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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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Free Laker Kayak Plans
2007-11-20 02:10:00
We covered Jem Watercraft before. They have a fine selection of free and low cost kayak and small craft plans and accessories.
Recently one of their designers has plans available through our friends at Duckworks. Check out Matt Langenfeld's listing.
He is offering a version of his Laker Kayak for builders to jump in and start with.
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Plans
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Wood will last...
2007-11-19 03:24:59
...at least with the right conditions. Check out this BBC News segment about a 400 year old ship found virtually intact at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
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Beautiful Libraries
2007-11-17 03:05:46
Sorry, not boat related at all, but they were so pretty, and I had never seen them, I just had to pass them on. Most boat people appreciate a good book :-)
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Beautiful
Libraries
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WWW.CATAMARANS.COM
2007-11-15 04:27:56
WWW.CATAMARANS.COM has been around for a while, but they have recently re-worked their web site. Looks quite nice.
They cover catamarans worldwide... they have listings for sales, rentals, charters, shows and other articles and postings that you might learn from.
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Www
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PVC Boatshed
2007-11-14 04:03:32
I've been thinking and planning a bit on how to provide a roof over my work area. As I try to skin the hull, just throwing tarps over it will not work so well (right now if they leak, the water just drips through the frame and to the ground, when there is skin, it will be landing on my workplace).There are various bow shed plans, etc. out there, and I had thought about using one, but in the back of my mind I've been considering using PVC pipe for a frame. After my Vertical Launch System work PVC pipe has been on my mind :-)For whatever reason, I thought to search for PVC sheds today and ran across the PVCPlans site. They have some free plans, and some links to several different suppliers of PVC fittings specialized for building things (instead of the standard plumbing fixtures). I don't know if I will use special fixtures or just make up something from locally available plumbing fixtures, but there are some neat ideas and things to consider. I like the "SnapClamps" that various supplie ...
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Sandblasting
2007-11-13 04:09:30
One of the recurring "downsides" I see mentioned by steel boatbuilders is needing to sand (or media)-blast the interior of the craft after construction and before coating/insulating. I can understand this from a logical sense, but it's hard to imagine exactly what that would be like.Dirty Jobs is a Discovery Channel show featuring Mike Rowe who goes around the country (world?) and performs various "dirty" jobs. It's often quite interesting and covers many different cleaning, construction and animal life type jobs that have to be done, but most of us are very glad that somebody else does them.Anyway, an episode that I saw tonight (Reef Ball Maker) had Mike sandblasting the inside of large metal "frag" or "frac" tanks (used in the oil industry). It very graphically showed just how "messy" and undesirable it would be to be in an enclosed area while you are blasting.I'm sure some of you could speak from experience, but in some ways this gives a glimpse why epoxy might not be so bad (althou ...
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Not overly successful
2007-11-11 03:06:35
All in all, not the most successful day I've had. It was really frustrating since I was just aiming to take care of one fairly easy (I thought) and minor piece, the rest of the inner stem up to the sheer line. It's two layers of 1x4 set into a notch in the inner stem and fastened at the sheer clamps. Laid everything out, measured three or four times, cut the sheer clamps off to fit (got pretty close, I think), cut the notch and glued away. Then the board split. Well, it wasn't bad and I decided it would be ok. Then I figured out that it wasn't straight... I mean the stem of my boat was leaning about 5 degrees or so if I lined the board up between the chine logs and sheer clamp. Back off and eyeball things and it all seems ok, except for how the sheer clamps are coming in at the bow... one side is off somewhere. I tried a few things but it just wasn't going to line up, so I backed off and left it alone. Better than trying to force something when things obviously aren't going well.
In t ...
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Chris O'Riley Photography
2007-11-11 02:11:09
Mr. O'Riley has some very nice photography, spanning several genre's. The one that really caught my eye is his underwater photograph of a sunken WWII submarine off the coast of North Carolina. This is just a really nice picture. His other scuba/underwater work is impressive and worth a look.
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Photography
Riley
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Unicat Interior
2007-11-10 04:11:15
We covered the recreational vehicle/expedition vehicles made by Unicat before. This is a nice gallery of one of their trucks, with a lot of detailed interior pictures. There are some ideas to steal here, and some nice construction to admire.The "loft" bed with the steps forming the tops of the kitchen modules is a neat touch. Have to remember not to put the coffee pot down on a step :-)All of this an a dinghy (really an ATV) also.
