Help with fiberglass

The attached image will give you a perspective of what we are doing. Every four feet will be a set of 8X8 columns with a cross member to hold these trays up, they will be stacked as many as four units high. The sides will be support in that the units will be sitting between these columns if necessary I can run a 1x6 timber down the sides to prevent a side blowout. I do like the flange and bolt idea for connection purposes. I would make my sections 12’ long so all the joints would occur over the cross members.
I don’t know enough about fiberglass yet to decide about infusion or hand lay but I’m learning. We will need to produce them in a timely manner but also need to keep cost under control. Maybe I should fly one of you down to consult directly.
I appreciate all the feedback and please continue to let me know if you have ideas or need info to help.

Steve

 

Steve,

You can use steel angle at the flange joints to back up the fiberglass and support the whole thing. Bolt the sections together thru the angle pieces and clamp the flanges between the angles. If the floor isn't strong enough put feet on the bottom of the angles. This puts the flanges in shear and they are very strong that way. No need for 8x8's at the joints. Lumber starts to get expensive when it's that big. Steel supports will be easier to install and will likely cost less in the long run. You could make the intermediate supports out of pallet rack parts, reasonably cheap and easy to buy and move around. Just have an engineer check and make sure you don't have a buckling problem and you wil be fine.

I believe in the Kiss principal... The more you can buy a commercial parts and the less is custom made the cheaper it will be.

 

Grease the local wheels for me to set up a 6 pax charter in the USVI to sail over to the BVI and I'll do whatever you need pro bono.

A little barter...

I am not sure how to set charters up (legally) for small, 6 pax in that way and need some help in that department.

Maybe we could help each other out?

 

Cat, I’m not exactly sure what you are asking. You want to come down and take a charter over. Do you want to want to set up a business to do such charters?
Either way I can help you out I run the occasional fishing charter, I hold 100 GRT License

Steve

 

YellowJacket, here is a better perspective of where this is eventually going but we have decided to to four levels or less.

 

A bit above my pay-grade - but if my rough math is correct - each trough will weigh over 2,000 lbs per 10 ft length so there is some serious weight - seems to me that there should be some sort of cross members to keep the center of the trough from just sagging down and some cross bracing for the supports.

 

I'm sorry. I have 100T master as well with sailing endorsement. My wife and I do term charters on catamarans professionally (full time job) in the continental USA, but cannot figure out all the red tape and fuss when trying to run them out of the USVI (with travel over the the BVI).

I sold my last one to buy the materials to make the new one we are building right now.

When it's launched, I'd like to expand my charter season to include winter in your area, which would ideally be right in the USVI's and sailing over to the BVI's, but the red tape looks horrendous. I don't know how people set up their US flagged 6 pax boats to do those kinds of charters in your area. I have contacted the USVI charter association but obviously they want me to go and die so they don't have any more competition.

Would you mind if I PMed you on this topic? I have a hunch you understand how to do this and who to talk to in order to get the boat registered properly there for 6 pax and then also over to BVI.

Sorry to hijack the thread. I'll go back to responding on topic.

 

Sure, I’ll give you some contacts to help navigate through the some of the pitfalls of Americas paradise.

Just be prepared to submit documents and paperwork multiple times because it will get lost from desk to desk in any Gov office down here.

If you don’t mind spending a little extra money I will forward you the names of our business attorney (private firm not our corporate guys) who will hand walk it through the system.

Money well spent IMO.

I am on the Island of St Croix at the Hess oil refinery and these guys have saved us considerable heartburn getting things done with the government.


Steve

 

There will be a form fitted cross member every four feet. I have one of my mech eng. buddies running the numbers to confirm loaded structure.

 

Good - just wanted to ask to make sure - I have ran across several people that did not take into account the weight of water until I pointed it out - yes they all went back to the drawing board - glad you are ahead of the water weight on the design -

 

Lost thread

I lost track of this thread, but never lost interest in the subject. What ever happened to the idea?

MM