Boatsmith's Ariki 48 Nearing Completion

My friend, David Halladay, of Boatsmith, Inc., has just posted an update of the nearly-finished custom Wharram Ariki 48 he and his crew have been building in West Palm Beach.  It shouldn't be long now until launch:

How NOT to do a kayak trip in Virgin Islands

When I published my trip narrative, On Island Time back in 2005, in the back of my mind it occurred to me that some would-be adventurer with the same determination I had at age 25 might be inspired by the book to set out on some life-threatening adventure and go missing or worse. I wondered if I could be sued by the family, but then put such worries aside when I realized that most likely, the odds of such a thing happening were slim, considering the limited distribution the book would get, published by a small university press in Mississippi.

But out of the blue one day, I got an email from of all places, Kansas.  Scott Finazzo, a professional firefighter there, had received my book as a gift from his wife, and the wheels began turning.  Already infatuated with the Virgin Islands from a trip there as a tourist, Finazzo was now inspired to paddle there.  No, he wasn't planning to try and paddle to the islands from Kansas, but he did plan to island hop among them, getting far off the beaten path in both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.  The thing is, he had zero seat time in sea kayaks, not even a day trip on a Midwestern lake or river.  He also quickly realized it would cost too much to ship hardshell touring kayaks there, no outfitters in the islands rented appropriate boats for his proposed trip, and buying an expensive folding kayak such as a Feathercraft was way out of the budget.  Not to be deterred by such minor inconveniences, he enlisted two of his firefighter buddies as co-conspirators in the adventure.  One of them suggested building the boats for the job, so under his guidance an after-hours boatbuilding project was began in a suburban garage in Kansas.

There were so many setbacks and delays that the glue binding the fabric on the skin-on-frame kayaks was literally drying on the plane ride down island.  The boats were completely untested until they were assembled on a Caribbean beach for first time.  These guys didn't even know how to get in a sea kayak before they began!  Finazzo describes one such entry in this typically hilarious passage in his book: 'While still nestled firmly in the sand of Brewer's Bay, Eric squeezed, jostled, and cussed himself into his kayak.  The boat rocked side-to-side as he kicked his linebacker legs into position.  Once in place, he quickly scooted his ass forward and backwards a few times like a dog on the living room carpet. He successfully lodged himself in and gave me a nod affirming he was ready to go.'

Finazzo describes this whole adventure in a way that is both entertaining and informative.  He later enlisted my advice on writing and recently completed his book about the trip: Why Do All The Locals Think We're Crazy?  Three Men, Three Kayaks, The Caribbean, and One Bad Idea.  The book is available now on Amazon in both paperback and ebook formats, and is a read I highly recommend.  Yours truly even wrote the forward!  Finazzo and I have long since become good friends since that first email out of the blue, coauthoring The Prepper's Workbook for Ulysses Press earlier this year and last year sailing together across the Gulf of Mexico to bring my Cape Dory 27 home to Biloxi.

Reuel Parker Egret 31.5 Sharpie Build Blog

During my most recent visit with Reuel Parker, which has now been a little over a year ago but certainly doesn't seem like it, Reuel gave me the study plans for an enlarged Egret-styled sharpie.  Based on the original 28-footer made famous by Commodore Munroe in Florida, this 31.5-foot version offers much better cruising accommodations, although like all sharpies, still minimal for it's size.  Reuel said it was the most boat that could be built for the money and pointed out that it would be quick to build, trailerable and yet capable of crossing the Gulf Stream and exploring skinny water off the beaten track, like the Bights of Andros, one of his favorite places in the Bahamas to hang out.

I was intrigued, but not ready to start another boat building project so soon after selling my Wharram Tiki 26.  In fact, the reason I was in Reuel's neck of the woods in Florida was to inspect a Liberty 28  Cutter that was offered by a brokerage nearby.  I didn't make an offer on the Liberty, and ended up buying my Cape Dory 27 several months later, but I've pulled out those Egret study plans more than a time or two.  I kept hoping someone would build one, and now it is happening.  A Google search of the design turned up Dennis Woodriff's build blog, started in 2013.  Building in Virginia, he made rapid progress until winter and a move put him on temporary hold.  The hull has been built and turned and he is now finishing the interior, deck and house structures:

I got in touch and learned that Dennis has extensive sailing experience and plans more big adventures when he launches his new Egret sharpie.  I'm anxiously awaiting the continuation of the build, and I'm betting that once the weather improves we won't have to wait long to see this new Parker design launched.

For more on the Egret 31.5, the description of the design is available on Reuel Parker's site here.

Columbus Ship Replicas During Biloxi Stopover

Considered to be the closest replicas to the real thing ever built, the Niña and Pinta Columbus ships operated by The Columbus Foundation of the British Virgin Islands were docked in Biloxi most of last month.  Built in the traditional way in Brazil, both of these ships are full of authentic details on deck, despite the hidden engines and more modern crew accommodations down below.

