30' plywood sharpie

The other day I found an old, unfinished hull model I did years ago, roughly based on Munroe's sharpie Egret. I thought it was long gone, but it turned up in a corner overhead cabinet of my motor home, buried under extra bedclothes. I was going to take a picture or two of it, but forgot to bring it home. I'll get some when I go back to work, I guess.

It's at 1:8 scale instead of 1:12 like this one, and made from 1/8" doorskin. It's interesting to look back at it now and see how my ideas have changed. It was definitely more of a rough-water design, shaped before I admitted to myself the odds are low I'll ever be sailing the waters and conditions Egret was renowned for handling.

 

so what would be the efficiency loss between a true flat bottomed sharpie and the slightly v bottom type

 

I have an old book that is about Florida in the old days. It has several chapters regarding Munroe and Egret. But it is the point of view that is interesting. In no way is this a book about Munroe or boats at all. He is mentioned as an noteworthy local charactor in passing. The book is about the local scene and was written before many people knew much about the place. Certainly not as a retirement mecca, it's all about making a living there not retiring!

 

I'm no naval architect or designer. But my guess is that the loss would be negligible, and probably offset by the ability to carry a little more canvas anyway. The main thing you'd be losing is the bare-bones simplicity of construction (and therefore low cost) the original flat-bottomed boats had.

 

OK, here's the old model. I don't know why I was thinking it was larger scale; obviously it isn't. As I said, it's more of a rough-water hull.

 

Looks great! I like the fore-and-aft balance to the lines that results from the small transom. Long and narrow WL makes for a nice handling boat!

 

The two models together. You can see the differences in the two. I designed the second one for inland lakes, instead of coastal waters. And hopefully, I've also learned a little more about sharpies in general, in the time between the two...

 

Are there any more updates on this fascinating and worthy project? I too have been considering a sharpie in the 25-30 foot range, although I would (if possible) like to make mine capable of coastal sailing. I have been very intrigued by the New Haven sharpie design, but I do not know enough to judge whether they can be made suitable for coastal sailing. I suppose, as they were designed for hauling heavy cargoes, that they could be adapted to carry ballast, but as I said my knowledge on that particular aspect of boat design is limited. I *do* know that they are not suitable for coastal use if built unmodified however.

Anyways, I love your concept and look forward to seeing more! And, as a model builder, I love your little sharpie too!

 

Good timing on the question; I finally got around to decking the model . My camera is at work, so I'll throw up a picture or two when I get there in a couple of hours.

 

Here's what she looks like with a deck.

I used 1/32"x4" balsa wood, edge-glued to make a piece 8 inches wide. I roughed-in the holes for the forward hatch, the cabin and the cockpit, so I'd have less edge to deal with and align. Then I used Elmer's yellow wood glue (aliphatic resin). Since there was no way to apply clamp pressure, I rubbed the edges together until they grabbed and held.

For fastening the decking I used Dap Weldwood contact cement, in the little 3-oz bottle that comes with a brush attached to the cap. I spread a single layer on the framing, and another to the backside of the decking. After it was dry, I carefully pressed the decking into place, and made sure it was grabbing everywhere. Then I cut away the excess with a knife, and finished up the edges with a sanding block. Where the block wouldn't fit, I wrapped a piece of sandpaper around a flat stick and used it like a small rasp.

In person, the center seam doesn't show like it does in the pictures; you have to look for it. It's a trick of the camera flash, off the difference in grain of the two pieces of wood.









By the way, here's the knife I use the most on the model. It's a Finnish puuko with a Frosts stainless blade that someone ground down, and a handle made of reindeer antler, birchbark, and silver. I picked it up on gunbroker.com a while back.

I think the 11th Commandment says, "before thou buildest a model of wood, first shalt thou run out and buy thyself a bunch of cool Xacto knives." And of course, I have a full set. But I rarely use them -- the model and the Xacto knives may be miniatures, but my hands are still full-sized.

 

Oh -- that thing sticking up in the bow will eventually be cut down and shaped into a tabernacle, with a gimbled ring at the top for the mast to slide into. That way the mast can still rotate freely.

The mizzenmast tabernacle will be notched into the cabin, like so:


It's slightly off-center to allow the two masts to lie side-by-side when they're down, and to keep the companionway from being shoved too far to port. And since the mizzen will also be through a gimbaled ring, it can be slid aft until it doesn't overhang the bow when down.

 

That is a mighty fine model.

 

Once again, beautiful, precise work. Thanks for the explanation of your construction methods. Can't wait to see more!

 

Many a photographer has wanted to take a picture of a model AFTER he decked her.

 

now that was really funny hoyt

I kinda live in a world in close association with both and its is so true

havn't heard of any incidents recently but there have been more than a few were someone got slapped or someone threw there camera at someone else

my kid does a lot of modeling as well as a few of her friends and a few of mine, I got the inside info on the whole scene and its one giant soap opera