Boat Plans Nz | Cape to Rio Race Starts Tomorrow

Boat Plans Nz

It has been a long slog to get here and, strange as it may seem, even now I am not sure where "here" is. We need to be on the start line in Table Bay at 14h00 South African Time (UTC+2) and have been working toward that goal for a year. Now that we are almost there time-wise, we have had all sorts of issues popping up to try to trip us and prevent our participation. Each time that we side-step an issue, another appears in its place.

These are not problems that are directly related to the boat, neither are they related to most of the crew. I cant say what they are but they have been a major distraction in our preparations, detouring our efforts and moving our focus from much needed work into stuff that really should not be on our minds at this stage of preparations. These issues sap energy and drain enthusiasm. It takes effort to maintain optimism, which is normally self-fortifying.

We expect to be on the start line tomorrow and will be deeply disappointed if we should be prevented from going. Only time will tell whether or not we will be there. Watch for the yellow boat if you are able to watch it live, or maybe recorded live (whatever that means).

From here on I will not be posting on this blog live until after the race is over and I return to USA. I will be sending email updates to my wife, Dehlia. She will be posting on the blog but it will probably be without photos. Our Internet connections via satellite phone will be too slow to transfer photo files. If we have something really special to show then we may make an exception.

So please follow us via the tracking link on the race website at http://cape2rio2014.com. This is not a clickable link, so please copy and paste into your browsers address window.

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Canoe Boat Plans | Black Cat in the Governors Cup Race

Canoe Boat Plans

In my last post I wrote about how well the Didi 38 "Black Cat" was faring in the Governors Cup Race to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. I am writing this post based on information that I have read on the official web sites of the race and False Bay Yacht Club.

They were going like a train in showing the way to all of the monohulls. Then they sailed into a hole in the otherwise good tradewind sailing breezes. This was created by a rather odd shape to the South Atlantic high, as an elongated sausage running east/west and in two parallel bands of calm not far apart.

Skipper Dave (Wavy) Immelman was kicking himself for having missed a crucial weather download that may have helped him evade the holes. They sailed slowly through the first calm then the winds started to pick up and they thought they were through, only to be trapped by the second calm.

"Black Cat" rounding the Cape of Good Hope en-route to St Helena.

We watched in dismay as the Vickers 41 "Avanti" sailed a big arc that took her right around the hole in which "Black Cat" languished, at pretty much twice the speed. We despaired for the chances of "Black Cat" even catching "Avanti" before the finish line, let alone getting far enough ahead to beat her on handicap. In the end "Avanti" crossed the finish line about 7 hours 10 minutes ahead of "Black Cat".

I went to bed last night feeling sad that the hard sailing done by Wavy and his crew for so much of the race was thwarted by the fickle winds. I woke this morning to the news that the skipper of "Avanti" declared some time after finishing that they had motored and were dropping down to the cruising division. That leaves "Black Cat" as the likely winner of the racing division, with only "Iechyd Da" with a very distant chance of beating her on handicap.

Congratulations to Wavy and crew. You sailed an honest and honourable race. You didnt deserve the heartache that came from watching your opposition apparently sailing right around you when they had actually motored into a more favourable position.

This brings up two questions that need clarification.

1. Why did "Avanti" wait until after the finish of the race to declare that they motored? They should have done so immediately that the motor was started. That action disqualified them from the racing division. They didnt declare at the time that they were dropping to the cruising division, so can they be considered to have been racing in that division? None of the other cruisers knew that they were racing against "Avanti" so they couldnt take her into consideration in their tactical decisions. The knowledge may not have had any effect but it should have been open knowledge throughout the fleet within hours of "Avanti" starting her motor.
2. What is the sense of allowing boats to change their racing division on the water? It may have seemed a good idea at the time that the rules were written but has created a very unfair situation on the water, unfair to those boats that were in the cruising division at the start of the race. The entry list shows 9 boats in the racing division and 4 in cruising. As the race has progressed and the boats ran out of wind, racing boats have chosen to motor and change from racing to cruising division. The leading boat in cruising division changed class after finishing and the 2nd boat changed very late in the race. The whole balance of the event has changed, with the original 9 racers reduced to 3 and the original 4 cruisers swelled to 10 boats. Three of those 4 cruisers have retired and "Tallulah" should get the trophy. Instead she is lying 3rd, with "Avanti" and "Strumpet" having jumped in ahead of her. Maybe the rules of the race have not been broken but I dont agree that this is the right way to do it, in the interests of fairness to all on the water.