The Pinta replica is larger than the original, but the Niña is historically accurate, at 65 feet on deck with an 18 foot beam and 7 foot draft.  This is the Niña below:

View of the Pinta from on board the Niña:

The Pinta on deck:

The Niña in profile with Deer Island in the background, just across Biloxi harbor:

More about these ships can be found on the The Columbus Foundation website here.  After leaving Biloxi they were scheduled to haul out for maintenance at Landry Boatworks,  Bayou la Batre, Alabama.  The next port where they will be open for visitors is Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.

Assembling a Big Wharram Catamaran

Part of the appeal of building a Wharram catamaran is that the hulls and other components can be built individually and then moved to another location for assembly and launching.  With the smaller sizes, this can be done without much mechanical assistance, but once you get up to the size of the Ariki 47, it gets a little more involved.

Here's a video clip Boatsmith posted showing the delivery and partial assembly of the first pro-built Ariki 47 delivered to the customer, who will complete the fit-out and rigging himself.

Cruising on $500 per Month?

I first ran across the 185-page "Cruising on $500 per Month" thread on the Cruising and Sailing Forums from a link in a post on Boat Bits, a blog that often features observations on the cost of cruising and the cost of cruising boats.

That this thread could generate that many pages and 2767 replies (and still counting) is a testament to the amount of interest there is in the concept of low-budget cruising in these tough economic times.  What many of the contributors to the thread have pointed out is that despite what the glossy sailing magazines would have you believe, there are lots of people out there cruising and even voyaging all over the world on simple, low-cost boats they have either built themselves or refit after buying cheap in a market that is saturated with neglected used boats.

Having made the transition over the years from sea kayaks to cruising size boats myself, both by the refit route and the home building route, I understand the appeal from the point of view of someone who would never consider boats of this type if I had to buy new at today's prices.

One of the biggest considerations that keeps resurfacing again and again in this ongoing discussion is the size boat you need to go long-term cruising.  Again, if you believe the popular yachting press, anything under about 40 feet is unsuitable.  But among those who are actually making the break from land and seeing the world on their boats, smaller boats are not nearly as uncommon as the magazines would have you believe.  Boats in the 25-30 foot range are cheaper to buy, cheaper to refit and equip, cheaper to haul-out and maintain, and cheaper to dock if find the need to do so.  Plenty of designs in this size range are seaworthy enough to go anywhere you might care to go.  You might have to give up some of the comforts, but what is better - being slightly more uncomfortable while out there living the dream - or working year after year to get the bigger boat paid for and equip it with every modern convenience while never getting away from the dock?

Whether you want to try and live as cheaply as some on this thread advocate is another matter, but it can be done even today with the right boat and the right attitude, and some knowledge of which places to spend your time in and which to avoid.  After buying and outfitting the boat itself, the biggest expenses for cruisers on any size boats are almost always associated with shoreside conveniences and services.  You certainly won't be cruising on $500 per month if you plan to tie up to the docks of a marina every night, or if you want to eat most of your meals out in restaurants.  Cruisers wanting to travel in that style will need a monthly budget in the thousands of dollars, rather than the hundreds.  But if you don't mind doing your own cooking, and you're happier anchoring out in a secluded cove and rowing the dinghy ashore to ferry supplies to the boat, you can avoid most of the expenses that make the cost cruising so prohibitive in most peoples perspective.

The key to low-budget cruising and the gist of the thousands of posts on this thread can be summed up in a few points:

• Choose the smallest boat that will accommodate you and your crew and safely take you to the destinations you plan to explore.  Researching the proven voyages of others who have gone before you or are out there cruising now will point you to the best designs to choose from.
• Keep the systems on the boat as simple as possible and make sure you have the tools and skills to do all of the maintenance and most if not all repairs yourself.  Carry spare parts you anticipate needing rather than having to pay expensive shipping and import duties to get them later.
• Carry a hard dinghy with oars rather than an inflatable with an outboard, as it is cheaper to buy, build or replace, less likely to get stolen and can be equipped with a simple sail rig if desired.   
• Plan on anchoring out 99 percent of the time, wherever you go.  Good ground tackle is essential for this and should be your top priority in equipment purchases.
• Shallow-draft boats open up many more anchoring possibilities than deep draft boats, making it much easier to avoid marina fees in popular cruising areas where there are few good, deepwater harbors.  Shallow draft also lets you explore remote regions that see few if any other cruisers.  Such places are often much less expensive to spend time in, as the locals are not used to making profits off of wealthy yachtsmen in their big boats.
• Plan on cooking and eating aboard 99 percent of the time, and if you do eat out, go where the locals go rather to that to expensive tourist traps.  
• Acquire useful skills that you can use along the way anywhere you go.  Welding, sailmaking, diesel repair and similar skills can allow you to cruise indefinitely without having to wait until you have enough money in the bank to live off the interest.  Go now while you still have your health and enthusiasm for adventure.  

