35' cat concept for the inside passage.

I"ll have to draw one up that way Michael

the latest incarnation

still not right but getting closer, the forward 4 chairs all swivel around and face the bench seat opposite the chest/table. That chest has a removable top and leaves that fold out to make a table., also on the underside of the top is a flat screen TV. I couldn't figure out how to jamb in a fire place this time around. Maybe just to the left of the sink area. But then its not anywhere you can put up your feet in front of the fire.



Hey Michael got any examples of asymmetrical cats, and wouldn't that be a proa ? maybe not if its a power animal rather than sail ? Might be interesting to look at a few, its a pretty radical change from the original design but worth looking into.

cheers
B

 

I like the V belt idea, as well as the stern drive. I drew up a stern unit that would be able to pop up in case of a strike. Still working on how to hold it down when in reverse. I think I saw a diagram of your v belt transmission somewhere in here a year or two ago. Simple and keeps the thrust off the engine. Which means my engine options just improved and the weight of those options decreases

 

No, Ive never seen an asymmetric cabin housed cat. I have seen countless asymmetric commercial craft. Form always follows function. What will be the function of your cat ?

For an oceangoing cat or a fast cat, you would obviously choose symmetry. For a practical waterway cruiser why ? You need a boat that's happy, huge inside and easy to live with. For me, having lived on boats for almost 40 years , "Live with " means months tied to the dock pursuing personal hobbies or entertaining

 

Lots of posts and edits while I was asleep

I'd move the whole interior and cabin forward, your C of G is going to be way too far aft, even for a powerboat

There is usually more room in a catamaran hull than people think

I guess you have a room in your house as large as the cabin on this boat. Why not rearrange the furniture and do a mock up to get a feel for the space?

I'd suggest making the deck house as wide as possible, leaving minimal walkways forward. Your arrangement lends itself to a forward door, so maybe even going to the full beam might work. Take the bridgedeck floor out to full width as well. Then put engines/services under it in the hulls, kept well forward

The Twin 36 was mentioned. A better choice would be the Twins 43. I have spent many nights on board the 43, and also sailed the 36. I've always thought the 43 would be an ideal power cat. The prototype sailed from UK to New Zealand via roaring forties. It has twin 110hp engines that still power it at 15 knots even with the rig up. Have a longer look at this design

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Oh and too many seats at the helm area. Take up to much people space. Go with one very nice helm seat or two, on a sliding track. This is Typical on fish boats ,so the helmsman can shift across the wheelhouse to the working side to oversee operation.

 

I believe if someone NEEDS the boat he just goes to the designer. Posting sketches here and collecting comments is no sense, there are basic mistakes in those sketches that professional will correct quickly. Moreover, coming to designer with ready sketches of 'what I want' will not benefit the project, as designer will be limited to propose better solutions based on his experience.

 

Im sure you are correct...but first you must come up with a concept , then you have it professionally drawn. All of the very finest yachts Ive been involved with started life as unworkable sketches and ideas.

 

Often 'concept' (that is not a concept, because it is not feasible or practical, and not supported by preliminary cals and general plans) push the design process to wrong side. Once it is in customer's brain, it is almost impossible to change it to something better. Lack of involvement of professionals at early design stages will often cause failed project, whoever 'draw' it later.

Besides I do not understand the word 'professionally drawn'. When I design I draw, when I draw I check if door has space to open and if headroom is high enough... There is no sense to design/develop concept if there is no proper drawing as parallel process. Say, customer's 'drawings' never include any thickness for structure and insulation, and all measurements are optimistic; designer's drawings include all those.

 

Wow! And that is how it's done by the pros, people! . A perfect concept for this application.

 

Ok, but a clients sketches, no matter the scaling error, will inform the designer of how the client wishes to use his boat. These can be Very important details that clients sometimes find difficult to express in words. Also remember that many times designers overwhelm a client with detail important to the designer and mis what the client really wanted

 

CC36



A smidge bigger



http://www.ccplans.com/index.php

An actual one for sale, seems very cheap for Australia

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=11209514

This one was for sale a while back for about 4x the money

 

I like Aliks last post... hits the nail on the head...

Boston, your handy woodwork skills and the things you are wanting to include in this boat are really lending themselves to a monohull rather than a multi... all that lovely timberwork you will be wanting to show off, the fireplace, the other classic styling touches etc - its all very romantic but its going to kill the multihulls performance, itll end up a real pig on the water.... with a mono your going to have alot more volume, displacement, and much more freedom to arrange the layout your going for...

Its difficult for me to offer much in the way of constructive help with the arrangement, as your climate and intended usage is completely opposite to where i live in the tropics, i have zero experience with boats in cold climates... All i can advise is to look at the way others have done it and see which way you can adapt it into your boat, then simply personalize it with your own touches the way you like it...