OK, I am getting off my soapbox now.Once again, congratulations to Wavy and crew on sticking it out in racing division when it looked like you had been beaten but could have had a clear win in the cruising division by simply starting your motor and changing classes.

See more about the Didi 38 and our other designs on our website at http://dixdesign.com/.



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Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum | Georgetown Wooden Boat Show This Weekend

Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum

Saturday 19th October is Georgetown Wooden Boat Show, on the waterfront of Georgetown South Carolina. We will have our prototype Paper Jet on display, among the land exhibits on Front Street.

This year we will enjoy the company of two other Paper Jets, local to that area. Bob Turner of Pawleys Island has just completed his boat and Ted Bullock of Barrier Island Boatbuilders in Charleston will exhibit his one, which is nearing completion.

Paper Jet #007. Numbers are now approaching 80 boats.

The Paper Jet is very different in concept from most other boats that will be on display. The very light but robust construction and thoroughly modern image of these boats provides a sharp contrast with the generally classically styled boats, of mostly traditional construction methods, of other exhibits.

If you are within day-trip range of Georgetown, please come by to talk about the Paper Jet and any other of our wide range of designs that might interest you.

The red boat in the photo above is for sale. It was professionally built with nice detailing. If you are all-thumbs when it comes to woodworking then this boat can provide a painless route to getting afloat in a light and fast performance dinghy. It wont be at the show but we will be able to give details and put you in contact with the seller.

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/ .

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Boat Plans Skiff | Our New Office Up and Running

Boat Plans Skiff

We have moved to our new home, still in Virginia Beach. With more office space than we had before, we have been able to set up a separate print room to house our two large format HP inkjet roll plotters. The plotters and computers are all up and running, once again talking to each other.

We are still surrounded by many boxes that have to be emptied but we are progressing with the reorganisation. We are once again ready to fill orders, whether for printed plans or those that can be supplied by email.

Thanks for your patience though this inconvenience, we are back online.

Our main website ~ http:dixdesign.com/
Mobile website ~ http://dixdesign.com/mobile
Pricelist and orders - http://dixdesign.com/priceabr.htm

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Boat Plans Bateau | More about Jims DS15 Project

Boat Plans Bateau

In a November post I wrote about the Didi Sport 15 that is being built in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, by Jim Foot. Jim has continued to build at a good pace and his boat is moving into the final stages of construction.

Jim has provided a steady stream of photos that document his project through all of its stages. He appears to be doing a very capable build and his boat should be sailing within months.

Jim bought a plywood kit from CKD Boats in Cape Town. It was cut by CNC router using cutting files that we prepared and supplied. Similar kits can also be cut by our other kit suppliers in other countries.

Beautiful standard of hull finish shows off the hull shape.

Internal framing of Jims DS15 hull, CNC-cut by CKD Boats in Cape Town.

Spinnaker pole launch tube

Internal surfaces sealed with 3 coats epoxy

Adding doublers for mainsheet track and epoxy-coating underside of deck.

Jigsaw-jointed cockpit sole installed and cockpit sides being fitted.

Framing of foredeck and cambered mastdeck.

Mastdeck being fitted.

Cockpit and decks nearing completion.

Mound for rudder pintles.

Casting lead keel bulb.

Thanks Jim for your photos and for your enthusiasm. I look forward to the launch and sailing photos of your new boat.

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.