These are the main points brought out in this thread, though I'm sure I missed a few.  Many of the posts became painfully repetitive, with the same ideas rehashed over and over.  The discussion also led to quite a few arguments about choices of boats: especially the same tired old monohull vs. multihull debate.  But quite a few of those participating in the conversation extolled the virtues of Wharram catamarans, as well as shoal-draft sharpie monohulls - two of the boat types long-time readers here know that I post about most often.  My own choice of a Wharram Tiki 26 catamaran as the perfect boat for me to build and sail was influenced by the same line of thinking that led to this discussion - shallow draft and simplicity being top priorities.  

If you've got hours to kill, you can read the full thread on the forum and will probably find it both entertaining and informative.

Planning to Build a Reuel Parker Periagua 14

I've decided on Reuel Parker's unique Periagua 14 for the dinghy that I'll be using aboard my Tiki 26 catamaran when I launch it next year.  With an overall beam of 15 feet, I can accommodate a long, slender craft like the Periagua 14 on the forward deck area, without the ends hanging off the sides (although after discussing it with Reuel, I may shorten it by a foot or two).  I want something long and canoe or kayak-like, that is easy to row, but with good load-carrying ability and room for two or three passengers in dinghy service.  I have Bolger Nymph that I built for the monohull I had previously, and it's a great dinghy, but something longer and sleeker is more to my liking.  Here are some photos from Reuel Parker:

 

In the photo below, you can see the pronounced rocker, the flare in the hullsides, and the pram bow.  It's like a stretched pram in some ways, but also brings to mind the sharpie hull form, which is favorite of Reuel Parker, who is after all, the author of The Sharpie Book.  This boat is very similar to my own Backwoods Drifter design, except that the Drifter is wider in the bottom and has a flat run amidships with no rocker.  The Periagua 14 is a pure rowing craft, though Reuel says that he has modified his to accept a small outboard at times. 

Although it is long, this is a lightweight boat, weighing in at approximately 65 pounds, depending on materials used.  Here is Reuel Parker's description of the design:

PARKER MARINE ENTERPRISES

PERIAGUA 14

LOA                      14’

BEAM                   3’ 6 ½”

DRAFT                  4 ¼”

WEIGHT               65 lbs (approx)

The PERIAGUA 14 is derived from the drawings in Chapman’s Architectura Navalis. The type was used as a lighter and ferry on rivers and in harbors in Sweden in the 18th century. She looks like a long, narrow pram, and is surprisingly fast, maneuverable and easy to row. Despite her narrow beam, she has much better stability than the DORY 14 on the previous page.

Like the DORY 14, she is built around bulkheads (or frames) and transom, for which patterns are supplied. The bottom and sides are drawn to scale with measurements supplied--all that is necessary is to transfer the measurements to full-size plywood sheets (no lofting required). She may be built lapstrake if preferred.

The PERIAGUA 14 also has only one solid wood component--the sheer clamp. It is made by ripping a slot in the bottom of a hardwood 1x2, which in turn slides over the plywood sheer.

"I built the prototype in my barn in Maine in less than 10 hours, ready for sanding and painting. Mine has only one pair of rowing tholes, while the plans show two. These were originally made from grown knees—mine are plywood, and they work fantastically well (I think of them as “out-riggers”—like those used on sculls). However, they are also quite awkward, and I ended up cutting them down and installing right-angle-fitting bronze rowlock sockets."

David Halladay also built a Periagua 14 as a tender to his Tiki 30, Abaco. Here are some photos of his under construction and on the deck of the catamaran:

 

My Article in the Current Issue of Cruising World

I have a short article in the current (April, 2010) issue of Cruising World, in the "Shoreline" section.  The piece is about David Halladay receiving James Wharram's blessing as the first officially licensed professional builder of Wharram designs in the U.S.  Hopefully articles like this will bring more attention to the beautiful boats David is creating in the Boatsmith shop and more sailors will consider a Wharram cat a viable option among the many choices out there.  Look for it in this issue on newstands now:

I'm not sure how long this link will work, but for now you can click on the inside button in this embedded version of the article and view it at a readable size: 

Switching from a Steel Mono to a Plywood Catamaran

There's an article in the current issue of Good Old Boat that I found of great interest, particularly with my fondness for Wharram catamarans.  This magazine is of course, primarily focused on restoring and sailing older fiberglass boats, which generally means monohulls simply because there are so many more of the them available in the used marketplace. 

New construction is not often mentioned here, but in this issue there is an article by frequent contributors, Dave and Jaja Martin about their choice to sell their steel monohull, Driver, and build of all things, a Wharram Tiki 30.  Now I've followed their writings for years and reading of their exploits such as sailing a modified Cal 25 around the world and cruising Arctic waters on Driver sometimes caused me to question my own choice of a plywood cat over a good sturdy monohull.  But in this article Dave explains his rationale and the solid reasons he chose a Tiki 30 when he decided a multihull would be the best choice for the kind of sailing they intend to do next.

