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Craft A Craft
Boat design, home building, and cruising
Boat design, home building, and cruising in a nutshell
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Escargot - River Cruiser
2008-03-12 03:07:39
Bryan Lowe (now looking to build a Mundoo), earlier built the Phil Thiel designed Escargot and had some good times with his son.To me, this design is very Bolger like... check it out for an interesting design, and Bryan's site gives some nice build details to learn from.
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Mundoo Mailing List
2008-03-10 19:17:46
Brian Lowe made a recent comment pointing out that he has started a Mundoo mailing list on Yahoo. If you are interested in these interesting boats, or other similar designs, you might want to join up!I strongly considered the Mundoo design for my build. The fact that they already have an electric model "working" really enticed me. There are some pro's and con's between those boats and the V28 I'm building, for my uses, but please take a look.
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Chesapeake Light Craft
2008-03-09 00:21:32
A supplier of kits and plans for kayaks and other small craft. Neat site, lots of details, forums and some good building tips.
Welcome to Chesapeake Light Craft, suppliers of boat kits, boat plans, and boatbuilding materials. Our distinctive boat designs include kayaks, canoes, rowing boats, dinghies, and sailboats. We’ve been at this since 1991 and nobody has sold more kits and plans. More than 20,000 CLC boats are on the water around the world. Our designs are built by amateurs and professionals alike.
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On Mill Creek
2008-03-08 23:57:21
Peter has a really nice blog/build log here. He's building a Mill Creek 16.5 Kayak from Chesapeake Light Craft. I enjoyed looking through it, lots of pictures and details.
Of special note his use of videos. They are well done and nicely show the steps that are being followed for that entry. Make sure and watch a couple... I'll bet you learn something.
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Home building - airplanes
2008-03-08 05:16:44
You know... if you decide you can't tackle a boat, maybe you should try an airplane. Kit built aircraft have been popular for many years.Somehow, I expect many of the same problems with building a boat at home happen with aircraft builders... not having space, not having time, learning as you go, and sometimes life changes causing you not to finish.When I was young and interested in radio controlled (R/C) modelling, I thought seriously about aircraft... decided on boats. If a boat motor stops, it sits there. If the aircraft motor stops, its coming down.Now I think I'll stay with the same theory as I build my "bigger" model :-)
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Life Aboard
2008-03-07 03:14:45
Just wanted to point out the companion blog to the "We Live On A Boat" blog I covered earlier. Get female's viewpoint here :-)
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M.V. Oyster Catcher
2008-03-06 02:44:23
The M.V. Oyster Catcher is a beautiful old boat that has been restored and is in service as a charter vessel on the Intracoastal Waterway. The construction story is especially interesting.
This article on Mad Mariner™ is another take on the reconstruction of this neat vessel which led me to their site.
For full disclosure, I write some paid articles for Mad Mariner™.
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Shallow Draft
2008-03-05 03:41:24
One of my major design criteria in choosing the design for my build was keeping the draft shallow. I want to river and coastal cruise and limiting draft was important to me. Our friends on the Pepi (one of Mark's V39 builds) are fixing to cross the Okeechobee Waterway in Florida.
We are now heading towards the Okeechobee Waterway to the east coast of Florida. The water level is extremely low, about 3 feet, most boats can’t make it through because their draft is not low enough. We have a draft of 18” and we are taking advantage of that. Other boaters have to go around the coast to the Florida Keys to get to the east coast.If they didn't have that draft, it would greatly limit their options. My V28 will have a similar draft, hopefully opening many cruising options. Of course, it may limit other options, but as with everything in boating, its a tradeoff.
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Wooden and Skin-on-frame W boats
2008-03-03 03:56:12
We've had links to Micronautical Designs before. They have some slick small craft for the home build/personal use market.A recent comment pointed me to John Forney's Wooden and Skin-on-Frame W Boat Designs is a page with some slick designs that he is building out of simple aluminum (?) tubing and skin. Those of us interested in "alternative designs" will like these.
