mud boat plans for the experts

[Tom.151]

Originally Posted by gonzo

A curved or V bottom adds to draught if displacement is the same.

That might be true if the boat is assumed to be kept on the level (no heel) but there are some who take advantage of that fact and heel their boats to get off of a grounding.

[gonzo]

Draught or draft in American, is the depth of the hull from the lowest part of the keel to the waterline. That is, the amount of water it needs to float. Mud boats need flat bottoms to draw less water and to help slide over mud and vegetation.

[fishon91]

ok, i got draft.

i would have to do a lot of math to figure displacement, but with all the weight of the benches(in middle) and the deck on the bow, it shouldn't be too unevenly displaced.
it will be extremely heavy though...it'll take a lot to make it plane out, and will probably get suctioned pretty easily....right?

remember in these drawings i had the boat at 7' in the back, extremely wide.
that won't make less draft compared to making it skinnier, will it?

[hoytedow]

this is the one I am working on. early stages hull outline only

[hoytedow]

Rough draft. Hull will have rocker bottom, not angular as seen from side but curved. Transom will lean back 15 deg. It is designed to fit Tacoma bed. Also drawing should be rotated 90 deg clockwise as I loaded it wrong for the posting. Top deck is not shown.

[hoytedow]

draft is waterline to lowest point on boat freeboard is lowest point on gunwale to waterline.

[hoytedow]

Figure about 62 lbs of water displaced for each cubic foot of boat below the waterline.