Not surprisingly, his list of reasons in his choice mirror my own reasons for choosing a Tiki 26 after losing a 26-foot monohull in Hurricane Katrina.  The Tiki 30 works better for them, because they will be sailing as a family and they wanted the largest demountable cat that could be reasonably trailered and still powered by a single outboard.

In the next issue of Good Old Boat there will be another installment on this project where Dave gets into details about material choices in modern plywood boat construction. I will be eagerly awaiting it, and I especially look forward to the inevitable future articles that will likely be published in several of the major sailing magazines about the Martin's adventures on  their new Tiki 30.

Building a Boat

Stole this from Boat Bits. This is just too cool to pass up: Matt Mays from Terminal Romance. Check it out and then get out to the shop.

Reuel Parker's Ibis Sharpie Nearing Launch

Reuel Parker is in the final stages of his 45-foot sharpie schooner project, Ibis.  Here are some photos taken by David Halladay during a recent visit to the build site in Ft. Myers.  It's not everyday that you see a flat-bottomed, shallow-draft vessel of this length.

This is Parker's concept of a "maxi-trailerable" sailing vessel.  While Ibis is not something that you would trailer down to the lake for a daysail, she is a vessel that could be trailered if necessary, for off-season storage or maintenance at home, or for reaching distance cruising grounds in a hurry.  To trailer this much boat, you will need a substantial truck, like one of David's work trucks parked alongside in the photo below.

Here's a close-up shot of the stern, showing the balanced rudder and how it is hung on the narrow stern.

The mast is mounted in a substantial tabernacle.  Reuel Parker describes the advantages and the design of these in his book:  The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching.
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This view of the bow shows the bowsprit and samson post, as well as a custom A-frame that is used to assist in raising and lowering the mast.  When not in use for this purpose, it will be fixed in position at the correct height to form a bow pulpit rail.  This is a brilliant example of multi-functional equipment incorporated in this simple vessel. 

Designed for cruising the in the tropics, Ibis is equipped with plenty of opening deck hatches and opening portlights.  The cockpit is also shaded by a bimini.

Down below, the interior has a spacious feel with white paint and light-colored wood trim.  This vessel is designed for a simple style of cruising and living aboard in out-of-the-way places like the Out Islands of the Bahamas.

Ibis is based on the smaller 36-foot San Juan Island Double-ended Sharpie, described in detail beginning on page 141 of his definative work on the type:  The Sharpie Book

Virgin Islands Kayak Adventure

As an author, it's always great to get emails from readers of my books who benefited in some way from something I have written. It's even better when I hear that something I wrote has inspired readers to go out and do some adventuring of their own. That's a big part of why I've written narratives of some of my trips, especially the account of my Caribbean kayak trip of twenty years ago:

On Island Time: Kayaking the Caribbean

About a year ago, I received an email from Scott Finazzo, a firefighter from Kansas City who read On Island Time while he was off from work on injury leave. He told me that the book gave him the idea of kayaking in the Caribbean and he passed on the inspiration to a handful of his coworkers and plans were soon made to spend a few weeks paddling the Virgin Islands.

Incredibly, despite the fact that none of them were sea kayakers or boat builders, they came up with their own designs for take-apart skin-on-frame kayaks, built them, and pulled this trip off in a little less than a year from that first email Scott sent me. Just a week ago, I received another email from him with a link to his blog, where he posted the above photo as well as a series of write-ups about their adventures and some video clips. I won't attempt to describe their trip here. Get it straight from Scott at his blog:

Lure of the Horizon

The photos and the descriptions took me right back to my passage through those fabulous islands. I'm really glad these guys got to go there and paddle and that my book played some part in it. I'll be looking forward to more in the future on Lure of the Horizon.

Florida Wharram Rendezvous

Next weekend’s 2009 Spring Wharram Rendezvous in Islamorada, Florida promises to be largest gathering of Wharram catamarans ever assembled in one place in the States. For the first time ever, James Wharram’s designs are represented there by a licensed U.S. Wharram builder: David Halladay, of Boatsmith, Inc.

Halladay and rendezvous organizers Dan Kuntz and Gene Perry are working tirelessly in their efforts to promote Wharram designs in south Florida and other regions of the U.S. Through email campaigns, postings on blogs and websites and word of mouth, they have reached out to every Wharram builder and owner they could find to lure them to the gathering in Islamorada – a jumping off spot for cruising the sub-tropical Florida Keys and nearby islands of the Bahamas.

They are expecting thirteen Wharram cats to make the rendezvous, as well as a “half-boat” and a “boat and a half.” Some of the Wharram designs expected to show are: Melanesia 17, Tiki 21, Tiki 26, Taneuei 29, Pahi 31, Tangaroa 36, Tiki 38, Narai 42, and of course, David Halladay’s Pro-Built Tiki 30, Abaco. This is a good place to look over the various sizes and designs if you are considering building a Wharram.

