small shanty boat cat build log

[aleph]

You will be floating on water, there is an unlimited supply to shower with.

eh, most of that would be saltwater, not the best to shower with XD
I've looked out into desalinators, but looks like they cost more than the rest of the boat XD (expecially those able to handle saltwater)

 

[gonzo]

What is XD? I have showered hundreds of time with salt water. Use dishwashing detergent and a final rinse with a bit of fresh water.

 

[aleph]

hi everyone, sorry for the delay, with the good weather I went all in hoping to get this on the water this summer!
of course I am quite behind schedule, but made a lot of work nevertheless. I quite underestimate the cabin building time, mainly due to not having a precise design, project and drawing that I had for the hulls, so I had to design the thing while building and that slowed the process.

anyway here it is!

for painting I went with cheap acrylic (I am way overbudget I used good quality epoxy fiberglass for the critical parts, joints, deck and hull coating, so the paint is just for uv protection and looks)
I am currently working out the doors and windows (I'll probably do plexy windows on the front where I want good visibility, and transparent microfilm cloth on the side, so I can roll it up all the way!


an important item i have many doubts about is deck hardware... I guess I want a bunch of cleats for mooring (one on each corner maybe?), I don't know if I can use those for anchoring too, or I need separate different cleats for that. Do you think I can find a "deck hardware plan" for a boat this size somewhere with all the elements I might need/want?
thanks!

 

[gonzo]

What is the weight at this point?

 

[aleph]

my estimate is between 400 and 600kg, I could use one of those tecniques with the trailer and a scale to take an actual measure
The deck structure is quite light, spruce framing and 4mm plywood skin... but everything adds up I guess...

 

[baeckmo]

What is the weight at this point?

....and where is the center of mass (longitudinal and vertical)?

 

[gonzo]

my estimate is between 400 and 600kg,

That is quite a large difference. It may be overly optimistic.

 

[HelmutSheina]

With the deck hardware, if you put a cleat near each bow and stern you should be ok for tying alongside and if you use a bridle from each bow for anchoring and mooring the four cleats should do. Reinforce them well and size them for about 14mm rope.

 

[aleph]

hi everyone!
thank you all for your input! I'll get back to you for some of this stuff, meanwhile I have an issue I would like some to hear your opinion about.

I have a bunch of hatches on my toons (for inspection, storage etc). At this moment I have recycled the plywood cutout as hatch: it was available, it sits flush, has a little hole for air circulation, buut is very much not waterproof. Which means that if I get a big wave onboard (while on the water) or some rain (because I have a leak in the walls/roof, or I have failed/forgot to properly close the curtains - happened a couple of times already) of course I get some water inside... what to do:
1. leave as it is: I have reserve bouyancy, a pump, and if water gets in I can get it out and let it dry;
2. seal the hatches with a waterproof cover, maybe I could just screw on a cover with some kind of rubber band as seal, and keep an electric screwdriver onboard if I need to open it up - easy enough, cheap and effective; or buy and fit a regular waterproof hatch;
3. use some hatch design that prevents or limit water intake (in case of waves or rain), maybe I could just build a raised border around the hole, like 1-2cm, and design the cover to sit on top of that, so any splash water would just flow around the deck, and I cold add scuppers to let it drain outwards by itself; it wont sit flush, so it is more annoying if I want to move/place stuff on the deck over the hatch.

what do you think?


bonus question: do you know anyone that makes decent electric motors that works with external batteries? All I can find are either motors with embedded battery, made mostly for tenders I think, which are kinda expensive (in the thousands, mostly for the battery I think), or cheap chinese devices, which are veeery cheap (200-500E), powerful enough, but fell too cheap to be actually reliable. I would like something with a top price of 1000-2000E (but ideally around 500-750), 48V-72V, and around 2-8Kw electric power (I would cruise at 2-4Kw because that's what the panels allows me for unlimited range, but a little more power is good to have "just in case").

thanks!
D

 

[baeckmo]

Before you move on with anything else, weigh your project!!!! Then check the volume of the pontoons carefully and compare with the original drawings. Judging from the spec's on the "Glen" website you don't have much of a margin!

 

[gonzo]

Also check the center of gravity. The boat may end up floating lopsided.

 

[aleph]

hi, in the end i did choose the most radical approach to test weight and balance: throw the boat in the water and see how it goes XD

well, it does indeed float, and I was able to drive it for a couple hours up to the beach and back
- total weight is good, the empty boad draws around 10cm, which roughly means 450kg (including batteries and equipment); didnt actually measure it, will do next time XD
- the empty boat was leaning a little to the front, so I moved back all heavy equipment (anchor, water can etc) and was able to get it level
- with passengers and driver on the handling is very bad, too much weight in the front (expecially the driver) makes it difficult to keep it goin straight... I did put the wheel to the front where the visibility is best, but clearly that was a terrible choice XD;

but, I think I can easily fix that by moving the driver back near the galley, there should be just the space for the wheel. I could also do some tweaking by moving the batteries forward or backward. I'll probably add an inclinometer too to check the pitch while onboard!

 

[montero]

The ladder is cool.

 

[gonzo]

In general you want the keel to slope down to the stern. Otherwise, the boat will oversteer.