Desperate to sail

there is a natural varnish that is made from pitch- some of the primitive archery guys use it- try the ever amazing google search!!!
1year per inch in the round- so a tree 4" in diam. would take 2 years- so thats the theory- you can rush it- but it will check- but will that matter- probably not- soak it in vegetable oil when its dry that will keep the moisture out.
maybe try and find a standing dead tree- or just use the green one and say heck to it.
i would try and buy thinner boards, then lay them down, and lay a layer on top oblique to that, pound them together with screws or nails- an'letter rip, its not going to rot in a month of use!!!
your entire setup is a compromise- and thats cool- just make do- and go for it- i respect you just trying to get out on the water.
just be like a small kid- dont consider the limitations- and over think it- just do it--go for it, tie everything down, i come from africa- we as westerners are inclined to overthink things.
get the bark off your masts and spars- and let it dry while you're sailing, just dont leave anything under tension when you are not sailing, otherwise it will dry that way.
lots of pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You can dry the mast with a fire, either slow cook it next to the fire, rotating and moving it along regularly, or hand hold it and feed it over the fire. if not too large dia should work okay, this was a common primative boat building method. Or just use it green, no harm done with lashed joints, it is just not as stiff.

Water proof the lee boards with wax (either rub-in or apply heated and wipe off), motor oil (not recommended), milk (will not last very long, dry it on like paint), egg whites, vegetable oil. Or just use them unpainted, on many small boats I have built I never bothered sealing the dagger board or rudder. Allow them to dry out between uses (by removing them from the boat) and it will hold up okay. Kon Tiki was in the water for many months and saturating the wicker hull would have been a problem out at sea. You can just get the lee boards and rudder out of the water and you should be okay.

 

Again, thank you for information. I didn't think there was so many options with waterproofing. Petros, why do you suggest lug rig? (Since you said loose footed, did you have in mind something like http://www.diy-wood-boat.com/images/Dippinglug.jpg ? ) I have red around the internet, and it seems it has some problems in making tension in luff and leech even, going balloon on downwind, and very ineffective on one tack (sprit rig also have this, but it seems that not so much). Could you please say what advantages does it have over sprit? Anyway, both systems are simple enough to try them both - I think I'll leave some of that pine for lug yard.

Thank you for leeboard and rudder ideas. Not sure I'll be able to make it (I have no drill), but I'll keep this in mind.

Drying in fire is very interesting. How long should I dry it like that? Is there any indication on the wood itself? What would be best to use for protection, so that mast wouldn't catch fire itself?

 

Well, right but... Did you read this thread from the beginning? No tools, no materials, no time. Laukejas just want to get it in water an make it sail somehow.

Anything that even vaguely resembles a subtlety is not to be considered in this project.

Cheers

 

If you have limited resources you can look back to our ancestors who had to make do with very little. If you have a tree limb, a bit of metal or stone and some rope you can make a drill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_drill

 

That's one nice example of smart and simple ancient technology.

 

There are lots of ancient techniques available if one does not have access to modern equipment.

 

that is a rather fancy primitive drill, a simpler one that I have used is to find a block of wood and put a notch in the middle, that is the top pivot, use a dowel or fairly straight roundish stick, and than make a bow (as in bow and arrow) with a loose string. the string warps around the dowel/drill shaft several times and you saw back and forth on the bow, that spins the drill shaft. It only takes a few min. to make and works pretty good, used it to start a fire without a match. All you would need is a metal or stone tip with a sharp edge to bore through wood.



or you can do it the slow way:



to dry the wood you hold it bad far enough from the fire to just prevent the surface from charring, though you will get a few scorch marks on the surface (just do not let it char). the hotter you get the wood the faster it drys out, typically 15 to 20 min is enough to dry each section, but several hours for each section is better. if you set up a charcoal fire (no open flames) and than you suspend the mast over the fire about 1 meter high and let it set there for 15-20 min at a time, rotating it and feeding across the fire regularly. This way you can do this as you accomplish other tasks (like drilling with your home made drill!) and keep an eye on it. BTW, the mast might "check" split slightly as the outside drys faster than the inside, this will not affect the strength of the mast. The faster you dry it the higher the risk of checking the wood.

I have used the dipping lug before, not because I like the way it sails (I do not) but it uses fewer parts than any other sail and it is simple to rig with just a singel short yard arm. My favorite simple rig is a modified junk rig, uses three light battens and no boom, easy to control and very efficient for all points of sail except it does not point into the wind very well.

the picture below is of a simple modified junk rig we made for about $6 ($3 for the tarp and about $3 for battens and 15 ft of duck tape), it won two different races and performed better than the other home made sails (some were much larger) in the contests we entered it in.

 

A bigger pic would be better.

 

Details for this boat are over in this thread with more pictures; http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sa...esign-build-race-challenge-weekend-47545.html


lets try this:

 

to make a junk rig point better you need to put camber into the panels so there is camber on the sail. Otherwise it is simple to make as a flat sail as we did on this sail, but it only will point about 10 to 15 deg into the wind, with cambered panels it will point similar to a typical sloop.