Some of these boats in attendance are for sale: including the brand new Abaco. You can buy this well-appointed and beautifully finished Tiki 30 in sailaway condition right on the spot. You can also meet with David Halladay at the rendezvous to discuss any size Wharram cat you might be dreaming of, and talk with him about contracting its construction. Used boats for sale that you can inspect at the rendezvous include Dan Kuntz’s 2002 Tangaroa 36 MKIV, a 2007 Tiki 38 offered by Hans Bortmann, and a Narai 40 MKII.

Other attractions will be local Florida authors signing their books: including Frank Pappy, Cruising Guide to the Florida Keys, Charles Kanter, Cruising Catamaran Communique and others, and Corrine Kanter, Cruising KISS Cookbook. The sailing magazine Latitudes and Attitudes will be represented and will have free subscriptions, hats, books and other items for door prizes. All in all, this year’s Spring Rendezvous is on track to become the largest ever, with as many as 70 or possibly even 100 visitors expected, coming from across the U.S. and England and Canada.

The Spring Wharram Rendezvous takes place May 15, 16 and 17 at Islamorada, Florida. Shoreside headquarters will be centered around the Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar, located at 81924 Overseas Highway in Islamorada. The Lorelei is open for breakfast lunch and dinner. The boats will be anchored nearby and open to visitors. Dinghies are in short supply, so visitors are asked to bring one if they have one available.

For more information, email floridawharamrendezvous@hotmail.com or david@boatsmithfl.com.

Reuel Parker Update

I spent the last two and half weeks of January working in south Florida with my friend, David and the Boatsmith crew on an interesting interior refit of the Alden schooner, Summerwind. I will post more about that project here soon. One highlight of my trip to Florida though, was a Sunday afternoon visit with Reuel Parker. David and I had last visited his project in April of '08, just before he was ready to shut it down for his annual summer migration to Maine.

In the meantime, I've been in touch with Reuel from time to time since then, as I have been putting together a building blog for the Ibis project for him from the photos and captions he has been sending me.

Reuel returned to Florida in October, 08 and the progress he has made in November and December is remarkable. With her exterior paint all finished and hatches and portlights installed, Ibis is looking much closer to launch than when I last saw her. I love the unusual color he picked for the deck houses and cockpit. It goes great with the traditional lines of this shoal-draft sharpie schooner.

The interior is coming along at a nice pace as well. Reuel is keeping it simple, with lots of painted surfaces and hardwood trim he milled himself from his land in Maine.

Below: David Halladay, right, and Reuel Parker, left, discussing various aspects of the deck layout. As always, Reuel is griping about what a pain in the ass it is to build a boat and says this will be his last. I doubt that though. As much as he complains, he works on it seven days a week and when he is in Florida, the project is his life. What he really wants is a young female partner that can sand and varnish and then sail away to the islands when Ibis is launched.

Reuel has sent me detailed photos of his November to early January progress since I returned from my trip. I'm now in the process of updating his blog with this new material, and I've talked him into expanding his captions into more blog-style text to give interested readers a better idea of what he's doing and why, in each step. Reuel hates computers, but he is a fine writer and hopefully he will expand all of the earlier blog posts as well so that all who are interested can see how he goes about building one of his new maxi-trailerable sailboats. Check it out here:

http://schooneribis.blogspot.com/

Boatbuilding with Non-Marine Materials

Below: Joubert Marine Plywood - an example of some of the finest boatbuilding plywood you can buy. This is 6mm Okoume plywood manufactured in France to the BS 1088 standard. Each sheet has the Lloyd's of London stamp of approval.

I was recently involved in a discussion on the Wharram catamaran forum regarding the cost of building a boat and the question of whether or not it is necessary to use "marine" grade materials in the construction. (View discussion here)

This is something I've been meaning to address here anyway, as the cost of most boatbuilding materials are going up and probably will continue to do so. In the often long and difficult decision making process that proceeds the beginning of a new boat construction project or the refitting of an old one, cost is certainly an issue for most of us. Although we would like to be able to nail down a number before ordering the first piece of wood or gallon of epoxy, accurately estimating the cost of a project is difficult, even for professionals, as there are so many variables. This is especially true for boat projects larger than canoes, kayaks or the simplest of skiffs. Cruising boats with interior accommodations, auxiliary power and sailing rigs can vary widely in cost depending on the care and thought taken in the selection of each and every component.

Since the hull (or hulls in the case of catamarans and trimarans) is usually the first part built in a new boat construction project, many builders are tempted right from the beginning to save money on hull materials. Plywood and epoxy composite is perhaps the most common type of wooden boat construction chosen by first time builders, especially since there are so many intriguing designs available for all types of vessels using some form of this construction. Many new builders incorrectly see the plywood as a major component of the boat, (after all, it is a plywood boat, right?) but the reality of it is that in most modern designs that rely heavily on epoxy for the assembly, sheathing and fairing of the hull, the plywood cost is a small percentage in relation to other materials. In fact on a boat like the Tiki 26 catamaran that I am building, the plywood cost is in the range of 10 to 12-percent of the the complete boat, in sailaway condition. And this percentage is based on using the good stuff - BS-1088 Okoume marine ply from Joubert, as pictured above.

