They will be finish sanded, and assembled. There are other steps in the assembly process but Ill cover those in another post. There are still six frames to do these same tasks for, so I will be busy doing that for some time. Until, next time.
Holm Buoys
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Thursday, February 26, 2015
Freestyle Stripper
Freestyle Ace Mark Molina paddling a Red River ÈlanIve just ordered plans for my next boat: an Èlan solo freestyle canoe by Doug Ingram of Red River Canoe & Paddle. Doug builds gorgeous traditional cedar-and-canvas canoes, including this one, and also does some designs, and the Èlan, he says, also works well for strip-building. Im by no means a freestyle paddler, but I have a hankering to learn, and since boats well suited to freestyle arent all that readily available, building one seems to be a good approach.
Strip-building, also known as strip planking, is a boatbuilding method that edge-joins narrow strips of wood to form the hull. It differs from carvel planking primarily in that strips are much narrower. It was originally applied as an economical alternative to the cost of full-width planks when building "full size" boats (like lobster boats), and in such applications, the strips would often be as thick as carvel planks and could be edge-nailed together with glue in between. (Careful, Im distinguishing between width and thickness here.) But as applied to modern canoe and kayak designs, the strips are very thin -- typically 3/16" or 1/4" -- thats too thin to edge-nail, so the strips are simply glued edge to edge. The hulls is shaped over temporary forms, then covered inside and outside with fiberglass, carbon fiber, or Kevlar fabric laid in epoxy. This makes the structure so stiff that no internal hull structure (keel, frames, bulkheads) is needed -- although canoes, of course, have thwarts, and kayaks decks, which add considerable stiffness. The result is both tough and lightweight, and the method lends itself to round hulls with fair curves -- unlike the stitch-and-glue method of boatbuilding, which can only produce chined hulls.
There are several books on strip-building, links to some of which Im inserting below. Nick Schade, who wrote The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, has a new book on strip building coming out soon with McGraw-Hill: Building Strip Planked Boats. Where his previous book covered only kayaks, the new one addresses other types, including open canoes and rowing boats. Nick is the proprietor of Guillemot Kayaks, and he is a craftsman of extraordinary talent – meticulous in his designs, woodworking, and writing.
Century Wood Boats
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Design 119 Bloodhound
I was reading through the new (July-2011) issue of Yachting magazine and noted an image and small article about royal yacht Bloodhound. I recalled seeing her in our files and sure enough, she is listed as design #119. There is a note in the file: Per OJS Bloodhounds hull was designed and built by Camper & Nicholson; rig and interior design by Sparkman & Stephens.
The plan list would show that to be true. The reference to Foxhound is a sister that was built to the design.
The website link listed in Yachting is just plain wrong. Click here to access Bloodhounds website and learn more about her. Shes a beautiful boat.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
The Loki Yawls Designs 1001 1001 G
One of the most popular designs to come off the drafting boards, the Loki yawls have a distinct following among Sparkman & Stephens enthusiasts.
The original Lokis, Loki and Chance, are the two original Loki yawls built in the United States. Her builder, Albert Lemos, grew up in the Azores and worked at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company before starting his own shipyard in Riverside, Rhode Island.
The "G" designation in the #1001-G design number refers to the "German Lokis". Built by various German shipyards, including Abeking & Rasmussen, the H. Heidtmann Yacht Yard of Hamburg and other, at least 12 units were constructed starting in 1953.
The boats have a long history of winning races and extended cruising. More about this famous design in a future posting.
Here are the plans.
LOA 38-4"
LWL 26-0"
Beam 9-7"
Draft 5-8"
Displacement 18,000 lbs
Ballast 7,260 (outside) 300 lbs (inside)
Sail Area 701 sq ft
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Simple Wooden Boat Plans Boat Plans Bonus Building Guides CAD Software Get a boat design software 600 pages of guides See more
Essentially the most crucial point to choose is what will likely be the finish use from the boat. Are you thinking about fishing (inland waterways or offshore), water-skiing, hanging out, physical exercise, day cruising on inland waters, coastal cruising or lengthy distance cruising. Every single of those activities points to various varieties of boats.
Modest fishing boats to be utilised on inland waters could be propelled by either a tiny outboard motor or oars. Youll be able to use these boats for workout or just hanging out around the water. They are typically eight to 15 feet in length and are of an open design and style. Some larger boats could have covered storage. Modest, open sail boats inside the 10 to 14 foot variety are good for harbor sailing.