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Boden Boat Plans Australia | The Crew of Black Cat for Cape to Rio

Boden Boat Plans Australia

 Our crew for the 2014 Cape to Rio Race is mostly the same as we had for the 1996 running of this race. Here are bios for two of the crew.

Gavin Muller

Gavin Muller was 21 years old on the 1996 Race. He was the baby of the crew by a long way and received the brunt of the good-natured insults and joking on the voyage from the rest of us. He took it all in very good spirits, was a great crewman to have with us and proved to be very capable in all aspects of sailing our boat at high speed across the Atlantic.

Now, 18 years later, Gavin is a much more respectable age. At least he is now more than half my own age. Gavin cant have had any permanent damage from all of our ribbing on that race because it was he that put the thought in front of me to get the 1996 crew together again for the 2014 race. Wonderful idea, Gavin.

He obviously has a good sense of the ridiculous. The bio that he sent me begins with "I started sailing quite late in life at the age of 14". Heck, most sailors wish that they could have started sailing at that age instead of 30, 40 or even 60 years old. When you are 21 then 14 must be relatively late in life. After his late start in sailing, Gavin hasnt wasted his time and has accomplished much. His achievements include:-

Sank an Optimist on the start line of his first Interschools Regatta.
Rose to captain of his Bishops High School Sailing Club
Was part of the youngest crew to sail the Cape to Rio Race, in 1993
Crewed on "Black Cat" in Cape to Rio Race 1996
Member of line-honours crew in St Helena Race 1996 and sailed return to Cape Town.
Achieved Yachtmaster Offshore in 1997, with better grades than he managed in school.
Sailed his 2nd St Helena Race in 1998 and return voyage to Cape Town.
Moved to England Feb 1999, where he still lives.
Sailed 4 Fastnet Races and all qualifying races.
Sailed 7 Cowes Week Regattas.
Sailed 8 Round the Island Races (Isle of Wight).

Gavin is married to Nicole and they have two young children, Alice and George. He is Head of Operations at one of the most prestigious catering companies in London, so I guess that qualifies him to serve us some imaginative high-class meals in the middle of the South Atlantic.

Gavin with wife Nicole and children, Alice and George.

Gavin in Solent sailing garb.

Sean Collins

In my 60 years of sailing, Sean is the one who has sailed more miles with me than anyone else. We always clicked together on boats and have confidence in each other doing the right thing when needed, including to extricate us from some silly situation into which I have put us.

Sean first sailed at about 7 years old, with an uncle who owned an Enterprise dinghy. The bug bit and he broadened his sailing experiences with the Sea Scouts. Seans first offshore experience came in 1976 with his uncle, sailing from Durban to Cape Town on a newly-launched 45ft ferro-cement cruiser. Continuing further on the long-term cruise was thwarted by the need to finish schooling.

Sean is a surfer and spent a few years sailing Hobie cats before buying his own first offshore boat. This was a 28ft plywood double-ended ketch named "Elise". After breaking the mizzen mast she had lee-helm problems and that was what brought Sean and me together for our long association. He commissioned me to redesign the rig as a cutter. He sold "Elise" after he started crewing for me on my CW975 "Concept Won" sometime later.

Sean estimates that he has sailed roughly 10,000 sea miles with me on "Concept Won" and "Black Cat". He was my chosen partner whenever available for the double-handed races and regattas at Royal Cape Yacht Club and Hout Bay Yacht Club. He sailed with me on numerous Double Cape Races, Telkom Regattas, Old Brown Table Bay Regattas, Hout Bay Admirals Regattas, Hout Bay Double Regattas and the weekend and Wednesday night racing at RCYC, as well as the 1996 Cape to Rio Race.

Sean was in the crew of "Black Cat" right from the start, long before she even hit the water. He spent many weekends helping with building her, much of it doing a sterling and nasty job of epoxy coating and fibreglassing the joints of the drinking water tanks, to ensure that they would not fail us in mid-ocean.

