Bad News

[Manie B]

This frikken oil ******** and world politics and food shortages and bio-fuel and hyper inflation and no work and no money and and and and,

all this crap has driven me to excessive alcohol consumption and other insane behaviour, so i have put on my smiling face and started drawing my next boat. I have to do this for therapy because i can forget about my Easy cat. The way everything is going all over the world you are doing rather well if you can afford 8 sheets of marine ply and epoxy.

So anyway i had fun with my silly little box and learned a lot about epoxy - stitch and glue. So i looked for other inspiration and FUN boats - small - cheap - light on fuel.

Please keep in mind i am stuck on the southern tip of DEEPEST DARKEST AFRICA where fu4k2ll happens all day long and our politicians have talks about talks on how to have talks.

Having a small boat that you can sleep on is fantastic, and the next one MUST HAVE a roof to protect againts the sun.
I will post a complete set of drawings as i go along for anybody that might be interested, and within the next 6 weeks i will also post pics of the progress of the project. REMEMBER THIS IS THERAPY for some, for others it is stupid, you decide.

[Manie B]

And a couple more

[TeddyDiver]

Was the one (second last row in the midlle) a steamer? Or BBQ
You not alone with the frustration. This burocracy with EU directives, national laws (for 2 countries Finland and Norway), ISO standards....
Should buy a ton of plastic glue and sail to the Pacific where all the plastic **** afloats and start to glue together a private plastic atol.. without any scantling rules

[dragonjbynight]

well, in one way good to know its not just the US, seems same **** around the world. Other way, sucks for all of us. I like some of those pics you have manie, specially the top right one in your first post, that would be something i could get some use out of. Not hugely fast, just enough to move around and fish with my family. I think a plywood build will be my first build and I think they are one of the nicest looking(other than slat built)

your design is about 13 feet or so(always hated those damn conversions) What kind of weight limit, HP are you thinking?

[safewalrus]

some nice little boats there Manie, especially like the mini tug, but hell I don't tink I'd like to head to 'Aus in one!! Might be a tad problemtical stowing the 'Mainstay' let alone solid food!

[dragonjbynight]

Yeah, I liked that one too safe, I found this one on boatdesigns.net and its a pretty cool little home build, but too short(9ft) for up to 3 adults and 3 kids i think...would be nice if it was just about 5 feet longer methinks.

[tinhorn]

Sorry to hear the bad news, man. Been pretty down and out myself a few times. Don't know what other insane behaviors you're enjoying - the excessive alcohol consumption was all I could afford at the time.

Thankfully, life is cyclical - up, then down, then back up. Keep smiling.

[the1much]

them first ones look like old home "lobsta boat""downeasta's" hehe

[Guest625101138]

Manie
Here is one that will do 5kts with a bit of pedal power. Forget the fuel. Has sleeping quarters for one unless you want to be very cosy:
http://www.adventuresofgreg.com/HPB/HPBmain.html

Also there were no cats amongst your selection. The cat hulls will be more fuel efficient than a monohull if you are length constrained. Very easy to build cat hulls with stitch and glue.

Rick W.

[Manie B]

Hi guys, Rick your drwawing skills leave me breathless, as you can see i am an amatuer CAD user

Just to add light to the subject, this is my silly boat at present - launched Jan 2008 and the trailer that i built for it. I am using a Mercury 5hp and it works very well. The speed is around 9 knots WOT which is plenty as my friends are sailing around 5 knots, so i dont need or want high speed. This is less fuel than a gallon a day!

I built this boat to learn how to work with epoxy and loved every moment of it. The boat works surprisingly well and that is how i came to realise that with some modification i can end up with a rather nice boat, which is my third build in as many years.

The new boat is still 4m (13'6") long but 1.4m (4'7") wide, which gives a more comfortable "double" bed and more stability. On the pictures you can see that a single air mattress fits ok but the new boat will have a 4" foam mattress. The built in seats will give plenty storage. We have been 2 adults and 1 teenager on the boat in ruff windy conditions, and very stable. These little boxes like to have a bit of weight in them = 250 kg (550 lbs) and can handle more. When deeper into the water = 3" / 80 mm it is very stable.

All round loads of cheap economical fun, and i can sleep over after a couple of beers / whiskeys / vodka he he he

[Manie B]

Oh and Saffie, we are not going anywhere in a hurry in this country, inflation, horrible property prices and and and. You couldn't even sell up and go any more, houses are worth ****, plenty bank repose standing empty already.

Another reason to build a more comfortable silly box

[Guest625101138]

You will not buy many solar panels for what it costs you in fuel - not yet anyhow. 9kts with 5HP is very good. Shows how easily a flat bottom will plane.

This site does not get down to 9kts as it is intended for bigger boats but it is close to what you get allowing for the prop efficiency:
http://illustrations.marin.ntnu.no/h...ing/index.html
I have attached rough data for your hull.

You should have a go at FreeShip. Your mate over there picked it up quickly. It can be a bit difficult to get started but is very rewarding in terms of playing with designs, viewing them and developing the cutting plans.

The hull for Greg's boat is a joint effort. I did the original hull model. It was then moved about a bit by a very good NA to make it more easily developed for flat panel construction and Greg has done his own interior rendering. It is easy to communicate ideas when you can make realistic images.

I still think you could make a catamaran that would perform better than your boxy boat. It would be more easily driven, better sea boat, more stable and more room for the footprint. If you load Freeship/Delftship I can send you are starter cat file.

Rick W.

[safewalrus]

Good as you are with cats Rick not everybody likes the damn things nor would want one! Yeah I know Aussies are supposedly THE cat people (they do produce some good ones!) but even they aren't right all the time!!

[Guest625101138]

Originally Posted by safewalrus

Good as you are with cats Rick not everybody likes the damn things nor would want one! Yeah I know Aussies are supposedly THE cat people (they do produce some good ones!) but even they aren't right all the time!!

I don't regard affordable cats as seaworthy boats for the open ocean. If it is over 40ft then it might be tolerable but not for me. My preference is a monohull. But horses for courses. Hard to better a cat for fast efficient operation in sheltered waters particularly if the length is constrained for some practical reason.

Rick W.

[Meanz Beanz]

Manie,

If you seriously want a plywood box to play in why not a Hartley TS 16 with a bigger motor.

Pictures

That one you built looks a little like a NZ design (I think) called a Cherry. Only heaps squarer... LOL