The boat I would build if reality weren't an issue

This is strictly a theoretical design exercise, I have neither the intention nor the means to actually build this boat, it is merely a concept. Any resemblance to an actual boat, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No boats were harmed in the making of this thread.

Having lots of time on my hands (the joys of being unemployed and broke) I decided to sit down and design the ultimate expression of my SOR, not taking reality into account. Whereas the boat I actually plan to build will be about 34 feet and wood construction, this design came out at 48 feet and is planned for steel construction.

I'm just throwing it out there for input.

 

Hmm,

butt ugly, and "designed" by a layman.

But to be constructive:

Selway Fisher

has a proven design for coastal and inland cruising, quite a bit similar. And looking good! The plans are dirt cheap.
Lookup the "Tyne Barge" at their website. Easy to make and proven to be capable.

Regards
Richard

ähh, you must not like my contribution, follow it, that is enough........

 

I looked at the Selway Fisher designs but the issue I have with them is the raised deck house. I want a large, nearly flat working deck for storing and handling kayaks as well as the full height cabin the entire width of the boat. That's part of why I've been co consistently drawn to the commercial / fishing designs because they have a large open deck and tons of room below. Tad did something similar with his PML design, but it wasn't optimized for deck space.

or, to put it another way, I want a floating brick with an adequate pilothouse

 

Looks aside, if this is intended to be more then a dock queen, why put the master berth in the worst part of vessel? A design client of mine joked that all guest berths should not be comfortable for more then an overnight and in the bow so that they wouldn't out stay their welcome.
As you say this is an excersize "in what if" , if that is the case there are plenty of examples of more eye pleasing boats out there.
What would use this boat for, Coastal cruising, rivers and lakes, the circle route, the Inside passage, or for a quick dash across the pond? No boat is good for everything so it is necessary to focus on necessary characteristics. Intercosatal, Bahamas necessitate shallow draft, oean work begs for deeper draft greater seakeeping abillity, cruising in the tropics means A/C, crusing in northern climates means a good heater.

 

I just cannot imagine trying to get a dinghy on and off something like that in a rolly anchorage let alone a kayak. I suppose it might be easy to get in the water by getting in, putting on the skirt, shoving over the side and then rolling back upright if you dump over. Getting out of the kayak I suppose you could dump upside down, pull the skirt, pull a drain plug, climb the swim ladder and then slowly pull the kayak out of the water as it emptied.

I did see a neat setup with a 25' C-Dory with two kayaks stapped on top. Deployment was easy and getting to the kayaking grounds was fast.

 

It's to haul up to 4 adults and their kayaks to various places and to serve as a base for paddling. Intended use is Puget Sound / Inside passage, with the possibility of near coastal on the Pacific coast.

Why would the forward cabin be the worst spot? It seems like nearly every design has at least one cabin there.

@Pierre,

The boom is intended to act as a crane for hoisting the 'yaks over the side and then use wither a boarding ladder or swim step for actually getting in and out of them.

 

You haven't tried that yet have you! You better be young.

 

I'm open to a better idea

 

You need a launching ramp where you can sit in the kayak and launch it like a torpedo.

 

"Why would the forward cabin be the worst spot? It seems like nearly every design has at least one cabin there." That is because most boats are sold as floating condos, the bow of a boat experiences the most movement when underway. These days the interior design of a boat is often done by a person whom has never tried to sleep on a boat in stormy weather.

For ease of getting in and out of kayaks, other small boats a stern platform or sugar scoop stern would make the most sense. In the size range you are talking about I'd be inclined to go with a lobster boat type rigged with racks would store the kayaks like roof racks on a car.

 

Bingo..... but he has already rejected the idea of a lobster/down east layout type of boat in a previous tread with the same theme.

I would personally go for the powered lift swim plateforms I have seen on many boats. One of those would be ideal on a lobsta boat.

 

Which is great until you need to get back in

Is the motion in the front cabin only an issue while under way?

What about dropping the deck level over the lazarette to form a de-facto swim platform. Or perhaps just a fold down swim platform?

Here's what I keep getting hung up on...

I refer to it as the 7 foot problem. No matter how you do it, there has to be at least 7 feet from the keel to the beck to account for structure and room for a person to stand up.

Most boats I've seen deal with this by making the main deck level less than 7 feet providing a narrow walkway around the perimeter of the main deck and a non load bearing cabin top which is 7 feet and takes up most of the center of the deck.

What I'm trying to do is make the entire width of the cabin be at the 7 foot level and have the entire deck above it be usable space. The trade off becomes 3-4 feet of freeboard along the main deck.

Basically I'm assuming a full width, full height cabin with usable deck space above. The question then becomes what does the pilothouse look like and where does it go. The advantage I see to the pilothouse aft configuration is that it comes the closest to removing the conn from the traffic flow. Ideally you should be able to travel from one end of the boat to the other without going out on the weather decks or setting foot in the pilothouse. Looking at various designs it appears that this is very hard to accomplish in anything under 40 feet.

It also gets into a second 7 foot issue in that either the 7 feet of the pilothouse has to sit on top of the 7 feet of deck or else the pilothouse is sunken below deck level and you have to step up to get on deck the latter being more common on smaller boats to avoid excess height.

I'll play with the design and see if I can get a lower stern out of it.

 

theres a boat for you in scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzWjtYGVKac

 

Cthippo...best to get out of a small craft when alongside the mother ship. The small craft comes alongside with its bow into the wind and waves, holds on to the mother ship with one hand then boards the mother ship. How about a taking a circular saw and cutting a big chunk out of the side of the mothership to create a fold down platform, hinged just above the waterline, with the platform deck size equaling the lenght from waterline to sheer line. Make it a somewhat semicircular shape ..flat hinge surface with a rounded fore and aft platform deck profile to keep hard edges from chomping kayaks. . Paddler climbs out of his kayak, onto the platform, grabs his kayak or windsurfer then hands it up to the motherships deck. Then Lift the midships platform , fire up the diesel and speed of with the mothership to chase girls ashore. Could work. At any rate retrieving or boarding any small craft from the stern of the mother ship is a pain . If the current is flowing you are always being dragged away from the mothership and the motion is worse as the mothership hobbyhorses.

 

Of course you could set up your rig to retrieve kayaks on the go. Try ultramodern, high tech, and mount two, say one meter hollow plasitic torpedo tubes in the mothership. These tubes would travel the full length of the ship opening at the stern and bow of the mothership. The paddler comes astern the mothership..picks up a retrieving line and is pulled into the tube and into the wheelhouse. The paddler them climbs out of a barrel bolt arragment in the tube for lunch and a hot shower, while paddler number two boards the vacant torpedo tube stationed kayak. Then, while at the controls of a multi purchase aircraft carrier style catapult arrangement , the captain of the mothership adjusts course, aims and FIRE ONE...whoosh...FIRE TWO Whoosh...the kayakers are blasted forward, out of the torpedo tubes and hit the water paddling at full speed. . Might work