Thread: Goat Island Skiff

Hi Mik, how long till the 20th anniversary of the Goat Island Skiff Design? Biting Midge's GIS was built in 1994 from memory, but the design was out before then?

Ian

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Umm thanks David, you may have noticed the Force has been a little disturbed round here lately although I'm not sure it's all down to me!

It's a bit like Batman selling his Batsuit I guess, but when a government decides it wants one's boatshed more than oneself does, there's little one can do but dispose of its contents in a dignified and orderly manner!

Of course when one's boatshed is situated beneath one's living room, there are other consequences as well. I console myself with the thought that in a year or two, when we get the new house sorted, and have time to take a deep breath, there'll be another boat to replace the irreplaceable!

Cheers,

P

Peter,

A fella's gotta do what a fella's gotta do, I guess. I still find it disturbing. But, then, I'm a romantic and a sentimentalist. Couldn't you find her a nice home till the new place is ready? I know! You can drop it off here. I'll put it on a trailer, and you can stop by anytime you want and take her out! Conatrary to what Mik may have suggested, or other appearances... we're NOT prejudiced against tall people... or even architects There. See? All sorted.

Bumptiously Yours,
David

You are really pushing the memory there! Peter or someone might have the original article in Amateur Boatbuilder magazine about exactly when it came out.

Looking at my file versions that have been shifted from computer to computer over the years and remembering that some of the early ones were victims of a diskcrash ...

The earliest text file is a wordperfect 6.0 file from 6 March 1995

And the earliest CAD file is a Generic Cadd file 13 June 1994. There is a Hullform file from the day before, but it is a taller version of the hull (more freeboard) and I can't remember whether that was me stooging around with another idea or from realising I could get more freeboard within the ply sizes.

But the first anyone knew about the boat was the article in Amateur Boatbuilder. Peter bought the first plan and launched his boat second.

MIK

Interestingly all the CAD files were called "BALLSxxx.GCD" as I thought the boat was going to be called the "Balls Head Skiff" because that is where I sat to watch the harbour when looking at the computer got too hard. But then I realised a much nicer name was right in front of me.

MIK

Well a quick look through my impeccable files took me to a letter which began as follows

20th May 1994

Michael Storer Design,
7/25 Crows Nest Rd,
Waverton 2060.

Dear Sir,

SUBJECT: "Goat Island Skiff" Plans

Please find attached my cheque in the sum of $70.00 being payment for plans for your "Goat Island Skiff" design as described in Australian Amateur Boatbuilder, Winter 1994.

Bearing in mind that "Winter" here starts in June, you'd have to say I was pretty quick off the mark. So quick that the plans hadn't actually been drawn (see Mik's comment above). He assured me he wouldn't cash the cheque until he despatched them, and he didn't!

Mik wrote on the 1st June confirming further delay (no email back then you see), and the final details arrived around the 12th October. I'd built the model in the meantime while waiting. In those days I could build quicker than Mik could design!

The "red" boat was being built just ahead of mine as the plans developed by a chap on the Gold Coast, so I had a full sized model to work with as well.

Launch was on Australia Day (26th January) 1995.

Oh, and she's STILL FOR SALE!

This is someone's chance to be a part of maritime history... hurry sale ends soon! (It would be a pity to have to burn her!)

Cheers,

P

Ah .. I remember ... that was part of the learning curve of trying not to announce things before the plans were finished!

Problem is of course that all these things are so much fun to discuss!

MIK

After some searching, I've found an indication that the GIS centreboard is 1.4 meters long. Anyone know the length below hull, or better yet, below waterline? In other words, maximum draft? We have some shallow lakes.
Thanks, Jerry

JJMc: I have no actual answer, but I'm not afraid to answer a question with a question: would your lake(s) allow you to sail with the center board partially raised? Both the centerboard and the rudder can be adjusted with elastic shock cord (the rudder is actually designed with a shock cord retention system). If you can ONLY sail with two inches of foils, then you might be out of luck when the wind actually blows. But if you have varying depths and only need a shallow draught for certain conditions, you might find the GIS design to be just what you need.

Based solely on my very poor recollection I'd guess the draft with the board all the way down is about 30-32 inches. I never measured it, though. It might be a little less.

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll be good, there are some 19' cabin boats on the lake-- with centerboards, so I'll just have to learn the shallow spots.
Jerry

Originally Posted by JJMc

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll be good, there are some 19' cabin boats on the lake-- with centerboards, so I'll just have to learn the shallow spots.
Jerry

Did I just hear Duckworks make a sale on a set of plans?

Originally Posted by JJMc

After some searching, I've found an indication that the GIS centreboard is 1.4 meters long. Anyone know the length below hull, or better yet, below waterline? In other words, maximum draft? We have some shallow lakes.
Thanks, Jerry

To prepare for shallow water sailing we measured and marked our daggerboard and rudder to indicate how much board was sticking out of the bottom of the boat. This gave us a general idea of our draft plus or minus a few inches. Final draft is based on how heavy the boat, all your gear and number of people.

Measuring down the leading edge of the board we marked 3 drafts, 24”, 12” & 6”, both on the leading and trailing edge.

24” draft was marked 10” down the edges
12” draft was marked 23” down the edges
6” draft was marked 29.5” down the edges

That way we had an idea of how much board was sticking out of the bottom when these marks when aligned with the top of the daggerboard box. This helped us fine turn our draft while sailing in shallow water. I never measured full draft.

The rudder only had 1 mark that was set at 12” of rudder in the water. This was the absolute minimum depth for steerage and we marked this after I got to see how she floated on her lines. We measured from the surface of the water to the underwater tip of the rudder that was adjusted to 12” and then added a mark just above the rudder housing so we could see it.

These marks where just written on the boards with a permanent marker. Not very pretty, but it allowed us to quickly determine the depth of the boards and water. Knowing that we ran aground with 12” of board down gave us an idea of how deep the water was going to be when we got out of the boat. Of course, we NEVER ran aground.

In Theory the depth will be about 918mm plus or minus a bit.

I guess I might need to know - I am coming to the next Texas 200 and also Duckworks JOWoodworks and I will be doing the Family Boatbuilding at Mystic Seaport where people will be building the Quick Canoe Electric.

MIK

I just saw the notice from WoodenBoat that you would be in Mystic in June. If all goes according to plan, I'll be there with my GIS in the "built it myself" section. Kinda scares me to think that the master himself will see my handiwork, but it will be fun to meet you in person.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

...I will be doing the Family Boatbuilding at Mystic Seaport where people will be building the Quick Canoe Electric.

MIK

As they say on TV, "Shut UP!"

This is great news for those of us near enough to attend. I've been considering visiting, but now it's settled. My dad lives near enough--about 45 minutes to an hour away--so I can easily convert this into a family outing.

Excellent!