Challenge: The 100$ boat!

Just before I go to bed (it's 1.30 am, I have just come home): Ordinary hand tools, powered or not is ok. But again, just don't use ten different power tools, because then we are back at "would people ordinarily have that many powertools?"

Goodnight

 

Errr........ 41 km from my house is a big bamboo growth can be found....... it is from Toraja version replant by Toraja migrant....... Big huge green pole..... 6-8 inch in diameter and 1-2 inch wall........ I will take picture of the glen as I was given 4 cut of the trunk as sample........ due to the thread by bamboo usage.

So I think it is also time to test how bamboo will add fexiblity to the Sampan design........ good in junk sail .....

WDH

 

Bamboo Trial?

Ok I have some picture of the bamboo cut into sizable length..... with wall thickness 1-1.5 inch....... some rare old one at the base of the root can be as thick as 2-2.5 inch..... incredible plant....

Oh yes one of the picture with welding torches and meter...... and other stuff that is on the table cost me US$100 but not for the competition usage..... just an example what u can get for second hand equipment at my place.


WDH

 

How about curragh? Ancient Irish boat type made from light wooden frame and covered with few layers of rough fabrics soaked with tar.

 

That would be a nice boat........... maybe Hans77 like it I prefer something with a bit of sail...

Milan are you joining us in this cheap quest?

WDH

 

Thanks Milan, and Welly,

I do like it!
I like it a lot.
the timber would be no problem to scrounge,
the fabric- well what sort would do?
I know where I can get a ton of free upholstery fabric, nice and thick and tough enough to build furniture out of.
would that do?
Would I want natural or artificial fabric? I am thinking artificial for the no rot factor.

That would leave me with money to spend on a big bucket of tar.
I wonder if there is something better (and cheaper) that could be used for tar? Or can I make tar???


Hey Milan,
I am going to do a search now,
but do you have any links for that boat, or any idea where to get a plan ?(free hopefully).

Hans.

 

No problem, many of them have sails. There are many variations of curraghs. In the early Middle Ages there were many big sailing curraghs for ocean voyaging. Later, wood prevailed for bigger size boats but smaller currags continued to be build to this day. They come in different shapes and sizes, from the smallest that are completely circular in form in sheltered waters to the quite seaworthy surfboats for 4 or more rowers. Tim Severin, well known British adventurism sailed one across North Atlantic. (That's boat with two square sails).

NIce quest, I would like to join but I don't have a time at the moment. (Summer finally arrived in this part of the world, I'm off, sailing in the weekends).

 

They are usually built from ordinary canvas, any similar fabric will do. Rot is not really a problem because everything is soaked in tar and boats are taken out of the water when not used. Eventual damages are patched with fabric and tar, but these boats are quite resilient to damage, as they are quite elastic.

Unfortunately, I don't have any building plans for curraghs, these boats are built by eye. If you take a good look at the photographs, and find some line plans for Norwegian prams you will have enough informations.

I personally never built or sailed curraghs but I saw big part of the building process couple of years ago in Amsterdam of all places. That was during international sailing ships meeting, Irish team just built one right there on the spot in two or three days. Their stand was one of the best, aside from boat builders and sail makers in action, there was nice Irish live music and Guinness of course…so, some boat details got a bit blurred for me.

Tar was traditionally made from pine tree stumps, left over after the logging. Stumps were collected and heated over the fire for hours in some sort of the kettle. (closed to prevent contact with oxygen as wood must not burn). Tar would slowly drop on the bottom. All together, long, laborious, messy process. You can do it but I wouldn't border for a boat, just by a bucket.

 

Thanks Milan,
that sort of building by sight is kind of what I was thinking of (and looking forward to).
From some of the photos you posted that certainly looks like how they have been done.

I am concieving of some sort of Bergalia-esque level of planning- ie not much more than chalk lines drawn on the floor with a rough idea of the shape and size I want, and then just start going for it, let my materials dictate a fare bit...

This could be really funny.

won't be winning the beauty contest.

As far as I can tell so far,
my only costs should be the tar, and some glue and screws.
I guess I should paint the wood too, as I most probably will not be using oak like they recomend. So maybe some scrounged oil paint as well.
$100 US? I might just make it.
Hans.