The temptation to save money by purchasing non-marine plywood can be quite strong, especially when a new builder prices marine plywood for the first time. But the cheaper alternatives are, unfortunately, miserably inadequate in most cases, depending on the design being built. The Tiki 26 is a good example, as it is a cruising size boat, but being a catamaran, depends on strong but lightweight materials for good performance. The hulls, decks and cabins are all built of just 6mm (or 1/4-inch) thick plywood to keep the total boat weight in the range of 1500 lbs. Yet, this is a sailboat designed to go offshore and cope with the conditions that can be expected in that environment. The design is well proven for its intended use, and of course, the thin plywood is reinforced with well-engineered interior stringers and the epoxy joinery and sheathing methods employed in its construction, but still, 6 millimeters is a thin skin. It would not do to have core voids or cores with lots of knots or partial panels of a lesser grade wood in the interior of a plywood hull skin that thin. To get the full strength required by the design, a quality marine plywood with cores as good as the face veneers is clearly the best choice.

Although one can occasionally find good-looking exterior plywood at Home Depot or the local independent building supply vendor, the quality is never consistent from bundle to bundle and even varies a lot with individual sheets. Cut into most of this plywood and you will find even greater inconsistencies in the cores. Having built many cabinets and other residential carpentry projects over a period of years, I have seen the quality of almost all commonly available plywood decrease - from cabinet grade birch to exterior BC yellow pine. It's hard to find plywood that is adequate for even the roughest construction these days, much less any that would be good for a boat hull.

But having said this, there are exceptions and there are types of boats that are designed to allow for a margin of poorer quality materials. A type that comes to mind are the shallow draft cruising designs of Reuel Parker. His cold-molded construction method is designed to allow layers of lesser grade exterior plywood to build up the hull to the required thickness. There is a margin for these poorer grade laminates in such hulls because of the much greater overall thickness of the hull skin, particularly on the bottom.

This drawing below, scanned from Parker's book, The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching, illustrates the layers used to build up these heavy hulls. In this case two opposing diagonal layers of 3/4-inch thick plywood strips are laminated over a longitudinal layer of 5/8-inch solid tongue-and-groove planking. Used this way, good quality exterior construction grade plywood of Doug fir or Southern Yellow Pine can be perfectly adequate, as the hull is not depending on one thin sheet for all it's strength. Cutting the plywood into the 9 1/2-inch wide strips as shown here also allows you to easily see if there are any huge voids in the core and allows you to discard the worst parts of a given 4 x 8-foot sheet.

The other case for non-marine plywood is in the construction of small, simple skiffs that are inexpensive in terms of both time and money invested, and can be viewed as somewhat disposable after a few years of use. In this case you might want to save some money by using a good exterior grade plywood, sealed well with epoxy. If the boat is maintained and kept out of the weather when not in use, it could last a very long time. I've built two Phil Bolger dinghies this way, using exterior grade 1/4" Luan plywood, the type sold as "underlayment" for flooring in my local building supply. At about $10 per sheet, it's cheap and can sometimes be of surprisingly good quality.

Here's one of the dinghies - the Bolger "Nymph" design - which makes an excellent rowing tender for a cruising boat. I built this one with cheap Luan right from the plans given in Dynamite Payson's Build the New Instant Boats. This particular one, built for a friend to use in his fishing pond, has not seen much hard use. My other one spent several years stored upside down on the deck of my Grampian 26 and was used extensively as a dinghy the entire time I owned the boat. It's a little beaten up and rough, but still sound and seaworthy.

What it comes down to in choosing construction materials for a boat is the intended use of the vessel and also the size of your investment in time and materials. For a dinghy like the one shown above, it's optional as to whether you want to use BS-1088 Okoume at more than $60 per sheet or exterior Luan for about $10-15 per sheet. The time to build the dinghy is only a relatively small investment of evenings and maybe a couple of weekends. If you get a few years of service out of it, your time and money will be well spent.

If you are considering building a cruising-sized vessel from wood composite construction, however, especially a lightweight multihull, the time and hard labor required will more than offset the difference in plywood costs. Not many people can look at such a boat as "disposable," so consideration must be given to insuring the vessel has a long life and retains a decent resale value throughout that life. The best way to do this is to use high quality materials throughout and to document this use for a possible future buyer. The ease of working with top quality marine plywood is another factor that makes the whole project more pleasant and saves a lot of labor on fitting and finishing plywood parts. A well-built and properly maintained wooden boat built this way of excellent materials can be expected to last a lifetime and beyond. Anyone willing to put a couple thousand hours of their life into the construction of a cruising boat should expect nothing less.

