Boat Plans Wooden | Shallow water skiff shapes ideas

Boat Plans Wooden

Here are some of my old musings of developing skiff shapes to bring to reality. As I described earlier in my blog of how I like to make a half hull of my vision - idea . I do this after I have done all my weight calculations in advance. Shown are a few past ideas in their growth stages. Sorry but I would love to be able to do this all properly but all I have is the iPad that I got for Christmas this year from my daughters. With out this contraption I probably would not take the time to do all this. Right now it is flat calm with lots of light rain about so Im inside with a fan on doing something. The iPad is great as I can do this stuff with a simple inverter on our sailboat as we move about and post it later. No TV time in my life so have extra time to fiddle here.

So look at the wood half hull against the mirror. The sections are glued to a 1/4" piece of wood,without this it would sit flush against the mirror with the thickness of the mirror being the center line. This is how it was done before 3 D programs . It does make you feel like a peeping Tom though as you stretch around trying to see the whole thing. Each section is drawn out from the center line to scale. Here you can calculate how many cubic inches are in each section. I do not have the side views showing which would tell and show you the distance between each section. It would not show up here very well.

What I will do this summer is draw up 3-4 new skiff shapes from past knowledge with all dimensions easy to draw up to full size hull sections. These you will be able to cut out and install on a simple building jig and from there you will be able to plank up in light cedar strips, Baltec balsa core strips or Core Cell brand planking strips. From this you fair and then glass the outside. When fair, flip over,

remove the forms and glass the insides. Then you finish the inside. To build a deck I will explain all the ways it can be done simply later. I will put this here for free. In the mean time anyone planning on building a skiff needs to read up a bit on strip plank boat building. This is the same as building a canoe; just a little more odd shape and it has a transom. I will get a list of books or pamphlets to look up.

In looking at these shapes it is easy to start to see how many ways and directions you could now reshape and go. Ha, it can be daunting if you do not have a weight list and a clue as to what the finished hull will weigh. Here I come back to having the vision, idea, whatever. Details. 

Of course if you are going to start a new company and you want to follow in the foot steps of something that is already well proven and established then all you really have to do is make a facsimile of it as all the thinking has already been done for you. If you do make it better, and at a better price good for you. 

Now with all the shapes here you still have to decide on which side of the half section line you will put your hull thickness. Makes a difference . Take your numbers from the center line out wards and up to the LWL. This is the quickest way. This method shown here has been used for centuries with the creations of some of the most beautiful boats in the world. Go to see the Herreshoff museum in New port RI. He did all his boats this way. There is not a Yankee boat builder up north that does not know this system nor a Carolina one either. The computer today is the way to go though if you have one.

  Another idea; this shows how you can take an existing boat today and measure or take its lines sections. Without knowing its length between perpendiculars you could stretch this boat out to ......

In this shape here I wanted a good sea boat at rest that would not be as they say here too "cranky" .

It has good freeboard and was a good all round skiff. I lowered the spray rail on this a bit in the bow area when built. Today I would change the stern section aft so this is obsolete in my mind.

 You can see the half sections above and the half hull below. 

Cheap 3 - D rendering 

You can see here how Im drawing in a bit of crown. I like crown a lot. It adds tremendous strength over a flat surface. Also you can gain some Disp. But then you have to be careful where its going to direct the water flow. I do not want crown in my skiff decks as it is a pain in the butt to fit the hatches so the will not squeak and lay flush. 

On this sheet you can see the displacement calculation that I wrote down from a simple lines program that I found on the Internet at the time. I put in all my half section numbers and in a second it spit out all these numbers. I had already done it my old way and every thing was pretty close. In the upper left corner you can see the displacement numbers for three different water lines. This you have to think about a lot as the guys, people that will be in the boat, are most likely going to weigh over 200 lbs.

The rest of the numbers there are just adding up Disp. If I posted all my calculation sheets it would be so boring. But I keep em for reference. This is a heavy skiff at close to 2,000 lbs with all the sports in it.

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Boat Plans Stitch And Glue | My love affair with Hogfishes

Boat Plans Stitch And Glue

 People always ask what is a Hogfish and why would you name your boat after one.

When I first sailed to the Bahamas in 1977 spearing a Hogfish was the most sought after goal of all boaters as they are the best tasting fish around. They can be speared relatively easily if they have never been approached before. If they have been shot at and you missed then they can be a challenge to get near for a kill shot. You have to have a kill shot if using a Hawaiian sling or you will loose your spear. 

Spearing them with a pole spear you can just hang on to the rubber and get towed about if your shot is in a solid spot. This has been lots of fun over the years for me.

When I first designed and built the original Hogfish sailing Sharpie yawl I knew it was going to be a different looking sailboat than the norm. I wanted a boat that just fit me with my type of sailing, cruising and lifestyle. With this in mind I needed a good name to go with this new boat. The Hogfish is a goofy looking fish when swimming about the bottom. I has a fearsome looking mouth but these fish are really just big Wrasses that eat crabs, sea biscuits and what ever comes their way. They can change their

body colors in an instant to camouflage themshelfs. When they die they can be very beautiful, like a sunset. 