Boat employed for skiing are usually 15 to 25 feet in length and are propelled by strong outboard or inboard-outboard motors. These boats are designed to move quickly as a way to pull a skier. They are generally open but often have small covered places.
Boats developed for cruising tend to be bigger with some enclosed area for sleeping. Twenty feet could be about the smallest boat for comfortable inland cruising and 30 feet plus for offshore cruising. Boats created as daysailers may be in the 18 foot variety.
Once you know the type and size in the boat you would like to construct you must then choose on what material to use in producing the boat. There are numerous different kinds of boat construction material which includes wood, fiberglass, steel, aluminum and even concrete. What you decide on depends upon your personal capacity and the tools youve got accessible.
Developing with fiberglass calls for some mold producing capability or else you are able to build a wooden boat and cover it with fiberglass. Operating with fiberglass demands some skill and protective clothing is required when functioning with the chemical compounds and glass cloth.
Steel and aluminum developing needs welding as well as other metal functioning skills. Aluminum building demands really specialized welding talents that most house builders dont have. Steel is generally used for bigger boat building.
Creating with wood is probably the least difficult for the first time boat builder. Numerous wooden boat plans are obtainable for the new wood boat builder and tools and materials are are accessible locally. A nicely written set of wooden boat plans will will take you step by step by means of the whole approach. Tools might be obtained at the regional hardware store as well as the materials, particularly for starting boat building, are available at any good lumber yard.
If you are a newbie, a tiny runabout, rowboat or day-sailer could be a good selection. Its also important that you pick the top wooden boat plans obtainable.
More on 282 Seawanhaka 21ft Class
On Saturday we posted an article about the Seawanhaka 21ft Class boats. A blog reader asked us about the proximity of the rudder shaft seal and the waterline. The seal would undoubtedly be underwater under way. Thinking more about this I think this is less of a problem than a standard propeller shaft as a standard angled stuffing box could be used. Heres an excerpt from the construction plan that shows an idea of what the designer had in mind.
Heres the type of shaft seal that could easily be used. The nut that tightens the seal could even be tighter than a propeller shaft as the rotation is only partial and so much slower than a prop shaft, as long as the tiller feel was good.
Thats a store bought unit shown above. Heres an old "type plan" I found in the files showing the concept of what was to be expected. Its just a very basic stuffing box.
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To sea on a NOAA ship
| NOAA ship "Rainier" www.noaa.gov |
Monday, February 2, 2015
Master List S S 5 5 Meter Designs
Lotus Europa
I have been rebuilding a 1970 Lotus Europa since 2010. It was in a very sad state, requiring the body to be removed so that I could renovate the chassis, rebuild the suspension and replace all of the brake lines. In the process I also replaced the motor because the original was very badly seized. On the body I have replaced the firewall, as well as all steelwork that had rusted away in the previous 20 years.
That work is now all done. Today was the day to reunite the body and chassis. This car is so tiny that body and chassis could fit one-behind-the-other diagonally across our double garage.
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| Body and chassis waiting to be reunited. |
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| The job done, looking more like a car again. |
I promise I will get back to boating in my next post.
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Man The Tool Maker
At that particular moment, I was trying to master the skill of staying warm under the dodger, while John squinted into the wind like the Ancient Mariner, seemingly unaffected by the ferocious wind-chill factor...
Still, I took his point. There were the basic sailing skills, like helmsmanship and sail trimming that you learned as a boy (or girl) in a dink or Sun Fish. Then there were the big boat skills you learned at the knee of your father or uncle, like knot tying, anchoring, docking, putting in a reef without getting blown off the cabin top, and crawling forward to change the headsail the middle of a Wednesday night race.
And when you finally ventured out of your childhood harbor, master of your own little vessel, there were the more serious skills of weather forecasting, coastal piloting, and the granddaddy of them all... celestial navigation.
And this is forgetting the sailing-domestic skills of getting a hot meal out of a heaving galley, or maneuvering your way into a V-berth without dislocating your hip.
Yes, John was right. Learning to be a proper sailorman (or woman) took longer than getting a Ph.D. in Economics. So what was I doing, effectively doubling my lifetime course load, by opting for the double major of Sailing and Boat Building?
The answer was, of course, enjoying every minute of it...
In the last couple weeks, Id realized that Boat Building, like Sailing, wasnt a single skill but a whole collection of skills. I hadnt mapped them all out yet, but so far, they seemed to include "Wood Working" (and not the delicate kind), "Tool Buying, Refurbishment, and Sharpening", and even "Tool Making".
In preparation for cutting a rabbet in Cabin Boys stem I had aquired a couple of beautiful chisels manufactured a long time ago by the Union Hardware Co.