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Cleanup and crack filling
2008-03-02 04:14:16
Got to take a handful of hours this afternoon and did a bit more boat work.I ordered some more epoxy (1.5 gallons) and 5 quarts Aerosil/Cabosil filler material the other day and it came in yesterday, so I could do some more epoxy work. I ordered from U.S. Composites, Inc. this time. Pricing on the epoxy was about the same, the Cabosil was cheaper as was shipping. Figured I would give them a try. Also picked up some fiberglass cloth "tape" to use in a few places for fillets, etc.Mixed up some batches and filled in the "crack" down the centerline where the hull bottom panels meet at the inner keel. I originally was going to wait to fill this until the next layer was on, but I decided it would be better to make sure it was reasonably filled now. Depending on how the next layer fits, there may be nooks and crannies that are hard to get to. This "filling" was more for waterproofing and to have a good seal there instead of adhesion, but I figure it won't hurt.Looks nasty here, but it actuall ...
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Glue choices - redux
2008-03-02 03:56:55
The other day I posted an entry about Glue Strength. In it I discussed how I have been using PL Premium (a tube based construction adhesive that is popular in some building circles) for some of my hull skinning activities. So far, I've been happy with the results, but long term... maybe not.I probably didn't make it clear enough, but this is NOT the glue Mark Van Abbema (the designer of the V28 I'm building) suggests. He specifies epoxy throughout.It should be obvious, but don't take anything I say as gospel. I'm doing things the way I decide best, which will (I'm sure) entail several wrong decisions. I blog about what I'm doing, so that you might can learn from my mistakes, if nothing else. Any materials or construction choices I make are my responsibility, not the designer's, and I realize that.If you are embarking on your own build of this or any other design, please follow your designer's recommendations unless you are sure you want to head off "on your own".
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gCaptain Blog
2008-03-01 04:39:26
DAILY BLOG. Up to the minute news and info on ships.An interesting and somewhat eclectic maritime blog.
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River Tug Jigsaw Puzzle
2008-02-29 03:53:16
My wife is a huge fan of jigsaw puzzles and enjoys working them online at a handful of web sites. Her "puzzle of the day" was especially fitting today, and the site (http://www.jigzone.com" allows embedding puzzles, so here you go.
Enjoy!
River Tug Jigsaw Puzzle
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Wave powered catamaran
2008-02-28 16:12:09
The Suntory Mermaid II is an interesting take on an alternative power vessel... powered by a contraption that gets energy from the waves, this is a 9.5 meter cat that is aiming to make a voyage from Honolulu, HI to Asia.The home page here has pictures but most of the language is Japanese (?). There is an English language page with a lot of the info. There is also a Popular Science blurb about it.Always nice to see other takes on "self powered" boats that don't rely on the fossil fuels.
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Natural Light Photography - Art and Origami Dinghy
2008-02-27 02:31:06
Another great art/photography site. Lots of incredible pictures.Also of interest is that there is more than just photography. There are several Articles and other information in the Sailing section.What got me pointed toward this site was that Angus Beare has built an Origami Dinghy. Check out his thoughts and opinions here.
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Abandoned Frozen Ships
2008-02-27 02:14:35
The urban exploration stuff has always fascinated me... I covered some ships/boats previously. This is another set of pictures from Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there are all kinds of things that seem to have been abandoned.Ships in the snow is something I hadn't seen before.
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Ship Launch Videos
2008-02-25 02:21:51
An interesting set of ship launch videos... you can really find anything on the 'net.Somehow walking around under those ships and knocking supports out just seems "wrong" somehow.Launching "Niledutch Hong Kong""Launching "Wilhelm Busch"Launching "Hansa Brandenburg"
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Floating Homes
2008-02-24 03:26:17
An interesting German take on lake/river shore living. Don't use land, just have a floating home.Very nice looking small 'houses' or cabins. Not set up to truely be houseboats, but rather something that is semi-permanently docked and it is your house. So many boats and houseboats, many of them liveaboards, seem to wind up never leaving the dock - maybe it makes sense to have a nice living space and not have all the engines and motive gear taking up space.This was a link buried down on the previous Extreme Houseboat page that I wanted to point out.