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Interior
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Windterra's Residential Roof Turbine
2007-11-09 03:08:37
This isn't necessarily boat related (unless you have a pretty large boat, in which case it might work ok), but I wanted to point it out. This vertical design has several aspects that make me think they would also be good on a boat:
Wind can be from any direction without the device having to rotate
Turns at lower speed for given output, saving vibration and noise
Designed for lower average speeds instead of peak load speeds to maximize annual power output
Similar output as solar with a much lower cost (I'm not sure if they mean output for a given size, location, or what, but the lower cost is nice)
This is one of the first "packaged", off the shelf devices I've ran across that you can actually just go out and buy.
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Turbine
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Some recent comments - epoxy, spiling and other goodies
2007-11-08 03:55:40
I wanted to point out some recent comments and the great resources they are (either in themselves or in the sites they point to).
A recent poster pointed out the Michael Storer Boat Design site, emphasising the resources that Mr. Storer makes available, including instructions in epoxy use, etc. I especially found the tip on using a ziplock bag for epoxy dispensing to look interesting. I had seen this idea sometime before, but forgot by the time I was actually using epoxy. I'll be giving it a try!
Another has given a link to a web page showing the process of motorizing a Wavewalk Kayak... looks like fun.
Lastly, I wanted to highlight this description of "spiling"... it looks to be a great technique for finding the size and shape of side panels/planks. I also found this link at Southern Crown Boatworks which has a good section on spiling. That page also has info on sawn frames, steam bending, lamination and lofting if you are wanting to read up on any of those.
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Comments
Goodies
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Icebreaker Art
2007-11-06 21:50:07
This man often has some great photography at his Stuck In Customs web site... I particularly enjoy some of his work from the colder climates, of which this is an example.
I just liked it.
Follow the link for a full size version.
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Art
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Heart of Gold II for sale
2007-11-06 19:18:52
Mark Van Abbema is selling his Mark V 39 that he has cruised and lived aboard for 6 years. Looks to be an issue with not sinking the boat :-)
Living aboard interferes with my cumpulsive book hoarding habits, I am afraid that I will sink the boat if I get any more books.
This is the boat that started me down my build path, and it has been a great design for several people. Please check it out if you have any interest (the price is great!).
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Gold
Heart
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Motor Well Sides
2007-11-05 04:07:53
Well, decided after a bit of trimming and fitting that the motor well sides that I had cut will be ok. Not perfect perhaps, but I think they will work out fine. If the slight misalignment my bad cut causes problems later, it will be at the joint with the deck and I know how to fix it easily there. That will save me 1/4 of a sheet of MDO, at least.
A nights sleep and a fresh look let me solve the "bracing problem" quickly with a board below the transom pieces and a short extension up to hold each in place side to side. Worked a champ and just took a few minutes to put in place. Why that method hadn't been obvious to me yesterday, I don't know.
As promised, here's a picture of a "chine stretcher". You can see (around all that messy epoxy work) a small plug and a backer plate/board. Seems quite solid.
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Motor
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Transom... still
2007-11-04 02:39:31
Seems like its the far extremes that cause me problems. The bow has a chine issue... the stern, well, it just seems destined to have issues. Dane and I got the "chine stretchers" installed, and got the notches cut and the transom pieces mounted to the sheer clamps. That didn't go to badly.Then I got into trying to cut and mount the motor well sides. These are the first "hull skin" type pieces that need to go in and it looked like it was going to be ok... until I cut them wrong. 1/2" off at one end (and of course I made them match exactly). I may still be able to use them, but as things stand, I had to stop.The two transom pieces are separate (joined by the motor mount). I have had them joined by some temporary framing, but to put the motor well sides in place, I needed to remove my framing. That was ok... they are held up nicely by the sheer clamps and chine logs, but the curve of the hull is fairly sharp back there and the sheer clamps are under some level of pressure. When I remove m ...
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The Building of Helge
2007-11-04 02:19:40
We've covered Wendell Gallagher and his gourgeous Diesel Duck before (and here), but I wanted to point him out again. He has gotten his own domain now (http://www.sshelge.com) and continues with detailed updates.His woodworking skills about make me sick :-) I sure wish I could build like that. His most recent entry covers the "pedestal" for mounting his marine head... its just as nicely done as the other cabin furnishings. How many of us have that attention to detail?
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Building
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Chine stretchers
2007-11-03 03:06:42
Dane and I took a bit and got ready to get the transom fitted and installed tomorrow. It's a harder (set) of items to get in place than a normal frame since its at an angle instead of vertical. It's pretty much in place, but I had held off on attaching it since I wasn't sure of the measurements and wanted to get the rest squared and solid before attaching it.
All this was a great plan and would have worked fine if I hadn't cut the chine logs off too short. I don't know what the deal with me and the chines being too short is, but there you go. The sheer clamps are great.
Anyway, got things squared up and measured out... it was much closer to "right" than I gave myself credit for. I would have been better off to have attached it earlier, probably, but live and learn.