Sean moved to England in 1998, with wife Lanesse (now ex-wife) and three daughters. There they spent time sailing the estuaries of the Thames and acquiring the new skills of safely navigating large tides and strong currents. Eventually they bought "Vortex", a Nicholson 35, which Sean refurbished for family cruising. In 2004 they headed South to find sunshine and spent 16 months cruising to the Canaries via France, Spain and Portugal. From there they all flew back to settle back in Cape Town. A year later Sean and his nephew double-handed "Vortex" to Cape Town via Cape Verde, Brazil and Tristan da Cunha.

Bad economic times in RSA resulted in Sean working for a few years in Bahrain, where he joined the Bahrain Yacht Club to keep in sailing. Back in RSA again, work commitments keep him away from home but he gets back to Cape Town regularly. Most of his sailing is currently  on inland waters, where he is an instructor with the youth sail training programme at Mountain Yacht Club on Ebenezer Dam.

Sean with Lanesse and daughters Abbey, Kelsey & Megan

Sean on "Vortex" at Hout Bay Yacht Club.

Gavin and Sean, I look forward to sailing with both of you again.



  








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Boat Plans Bartender | The Governor the Saint the Cat the Cup

Boat Plans Bartender

The 2014 Governors Cup Race from Simonstown, South Africa, to the South Atlantic island of St Helena, is all done and wrapped up. The results have all been sorted and the crew of the Didi 38 "Black Cat" have been presented with the magnificent glass floating trophy.

Sophie Pages, owner Adrian Pearson, Cathleen Hughes, skipper David Immelman & Shaun Cooper

The race started out in strong conditions that stayed with the fleet for much of the race, then disappeared. In battling through the extensive calms, most of the racing division boats chose to use their motors and defaulted into the cruising division, inflating the cruising fleet and decimating the racing fleet. Those who stuck to the ideals of yacht racing under wind power alone are to be congratulated for staying there to the end. In doing this, "Black Cat" and her crew won both line honours and on handicap.

For those who wonder where this place is, St Helena is the island to which Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled in 1815 after being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. He was interred there in a tiny home until his death in 1821. The island is home to a small population of "Saints" under a governor who answers to the government in Great Britain.

The Governors Cup Race occurs each year in the Southern summer, except for years when there is a Cape to Rio Race. It starts in late December and finishes early January, after crossing 1720 miles of open ocean. In past years boats have been able to ship back to South Africa on the RMS St Helena, a combined cargo and passenger vessel that has been the major physical connection between the island and the outside world in the past. Now the island has an airport that is nearing completion and which will soon be operational.

RMS St Helena offloading cargo.

The RMS St Helena service will be cut back considerably now and shipping of boats back to Cape Town may not be possible. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on entries for the Governors Cup Race in the future.

This is a worthy race to enter if cruising around the world and passing through Cape Town. Also for kicking off a long distance or world cruise with South Africa as departure. From St Helena, the next stop of the trans-Atlantic leg would likely be the island of Ascension, another weeks sailing NW of St Helena, then on to Fernando de Noronha and mainland Brazil.

I have not yet visited St Helena but it is high on my bucket list.

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Kayak Boat Plans | Black Cat on the Ocean Blue

Kayak Boat Plans

I am sure that most of my readers are well aware of our adventures on the prototype Didi 38 "Black Cat" in the Cape to Rio Race in January 2014. This is the boat that I built in my back garden in Hout Bay, South Africa and launched nearly 20 years ago. She was the experiment in boat construction that is the basis for all of my radius chine plywood designs, with many hundreds now on the water or in build around the world.

"Black Cat" is once again out on the wide blue South Atlantic Ocean. She is participating in the 1700 mile Governors Cup Race from Simonstown, South Africa, to St Helena, the remote island in the middle of the South Atlantic. Much as I would like to have been there, I was unable to join the crew for this race but they seem to be doing a pretty good job of it without my interference. They have led the monohull fleet both on handicap and on the water from the first position report and remain up there. Only the trimaran "Banjo" leads them.