I used flat battens, but round ones can also be used, even saplings, used green. Duck tape is fast and cheap, but the battens can be stitched to the sail surface. This sail rig only took about 30 minutes to make from the tarp, battens and duck tape. the battens were glued to the tarp fabric with adhesive caulk for extra strength, though likely the tape would have been strong enough. Traditionally you would put a "sheetlet" from each batten end, but in light winds only the lower batten had a sheet on it.

 

Some people are over-thinking this, laukejas. They're sidetracking you into irrelevant details....

For your purposes, what do you care how dry the mast is? Debark it to make it easier to handle and use it.... forget about any finishes. If it checks or warps, what do you care?

A leeboard made from the metric equivalent of a 1x10 or 1x12 should work fine. Just double up the upper end of it, where the pivot is. And ditto with the finish; you're only planning to use it for one season.

Although I appreciate and respect fine craftsmanship, there's a legitimate place in the world for the 'quick and dirty, get it done and go on with your life' approach.

 

You're right.

I thought I had read it carefully enough, but it is obvious now that I hadn't.

 

Pine would be my last choice if I had options.



But, if all you need is wood, go for it. Now, you got me thinking about hopping 'a big iron bird' and coming to see what your sail boat looks like.

Wayne

 

This make my project sound so horrible and savage... But I know it's true!


Petros, I found a way to attach leeboards without drilling, but out of pure interest, doesn't this traditional bow drill split the wood? Because as I understand, modern steel drills remove wood from the hole, while this bow drill seems to just punch a hole, pushing through the wood with the sharp tip - if this is the case, doesn't wood start to split and fracture because of this (I had some very bad experience with trying to get some thick wood screws through a plank without drilling holes first - basically, plank broke).

I'm still thinking if I should dry the mast - with the fire method, what kind of weight loss in mast could I expect? I think it weights around 10 kilos now, it is soaking wet with resin. I'm not sure if it's worth drying it for this month, or is it better to leave it to dry naturally for the next season. Reducing weight, however, would improve stability... So, how much weight loss can I expect from drying?

That's okay... I understand that most people here are professionals, and they naturally try to suggest professional solutions, even though I don't have these options Still, it is very interesting to read it, there are many ideas which I might use later. For example, that lashed rudder system is exactly what I was looking for my skin-on frame boat design, since I can't use hardware on skin. So, I really appreciate any kind of input!

Um... Why? I think I red that best wooden masts are made from pine. They are usually long and strong, with little branches... Of course, these are pines like pinus strobus (white pine), but still, a pine is a pine, so, what is wrong with using it?



Well,

Believe it or not, I got all I need, I finished all the hard work, and tommorow morning, if winds are favorable, I'll set sail. We'll see if she goes straight and true.
"Only" a days work. At morning, the tree went down. Spent more than 4 hours debarking it, since I realized that the hand plane is actually missing, so I had to do everything with a very heavy axe and kitchen knife. Also, I realized that the tree was 1 meter short to make a sprit (it looked so high before while it stil stood...), and I didn't want to bring down another tree - my conscience already hurts for the first one. So, I decided to go back to single halyard gaff rig. I found a few pulleys, so it'll work, and it still should sail better than both sprit or lug rigs. It's not the traditional one halyard system where that halyard raises both throat and peak - but the one where it raises only peak, and the throat is permanently attached. Sail is lowered by releasing aforesaid halyard, alligning it paralel with the mast, and then wraping the remaining portion of sail around the mast. I'm sure I'm not the first one to use this kind of rigging, but I haven't seen it anywhere before. Pros of this system, I think:

1. No need to make smooth mast, so that line which ties sail to the mast doesn't get stuck while raising the sail (this was very difficult to solve in my catamaran, I worked for two days until I found how to make that line slippery enough);
2. Single halyard - but no problems with leech tension, so, very quick raising of the sail;
3. Complex gaff throat systems - who needs them? Single rope works here.
4. More comfortable to carry after dismounting from the boat.

Cons:
1. After "lowering" the sail, center of gravity remains pretty high up;
2. Probably wouldn't work with boom;
3. No way to reef;

But that's just speculation - I'll see if any of this is true tommorow. If anybody has any comment on this rig, do tell.

And those leeboards... That was horrible. Spent 3 hours. For each of them. It was truly painful to make that kind of shape with huge axe, kitchen knife and sandpaper that doesn't seem to do anything unless you rub in for 10 minutes per section. All those snags, bumps, hollows and chips that axe leaves... In the end, I managed to get them in shape. Damn, actually, they look almost like those centerboards from AC45's. High aspect ratio, airfoil shape, very strong, smooth as silk... Except for their weight, but who cares? I think they'll work great.

So, every bone and muscle in my hands hurt, I'm tired as hell, but very happy - two leeboards, mast and gaff in one day, and with any luck, I'll make some upwind distance tomorrow. For the worst possible case, I have oars...

Wish me luck! Attaching a photo, since wayne nicol asked. In it you can see mast and gaff in their positions - just no rigging and lashings yet. This was just before dark. You can also see those leeboards, but this was before I started to shape them - when I finished, it was too dark outside to make a photo. I'll make some tomorrow, with the full system ready to go, and then some pictures from sailing (unless it'll be an embarrasing failure).