Plans for Spira 19 foot Garvey Galveston

Greetings. I'm new to this forum though I have lurked here for years. I'm want to build an 18 to 20 foot Garvey with a forward landing door like the Spira Galveston. I have limited boat building experience though I built a boat once if an 8 foot Garvey (sort of) made out of unfinished plywood and 2x4's that I paddled around south Jersey bays and marshes in the 1960's count. I am retired. I have carpentry skills and a shop and tools. I want to build the boat so I can take my brother fishing. He had a stroke a few years ago, which left him paralyzed on his left side and stuck in a wheelchair. I told myself I would take him fishing when I retired - I guess that time is now. I am most intrigued by the Galveston because it looks big and heavy - stable enough to give him a comfortable ride. I understand that Jeff has passed so I have been scaling lines off of a few design pages I found here and elsewhere on the web. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I would recommend tailoring a design that would allow a wheelchair easy boarding. This might mean a flat deck with a side doorway/gangway. I can’t think of an ideal design at the moment.

 

Pontoon

 

There are some garvey plans available. The Garvey 18 from Boat Builder Central and Ben Garveys from Hylan and Brown.

I am not a fan of the pontoon, as it seems to me that a garvey would make better use of a similar amount of material. The definition of 'seems to me' can accurately be criticized for lacking any math to back up the opinion. On the other hand, for getting from a dock to a floating platform with a wheelchair the pontoon may be a good suggestion.

A design with a bow ramp, which may not be the ideal design, is the Bolger Charity, or landing craft lawnmower described in 30 Odd Boats. It was an aluminum 24'(?) garvey like boat with a ramp in the bow for transporting lawnmowers between the Boston harbor islands. There is enough information in the book to give you some ideas for a bow ramp.

There has been a recent thread here about some Spira plans.