Following are some pictures of my carved Hogfish and others that have crossed my path.

Carved for Kim Sands in Abaco out of cedar

Carved from a mahogany tree that washed ashore on Powell Cay in Abaco for an American client.

Carved for Dale and Mandy Roberts in Abaco 22 years ago

A female. All Hogfishes are transsexual where as the dominate female will turn into a male and grow the long snout and take over the female harem. I wonder how all the Christian male homophobic spear-fisherman deal with this fact. Can the fish just decide not to change at any time?

About as big as they get.

A stylized one for Bill Hutcherson

Our house with a neighbor. I love the colors here in this shot.

Mahogany with copper "Spriggs" as they call the three dorsale fins here in Spanish Wells. I have seen up to four at times.

Rachel on our front porch awhile back. The trees and bushes are now 10 higher. Our neighbors that have just built a house next door are always asking us to cut them down saying they are blocking their view. Some people want to sit in the front row and still be able to look at everything on both sides. We just smile at them knowing that all our grey water from our house is watering these native plants that give us shade, privacy, protection from storms and give a place for all the creatures that inhabit them to live. Our neighbours have cut 80% of their trees and bushes down replacing it with grass.

Kalessin with a Hogfish I speared in Exuma 23 years ago free diving in 45 of water. I have used a tracing of this fish for all the carvings you see here.

Back in my ole spear fishing for a living days.

Made of crab wood I found in Bequia a while back. Now in the home of Theo and Kims in Spanish Wells.

When I designed and built the original Hogfish sailing Yawl I wrote a note to myself naming my design company " Hogfish Designs". This was 26 years ago. I knew back then that the hogfish was going to some day be the "it" fish. I mailed this to myself and keep this  unopened letter as a sort of copyright time frame of when I thought it was cool for me to sail about the Carribean sea in a boat with a huge pink stripe down the side calling itself the "Hogfish".

I like to think I made it easier for men to now wear bright colors .

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Boat Plans And Kits | Hogfish Maximus and other boats

Boat Plans And Kits

    

HFMs beating to weather with St.Martin to leeward. Wind 18-23 knots.

Wild Bird reaching along all full and bye.

An unusual motor yacht.

23 years ago I worked for Gold Coast Yachts building their day sailing catamrans. I also did their conceptual design drawings for this power cat and others.

These catamrans are used as passenger ferries between the islands.

Rachel and Bequia

Day charter catamaran off " Shitten Bay" St. Kitts. I would like to know what happened to get that name.

Sailing over to Nevis. Tomorrow we will be climbing tat mountain. Bequia has that look of ...how long is 

this gonna take.

Wild Bird catching us.

Trying to stay ahead. Wild Bird and Hogfish Maximus weigh the same . We have only been racing to weather so far so looking forward to when we get to Antigua as the rest of the islands will be close hauled sailing and reaching with a short beat into to anchorages.

Moving along about a half knot faster. They have a folding prop but ours is a big ole three blade fixed prop. Thats all the excuses I have left. No wait ! Weer towing a 12 dinghy too ! 

 Wait!

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Boat Plans Wood | Cockpits of Shame

Boat Plans Wood

   

 Blogs are for people like me to express their opinions, share ideas, and to give others a glimpse into their life.

Here I will start posting pictures of different sailboats from all over the world that have taken up the new trend and challenge of trying to carry everything they can with them..... But by stowing it on their decks.

As you have already read I do not like this trend for my own sailboat . Im old fashioned in I like a clear deck and view of the sails when sailing. I have broken away a bit on this cruise by carrying a SUP paddle board on the side deck. The idea was for using it for exercise and to just paddle around all the inevitable mass of yachts that are anchored here in the West Indies. So far its made a good spray shield as its on the port side and we are headed south . We will sell it when we head to Panama next winter as the sailing will be rougher and I will not want the extra wind age. It has been a lot of fun for us to paddle around amongst the yachties and shoreline so far .

I call the new design trend of massive catamarans " Room-A-Ma-Rans".

These cats barely have enough wing deck clearance to qualify as a multi hull and not be called a Hickman Sea sled or a big Boston Whaler. Then they just keep on adding stuff to them. A friend of ours sailed his new Lagoon 62 catamaran across the Atlantic last year. He said it pounded so hard and so much the first time at sea all his head liner pieces that are held in place by Velcro would all fall down at once. Trying to put them back on was like putting a pizza back together except all the slices are a different shape. So they just sailed across and figured out where they all fit when they arrived in Grenada. The boat is up for sale now.

Steel Ketch with a weeks worth of stowing away on deck just to get going.

