What Nicol do I Own?

I'm sure it is a Cavalier but need the pictures because as I mentioned in the project thread the beams raised a question. I did some digging and found a Cavalier materials list Paddy (oldsailor) sent me. I'll take pictures and send them in a bit.

Lots of suggestions and background in the project post. I'll try to dig up more Cavalier pictures, looking forward to yours.

 

These pictures show just a few Cavalier variations from a smaller cabin version that did a circumnavigation on up to a couple wide cabin cruisers.

 

These are the materials lists. Very common to see 1/2 ply substituted for the 7/16".

 

Photos?

 

Promised Photos Attached

Hi again guys. Thanks for your patience, and for the valuable comments in the repair thread.

Have taken many photos and picked 12 which seem to be the most relevant. Will try to load them here in one or more post. Wish me luck, as this is my second try.

Looks like we got 5 here, so I will post these, then post seven more in a follow on message.

Please try to correlate these to my written comments and forgive the fact that the order of the photos may not match the order of my comments.

Thanks again,

G2L

 

Second Set of Photos

Here we go again. Will try 7 this time.

Please refer back to my post entitled "More specs .. etc" for explanations, details, etc. Hope these help.

Thanks,

G2L

 

Sorry I'm late : ) Have some others so let me know if you want to see more of any particular part of the boat.

Thanks,

G2L

 

Thank goodness, now Phil can see the tell tale ama bows.

Just did a post on the ama repair thread, I'll look for the more specs one.

These pics do help figure out the beams. I wondered about this. The boat was built with 2 bulkhead/ frames in the main hull and amas for the beams instead of the one bulkhead with fore and aft beams going into timbers. This allows for a bigger open wing and could be strong enough if done right. Of the trio the aft beam is the one that didn't go in giving a little more cabin room too.

 

In the galley area the bulkhead at the companion way should have a beam attached, the big shelf area is a bit worrisome. I see another bulkhead frame just behind it where the 2nd beam of the pair would normally tie into timber frames running down the sides. This is good if there is a beam there too. Are there still 2 beams in this area running into your amas? Empty the shelf and take a look.

For myself If the beams are stock ones without a truss system I'd sail conservatively till I upgraded.

A picture looking up into the areas between the bow and stern beam bulkheads would help show this. or if there is a actual box beam.

Always interesting sorting this stuff out.

 

Here comes the humble pie

Yes Cav, you are right, she has the telltale Nicol bows. I couldn;t see them in the first photos. Well done.

G2L

What Cav and I are now interested in is how the crossbeams are made. I hope that they are tied on well. It would be interesting to see some structural engineering done on the boat it seems that you may a have a vent wing arrangement where a hole in the wing deck was installed. In Searunners this was an option for the full wing design. But this boat had main strength bulkheads that took the wing loading. Nicols didn't have the same thing so I am hoping that you have some more structure in the crossbeams to take any loads the omitted part may have taken.

Having said this the bulkheads next to the cabin could not take much load as they stop at the main hull gunwale. So an engineer may say that your build is as strong as any other Nicol.

The good thing is that ply usually lets you know if it is being worked too hard. Look for tiny stress cracks in the underwing - especially the armpit joins where the ama meets the crossbeam. I look like a hawk around there to look for signs of over stressing. Easy to fix with uni and epoxy.

Well done Cav - I won't doubt you again

cheers

Phil

 

Oh I forgot

As for the repair - simple - Sister the frame.

Take a template of the shape of the frame and make a replacement out of cedar or another light wood. You could use ply but if the ply is getting broken then some 19mm thick cedar or similar would reinforce the ply more securely.

Don;t worry about the stringer notches. Get some 90 x 19 stock and take it in. Scribe the shape of the ama side onto the timber and then fit it so that it fits the inside of the ama cut out. Don't worry too much about fitting to the ama side, just cut off as little timber as you can. Taper the bottom end to a finer point. Epoxy on.

As an aside - I would like to see you everdure or epoxy paint the whole interior of the ama when dried out. If you can get her dry for a few weeks then get inside and epoxy the whole of the ama interior - everything. It won't be fun but the boat looks good - she is pretty special and I don't like the darkening of the wood very much. You may be able to set up a vacuum system and pull air out of the ends. The you could spray inside which would be so much easier.

So we just need a few more shots of the beams. But according to us two you own one of the most interesting Nicols around. Pretty special.

We learn something everyday

Phil

 

Welcome to the fold Phil. The other Nicol that threw you was another California build, a Buccaneer 40 (He used the name before Crowther). What has to be taken into consideration is the gestation proximity to the Trimaran mecca that had Piver, Brown, Cross, Horstman and Kantola turning on the hippies who with herbal aromas wafting in the sea breezes sat down and got creative with everybody's designs. I've probably looked at more Nicols from weird angles than most in the last dozen years so it isn't fair.

The bulkheads are misleading. They go to the top of the wing at deck level, the boats as designed have a double main hull and ama gunnel, one at deck level and one at wing bottom level. That one stays continous while the upper one gets relieved for wing bunks etc.... On stock cabins timbers run up to the cabin top from the main hull onto the beam etc.... There is a large structure for mast support joining the cabintop to the main bulkhead and beams and cabin corner post timbers going all the way down to the wing/beam bottom.

Beams don't need a truss like a Searunner of course, they can be composite etc.....

The stock Nicol wing is pretty well thought out with things that can be overlooked. For example there should be beam gussets with timbers where the beams meet the ama side on the indoard outside and on the outside of the mainhull where the beams go through. Lots of the early problems were from people omitting these parts which give a much better gluing surface as well as turning the beam into a sandwich "box" in key stress areas. They aren't shown on every drawing on the plans I've seem but on a beam detail with instructions "typical beam".

The angled wing back edge helped transfer loads to the main hull from driving to windward in a sea. Lots of other stuff, there were about 13 various crossmembers or beams in a stock Cavalier to spread the load and support the deck.

 

I should mention that the Nicol does have main strength bulkheads in the main hull and amas. They are at the forward and aft ends of the cabin. On a Vagabond MK2 those are frames 3 forward and 6 aft at the companion. Their ama counterparts are directly across, both are 7/16" to 1/2" in thickness.

 

Just for fun here are a couple Vagabond MK2 interiors looking forward. Renegade has the stock upright cabin sides. Mine was built with angled sides which took some extra work in the rebuild to tie in to the structure as it wasn't really well integrated. It looked good so I went to work on it. The concept behind carrying the cabin over the wing bunks was so you could kickback in bed and watch the world go by. The raised seating lets you look out the windows. Don't show to the wife if you want to preserve a racy profile....

 

By the way ...

... we do have those floor boards you mentioned in the amas. They have round, not oval holes. As you note, makes her a bit sturdier than she might be.

Thanks,

G2L