Decision: Composite

I found some foam, and it was a reasonable price, as was the delivery. Also some very reasonably-priced (for here) meranti marine ply, ¼".

"A sandwich construction of a core material faced on each side with a reinforcing glass/resin skin offers greater mechanical strength and stiffness, pound-for-pound, than any other structural option, regardless of the materials used."
-http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/wind-foam-sources-pet-san-pvc

I'll make the bottom and—since I intend to install a rudder—the transom, out of the ply. The rest of the hull will be foam/glass. The foam is PET: polyethylene terephthalate. I'm using 10mm (⅜" equivalent) for the hull, and 6mm (¼" equivalent) for the decks. The "composite" part of my post title is about using both plywood and foam. I want the plywood on the bottom as insurance against harsh groundings on sharp objects.

Here are the two bulkheads (green foam) and the temporary forms. I haven't cut the transom out yet. It would sit on top of the left stack:

Below: Laying out the bottom on the mahogany ply. That single sheet of ¼" ply was heavier than all four sheets of the foam, which of course won't all get used because of offcuts.

The bottom is over 8' long, so the after end gets a bit scabbed onto it:

I left the drawing of the final shape of the after end until after the whole length was there, to make sure the curves are fair between the two pieces. The after end is only 1" wide!

Building material, ama design

There doesn't seem to be an easy way to get the foam core that I wanted to build with. I would have to go to Vancouver, or have it shipped. The stuff is so expensive, the cost to get it here would just make it too much to be justified.

So I'm planning now to use marine grade mahogany ply. It will be heavier than the foam would have been, but at least a familiar medium to work with. I'll use lighter, thinner stuff for the decks, heavier stuff for the bottom and the amas. And even though it will be the best plywood one can buy, it will cost far less than the foam board. Hopefully I'll be able to manage the weight, using the noggin.

Speaking of amas, I made a life-size model of an ama out of cardboard, to test the concept. For the first one I made, the two sides were held together with tape. I didn't want to use my good Duck Tape on a model, so I cheaped out and used hockey tape. Well, the tape soon pulled away from the cardboard, so I decided to sew the pieces of cardboard together instead, wrapping each edge with tape to make sure the thread didn't pull through the cardboard.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and now it's hanging above my couch:

The painting that the model outrigger is sitting on shows a full moon rising over Cortes Island, as viewed from Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island. The last ferry of the day to Cortes is behind a tree. In the drawing on the right, the Toronto Island ferry captain is chewing out a hapless sailor.

Model

Since I found myself with two sets of plans, I decided to use the one I won't build (Toto) to make a model with, so I could get a hands-on as to the building sequence. Very simple, really. My only problem was that the white glue didn't stick the paper onto the balsa as well as it could have, so had to be removed in places, but not before I marked whatever station was going to be lost thereby.

Toto, the one I modeled below, has a bigger transom than Rio Grande, the one I will build. The top form in the top picture here is the transom, and you can see that the bottom plank is going to be 4" wide there, since the half-measure is 2". On the Rio Grande it's one inch wide, ½" half-measure, and the vertical side is a bit more than half the height of Toto's side, so she'll have a daintier bum:

still mulling the concept

I’m thinking of having an optional trimaran set-up, so I can sail my new boat without fear of dumping it. The idea is to have the trimaran part in manageable pieces that can stow inside the cockpit, and be assembled at the beach or dock. When I want to only paddle—I mean pedal—it (Mirage Drive, remember?), I’ll leave all the extra bits behind. The leeboard could be detachable.

The akas (cross arms) would be pipes that slide into sleeves built into the boat just above the sheer line.

(Like those colours, eh? ;-)

The sail is small and not strictly a junk or a lug sail; I think of it as a battened lug rig. I want to keep it simple, and really easy to reef. Loosen the halyard, tie the batten to the boom, re-tighten the halyard, and it’s done. No lazyjacks, no snotters, no parrels. The sail shape is from the “Paulsboat” that I was going to build at first, the 15’ sailing canoe that was based on this hull design but which I think is too big for me. (This boat is 13’.) I used the same sail plan as the Paulsboat but scaled it down for this boat: the Paulsboat sail is 42 square feet; this one is 25½—considerably smaller.