Another Backwoods Drifter Finished

The Mississippi Backwoods Drifter that I've been working on in my spare time is now complete and has been picked up by the owner, who will use it around the creeks and bayous of Mandeville, Louisiana. I hope he will send some photos of the boat in the water when he launches it. Here are some shots I took in the backyard just before he arrived to get it on Tuesday.

This particular boat is modified slightly from the original Drifter I designed for Ernest Herndon, which is double-ended and identical bow and stern. The modification here is a partial transom above the waterline, allowing for the use of an electric trolling motor. The hull shape is the same below the waterline, so the easy paddling characteristics of the design have been retained.

Here is a close-up of the modified stern, showing the teak motor mount that was left unfinished. The rest of the solid trim is ash; epoxy coated and varnished.

Here's a view of the interior from the stern showing the varnished Okoume plywood and ash trim. The mid-ships seat can be adjusted fore and aft to properly distribute weight depending on if the boat is used solo or with two paddlers.

I really like this modified version of the Backwoods Drifter, and wish I had the time to build one for my own use. Maybe someday, but that will have to wait until my Tiki 26 project is done.

Priming and Painting a Backwoods Drifter

This week I've been in the process of prepping the Backwoods Drifter I've been building in my spare time for paint and varnish. This boat, which I'm building for a customer, was originally going to be delivered unfinished, but since he was not in a particular hurry for it, the owner decided to have me go ahead and do the painting and varnishing.

I had the first coat of primer on it a couple of weeks ago, before I went to south Florida to work on another boat. When I got back to it this week the primer was sanded and another fill layer of fairing epoxy applied to smooth out various minor imperfections in the fiberglass sheathing. I use a compound of about 50/50 phenolic microballoons and silica for this fairing mix. This makes a relatively easy to sand filler that is still hard enough to make a good substrate for paint.

After sanding this final filling coat down to 80 grit, I then cleaned the surface of dust and wiped with denatured alcohol before applying another coat of primer. The primer used here is Interlux Pre-Coat, a product designed to be used with the one-part polyurethane paint I'm using for the project - Interlux Brightsides. This primer comes in white or gray. I used the gray for this hull as it will get dark green topcoat. Below is a view of the primed hull. The interior at this stage coated with 2-3 coats of pure epoxy, and has yet to be sanded smooth for varnishing.

Yesterday I applied the first coat of finish paint, the Interlux Brigthsides in Sea Green. It was put on with a brush after first sanding the primer to 120 grit. This first coat is just a build coat to get a good base color. It will be sanded with 220 and overcoated at least 2 and probably 3 more times, using a foam roller for application. I was not worried so much about dust on the first coat, so it was done in the garage. For the final coats, the boat will be moved outside and painted early in the mornings when there is no dust in the air. The process takes time, as you must wait until the next day to sand and recoat. Instead of sanding this coat today, I turned the hull back over to work on the interior.

Sanding and varnishing the interior will take several days as well, as only one coat per day can be applied. The epoxy coatings must first be sanded smooth to 120 grit and since it is a clear finish, no fairing compounds can be used. It takes much longer than fairing the painted exterior. Because of the bright interior, all the fillets and glue joints are made with epoxy thickened with wood flour and silica, a mixture that is quite hard to sand when cured.

A high-build varnish does a lot to smooth out the surfaces over the epoxy as well, provided enough coats are applied. I use Z-Spar Flagship varnish for surfaces such as this that will be exposed to a lot of U.V. light. On a boat like this that will likely be stored inside or under some sort of shelter, 3 or 4 coats of this varnish will last for years. By the time the 3rd or 4th coat of varnish is done, the first coat of paint on the hull will be well cured for sanding and I can proceed with the final exterior coats.

Although it's dusty here, you can get some sense of how the hull will look with the dark green topside paint and varnished ash rubrails. The plywood is all BS 1088 Okoume, which also finishes out on the interior to a pleasing mahogany color. With any luck with the weather, I'll have all the necessary coats inside and out within the next couple of weeks.

More on the Backwoods Drifter design here.

Update on Reuel Parker's Latest Build

Back in February, I posted here about how I had the privilege to meet one of my favorite boat designers - Reuel Parker, while I was in Florida working with David Halladay on the beginning of his Tiki 30 project. Well, I've just returned from another work trip to south Florida last week, and this time David and I had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Parker two more times. These visits led to lengthy conversations with the designer about his latest project and boatbuilding and sailing in general.

As when we met him in February, Reuel Parker is working 7 days per week on his latest boatbuilding project - the 45-foot sharpie schooner, Ibis. Ibis is coming along nicely and much progress has been made since I saw the boat the first time. When we arrived one evening at 6:00, thinking maybe Reuel was ready to quit for the day, he was in the process of fitting the starboard bulwark/toerail and was not planning to stop for at least another hour until we interrupted him with an offer of a cold bottle of ale. Remembering us from before and and realizing that we had a genuine interest in his boats and were not there just to bullshit and waste his time, Reuel opened up quite a bit more and really showed us around the boat, explaining how and why he was doing certain things.