This is an American design and owned cutter- sloop. You can tell the American boats right off the bat because of all the yellow diesel jerry cans on deck. Americans always want to have enough diesel to motor across an ocean with. There is enough diesel on deck and below to motor with what is probably a 40 hp engine over a 1,000 miles there. Coming from Florida to Antigua where this boat is now, guaranteed that that they could motor the entire trip. Most likely motor sailed 90% so far.  I cant imagine that wind wane seeing any air when going to windward. The only place left for the rubber dinghy is the fore deck. Just think of what it will be like going forward in a blow with all this stuff to hike around.

These Canadians have gone one step further and have extended the " Florida Rooms " side curtains all the way out to the sheer. We had some beers with these guys listening to them complain about their slow trip to wind ward. I wonder why? What I dont understand is that the real need for electric power is to feed the fridge and water maker. But if you are powering all the time why do you need all those solar panels ? I have yet to see a water maker that has lasted long enough to pay for itself . I will save my thousands of dollars and just get water ashore . We carry 200 gallons in two tanks that last us 30 plus days. So we have to do this around 12 times a year. No big deal. At a worst case price of $.50 cents a gallon that could come out to $1,200.00 a year but has never been more than $300.00. So try and get a water maker to match that over a ten year period. You will have to include its support team the batteries and engine too. We dont have a fridge either. Another story.

This old classic sloop has been upgraded to a two decker Bimini . Cant figure the logic on that arrangement. Kinda like the stern deck of a Chinese junk. 

I call these Davits that carry huge dinghies, solar panels , Radar,life raft, and all the other things that are sold in the Yachting Magazines " Monkey Bars". I had lots of fun on these as a kid in school.

See all the diesel cans on deck. All this plastic stuff will be useless in a couple of seasons in the tropical sun. I have all my man over board and safety gear stowed below out of the sun till I have people on board . When Im single handing whos going to throw that stuff to me. If I have to throw it to someone else I want it to be in good shape and not forgotten about in my stern deck garage going to rot in the sun.

Yep.. Another American Sparkman and Stevens designed sailing machine that is totally ruined by all this deck crap that should be stowed below or do not have it at all. These boats are all being used by middle aged to retired aged couples. They are only doing short jumps and then just sit . So why carry so much diesel in a boat that was designed to sail to weather real well? "Honey this is a great sailing boat and I want to ruin its safety and performance by carrying everything thats for sale in the sailing magazines. Trust me it will be fun trying to get around on deck and good exercise moving all this stuff just to clean up from under it."

This boat gets the prize for having it all . The builder of this cutter in addition to being a welder must have went on a hole saw drilling spree at one time. I wonder if those holes make any noise in certain wind angles. I have a couple of small holes in my old radar post that sound like Peruvian flute players when the wind is up. I cover these holes with tape once in awhile as they seem to only play one melody.

Just imagine putting all the above on this beauty. How they must have suffered all these years with out their Florida Room and garage deck space ! 

To me its like marrying a super model and then asking her to wear a fanny pack ,a back pack , three sombreros , arm bands, and carry as many jerry jugs as she can and still expect her to draw envious glances from the crowd. Poor girl, sad boat.

I have never asked this of my beautiful wife Rachel . She just sails along as designed and built with me trying to keep up with her.

The Hogfish Maximus I have loaded down on many occasions by over 8,000 lbs of house building supplies and sailed her distances of over 400 miles in this state to get to our island house building site. She is designed to do this with ease.

I do not cruise and live aboard in this state though.

Here I am, in my orange FLORIDA ROOM, in a tropical rain shower sailing in the lee of Guadeloupe. Wild Bird is catching us . We always leave first as they are so much faster than us.

This is the Hogfish Maximus out sailing the first time with our camouflage primer coat on. The boom is orange- red because its from a broken mast that I salvaged. The kids are on deck sitting in their kayak. The colors have changed, the kids have grown up, but the deck is still pretty much a clear space. We have just logged the 26,000 mile mark on Hoggy and Im still as opinionated as I started out.

Boats rigged like the above photos do cross oceans but mostly by the easy down wind routes. Traveling to the Caribbean from North America they motor sail a lot staying in the comfort of their Florida Rooms burning fuel, making RO water thats only moisture ( you cant grow a plant with RO water) and having sun downer drinks with ice.( I have to wait for my sun downer ice when I get to port and have one with the locals.) They are seen motor sailing most of the time , and are the slowest boats around when sailing.

 I will be posting more of these boats along with another category which I call the "stern deck extension."I believe this was started in Europe by an Italian that had run out of deck space so he just built on a stern deck. I have seen them sticking out over 8 off the stern with barbecue pits and couches on them .  

Wait, youll see. A whole new way to improve your yacht.

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Boat Plans Skiff | Whats with all the fart signs

Boat Plans Skiff

Rachel and I last month went to Sweden to visit my mom. I dont know why but we just cant pass.... Up a good fart sign.

Not a fart sign, just wanted to show you we not all about fart jokes.

I think it means exit in Swedish, Danish 

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