Thread: New Goat Island Skiff in Brooklyn, NY

So here goes with the epoxy coating, It is 55 degrees in the studio (actually a borrowed space across the hall, which is approx 10 degrees warmer than my shop. Hopefully the epoxy will have kicked off enough for me to recoat this evening, and then once again tomorrow morning first thing. We'll see. . .



They really look nice all together!

Looks like a purpose built workspace! Very nice.

Leigh Hemmings fitted his GIS with a sleep platform and a very elaborate tent. He found it worked for his family of four. However it might be very dependent on carrying a bit of gear which is in the bottom of the boat - water, food, cooking gear etc.

Where the alternative exists, using a tent beside the boat is easier and lighter, but the tent and sleeping platform did work for Leigh.

I would strong recommend some sort of attachment under the gunwale which can be easily released from the inside of the boat. And if there are any doubts about the stability that the tent not be used.

Best wishes
Michael

I think it will be relatively stable for camping. If I am going to do an overnight or multi-day trip I'll have a decent amount of gear for ballast. If I'm solo, I'll probably have some sandbags lashed low to the center case, plus food, water, anchor, 60' of chain (knew it would come in handy some day) stove, etc. But we'll see about that once she's in the water. I think I'm getting ahead of myself as right now I only have a pile of parts! Epoxy coating is going well, the squeegee trick is awesome. (Thanks PAR) One more coat on the exterior sides and then its everything all over again on the interior faces.

Yesterday it was sunny and around 50 degrees, so I sanded all of the epoxy coating. It looks really good after the 120 grit treatment. I also glued up the butt straps and now I have some big boat parts.



I couldn't resist seeing what they looked like together!



Now the epoxy that holds the chine logs is curing.



Hopefully I'll have time to begin the epoxy coating on the interior tomorrow.

That last shot looks like the sides are floating on air!

All that space to work in - and in New York! Makes this car-porch builder who has to cover everything in plastic sheeting to keep the tropical rain off sigh. On the other hand, the heat we are having this summer means the epoxy sets really fast. Too fast sometimes......

Congrats on what looks like a very clean and neat bit of work.

Steve

Now it looks like an art installation! You could charge admission. But watch out for red dots on some of the parts!

Al is an artist/metalworker so has access to all sorts of strange building and studio spaces in Brooklyn. Mostly he builds the big architectural elements in that normal firms can't wrap their heads around.

So the man has contacts in the nether worlds!

Best wishes
MIK

Holy Smokes, It is easy to get distracted and let a few weeks slip away with little progress.

It was nice last week so I put the PDRacer in the water and had a nice little sail, and that reminded me to start plugging away again on the big boat.

I've actually made significant progress in the last week and a half, here's some pics.

Mast stave making, (saw isn't on, when it is I ALWAYS use push sticks, so I can still count to ten)


Staves laid out


Tapering



Fitting



Gluing



Ta Daa!



Elegant pin striped mast.

Yesterday my buddy Jon helped me put the hull together too.
This was quite possibly the most exciting part yet! with four hands, it goes together no problem, and now I can see exactly how cool it is going to be.

(Very Very Cool!)

We did a dry assembly, and then mixed up a few batches of goo and worked steadily and carefully. No problems. Thanks MIK, the instructions read like you are in the room supervising!





The last shot is where I pretend we're sailing along, Man this is going to be fun!

Originally Posted by BobWes

Al,

I'm certainly interested in how you plan to set up the sleep platform. Don't think I've heard of or seen ply-skinned foam - but then I lead a pretty sheltered life.

I'll be curious to hear Mik's comments whether a sleep platform seriously disrupts stability (at anchor in protected spots).

Hi Bob,
Actually, now that I've got the hull 3d, I can start figuring out the boards better. I'm going to go with either 1" or 1 1/2" blue insulation foam and coat in 6oz. glass and epoxy surfboard style. If there are four of them at 47"x 10" each, I will have a 40" wide platform that runs from the center seat to the stern (~7') and they can be stowed forward of the center seat, two lashed to either side of the hull, taking up little usable room. They might have other uses and cool boogie boards for the beach too, or maybe water skis?

So good!

Al, the ones I'm toying with can double as floorboards between BH3 and BH4, something to think about!

THis one looked like Anti gravity.



You have been busy while I have been moving house and doing some urgent work.

The sides and bulkheads always looks like you can go sailing tomorrow to me.

MIK

Where'd you go, Al?

The floorboards and stability ... I didn't answer that...

Leigh Hemmings who built GIS #3 or thereabouts built floorboards and raised them up to the seat level so his young family could sleep with a tent over the top. I sailed his boat in a Gaffer's regatta in Sydney a few years ago and also in a race out of the Balmain Sailing Club and we were unloading a lot of gear out of the boat to go racing.

I think that might be the clue for camping and sleeping aboard - lots of weight. To my mind a tent set up next to the boat might be more comfortable.

Best wishes
Michael