I considered just moving it in the 3 inches the chines are short, but that would reduce my buoyancy at the extreme aft of the boat by about 130 pounds. That far back and next to the (potentially heavy) outboard, ...
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Whisper XT - Outboard Electric Motor
2007-11-03 02:54:05
The newest motor from Electric Propulsion Innovation Corporation (EPIC) has arrived, the WhisperXT. Built for freshwater and marine environments, this motor does it all, from cruising around the lake, fishing a reservoir, or getting your sailboat out to the starting line for the next regatta.
Another in the growing selection of available electric "outboard" style motors. Operating at 24-72 volts, this looks like it might be a little heftier than your standard trolling motor.
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Electric
Motor
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John's Sailing Web
2007-11-02 03:37:20
I ran across this site from a pointer on Mad Mariner forum post concerning med mooring. John has a great article on the do's and do not's of med mooring, but more so, he has a great web site concerning his boats, travels, sailing and nautical things in general.This is a site where you can spend a lot of time.
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Sailing
Web
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Ascenseur de Strépy-Thieu
2007-11-01 02:57:13
As a follow-on to the previous post of the French "boat lift", here's another set of pictures of a different boat transport arrangement on the canals in France. I don't know much about it, but the pictures are quite interesting.
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Waterfronts Nautical
2007-10-31 02:53:30
I recently got a catalog in the mail (mail, what's that... how quaint in this day of the web :-)) from Waterfronts Nautical. They carry a wide range of clothing and nautical "stuff"... Some knicknacks and nautical themed clothing, and other practical wear and gear. Their web site is extensive and you can do your shopping there, by phone/fax or old fashioned mail order.
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It comes to a point!
2007-10-29 04:59:23
Usually the phrase "it comes to a point" ends with something like "where you just have to...". When you're building a boat, coming to a point means a whole different thing.
Dane and I got the notch cut in the inner stem and Frame A and got the inner stem installed... the boat finally comes to a "point"!
One problem is apparent... the chine logs don't match up right. One side is great:
The other side is short a couple of inches. Don't know quite what happened there, but guess I'll have to "stretch" it somehow.
Also took a first pass on beveling off the inner keel... that came out fairly well, although some trimming and filling will be required, I"m sure.
Time = 3.5 hours
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Vertical Launch System
2007-10-28 03:24:33
In addition to my work on the Inner Stem today, I also started on my Vertical Launch System to provide security and protection. I figure a group of missle launchers should be just the thing.
Actually, its a gel holder. As another "side job", I run lighting and various technical things at my church (First Baptist, Jonesboro, GA). Gel is the colored plastic you place in front of lights to make them shine in different colors. Its slick, has lots of static cling, and in general is a pain to deal with. We have been doing some cleanup and work in our lighting booth and I was making up a new storage rack to roll and sort the gel. Getting it all assembled, all I could think of was that it looked like some kind of missle launcher.
So, its not really for the boat, but I couldn't help posting it :-)
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System
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Inner Stem
2007-10-28 03:11:02
After some trials and tribulations, I got the inner stem cut and glued up. Somehow scaling those pieces up from a line drawing got tricky to me. Mark V had provided a scale layout with a 3" square overlay, so that you could easily scale it up. No problem, right?
Well, usually, but I measured, re-measured, re-measured again, never getting the same thing twice. Finally got it, cut one board, found it was wrong, measured some more... just one of those things. Wound up coming out ok, I think (even managed to use the "wrong" board in another position and not waste it).
Anyway, due to some other family confusion (death in the family, etc.) I didn't get as much time in as I planned, but wound up getting this piece done. Did pick up another box of screws for various fastening.
Money (screws) = $6.97 + .49 tax = $7.46
Time = 2.5 hours
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Navigation Software - Mad Mariner™
2007-10-27 05:04:02
Mad Mariner™ has an ongoing series on navigation software... in depth reviews including PC, Mac and even freeware software. So far I've been quite impressed. This resource page lumps it all in one starting point.
For full disclosure, I write some paid articles for Mad Mariner™.
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Software
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Palm Marine
2007-10-27 04:48:29
Here's a commercial site (Dubai based, I believe) that is probably out of the range of all of my readers, but can be good for an interesting surf... megayachts, personal subs, you name it. Pretty to drool over, anyhow :-)
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Marine
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Grow your own boat
2007-10-25 22:40:46
A cute human interest story concerning the pumpkin regatta in Windsor, Nova Scotia... Grow a big pumpkin, hollow it out, and use it as a boat. Includes pictures and video :-)Definitely an alternative building material, although I expect it to be fairly short lived.
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Boat
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