"Black Cat" at start of Governors Cup 2014. Dave Mabin photo

The crew, led by Dave Immelman, has been having great sailing, with three consecutive days of 200+ mile runs in strong downwind trade conditions. Now they are working their way through the light winds of a high pressure system at lower speed but maintaining their lead. Dave is the resident skipper on "Black Cat" and was my navigator for the Cape to Rio Race 2014.

We wish Dave and his crew continued good sailing and that they can find their way quickly through the high to more good breezes.

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Boat Plans Bolger | Bolger Cat Yawl Romp

Boat Plans Bolger

20 years ago my wife Rachel , our young daughters Kalessin, Lillian and I sailed into St Augustine Florida and anchored off the town marina. We had just sailed up from the Bahamas and were looking for a quite town with some nice architecture , a good school and a  place to live at anchor. 20 years ago this was a simple town. The schools were good and for Kalessins first year of school it was a short walk from the anchorage. We could use the marina dock to tie up our dinghy, get showers, do laundry , secure our bycycles and all for $115.00 a month. A nice deal. 

I got a job right away at Luhrs Mainship in their R&D dept building boat plugs. Every thing was within biking distance. This was when I first spotted the Romp in my creek roaming evenings. 

I had watched one of these boats get part way built years before in Key Largo at Blue Fin marina by a guy named John Connelly if I remember right. He got the hull stripped up and the deck on and then the project ended and he and the boat dissapeared.

I have never sailed on a Romp but this hull is similar to Bolgers other design the Mannatee. Both have firm bilges with long straight keels. The Mannatee "Alert" tracked very well . I felt that in going to weather the mizzen played a roll in keeping this boat on course by dialing in the weather helm. I did not like the way Alert felt at sea in tacking and so forth with this long straight keel hull shape. Was kinda like sailing a huge Whitehull dinghy in regard to the bow being deep and no rocker to the long keel.

Of course Jim Melcher sailed the Alert across the North Atlantic to Ireland single handed at the age of 74 and took her through out the canals of Europe  over many years logging over 55,000 miles over there. This does not include the sea miles he put in her sailing in the Pacific , and Caribbean seas.

My guess another 40,000 or so miles. 

It all comes back to... People sail boats , not boats sail people.

So to all you Bolger dreamers .... Heres the Original Romp waiting for you to rescue her and take her away from her most likly death. 

The owner said he wanted $15,000.00 three years ago. Romp has some rot in the deck. The mainmast is made of fiberglass. The hull is cored with Airex or Kledgecell and glassed over well.

The interior is classic Bolger, that means all small single bunks so no sleeping with your better half.

I dont think Bolger was into snuggling.

Lots of open space to fill in with lockers and stuff to go afar.

This is way cheaper than building . The ballast alone is worth a third of the price. 

So someone get going !!!!!

Lots of no trespassing signs and no one in sight so I only got this far last week.

Romp needs you. The name is on the stern. This mizzen was up three years ago.

Good luck !

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Boat Plans Building | Dont Get Scammed

Boat Plans Building

The Internet has now become the way that most of us keep in contact with our friends and family, no-matter how far apart we are. There are few places left in the world that we are unreachable by this web of fibre optics, wires, electrical pulses and radio waves that digitally  brings so much convenience to our lives. Even in the middle of the ocean or on top of the highest of mountain peaks we are able to connect to anywhere else in the world, as long as we have the right equipment and the power source to energise it.

Even 10 years ago most people had some doubts about doing business on-line, mainly over the safety of sending money to companies via the Internet and concerns about the ethics of business people in foreign lands. Those doubts have gradually faded and it is now common to pay for international transactions via the web. It is much simpler and normally cheaper to pay by credit card than to do a wire transfer between banks.

I must say that Americans are generally more reluctant to deal with foreign Internet companies than are people from other countries, preferring to buy from American sources. Even with that self-imposed limitation, Internet transactions continue to grow exponentially in USA as much as elsewhere.