The amas or outrigger hulls are yet to be thought through. Could be a piece of pipe, but a simple vee-shaped pea pod strikes my fancy. Probably best vee-bottomed rather than flat-bottomed, so they don’t slap against waves... Hobie has an interesting suggestion...

Oh—P.S: I bought the plans for the "Rio Grande", to see how Jim says how to do it, so I don't screw up it. They may take their time getting to me by mail because of the time of year.

P.P.S: Forgot to say that I had a great email conversation with Chuck Leinweber, the main man at Duckworks Boatbuilder's Supply, who had built the two Rio Grande boats featured in the article about the design, one in plywood and the other in foam and glass/resin, the latter of which he said was a much lighter boat. He says I should build with 3/8" thick foam for the hull, and 1/4" foam for the decks, and says: "If you are going to use foam, but want standard durability, use light glass on the inside and both sides of the decks. By “Light” I mean 4 oz or less. I’d use 6 oz on the bottom."

The Next Boat

I've been considering what form my next boat will take. (I think it's understood I'm addicted to the idea of boats, for which there is no 12-step program—that I know of... or want to know of.)
 
Here's what I want in a boat:

• as light as can be, yet strong
• capacity to carry enough camping gear for a few days out
• easy to propel without a motor
• small but not as constraining as a kayak
• capable of sailing

There exists a variety of different foam sheets that people use to build things with, especially boats. Apparently, Core-Cell is best. What I've been able to find around here so far is Divinycell, a cross-linked polyvinyl foam core. With fibreglass on each side of the sheet it becomes very strong. So that's what I'll do.

For propulsion, I want to install a Hobie Mirage Drive:


So after looking around in the plans available at Duckworks, I purchased plans for Jim Michalak's Toto, a 13' x 30" boat that looks like a kayak with a large cockpit:

Well, this is my version of it. I didn't realize it but there's a plan available for this boat that actually has a deck. My Toto plans are for a mostly-open boat with an afterdeck. The Rio Grande is the same boat but with decks like this drawing. It's not difficult to design a proper deck, so I will just add decks to the design I have.

John Booth says I can build the boat at his shop—yay!

Next step is to source the foam.

Firefly sold

In buying, fixing up and sailing Firefly, originally Spindrift, I learned a heck of a lot; about myself and about sailing out of Victoria, B.C.

About myself, I learned that, although I have chronic back pain, I can still do things, as long as I pay attention, don't lift more than I know I can handle (not much), and take breaks as necessary, not allowing schedules to dictate actions. This was pretty major for me: I had thought that the rest of my life would be drawing, building and owning models of boats, not real-life boats.

About sailing out of Victoria, I found out why there aren't many people here who day-sail for pleasure:

1. The currents from the tidal exchange are a force to be reckoned with. Big boat, okay; small boat, not so much. 
2. It seems there's either too much or too little wind here. Gentle winds often are accompanied by rain.
3. Compared to Oak Bay, there's nowhere interesting to sail to of an afternoon. The wind and the tide both come in from the west in the afternoon, so you go westward first, towards Albert Head. Then you turn around and run back with wind and tide taking you home. After awhile it becomes repetitive. 
4. Cruise ships. 
5. On my boat, I couldn't get in and out of the marina without firing up the engine, which was noisy, stinky, and vibrated the rudder fittings, making a chatter I did not enjoy and could not get rid of. A 4-cycle motor may have been better, and possibly a different pintle/gudgeon setup might have eased that.
6. For longer trips, Victoria is too far away from the good cruising grounds in the Gulf Islands and beyond. It takes a couple days to get there.

And I learned a great deal about Victoria harbour, something that can only come with experience. As well, my experience with Hidden Harbour marina was excellent. Jim Witter is a fair and respectful manager.

So...

One old-timer said there are only two kinds of boats one should consider: Either you can live on it, or you can carry it.

My plan now is to build a very light boat that can live on top of my car. See my next post.

Windy city!