 

Alik, I've been building homes for about 30+ years, never once hired an architect, just took the print to the engineer and had it stamped. Very few corrections over all that time. The building dep. always fast tracked my stuff. Door clearances, head room, wall thicknesses are accounted for in all of these sketches, No way am I going to bust out the drafting table and detail a concept sketch. If we come up with something worthy of finer detailed drawings, then elevations and cross sections will of course accompany the process. What I've learned over all those years was that its most important to find what the customer wants and design to within those specifications. Most designers have there own preconceived ideas they doggedly try and impose on the customer, not a great way to deliver a custom product. In short, the customer is not always wrong. It may be that the style I'm interested in is simply not conducive to the catamaran form.

Reminder, this is an exorcise to explore the concept of a 35' cat as an eco tour boat/live aboard in the classical (1910~1930 ) styling. I'm also interested in designing something I can build. Wood, not composite, modular, few compound curves, cored laminates, native hardwoods, peanut oil based epoxies, alternative fueled. I'm not seeing any cats out there in this size range that don't either look like a Tonka toy or something that just dropped in from Naburu somewhere. While it might not be doable, I just thought I'd sketch out a few things and then take some suggestions to tweak them down to cat like performance, if possible. Everyone's input is invaluable, so collecting those suggestions and incorporating many of them into a developing plan is exactly what the exorcise is all about. I just thought I'd propose a look to boat and then see if we could preserve it in cat form.

Richard, I'm not sure how a forward door could squeak in there. I'd have to bring the bridge deck level way forward, I'll sketch one up but it looks like most cats sneak up on the full tunnel depth with some kinda curved structure some percentage of length back from the bow. Kinda looked like about 15~20%. Id guess its to prevent tunnel slapping forward when you dive into a big wave trough and those bows need a moment to recover, In my last I brought the deck forward a lot and although I didn't draw it an elevation, meant to slope the tunnel gradually up to that point. Wouldn't more deck forward be a structural concern what with the lifting effect of the tunnel slap and no significant structure above to help hold it all together ?

Those windows forward are about 2.5~3' high depending on where you measure them. Not sure how I"m going to jam a door in one without creating a swimming pool, I'll sketch one out tonight with the cabin a little wider, and the roof overhand a little smaller, move the whole thing forward a foot or so.

and ya I've got a pretty big room, about 22 x 13 I'm sitting in right now. And a pile of recliners. The pilot station is remote. Works off a cable bound controller that would snap onto "the dash" in a veriety of places or even have enough "rope" to be brought out on deck ( forward would be nice ) so the pilot could either just plug into a new location or stand on deck and guide the boat in. The big cushy chairs were something I though clients might like if they all wanted to sit forward. I could drive from just about anywhere on the boat.

Think of it like a crane remote. If you've ever operated a crane before. Many of them you can just walk along side and guide it off "the box" Same concept here, except I'd have a few terminals strategically spread throughout the boat where I could plug the remote into. Forward on deck, aft on deck, In the fly bridge if I end up with one, either side of the forward seating arrangement.

I'm hesitant to bring the cabin out all the way because it would be really hard for it not to get that floating brick look I'm trying to avoid. Same with moving the cabin to far forward, I might just have to offset the cabin weight by moving the engine and mechanical forward and the hulls living arraignments farther back. maybe loose the walls around the cabins double bed.

anyway so many good suggestions its hard to comment on them all but today I'm going out to get the last of my fuel system put together in the truck. That and still waiting on that customer of mine to get into town and sign this next contract so I can get to work again.

Oh and I have a huge warehouse to build in when I'm ready and know what I'm actually building. Building pace is not the issue. Moving it might be, but where to build it is already determined, Think modular, 8x10' sections of less than 60' lengths will fit on a flat bed, no special trailer or permits needed. Costs me about $1200 a load to drag to the coast, depends on what it weighs.

I might order another pile of Cherry, I can always use the stuff and if I ever do finally decide what I'm building it would be nice to have some stuff around to start with. Sucks having the shop just sit there while I'm doing absolutely nothing at all.

Cheers
B

 

The main problem I see with cats in the wet PNW is the need for two heating stoves, just as with an aft cabin in this climate.

Your heat source is in use 24/7 and needs to be as low a possible in the boat, same problem with dividing rooms off. Yes, it can be done with hot water coils off a single source, but that system comes with it's own set of problems.

 

Radiant heat in a boat, who'd have guessed. Hey T whats a mooring cost where you are. I know your looking out your window at the bay.

I was thinking of a dry exhause system with a heat exchanger as one source of heat, but hadn't given the heating issue much thought till I dredged up an answer about if I could make a cat form work for what I want. Kinda the whole point here. 35' of cat on the hook is bound to be cheaper to park than something of similar square footage at the dock. My logic is cats look like they ride parked a lot better than a mono.

Its also why I drew out that trailer-able design by Hand at the beginning of last summer. Parking Fee's. I'm a cheap bastad, what can I say.