Most businesses that trade on the Internet want to expand their markets and build long-term growth amid ever-increasing competition. To do this they must prove that they are trustworthy and build a good reputation. After they have been around for a few years they will have a base of support from people who have had a good experience and will help to spread the good vibes about them.

Occasionally we all come across a really bad company that exists only to rip off their customers for profit, or we have a very bad experience with the item not being up to the marketing hype that enticed us to buy it. Such an experience tends to colour our attitudes toward future dealings. If it was a small item we may shrug it off and just not do business with them again. If it was a considerable amount of money then we should do what we can to spread the word, to cut that companys market share down to what they deserve. Such companies take away business from those that do trade fairly, in the process reducing their profitability.

A client of mine in Australia, building a Didi 950, recently ran foul of a scammer when searching for an engine at a good price. He sourced a Yanmar 3YM30 inboard diesel motor with saildrive for about half the price of buying the same package from other suppliers. The supplier, Inbond Limited (also known as Inboard Limited) was ostensibly a Canadian company, based in Calgary, Alberta but selling through the Chinese on-line gateway Alibaba. Note that this is not the British logistical company InBond, which is a legitimate company.

This scam became deeper and more complicated as time passed, eventually including a fake shipping company as well, that was going to transport the purchase by air. A fake supplier shipping a non-existent engine via a fake transport company; the only realities in the chain were the buyer and his hard-earned cash.

It is very easy to be wise after the fact but most of us look for the lowest price that we can find when shopping, whether for large or small items. When we can save as much as a few thousand dollars on an item then it is even more enticing, tough to resist. But, the bigger the saving the more wary we need to be. We know the old saying, "If it seems too good to be true then it probably is". A price that low indicates that it is likely an item that has "fallen off the back of a truck". This is South African terminology for "stolen". If not stolen then it may be a fake copy or doesnt exist at all.

Alibaba is a reputable gateway doing transactions for many, many millions. However, this company Inbond Limited was unverified by Alibaba, noted at top left of the company listing. That means that Alibaba cannot vouch for the supplier and that you havent any chance of a refund from their payment system. If you buy through Alibaba make sure that the supplier is verified, so that you have the full backing of Alibaba if things dont go the way that you planned.

Look out for other clues as well. There are errors in the product listings, for example they call it a gasoline engine instead of a diesel engine. A reputable supplier is unlikely to make such an error.

Once we were aware of this scam it developed into a lengthy discussion on Facebook. If you want to read it, go to my Facebook page and scroll down to January 12th 2015. A Google search showed that the premises where they were supposed to be located are actually occupied by a signage company.

Realising that the buyer had become aware of his scam and refused to send more money, the scammer sent a shipping notice with tracking number and said that shipment was waiting only on the shipping payment. It all looked very authentic until we dug deeper. The tracking number even pulled up a form with all the right details on it. But, there was no way to contact the shipping company, Highonshore, except through their on-line contact form; no telephone, no fax, no email and no physical address. Claiming to be a long-established UK company, there was no record of the directors named and described on their About Us page when I did a web search of British company directors. Their website looks very impressive but has no real substance and is full of grammatical errors, written by someone who does not have English as their first language.

Now the Highonshore website has gone dead. Registration details for the domain show that it was only registered in mid-December, by someone in New Hampshire So much for the long-established British shipping company.

The buyer also had someone dig deeper into Inbond Limited and found that it isnt a Canadian company at all. The payment was deposited into a California banks but the scam is run by a Russian. The Internet helps us all, whether we are good or bad people.

The point of this post is not to discourage you from doing business on-line, it is to ask you to please be careful. And please, please please dont do business with Inbond Limited, Inboard Limited or Highonshore. Please also spread the word about these ripoff artists and their scam.



