CSC 30 Catamaran- the coastal passage

He sent me a couple, but I don't know if he'd want me to post them here. I'll let him know about this thread, and he can chime in if he wants to.

By the way, the pictures seem to show that he's using marine ply. I looked at his last letter, and it seems he's building a modified version. He cites Richard's Romany design for inspiration.

 

I just really like the design concept. Cats make great boats, I'm looking to build a live aboard and those fat cats look damn comfortable. OK they have an odd motion but you get used to it eventually. But a 30' or slightly less maybe 29' so you squeak in under the parking price hike, just seems the perfect size for a permanent vacation. And you can always jam those charter heads on it somewhere.

Thing I hate about it tho is lots of places charge more to park a cat. So a 30' cat costs as much as a 40+' not a cat. I guess its only fair cause they take up so much room but still. In my case I'll be parking in the most podunk back water end of the inside passage I can find so my fees are likely to be reasonable. A whale watching charter later and I"m paid up for a few months.

Lots of wood, not a space ship looking thing, antique style ( lots of raised panel ) 30' cat would be really interesting to see.

Hey Richard, while I have you on the line, I've always thought that some form of vertical through venting between the hulls and the cabin might alleviate pounding, or would the reduction of air pressure end up allowing more pounding. I've always been curious about that.

 

Wood is a first choice for me because of its excellent long term fatigue resistance, positive flotation, insulating properties, beauty and green renewability. Boat material that actually helps the planet while it is growing...when combined with modern epoxies and fibers. Any build should consider all available materials for various parts and remember it is not all one or another.....

 

Hello all,
My name is Dean Pacetti and as Ray has said I'm building a version of the CSC30 with heavy influance by Richard Woods 'Romany'. I have the first hull ready to attach the keel and fiberglass the bottom. Although the plans show a hull width of 48" at the deck level, I have made my hull 60" at deck level with a corrosponding increase in other demensions to keep the same bulkhead shapes. Also I have increased the bulkhead thickness as well as using one more stringer per side than shown on the plans. When finished my boat will be 20' wide with a Woods Design like center section with galley and convertable table/bed area. The complete boat is being built using Meranti marine plywood and Raka epoxy and fiberglass products. As this is my first post here I hope I have done this right.

 

Off topic but I just got a letter back from Ed. He answers the questions on the same letter I write, and from time to time will write somthing else. He is up in age and there will be alot of knowlage lost if he dose'nt pass it on. I think he may have been a bit a head of his time with his designs. I will put a note in my next letter Cavalier, but I think the designers on this forum would have a better chance of changing his mind.It is much easer to have a good conversation with one,s equal which I am far from when it comes to Mr Horstman. Rick

 

Dean P. , welcome to the group

Traditionally we all introduce ourselves

"Hi, my name is Dean, and ( with head bowed ) I'm building a boat. At which point we all clap in sympathy.

After that we've heard just about every horror story there is, so don't hold back, when was the last time you "used" this boat thing.

We also recommend you get a sponsor, preferably someone who's been threw it and has a healthy amount of clean time in off the water.

cheers and best of luck
B

 

Boston,
Thanks for the welcome. I supposed if I need a sponser I could ask Ray Aldridge to sponser me as I built the first Slider Cat to be built and sailed from his plans. And it is a very good sailing catamaran and very comfortable which I last sailed in Sept. Boatbuilding sure takes up a lot of a persons spare time.

Dean P

 

just be careful you don't wake up in the gutter some day

I'm kinda watching for the 28' power cat R Woods is designing. Its about the most living space for the length and if he works a sharpie type bottom it should be damn fuel efficient.

 

Well, I have to say that Dean is a much better boatbuilder than I am, and his Honu is quite a bit nicer than my prototype Slider. His sails, from Dabbler, are prettier and faster than mine too. Dean is also more of a doer than a talker, so I don't think he'll need any sort of sponsorship.

Off topic, but here's a shot of his Honu:

 

That's GREAT you are here, Dean.

Can you set me straight on how, exactly, those beams are constructed and what materials are used?

I've been dying to know for years, since I first saw that link in the original post.

 

If you cannot afford a well built big boat, build a well built smaller one.

If a large boat takes you 3000 hours to build and you sail at an average of 6 knots then that means you will be need to sail 18000 miles before you spend more time sailing than boatbuilding. You don't want the boat you build to fall apart before you reach this "break even" point. As James Bond didn't say, "you only live once"

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

nice boat Dean

 

Hello All,
Thanks for the kind words Ray. Catbuilder-As designed the beams of the CSC30 are of two types. The mast beam and the beam at the aft end of the cocpit are made with a 1 and 1/4" by 2 and 1/2" board at the top and bottom and sandwiched between 2 layers of plywood. The mast beam also has a diagonal board of the same deminsion as the top and bottom board running from the center where the mast mounts to the sides of hulls inside of the beam. All the other beams are 2 bys lag bolted to the hulls.
Needless to say I have and will change all the beams and the mounting methods on my boat. All my beams will be doubled. Meaning they will have a double plywood face with the boards top and bottom and then another double layer of plywood with another boards top and bottom with another two layers of plywood on the last face. There will also be a double layer of plywood on the top and bottom of the beams and all will be covered in epoxy and fiberglass. Also at the beam mounting locations in the hulls I plan to have a double bulkhead sandwiching the beams with the beams bolted and epoxy/fiberglassed in place.

Dean P

 

If I were to build a cruising yacht from plywood the reason for that choice would be speed and simplicity of construction, not the cost of materials. I have built small, trailer sized, boats in plywood and at one time I worked for a couple of years in two factories making composite parts mainly for the large yacht building industry. Based on this, I just cant believe that building in foam sandwich can ever be as quick and easy as building with plywood and epoxy. There is at least one yacht designer that promotes a rapid method of foam sandwich building and while this method may well be quicker than other foam sandwich methods I find it hard to believe that it can be as quick as plywood and epoxy.

Of course there is still a lot of work to be done when the main structure is finished, and that applies to all methods of yacht building, but I imagine that it must be a big psychological boost to get the main structure done quickly and easily.

There is an argument that if you build your own boat you presumably enjoy boat building, so the longer it takes the better. That is true up to a point, but I dont want to spend too large a portion of the rest of my life building one boat then not have much time left to sail in it!

 

great post John
I've been working wood for many years and you raise some really good points in your last. Plywood can be a great material to work with. Its fast, used to be cheap, and is easily worked. Most of my experience isn't with boat building, but its the same either way. Getting the boat or the house frame or hull in the air fast is critical to a lot of concerns.

Personally I'll be loving building as well as launching but for most, I think building is just a pain in the ***.

cheers
B

oh and since this is a cat thread, whats the rule of thumb ( assuming there is one ) on tunnel height, as much as possible ?