Basket case help

Ancient issue of Popular Mechanix (or maybe it was How To Build 20 Boats) magazine had plans for Nugget. Those plans showed the amas as diamond shaped, square actually. The box section was rotated 45 degrees such that both the tops and bottoms were shaped in such a way that moving water liked them. I think That I may still have some moth eaten pages that were torn from the magazine. ( I must conquer my habit of never throwing anything interesting in the trash) I confess to having scaled the design down to 15 feet LOA and the result turned out to be a proa because I never built the other ama. The goofy proa boat was real quick in light air and a hand full in a breeze. Unbridled fun it was.

Pivers favorite tool must have been the framing square. Both the main hull and the amas were, for the most part, sections of squares. All except the after end of the main hull, which he cleverly twisted into a somewhat flatter surface. The plan view of the waterlines were remarkably concentric. Pretty clever, I thought, at the time.

 

Thanks for the reply massabout. Every little bit of info helps. What has raised some eyebrows is the rounded top amas on this particular boat. When I spoke with Jim brown he didnt recall and rounded top amas on the nugget's he was familiar with.

Finally have a clear weather forecast for Ohio , no snow, so leaving at 4 am the go pick her up. 10 1/2 hour drive up there but my 5 year old wants to go on the trip so its probably going to turn into a 3 day trip. Will post pics when I get her home and on the stands.

 

She's Home!

2 days, 1600 miles driving, 3 1/2 hours to load so it wouldnt be an oversized load, outrunning snowstorms on the way home, my 5 year old son in tow as well and shes finally home

Overall shes in very good condition for her age. On initial inspection there is no rot at all. Now the downside the amas were cut off when the original owner decided to pull her out of the water and store her.

The rest of today is recouperating from the trip, My son faired better on the trip than I did and he was awake the whole trip. The first day consisted of 14 hours driving and he never missed a beat. Tomorrow will consist of building stands for main hull to sit on and getting her in the shop. Then the inspection begins. Here are pics of her on the trailer

 

Hull Pics

Finally in the shop and on stands. Excuse the mess in the shop.

 

I should be so lucky to have a shop your size. I'm jealous.

 

Nice shop

And I bet it has heat. Mitchel, your boat looks very solid, is it glassed on the inside also? Bruce

 

Lemme see

I gotta see these floats and their connections. Can you take a few shots so we can have a good look?

cheers

Phil

 

Bruce she's not glassed on the inside from what ive seen and I did find 2 small areas of rot lastnight when I was looking her over. Further inspections this afternoon.


Phil I'll post some pics of the amas this afternoon but they were cut off the boat, not hinged at all. The owner was very strange acording to his nephew who sold me the boat. She was built, sailed for a period of time, survived the tornado then he did nothing with her for a month. Then he cut the amas off with a circular saw to save on transport cost hauled her back to his shop started sanding on her to repaint her, stopped and there she sat for years until his death.

I have photos of her in the water that I will get transfered to cd and post later today.

 

Phil heres the pics of the amas. Sad that they were cut off in the fashion that they were. There are 3 boards laminated togther to form the cross members for them. The best option would be to make them removable or folding for transportation purposes. They could be remade solid as before but transportation to her new marina would be difficult due 50 miles of narrow country roads. Other option would be 15 miles of transport and a 50 mile sail to her new home.


This wooden baot deal is totally new to me so open to opinions on how to tackle this. First on the agenda is the amas. Input needed and greatly appreciated.

 

Helps if you post the pics.



Bruce the cross members are 60 inches from amas to main hull. Overall length is 14' 9 " The width of the boards is 4" with a heigth of 1 1/16" each.

 

crossbars

What are the metal? tabs bolted under the ama's crossbar? Do both beams have them? They "look" like water stay attachments but I didn't see any on the main hull. Bruce

 

Firstly i must congratulate you on a stunning workshop - brilliant

i have looked at the pics and the quality of the wood - and i think that this project VERY do-able, those beams can be repaired making dove-tail joints easily ( or stepped joints )

sand everything down to bare wood and cover in epoxy and glass - rotten wood has to be replaced

your workshop allows you to work clean and dry which is a major plus

get yourself a "cheap" tripod for your camera - you cant believe what a diference it makes to the clarity of the pics when we enlarge them to look for detail

most important of all - welcome to boat building - it is THE most rewarding hobby on Gods earth

 

More progress and an unsetteling discovery. The cross members are 3 pieces of wood laminated togther. In preperation to start sanding on her I discovered the the adhesive used for the lamination process is turning loose. So I guess the next step is to redesign the crossmembers so the amas are removable which was the initial intent. I have thought of a slot and tab method. Being slot in the main hull section of the crossmember and the tab so to speak on the amas side. This way the amas are removable for transport and simply bolt togther for assembly. My question is what type wood to us and should the center board of the lamination or tab be fiberglass wrapped to help with stress loads or should it be carbon wrapped. I will try and come up with some cad drawings to better illustrate what i'm trying to say.

 

the hardest/strongest wood in the US is black locust, Harder than hickory and maple and will NOT ROT. Grows in the southest. http://www.connectedlines.com/wood/wood55.htm
I pay $4.00/$5.00 a board foot for clear here in Oregon. I use it in stems, keels, skegs...,spray rails and engine stringers,and rub rails. You cannot dent dry wood. Often called american ironwood. Marine critters cannot bore into it. Fence posts last 100 years as moisture does not harm it. I try to put a piece in every boat just so I can say the-----is black locust and then watch their face.
http://www.specialtywoods.net/lumber.html

 

crossbeams

Mitchell, I think making the boat fold is probably well worth the effort. Since you will probably not use the outer parts of your existing cross beams, why not try to peel one of the old ones apart? Your separation may not be as bad as you think, and you can tell more about the wood and construction. The center carry-through may still be useful. Bruce