Trailer cruiser revisited... as a trimaran

Just in case anyone's wondering how the project is going....

- The trimaran keeps getting bumped to the bottom of the pile. Lately, there's been a lot of "this stack of lab reports needs to be marked by Thursday" or "we have to get this data analyzed for next week's conference".

- The design has undergone some minor refinements since I last posted here, and a fair bit more detailing. We're not making any more appreciable changes to the overall design, just interior details.

- I need a few days to sit down and finish a few remaining structural calculations for this boat. After that, I need a few days to sit down and detail the various components of the folding linkage. When that's done, I can buy some metal and start building parts. I would like this to happen this month; given the current workload and the boat's position on the priority list, it's more likely that I'll get parts on the mill and lathe in January.

- We don't have space to build the hull right now. So I'll be starting with the small, finicky bits: the hinges and brackets, flat pieces, etc. The idea is to get all the complex and time consuming pieces ready to go, then rent a shed somewhere for a couple of months to build the bare hulls and bolt on all the pre-built parts.

 

Sounds like a good plan.....looking fwd to seeing the results

 

Nothing worse than when life gets in the way of... well... life!
Keep at it Matt.... it'll all be worth it in the end!

 

OK, so real life got in the way of the boat. Again. But there are drawings now, some detailing still to go but there's enough to start building. Here's hoping this time's the charm.... I have a thesis to defend in a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting in the way of the boat now.
Wife: "When are you going to start that boat you keep saying you'll build for us?"
Me: ".... Soon?"

 

Construction has begun. It may take a while, but she'll see the water in due time.

The first parts: Hinge pins and sleeves for the outrigger struts. (I figure it's best to start with the smallest and most finicky parts. The struts themselves are next on the list, followed by a bunch of small fiddly bits and the crossbeams.)
http://marsh-design.com/?q=content/building-starwind-860-strut-hinge-pins

I'll add periodic updates about the project here as things progress:
http://marsh-design.com/?q=category/boats/starwind-860

 

Matt

Good to see it still bubbling along

(I still haven't got around to building my test tank...this summers job!)

Although i would question the wisdom of doing the "finicky parts" first. The main bits, the larger items generally dictate the smaller items location/size and number off. Better to fabricate the larger items first, offer them up and then as the old saying goes...measure twice cut once!

Good luck

 

Way to go Matt!!
And don't listen to John.... just build the boat around the hinges!!

 

Thanks for the encouragement, guys

The "finicky parts" can be divided into three groups: high precision stuff that must match the drawings exactly (and can therefore be built at any time), low precision stuff that just gets bolted on somewhere (and can therefore be built in advance), and stuff that must be fitted to whatever's around it (and thus can't be done until the rest of the boat exists). Shop space is expensive and I want to have as many parts as possible ready to go before renting space for the hull.