I couldnt think of anything else Id need... by gum, I would give it a try.
First, I cut the pieces -- the head and handle -- out of my scrap of oak, using my old Buffalo 12" band saw that Helena had found by the side of the road in someones trash. Id fixed it and finally figured out how to adjust its blade (after breaking 3 of them!)
I planed the sides of the handle flat with a low-angle block plane. And then took the hard, square edges off with a chisel, testing it every so often until it seemed to fit my hand.
Finally, I used some 120/150/220 grit sand paper to get it really smooth.
Even more interesting than getting the handle smooth was realizing that I hadnt picked those grades of sandpaper at random, but knew those were the right grades to use after smoothing with the plane and chisel. Wow... who the heck was I becoming???
I shaped and smoothed the mallet head in much the same way, and then faced the really difficult job -- cutting a tapered hole in the head exactly the right size to fit the tapered handle... presumably with a chisel.
Since Id never cut anything with a chisel before, no less a precisely tapered hole, this was a challenge to my imagination. Such a challenge, that I forgot to take any pictures. However, after a lot of careful cutting and gouging, I ended up with a hole of approximately the right size. The handle fit into the head of the mallet like a hand going into a glove... well, close enough.
The result was a stout, oak mallet that made me feel as proud as Thors apprentice. And I couldnt help but notice Helenas amazed -- I mean, admiring -- looks. Building a software program had never attracted the girls, but building Thors hammer...
Hey, maybe there were some unexpected benefits to this boat building stuff...
So, now I was a tool maker... amazing. Where would this boat building adventure take me next?
>> Next Episode: Micro Inventions
Thanks for your interest!
-- John
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Sunday, February 1, 2015
Odds and ends
The boat yard, understandably, wants me to carry a builders risk insurance policy in case I damage others property. The folks who handle my commercial policy for my excavating business do not handle anything marine, so Ive had to look at another agency to help me find a policy. Ive been dealing with a company up in Mystic, and they are putting some effort into my project. Hopefully this will work out and Ill start a long term relationship with this insurer to handle my yachting needs.
I had to find another set of tires for the front steering axle for the transport dolly. The tires that I had on the axle would not handle the load and were going to cause us problems.
The tire vendor I use for my trucks is hunting two used tires with more plys that should be up to the task. Its taken a little longer than he had figured, but hes still looking and Im sure hell come through. Once I get her to the boat yard Im either going to be running off a generator or Ill be using some sort of shore power from the yard.
Either way, I want to be able to plug the boat in at one area and distribute AC power from that one point. Ive never been a fan of having a rats nest of extension cords so I decided to start the boats shore power connections. I have two 30 amp inlets for the boat, and they reside on the front of the wheel house. For my shore power connections, Ive decided to use the smart plug system. 
By the nature of the old style twist lock connections, Ive always felt like problems were designed in to those connectors. Twisting on the metal spades to make a connection... metal wearing out... resistance building.....heat....fire.... no thanks.
The smart plug system is a well built, well thought out way of connecting the boats shore power. Another builder I confide in recently told me insurers offer a discount for using the smart plug, and it makes sense. The bottom line is that the smart plug is a far superior way to connect your boat to the shore power link. Another item I needed to take care of was getting the air compressor in the lazzarette operational. I had purchased a 3 hp, 8 CFM, 30 gallo
n, 120 volt, 20 amp air compressor for my on board life. Why the air compressor? The first thing I do when I get in my shop in the morning is turn on the air compressor, the last thing I do when I leave is turn off the air compressor. Air compressors are for sure on my top five most important tools and Ive always had my mind set on having one on board the boat. This boat is large enough to handle a small air compressor such as this and it will get its fair share of use. Im figuring that there is going to be some fit up work required to land the super structure, so having the air compressor operational to run my plasma cutter is important. I wanted to have an air outlet on the aft deck, an air outlet in the lazzarette, another outlet in the engine room and one more outlet in the wheel house. Ive never been a fan of using " Ts " in any kind of line, and I for sure would rather create a manifold to distribute the on board compressed air system. 
Besides using air tools on board, and being able to inflate floating things, Ill also be using an air horn for sounding. I had contemplated using air to shift the transmission, but I think Im going to stick with a cable type control for that.I think getting her moved in August is doable. I do believe I was blogging these same words last July, so I must defer to the old saying of "never say never". The boat is darn near ready to move, and I am for sure ready to move her. A few details need to fall in to place, and at this point, theres no need to push it. This will happen, it just needs to happen the right way.
Cheers