What to build?

One of the most difficult things a designer can do is draw a seemingly simple design. She is simple and I couldn't have designed it 20 years ago. I would have been tempted to put more "bells and whistles" on her design attributes, in an attempt to please as many folks as possible.

She has a double planked plywood bottom. A double planked solid wood bottom would be weaker and require a lot more framing structure. Her beam length could change to some degree, but she's good where she is. If you want a smaller boat, then Digger 15 is the choice, a larger boat, well she's already a stretched 15, but 18' would be possible before I'd want to redo the numbers again.

Her flare is nearly constant from stem to stern, which makes her exceptionally easy to plank up. Yes, adding flare would complicate the build a bit, especially if it was more toward the dory side of things. No, a narrower beam wouldn't cause her to trip. More freeboard would make her heavier, though she can handle this amount of weight, I think much more freeboard and she starts looking boxy. I hate box boats and don't think any boat needs to be ugly to be efficient or serviceable. Some like to make a concrete mixing tub sail as well as a box can, but I'd have to have something that I wouldn't be ashamed to drag behind the car.

This level of modification suggests a new design, rather then an update of a stock plan set.

 

PAR,

"More freeboard would make her heavier, though she can handle this amount of weight, I think much more freeboard and she starts looking boxy."

I meant to keep her length/depth proportion basically the same. I noticed the nearly constant flare. I assume she has no floor frames and and the side frames must be tangent to the planks at each station so no beveling of frames would be needed. At this point Digger seems a perfect boat for patomac1. He seems to have lost interest though. I decided not to build a Atkins boat as it would take up too much of my summer but it looks like Digger could be built in much much less time and probably be more fun and less frustration. I'll order the study plans to look and think.

 

Drop me an email and I can send them off to you.