35' cat concept for the inside passage.

Cost wise, how much are those deckhouse windows going to be? Have you checked that out yet?

I ask because I'm afraid of the cost of my own!

 

I'm pretty well connected with the glass business, even have a patent on a particular type of glass. So I'm not to concerned about my glass costs. Its not cheap, but I won't be paying retail.

My options are to use polycarb and replace it every ten or so years, with maintenance, IE flame the stuff off every once in a while. Or glass, but thats heavier than poly and its more fragile. I could go with tempered laminated, which is bomb proof but again thats really heavy. The blast resistant films lend a ton of strength to the glass but I guess I've just not really thought about it yet. I suppose the real question is what would you rather be hit in the face with, large shards of something, or lots off little tiny pieces. I'd probably opt for the little pieces. I've seen plenty of poly that had gotten blown out of its frames so its not like poly is the end all beat all. . Which is where the hard points and not ever really going out to sea without the storm shutters on come in. Those window frames would be aluminum so attachments shouldn't be a big problem. Issue with aluminum is its got a very different expansion and contraction rate as glass, steel on the other hand has the exact same, but again its heavier so pick your poison.

Maybe when the holidays are over I'll make a call on that laminated poly I mentioned earlier. I kinda hate the stuff but it does have its uses. Its lighter and its expansion and contraction are relatively close to that of aluminum

so hey, hows your project coming along Mr Builder ?


Cheers
B

 

Glass is too heavy. Im presently re bedding pilothouse laminated glass windows on a motor sailer and it takes two men to handle one . Worthwhile in front windscreens that must be swept by wipers, but the weight penalty in the house is too great. I would think that for a houseboat cat to be seaworthy her house and all furniture must be very lightly constructed.

 

Hey Bos check this out, Looks like your dog so get busy training him ( or her )
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=P9Fyey4D5hg

 

Shinkolite

Its what I have used, nice dark tint available as well

Good enough for use on multi million dollar motor yachts at "Lloyds Ships"

 

its a poly methyl acrylic, = polycarb

basically the stuff we are talking about. It scratches pretty easily and yellows over time so needs to be replaced every 10 years or so. It also looses strength over time with exposure so yah. Its got its uses and its draw backs. All in all, its most likely what I'll use but in smaller pieces than what I have spec'd out on the drawing.

smaller pieces = less expansion and contraction

 

Yet I had it on my boats for 7 years while owned sailing in tropical waters and had no sign of discolouration or scratching, it looked as good as the day it went in.

Maybe there are different qualities dependant on supplier?

Lexan is a version of polycarb as well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexan and I thought lexan was supposed to be the dux nuts, but shinkolite was supposedly more scatch resistant, which is why I used it.
That and the tint was the right shade.

 

Probably different blend ratio's, they use acrylic acid and nurdles to form the stuff. Or just bend it from solid sheet material. I'm sure there are subtle differences depending on who makes it. I've never heard of it "not" being effected in the long term by sunshine tho, I think its pretty much built into the physics of interaction of plastics and sunshine. Eventually the radiation breaks down the bonds

 

Ive used lexan windows. Bad news. Its Soft and discolours in UV. Im confident that when using plastic widows the design of the window installation must enable ease of replacement during the working life of the boat. Normally you break the bond between window and frame with a cheese cutter type tool. Some frame shapes make using the cutter very difficult.

 

I'm also exploring some different railing options, the big hand rail and pickets might not be the best option for this particular location. Inside, sure but maybe not of the back 40 like that. I'm thinking minimalistic might look best. That and show it wrapping around the hulls rather than diving into the corners of the deck house like it is now. Although when I drew it I was thinking it might help to discourage marine mammals from taking up residence on my back porch.

Still working on it
Cheers and happy new year
B

 

I would think that for off season...the rain and cold season...your aft cockpit would become completly enclosed. Perhaps even heated . A design that allows the aft deck to morph into a winter workshop would be useful.

An concider that dingy boarding from the stern is troublesome. Alongside works best. A path for groceries to get from tender to galley fast is nice.

 

thats a great idea, going to have to sketch a few things and see if I can make that concept look like something. I was just trying to think of a way to protect that back door from following waves and how to incorporate that wave deflector we had discussed earlier. I've never been all that enamored of the terminus of the deck house aft.

Gives me a good excuse to change a few things and see what it end up looking like. I had been thinking of a sailcloth surround with some clear sailwindows in it to enclose the area. But wasn't all that happy with the following wave issues I hadn't dealt with yet.

 

Workshop space is really critical on a live aboard. You cant be servicing the outboard on the saloon table.

Naturally a stern gangway...something that hindges at deck level then folds up to the cabin top when stowed.
You also need some kind of davits or mast boom amidships so that you can hoist gear like a kayak, bicycles or tender and store on the cabin top for off season. Stern storage is messy. Makes your boat look like a gypsy camp off season.

 

plan was to use the hulls for storage, engines, head, and the aft deck as the workshop. Would be nice to have it enclosed but its tricky trying to keep this thing small and still get nice workable space out of it. I was thinking of maybe being able to convert the interior, or most of it into one giant workshop. Aft deck is 7x~17 so its lots of usable space for a workshop. I'd have to bring up tools from bellow but I could have a pretty large flip up bench and make it work. Trying to jamb everything into a 35' platform is pretty tricky.

There is a plan to have davits that fold up and lend support to the aft roof overhang, so thats whey your not seeing davits in the drawing cause they'd be hidden or relatively so when not in actual use. The aft rail is as you suggested going to be hinged so it not only folds down but acts as a safety catch in case you drop something while unloading it from the launch. The launch lifts up onto the aft deck for extended cruising but would tie off aft most of the time.

The aft area needs work tho as does the interior layout. With a bend towards being able to stow all the furniture and use the interior as a workshop. I suppose all except for the galley and control station of course.

 

Not only troublesome, in any sort of sea it's downright dangerous.

30+ years ago I used to do boardings of foreign fishing vessels in Australia's northern waters. We had a big power cat as a mothership. It had the dinghy on davits between the hulls at the stern. We trashed a number of dinghies and almost people as well trying to hook on and lift out in any sort of sea.

PDW