Texas GIS

[Boatmik]

Howdy,

In small light boats there is only one place you can store things. That is in the middle of the boat - in the Goat around the central seat area. There is no choice at all for items that have any weight.

A few light things could be stored in the ends of the boat ... wet weather gear, flares, sandwiches, but the main weight has to be around the middle or the boat will either handle very badly or be slow.

With a yacht you have more freedom but still those who chuck stuff forward in the boat are going to have a cold wet time with some potential steering problems.

The major weights need to be positioned to keep the boat in trim. Part of the problem is the lightness of the structure and part is generic to small boats.

Best wishes
Michael

[john goodman]

Our specialty lumber yard has both WRC, spruce and Douglas fir in 3/4" (19mm) thickness, but only in 16' length. The manual calls for 17' for the chine logs and gunwales. Will 16' work?

They do have 17' lengths, but in 4"x6" rough cut lumber. Having it cut down will double the cost.

[Daddles]

Our specialty lumber yard has both WRC, spruce and Douglas fir in 3/4" (19mm) thickness, but only in 16' length. The manual calls for 17' for the chine logs and gunwales. Will 16' work?

They do have 17' lengths, but in 4"x6" rough cut lumber. Having it cut down will double the cost.

Even shorter will work, just scarf them together - you're not weaking things, it's just as strong

Richard

[CCBB]

....And you can scarf the chine logs right onto the side panels when you glue on the chine logs. Do a nice 8:1 scarf.

--Clint

[john goodman]

I can locate the chine log scarf in the rear tank where the boat is a little straighter and I don't have to see it. Is there a good location to place the gunnel scarfs?

[Boatmik]

Howdy,

It doesn't matter where. The scarf is as strong as the original timber.

I would tend to do the scarfing off the boat as without guidance it might be possible to get a kink in the join because of the side curves involved in the edges.

This is just a back handed way of me saying to be careful if you do it that way!

MIK

[CCBB]

John I often do the gunwale scarfs off the boat and do the glue up with the timber still oversize, then mill it and it cleans up nicely. For the chine logs, I usually scarf right on the panel since it is flat on my bench anyway. I can do really sharp scarf joints, but you will still see them...it is what makes our boats wooden. The more important thing is to use the right scarf ratio and make sure there is enough glue in there so it doesn't let go later. Here is a scarf in my Drake gunwale...I was smart or lucky (probably lucky) and landed one under the oarlock pad but this one is exposed, which is lovely! I used a 10 or 12:1 here, I believe. 6:1 is a good ratio in ply but in timber the best is to go 12:1. I observed that with time there was a little post-cure in the glue joint and it printed through the paint over the course of the year. I show all my students this one and have them measure it to figure out what ratio was used.

[john goodman]

Should the grain direction on the hardwood planks for the rudder/daggerboard run fore and aft or across the boat port to starboard?

[arbordg]

John,

It's not at all critical.

Ideal would be something like this ///////////////////////

OR (((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Least desirable would be dead vertical grain !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, even vertical grain, when wrapped in glass epoxy sheathing, will be just fine.

[john goodman]

Started on the foils tonight. I borrowed a planer and made the staves for the foils. In order to use all the WRC drops, I am going to scarf a few pieces together to create a few more staves. Made a simple jig and ended up with a 10:1 ratio. That should be fine for the foils, but I will adjust the jig to get 12:1 for the gunnels.

I am using fir for the hardwood edges, but would a piece of fir in the center of the daggerboard be any help?

Pics: 1st scarf on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I will be gluing this weekend.
[IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/100OLYMP/1st%20scarf.JPG[/IMG][IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/100OLYMP/1st%20scarf.JPG[/IMG]

[john goodman]

Here is an idea about adding floatation to the middle seat of the goat without boxing in the whole seat. The floatation I think is too high to help much. Any thoughts

[BobWes]

I may be missing something in the drawing.. Looks like you have the centercase well forward of BH-3 in the drawing. The plans call for the centercase to fit flush with BH-3, so you'd have to build two floatation boxes - one on either side of the centercase.

[Boatmik]

Howdy John,

It is not enough volume to make much difference and it is high in the boat. You want it low in the boat to displace volume if/when the cockpit is full of water and also will hold the boat a big higher when it is floating on its side.

If you made the seat wider and boxed it in you could have a centre section for storage with a lid in the top and either side have a sealed compartment. If the lid of the middle section is not too close to the water when the boat is on its side then it won't need to be really water tight as not a lot of water will get that far. If the mid seat was a bigger width than standard you could probably rely on water never getting to the level of the lid and would not need the watertight compartments on each side.

Might get some nuisance water in some time. Main thing is not to put too much built in stuff in the boat as it adds quite a bit of weight and work.

MIK

[MiddleAgesMan]

My memory may be faulty but I seem to recall 16 feet is long enough for the chines but not for the gunwales.

[StephenR]

Here is an idea about adding floatation to the middle seat of the goat without boxing in the whole seat. The floatation I think is too high to help much. Any thoughts

This is probably heresy, but if you, like me, are concerned about having too much water sloshing around after a capsize and getting rid of it ( I will be pushing 60 by the time my GIS hits the water) then what about killing two birds with one stone and craftily putting a small 12v bilge pump on one side of the centrecase and a sealed, small, 12 v battery on the other, with a discrete hose over the side. All nicely boxed, strapped in and removable. Why two birds? They would provide some of the ballast weight that is recommended as "training wheels" for us less experienced and creaky-jointed sailors. Something like this: Bilge Pumps - Ely Boat Chandlers

I don´t know the number of litres of water left in a GIS after righting that will need to be bailed out but perhaps one of the engineers in this forum could do some estimates and let us know if the idea might work - so I can just sit back, light my pipe (carefully kept in a watertight pouch) and let technology do the hard work.

Getting the boat back on an even keel after a capsize is another story - hence my starting a bit of weight training to get those muscles back in action after spending far too much time at a keyboard and far too little doing exercise.

Feel free to shoot me down in flames, guys.

Steve