The photo below shows Ibis at the stage of construction she was at on Monday, April 28. The interior is mostly done, the houses and decks are completed and sheathed with Xynole polyester cloth, and the bulwarks were being installed.

Reuel describes the new design as a longer version of a 36-foot double-ended sharpie schooner based on the Straits of Juan del Fuca mackeral-fishing sharpies of Washington State in the 1880's. The new sharpie is 45' on deck, 10' beam, 2'6" draft, 15,000 lbs displacement, with an unladen trailer weight of 12,000 lbs. She is a bald-headed gaff schooner, with self-tending sails. She has a new-design centerboard made of steel and lead-ballasted which is a foil-shaped fin when down. The boat sleeps four in two private cabins, has a hot-water-shower, solar-powered refrigeration, and carries an incredible 300 gallons of water and 80 gallons of fuel. Auxiliary power is an Isuzu 3LD2 diesel (40hp), which will propel her at speeds over 8 knots using less than .75 gallons per hour.

You may notice from the photos that the cabin houses appear a bit high in proportion to the hulls compared to some of Parker's designs, but he said this was a compromise to achieve standing headroom for him (5', 10") in a sharpie of 45-feet. The boat is designed for living aboard and extended cruising, and standing headroom is highly desirable for this purpose. Visually, the extra height of the cabins will not stand out too much with the lowering effect of the high bulwarks he is installing and the contrasting paint scheme of cabin sides.

This boat is coming together at an amazing pace for one man working alone, but Reuel Parker clearly knows what he is doing when it comes to boat construction, and he doesn't waste time during daylight hours. He has also perfected the art of building large, high quality vessels with mostly ordinary construction-grade materials, eliminating the need for exotic hardwoods and other materials with the "marine" designation that so dramatically increases the price of boatbuilding. Parker's methods and materials are described in great detail in his books: The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching and The Sharpie Book

Below is another view of Ibis, from the port quarter, showing the foremast tabernacle. Both masts will be fitted in tabernacles, as the boat is designed as a "maxi-trailerable" vessel.

Parker's definition of a "maxi-trailerable" is: "These vessels are 46' and under in length, 10' beam, shallow-draft, and 15,000 lbs or less. The concept is to provide cruising boats that can be stored on 40' 3-axle trailers, eliminating the need for slips and boatyards, which are rapidly turning into condos all over the American waterfront. The boats can be towed by a tow truck without permits or escort vehicles, or can be towed privately with only a wide load banner (no escorts). "

I think he is right on target with this design concept, as I see this same thing happening close to home here on the Mississippi Gulf coast as well. Since Hurricane Katrina destroyed so much of the waterfront, taking away the grand old mansions and the boatyards and marinas that were already in short supply, the casino and condo developers are snatching up every bit of property they can buy. The dock space problem is not going to get better, and slip rental fees are bound to keep rising. This is why I chose the Tiki 26 as a design to build after I lost my deep draft cruiser, and this is also what appeals to me so much about Reuel Parker's shoal draft designs. It's a good thing to own a cruising boat, rather than letting a cruising boat own you, but if the boat has to be in the water it's entire life and has to be maintained in boatyards, you really don't own it.

David and I returned again to Reuel's building site on Wednesday morning, to deliver some teak that David promised to bring him in exchange for a copy of his book: The Voyages of Fishers Hornpipe.

Although Reuel doesn't normally use teak on his boats, he did mention that he would like some pieces to get out the hand rails for the cabin tops, and David has teak practically running out his ears in the Boatsmith shop.

This second visit last week was even more interesting than the first, as Reuel invited us into his design office where the walls are covered in boat drawings and photographs and nautical books are stacked high in every available space. Since I had sent him a copy of my book On Island Time after meeting him in February, and also a link to my website, Reuel knew about the web design work I do and the blogs I am doing for my Tiki 26 project and David's Tiki 30 and other projects. He said he would like to get the construction of Ibis on his website somehow, and so now we have agreed to work together to create a blog on the construction of this vessel. This should be good news to the many Reuel Parker fans out there who are hungry for more information on his designs but have found little available on the web.

The other good news for those interested in Reuel Parker designs is that he was considering signing up for PayPal so he could accept credit card sales through his website, and upon hearing from me that I had good experiences with the method of payment, he has done so since Wednesday. You can now go to his website at www.parker-marine.com and purchase all of his catalogs, books, and boat plans using a credit card through PayPal. Reuel Parker is more than ever interested in making his designs more accessible to those who are interested, and I am looking forward to working with him on the new Ibis blog to bring photos and descriptions of his work to the web so that the world can watch as this sharpie schooner comes together. Look for more on this here on Scott's Boat Pages, and when the blog goes live I'll post the link, as well as create a link from www.parker-marine.com