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Extreme Houseboats
2008-02-22 03:54:42
An interesting collection of pictures and links to various houseboats. These are NOT your average houseboat. They range from the extreme, futuristic designs that seem more science fiction than fact down to the various shanty styles that you might see on the local lake or backwater. Check out the pictures and who knows, you might just get an idea :-)
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We Live On a Boat
2008-02-21 04:28:57
As the name tells it, this family lives on a boat. Nice blog and some great pictures. Living on a boat in Canada gives another meaning to winter weather :-)I've seen lots of articles and pages dealing with living on-board with your pets... WeLiveOnaBoat.com has a category I haven't ran across before: Baby on board. They have a beautiful little girl (born Nov. 30, 2007) and now are dealing with a new infant and the challenges and joys of living on a boat. Definitely a blog to watch.
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Floating Origami
2008-02-16 15:26:17
Our friend Benjy over at WoodenWidget has scored another good writeup about his Origami Dinghy. span George Delozier, a regular blogger on InventorSpot.com has provided details on the Dinghy along with several pictures. InventorSpot.com is a neat site covering "the latest inventions, innovations and interesting ideas?"One thing I didn't know is that Benjy and WoodenWidget has started sponsoring a "tree planting" program. For every set of plans you buy, a tree will be planted in Benwickshire, Scotland. I think this is really a slick idea. We boat builders tend to use a fair amount of wood, and rely on its availability. Wood is a great, renewable natural resource, as long as its managed and replanted. So buy a plan, build a boat and get a new tree in the bargain.
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Staten Island Boat Graveyard
2008-02-15 03:28:30
It seems like many of us are attracted to boats at the sad ends of their lives. Wrecks, abandoned hulls, whatever. Urban exploration has grown more popular, or at least with the Internet its easier to share these intrepid adventurers' travels.This photo collection is a great set of pictures of a bunch of early 20th century boats that are way past their glory days.
Traversing
through the rusted hulks of these ships was a pretty incredible
experience! The weather was great and the water was calm (although a
little stinky, there is a lot of polluted muck in the harbor). I have
seen this place from the shore once before, and it is nothing compared
to being right in there... the ships themselves are in terrible shape
structurally, but I would've liked to climb around a lot more if I had
more time over there!
This was another nice break from the hospitals, and completely
different... I like how these photos came out and enjoyed taking them.
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Boat
Island
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AnchorExpress.com
2008-02-14 03:48:02
Another online retailer that looks to be interesting... lots of electronics and GPS stuff, but other marine related goods also.Yes, they have an ad on this page - not affiliated in any other way.
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Boat For Sale - Artwork
2008-02-13 03:08:06
Just a really nice picture... click for other sizes, etc.Make sure and check out acampm1's other photos... some really nice stuff! Lots of boats and seashore work
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Artwork
Boat
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A bottom!
2008-02-12 03:48:31
Didn't get to put the posting up yesterday, but had a big day!Not all that much work, really, but we have a bottom on the boat, all the way to the bow!Honestly, I've been dreading those last few pieces. Some of the other curved portions up near the bow were a handful, and I was afraid these would be even worse. Got out there, mounted the inner stem (again), and they all fell right into place.Obviously, they need trimmed and a lot of sanding, but we have the first layer now.Also got the other side panel that I had mounted but not trimmed rough-cut to size. That's a long sidewall :-)Time = 2 hours
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A bottom!
2008-02-12 03:48:31
Didn't get to put the posting up yesterday, but had a big day!Not all that much work, really, but we have a bottom on the boat, all the way to the bow!Honestly, I've been dreading those last few pieces. Some of the other curved portions up near the bow were a handful, and I was afraid these would be even worse. Got out there, mounted the inner stem (again), and they all fell right into place.Obviously, they need trimmed and a lot of sanding, but we have the first layer now.Also got the other side panel that I had mounted buy not trimmed rough-cut to size. That's a long sidewall :-)Time = 2 hours ...
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BitterEnd
2008-02-09 18:23:08
An interesting blog covering "Vessel Assist & Rambling Maritime Information" written by a maritime Captain that really does what he's talking about.I got pointed to the blog by a link to this interesting video of how now to obey the rules of the road:
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BitterEnd
2008-02-09 18:23:08
An interesting blog covering "Vessel Assist & Rambling Maritime Information" written by a maritime Captain that really does what he's talking about.I got pointed to the blog by a link to this interesting video of how now to obey the rules of the road: ...
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