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Boat Plans Bateau | Building Hogfish and Hogfish Maximus

Boat Plans Bateau

Lawanda my ex wife and I were offed free use of a small building , the use of an old house and a very old Volvo station wagon . The stipulation was we had only six months time to use as the property was to be sold. The building shed was built around Sonna tube concrete collums with roll up doors on three sides. The buildings roof was 60 long and the enclosed part was 33 long with a 14 foot door opening. I decided to make the Hogfish 3110" long and 9 wide. I could just get around the boat with the doors shut. This was 28 years ago. The marine grade fir plywood then was still wonderfull. All the dimensional lumber was clear fir. I was able to buy a bunch from Lew Mcgregor and Russel Brown as they were starting to build a big Catamaran for a client but the deal fell through. All these photos were taken by friends as I was busy building this boat. I keep daily work records of what I get done and my hours. These I look back on for reference and to see that iam getting older and not getting as much done today as I once did. The Hogfish took just under 1,300 hours from start to sailing away . Lawanda had a full time job . She helped me with the painting. She did all the cooking and stuff ,so i could just put in the 10-12 hours a day to get her done in time. 

Stringers in place with sheer clamps and Chines

The skin is 3 sheets of 1/2 " plywood on the bottom and just two on the sides.

Thats our benefactor Ron McCartney looking through the glass bottom opening. Glass bottoms are great fun when sailing in clear water but you have to be in 10 or deeper as when in shallow water your speed is too quick . Our kids would lay down looking at the bottom for hours when going over the banks.

Overkill stem detail

Iam actually upside down here showing how the companionway will look and the cabin floor size.

Centerboard pin is just above the waterline

Starting to roll the boat over.

The problem with the shop was this small doorway in the back. We could only roll her so far and then would have to slide her over a bit. 

On her side and being slide over. This took a long day to do with Ron as my helper.

When the Hogfish was almost finished my father came to visit. He designed buildings for a living and had taught me a lot. Dad walks in the side bay door looks at the boat and out the front door of the shop where we were planning on sliding her out of. Dad says" your boat is too wide to fit out the front door". I grab a tape measure and measure the side door which was12 wide , the back door was 12 wide the front door looked exactly the same. But it was just under 9 ! Ron had built the building and was flabbergasted ! We had to slide her out the back door and around the building over sugar sand to get near hard ground for a crane to be able to lift. A bit more work. Since then I very carefully measure all exits .

Launch day. Hogfish was a very good boat for us. Now she has had many owners redesigning and adding on stuff so ugly that I will not post a photo for how buggered up she looks . Sorry Hogfish but we just outgrew you.

Hogfish Maximus ....same thing but lots bigger.

The inside first skin sheet of plywood is marine grade MDO ply which is very smooth and paints well. The rest is AB marine grade ply. 

The deck is two layers1/2" ply with a1/2" Corecell core on top for insulation.

I use a simple pallet jack to lift up a bit to slide this frame under and then use these pipes to roll out. Very easy .

Big box boat.

At the time I was building the HFM I was running Hells Bay Boatworks with a dozen employees building about 10 custom skiffs a month. To save time I hired 2 cranes to roll her over with.  

Cost $450.00 and took 2 hours .

The hull at this stage weighed10,000 lbs.

Only a shape a mother could love.

Getting ready to put on a trailer and launch. The color scheme is made up of two primer colors . I new I would be hauling out later to finish paint so to be silly I did this .

Building the HFM while I was building all the other skiffs took a huge chunk out of my life and my familys. I would start my day at 6:00 . The boat shop crew would start at 7:30 . Our working ours were to 3:30. By around 2:00 I would try and start working on the HFM. This I would do till10:30 or later. Come home eat dinner and sleep. Start over. Sell boats , train crew, order supplies, fire crew, work on HFM. Took me 10 months of this routine to get a bare but livable HFM launched and in the water. We moved aboard within days. Had her sailing a few months later. Total hours 1,980. Cost $34,800.00

I was 40 then and it would take me twice as long today.

My sharpie boat designs are built using the " Northe System"

      NO

      OTHER

      ROUTE

     THOUGHT

     HEAVY 

     ENOUGH

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