 

Good thing about wood is you can build a metal free boat by using wood nail....... its the carpentary that do the job......

In Indonesia they put tree bark and gum in between plank to make it water proof...... these gum is cold proof not hot proof....... meaning will melt with a bon fire nearby...... beware

hans77 if you can find bamboo try using it......... ancient raft are made of that stuff....... river type of course

WDH

 

Welly,
while the marina might just tolerate me winching a tar and cloth boat up under the jetty, they will probably draw the line at me tying up an ancient indonesion bamboo river raft.
Besides, not much bamboo grows down here in melbourne. At least not much of any decent thickness, and even this I would probably have to "borrow" out of someones garden.

 

Tell you a secret.......... buy cheap nice bamboo from TORAJA sulawesi (Celebis) island............. next time you need nice bamboo finished deck........ BEAUTIFUL

 

This one was about $50 with the paddles.

 

on the road.

Well I have got some wood.
I don't know what sort it is,
but I am pretty sure it is good.
I got it for free asking somone if they had seen any demolition sites for wood,
they said, "here take this"

It looks like red cedar, but is more of a light yellow/orange.
It has a lovey fine long grain and is very light but still strong.
It smells sort of like a sauna, but a little different

It is only 12mm x 20mm, and 1.8m long- and a big bundle.

I figure I can use it for the fine ribs and stuff, and then bend and laminate peices together into thicker beams. I am going to show it to someone who will be able to tell me what it is.

Just up the road on my street there is a big dumpster that I checked out late tonight- that has one big sheet of 9mm ply on top, a bit muddy (completly dried now) but still aparantly ok after obviously being wet-
and then a lot of timber framing underneath.
Tommorow I will grab the ply and have a little dig.
After raving about how great and easy it is to find "hard rubbish" I cannot seem to find any subburbs that are doing it right now.



Tar is proving very hard to find too.
apparantly most workplaces aren't allowed to use tar anymore because of workplace health and safety laws.
I have found a variety of new waterbased tar and latex products, but I think they will be out of my price range, even if they are suitable.
I will have to try to find companies that build roads and see if they will throw me a sack or two of bitumen.


I am seriously considering offering half a case of beer to the next council team that I see working on a road for a couple of buckets of tar.

Anyone in Australia have suggestion of where to get tar from???

Fabric is sorted too, hopfully.
The guy who has the upholstery has had to dump it at his parents because he has no room for it, thus if I go round there and have a look depending on what I take it will be very cheap or free.
There very well may be some canvas like stuff too.
I am wondering though if some sort of artificial fabric, that had a very strong quality like canvass, might be better?

What ya think?

Anyway,
I think I will definately have to buy some glue.
On my boat for a fair few non vital things we used a newish cheap 'marine' glue that you get from hardware stores. It is clear and yellow like honey and uses water (in the wood or added to dampen the wood) as the catalyst- which makes it foam to fill any gaps.
It is realy quite strong.

I am thinking of using this, about $17 Aus, and then a big bag of galvanised wood screws. Then the tar. The rest should be cheap or free.

Then of course the hours.

I am thinking of doing some sort of double ender with curved raised stern and bow- something like the boat in the very back of the picture.

 

Finding some info for currachs: http://www.mmara.com/map.html
CONSTRUCTION
The double gunwhales are constructed as with all currachs using the inverted method, starting from the top down, 35 ribs are wedged in the lower (or false gunwhale) and clenched to 13 laths with copper nails. The hull is then covered with 18oz cotton duck canvas and coated with coal tar.

and a smaller one:

An interesting feature of this currach is the way the ribs and laths are held together, rather than using copper nails, the entire basket is bound with a rope fibre, nowadays nylon string or similar. The ribs are of unbarked hazel, whereas laths are sawn and as they run into the bow they are bound in a clump, thus the currach retains its distinctive roundness from stem to stern. The framework is covered with 2 layers of calico and coated with coal tar.


I like the idea of using nylon string.
I am not too sure about the instructions for the laths and false gunwhales.