Trimaran building materials

I have a 1971 Nottingham built Pivar trimaran 40 X 22. It's completely gutted and I'm restoring it. One of the questions I have is what would this boat have been put together with in that day an age as far as resin goes? I've heard complaints from others with this type of boat that the hull needs reinforced on the bottom due to being easily damaged if I hit coral or run aground somehow. I'm sure I will have many more questions as this restoration get into full swing. I would also like to know about putting on a new mast. My girl doesn't have a mast and I have no idea what was on there. I want to sail in open ocean, mostly South Pacific so will a 35 or 40' mast be alright? Thanks guys

 

You should be able to locate the plans for the boat and get the mast specs ,the bottem material will depend on what you want , puncture resistance ect. epoxy will stick to about anything. rick

 

I actually looked at that boat for the guy who wound up stripping the rig and hardware which was 2 owners before you if you purchased the hull from the kid on Lummi Island. The boat was built on Vashon Island by builders who had to desist because of its closeness to a Piver design. I doubt you could find plans but Piver Lodestar and Victress plans are available from The Mariners Museum at Newport News.. It is sort of like a larger lodestar in design and had a ketch rig. The Piver plank masts would get you where you wanted to go for the least money. Use the 40' Victress sail plan. That boat may have been planked with double diagonal ply which would be stronger, I'm not sure about the glue, probably resourcenal but now you would want to use epoxy, get the gougeon book if you need a reference. There may still be some pictures of that boat on the net from when it was marketed some years ago. The gear was nice but oversized and worth more than the hull! Good luck, the low dollar Piver approach is probably the way to go with this boat as the roomy design will seem dated to the modern eye. Finding gear from a marina abandoned boat sale may save money but get the Victress sail plan first. The daggerboard tended to ship water in waves.

 

Yes, it is the boat the kid from Lummi Island ended up stripping. He gouged this boat down to nothing. Tore off the roof, gutted the whole thing. I havent had any luck finding plans or the title for that matter. I found pictures of it before it was gutted on myspace which was a page someone named Amanda and Will made for it when they were trying to sell it several years ago. I didn't like the way they had it done inside then either. It looked really ghetto. I'd like to find them again though. They apparently don't look at that page anymore. I've messaged them several times with no answer. I'm going to reinforce with carbon fiber and epoxy I guess. My husband works for Westport as a fiberglasser. I will try the mariners museum for the lodestar plans. We bought it for 1600.00 so I don't think its a bad deal. No engine, no mast, no interior but it's still floating in the water. This is the energizer rabbit of boats. It's just keeps going and going. Will post pictures later if I can figure out how.

 

Actually the kid on Lummi just stripped what was left, the owner I met lived in the McCleary area. He had a considerable amount of money in the boat already and wasn't up for the expense of the rot repairs which is the major issue with that boat. With Pivers etc... it can be easy to put in more than you can get out unless you keep things simple. Check around at some of the 40' victress boats for sale complete for a price comparison. It is possible to get a fixer upper with no rot for less than $10,000 if you look around. There are 2 Nicols on the market now for $20,000 that are great boats, one in Toronto the other in Texas that would bring twice that amount if sold in Australia.
All this said if you like the Nottingham repair the structure first then fit out. Stay to the wood sizes used, the reef proof bottom approach will quickly lead to a overweight boat, a multihull needs to be light in order to be safe. I think you should get the Victress plans as the rig size and hull scantlings will be closer to your boat. If you can't title the boat don't waste your money! You should be able to title search off the old registration numbers. It is possible the Lummi guy didn't transfer it after he bought the boat. In any case the state does have procedures to follow so check them out first. Good luck and be realistic about the money and effort, you might find the boat is a better floating cottage to use while you work on a voyaging boat, in truth there are better projects out there for free.

 

Don't jump in

I would second Cavs approach. What you are about to do is commit thousands of hours to build a very old boat. If you value your time (and you should) say at at least $20 an hour (below absolute minimum) then you will be up for $20 000 in labour before you buy anything for the boat. I would suggest that it would take about $30 000 - $50 000 to fit the boat out.

So you are going to be up for a heap of money and then you will have an old design of uncertain origin that has taken a huge amount of your life to build. It won't sail as well as a modern boat, it won't be as seaworthy and it won't store as much gear and resale will be a big issue.

I would run a mile before getting into your situation. As Cav says there are some great deals going on boats all ready to go. Searunner 31s are being given away for mooring dues in California. The 37s and 40s make great livaboards and you can buy a complete one for LESS than the cost of materials to fix yours up.

I don't want to stomp on your dreams but reality has stomped on me plenty of times during four builds. You can get going in a better boat for less money and much less time if you use your head.

cheers

Phil

 

Thanks to Cav and Phil and everyone else for your comments. We did look carefully at the cost of refurbishing this boat. The kicker was the several truck loads of leftover materials, i.e. carbon fiber, numerous types of fiberglass, epoxy, resin, cabinetry etc. that is sitting in our shop, leftover from other boat projects that we have no plans for. My husband's experience with it all just said buy it and fix her up. If nothing else, she will make a really nice coastal cruiser we could sell here in the PNW. We do plan to keep it very, very simple. I will probably being posting here again about this boat as we go. Here are some pictures of her now.

 

I'm not seeking to influence you from the path you have chosen but just thought I'd add some observations and if you have the materials available and are happy to put in the labour then you should do it.

I remember reading somewhere that hull shells are about 20% of the cost and time of constructing a boat that seems about right to me and now getting down the track of constructing a 25' trimaran and building a couple of 12' tenders I find myself worrying less about building hulls and feel my previous thoughts on hull construction difficulty were irrational and not based on good economic sense I certainly would not rebuild an old design to attempt to save money. Reading the articles from Steve Barton in multihull world on the reconstruction of his MTB920 trimaran I feel these days that starting from scratch can be the easier of the two options.

 

The way to treat the project for coastal waters is as a sailing scrounge boat, used sails, gear etc....The Piver/Wharram approach of sticking to the basics and using appropriate technology is the only way to go and it is a great casserole for the leftovers In the boats behalf it did sail alright and was well built to start with. It has a lot of room and if you fix the rot and protect the membrane it won't get worse... I'm always honest about boats (and everything else) but if you look the facts in the eye you don't fool yourself and can make something out of what you've got. Miranti ply is where marine fir used to be. Construction grade fir using hemlock doesn't belong near the water even if epoxy coated. Some home store 3 ply 1/4" is all fir and there is only the center to guess about. Learn to tell the difference between fir and hemlock/hemfir and you'll find 2x8's to rip for stringers etc..... The Piver plank masts (yes they are solid) with a spreader at every scarf really will take you anywhere, broke hippies should consider poly tarp crab claws and the bottom of the barrel people need a reminder that Davy Jones doesn't take prisoners or offer a reset button. Consider extending the daggerboard trunk to the cabin top to keep the inside dry.
I think the Piver approach has its place as there are no equivalent "modern" designs though the Marples Seaclippers are close. If you ever have to cut a ply boat up get spare chains for the saw and a sawzall as the fiberglass really dulls things up. If you don't tell them what you're doing U-haul will rent you a truck for the landfill trips, remember to spread a tarp. Remember the KISS method when in doubt.
P.S. Has Mark got that Banks off the beach yet?

 

I just looked at the photos and as a suggestion empty that dang thing out so you can see what you are doing and it will be easier to get things done. A lot of project inertia is caused by the effort of having to move things around.