Flip up keels

[blackdaisies]

http://www.selway-fisher.com/PCup16.htm#INI

I want to own one of a mico type boats, this 8 footer one to be exact:

http://www.selway-fisher.com/Micro8d1.GIF

or this 10 footer:

http://www.selway-fisher.com/Micro10d1.gif

I'm definitely going to buy one plan or the other. Maybe the 10 footer would be better. But again, to make things better and more stable, plus to make the boat allow more shallow waters, how about a flip up keel? This design is not for a 6 keel, I found one somewhere that did. I'm just asking if a similar boat to these were available hopefully with a 6 foot deep keel, and there is a few I saw, would it be possible to make the flap open for shallow endeavors?

I think if the keel were built in two separate plates swinging out like flaps that push together and connect at the center to make one 6 foot keel, it would be much better. It can be done on a small boat like this to test. That gives flat water navigation and can relieve the hangups one might get with a long keel.

It sounds simple enough, but how impossible is that?

[rwatson]

Whats the point of a long board on a little tub like this?

It wont sail worth a damn as it is, and a big board will just slow it down.

To repeat my opinion on these type of boats - they are a complete waste of space and time! But - I was wrong back in 1967 I think it was :-)

[PAR]

Can you imagine the eddies coming off the aft portions of that underbody?

[lazeyjack]

or can you imagine being in a barrel going over the Niagara Falls
well I think this wee boat would have a similar violent motion, so violent that you would be dizzy

[Tim B]

I agree, short, beamy and heavy are not a good combination. If I were you, I'd look at a 14' sailing dinghy, then modify it if required. There are a huge number of dinghies that you can pick up for next-to-nothing, and you will have a much more pleasant (and exciting) experience for it.

Tim B.

[blackdaisies]

There might be a law on ocean vehicle or boat has to be 13 feet anyways. But these things are popular and easy to build, plus they have a lot of stability for the size. They are designed for safe travel. I've read up on a lot of small vehicles, and they do fine accept on guys experience when he came across whales, starvation, and a lot of other things.

It's a one person sailing vessel that you can sail from the inside even during the coldest of weather. It looks like a nice deal, but there is a 14 footer considered a micro sailor that will do:

http://www.selway-fisher.com/Tideway14d1.gif

The one above is the tidwel 14 and it's similar to older vessels.

http://www.selway-fisher.com/Heron14p1.jpg

The one above is called Heron 14 and it has bilge keels. Bilge keels are slower than double keels and gave double keels a bad reputation, but at least the boat can sit up right and there won't be any trailering problems.

I like the Heron 14 the best, but I can't say it's the better boat. The keels weigh enough to keep the boat from sliding, but no, I don't think going up and down 12 foot waves would be a nice ride. I still want the smaller boats for easy one person sailing.