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 Posted on November 17th,2011
I had a couple management meetings this week that provided for doodling space. I have been thinking about a larger skin-on-frame craft ad that led me to umiaks. The name then came to me and so a boat needed to come of it:an umiak-construction hull with lines and rig evoking that classiest of classics,the Friendship sloop. Fun to noddle on.  Posted on August 24th,2010At one point I came across a picture of a dugout canoe from India with these amazing,carved stemheads,not unlike this one. I am not sure why,when I started playing around with how these might get used in other contexts that I thought to do a Maine lobsterboat with them (plus a rounder stern). I like it,though. Practical,schmacktical –it looks interesting.
Unfortunately this one knocked around in my work bag too long before I remembered to retrieve it. Posted on August 24th,2010I had this idea of taking the characteristic bow of an Indonesian jukung,which I LOVE,and marrying it to a very different hull form. In this case,what came out was a jukung bow on a pinky schooler stern with a junk rig. And I do think it has some potential.
Posted on August 24th,2010I doodle in meetings. A lot. Occasionally,I’ll get inspired and an interesting boat idea emerges. As is my way,I am typically trying to blend traditional design characteristics in some sort of fusion. I have a few saved on scraps of paper,and its high time I started sharing them. Comments are,of course,welcome. Let’s keep ‘em constructive,people. I had an all-day meeting yesterday so I had time to play with this one a bit. Scale is something like 1 1/2″= ~30′,but I am not sold on the length. I was trying to capture the profile of a haida canoe and thinking about the construction of a curragh a la Tim Severin’s BRENDAN (updated to modern materials). The rig is more straight Western traditional,but I think it fits. I haven’t really played much with center cockpits,but I wanted have oars as the auxiliary. Maybe the boats is too big for that (that’s one reason I am vague on lengths!). No idea if it all would work,but that is why it is just an idea at this point.
Posted on December 23rd,2009One of the aspects to designing and building my own boat is the noodling on very specific problems –how would X work,how do I need to construct Y,how big does Z need to be,etc. To think through these issues I have done some mini-lofting –full-sized drawings of pieces of the frame. I thought I’d share some of these drawings so you can see what is difficult to tell in my lousy reproductions. I had a rough idea of how to do the inwale / outwale construction from my reading,but I had to think through a number of details when it came to the two laminated frames that are the key structural elements amidships.
Somewhat less complicated,but still worth some thought,was » Continue reading Design details on the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe » Posted on December 19th,2009It was thrilling to hear an inquiry from our friend Bob Holtzman over at Indigenous Boats on the status of the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe project. Our last update showed off a completed ama frame,and,truthfully,for various reasons,there hasn’t been any building progress since then. What I have done is go back to the drawing board to make a few design adjustments based on earlier feedback. I nudged the ama forward and adjusted the internal layout a bit accordingly. I also adjusted the sheer and keel lines a bit to ease construction. The biggest difference,though,is that the split rig is gone in favor of a single lateen sail. I couldn’t make balance work right otherwise. I am eager to try the rig and I think it fits well –it gives it more of a Southwest Indian Ocean flavor (e.g.,Madagascar).
Construction hasn’t changed much,but I have figured out a few more details.
Posted on August 6th,2009Our loyal readers –yes,both of you –may recall a hint of sorts we dropped a few months back regarding thinking about building a new boat. Things are now at a point where I am able to share more,as I have things underway,if at a pace that is in line with many a home-built project. As I mentioned,I have been fascinated for some time with the skin-on-frame building style. I love that it is so closely tied to tradition –even using nylon skin. I also love the idea of using trunnels and lashing –such elegant simplicity. So that was one theme in my mind. Another long-time interest has been outrigger canoes. Love ‘em –have for years. The look,the history –they have been the object of much of my recent doodles. Then there is the longest-held desire of all:to build to my own design. Well,I got to thinking and I got to drawing…and the result is a marriage of these themes. I am designing and building a skin-on-frame outrigger canoe. A few thoughts may jump to your minds,like,“gee,do you have any experience with either skin-on-frame or outrigger canoes?”And the answer is,in both cases,no. I have read a bunch,but the fact is that this is a grand experiment. The results could be sub-par,but I have aimed to keep things reasonably simple and will get the boat in paddling shape before investing in rigging for sail. I can always bail (no pun intended) if I don’t think the end results merit going farther. And of course,I have you all to give me feedback before I get much farther (I am working on the ama first because it’s smaller and could be done very cheaply). So without first ado,here are some incredibly lousy reproductions of my drawings (I’ll try to replace with better versions). She is 18′long,for those trying to get a sense of scale. The aren’t complete because I wanted to get myself building. I have lofted parts separately and may post those along the way. Click on the image to see bigger versions.
You may note that I have consciously blended traditions in a sort of nautical mash-up. The sailing outrigger is Indo-Pacific,of course,though I grabbed an ama connection approach that is from the African extreme of outrigger territory. The ends then hail from Central Canadian birch-bark tradition while the rig is decidedly Anglo-American. Some will call this a hash;I call it a gorgeous mosaic of cultures. I like fusion in food and music;why not boats too? Now,let’s remember that I am taking a flyer here and this is my first time putting my wood where my pencil is,if you will. So let us review how to put comments in a positive light:
Seriously –I want feedback,but be gentle! One might also ask:whither the boat I just built a couple years ago? Well,there have been two related problems with PEACE OF THE PUZZLE. One,it is heavy enough that my wife struggles to lift it,diminishing opportunities for and interest in use. Second,given the weight,I can’t take it out myself with one or two kids,which I would have more opportunity to do,given schedules. I expect a skin-on-frame boat,especially one that disassembles a bit,will be much lighter and,at least,give my wife a break. Posted on December 19th,2006As I have mentioned in the past,I have been screwing around with boat design stuff for many years (with a big lull in there when I lost my way). My inaugural post on this blog talked about the class I took at the design class I took at the WoodenBoat School. There I designed “LiLo,”a 35′LOA racer-cruiser in the Spirit of Tradition vein. Below you find some truly horrible digital renderings of my pencil sketches –really,the stations are parallel on paper! [please consider all copyrighted for now]
“LiLo”was not actually a design I had been sitting on for a while;she is more the happy product of my take on the optimal project for this class. At instructor Paul Gartside’s suggestion,I decided I should do a round-bilged,off-shore-capable sail boat. I also decided I wanted to play with typical requirements that a client might place on me. Thus I originally specified for myself 30′LOA boat that would be a fast cruiser. Given speed and size requirements,as well as simplicity,I chose a Bermuda sloop rig. I also insisted,based on my own sensibilities,on classic lines,selecting a double-ender here to go slightly against the grain. As the sketch came together,I realized I was taking the boat in a somewhat different direction. At Gartside’s urging,I dropped the displacement and created a much faster underbody. Given a desire for a long and low appearance,I added 5′of LOA in order to make the cabin slightly less cramped. I was not terribly successful –kids get full head-room,but not most adults. Thus it is cruisable,but not truly ready for an extended journey.
“LiLo”is just shy of 31′LWL and has a beam of 10′. She draws 5 1/2′and displaces a bit over 11,000 lbs. I have her with 576 square feet of sail.
I envision her being built cold-molded,and began some construction drawings. At present I have no plans to take these drawings further,though I would like to at some point. I believe she could sleep five adults,if four were quite friendly with each other,but the big cockpit would make for a great day outing. Maybe someday I’ll build her as my business entertainment vessel…Of course,inquiries are welcome through this site. | ||
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