Goat Island Skiff (Guatemala)

[scooterpontus]

Had a look at your blog (now bookmarked). The boat is coming together very nicely, and I am very envious of your working place. I really liked the use of the handrail as a support for gluing the mast!

Pontus

[surlyone]

Had a look at your blog (now bookmarked). The boat is coming together very nicely, and I am very envious of your working place. I really liked the use of the handrail as a support for gluing the mast!

Pontus

Where we live is very pretty. We went for a 3 hour walk around our section of the lake this morning but it will be nice when we can go for a row or a sail.

I don't have a working memory card reader at the moment so probably won't be able to update this thread or the blog with pictures for a little while. Not that I am doing anything that photogenic right now anyway; just cleaning up the inwales/gunwales and some general sanding.

I drilled the holes for the oarlocks last week (using a spade bit) and that seemed to go well. Next up will be to drill the holes in the stem for the u-bolt I have. After that (and the sanding is finished) it will be back to epoxy coating....

[surlyone]

Card reader is fixed and back from vacation. Here's a photo for any road cycling fans.

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And here are some photos of the holes for the oarlock mounts.

IMGP3519.JPGIMGP3520.JPG

I'm still cleaning up the inside of the hull, filling small gaps with epoxy and sanding.

[surlyone]

Apologies for offending anyone with my pasty white legs in that last post.

So I am debating whether to add this u-bolt to the stem. I notice from looking at some finished Goats that some seem to have one and others not.

Does anyone have any strong reasons for or against adding a stem bolt?

The hull will spend most of the time out of the water on our dock.

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[Sumbloak]

What are your strong reasons for adding it?

[paulie]

I have one.

I frequently put the boat in and pull it out by myself. So I'm standing on shore, with the dolly in my hands, and no one is in the boat. I need a line tied to the boat to keep it from floating away and let me pull it up to the beach.

For that purpose, I could tie a line to the inwale somewhere. So a u-bolt isn't absolutely necessary for that. But I also need someplace to hook the winch strap from my trailer on those occasions when I use the trailer. I'm not sure where I'd hook that if I didn't have a u-bolt.

[Capturethebeer]

G'day

I find the boweye/trailer winch combo very handy when guiding the goat onto the trailer on a slippery boat ramp. It de-risks the activity significantly. I've also secured the biter end of the anchor warp to it as well, so I don't accidentally let it all go in an emergency.

Cheers Dan

Sent from my GT-S7710 using Tapatalk

[surlyone]

What are your strong reasons for adding it?

I think the only reason I have for adding it now is as a point to chain the hull to the dock once out of the water. If that is the only good reason to add it, then I'll see if I can come up with another idea to secure it to the dock.

I mainly just wanted to hear from others to see if they had strong views about having one, either way.

[surlyone]

FYI - the hull is going to live here on this platform and sailed from this point so there will be no need to use a trailer. I haven't worked out how best to get it in and out of the water yet, but a ramp seems to be lower down on the list of options.

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[Sumbloak]

What's the tidal range there?

[paulie]

I think the only reason I have for adding it now is as a point to chain the hull to the dock once out of the water. If that is the only good reason to add it, then I'll see if I can come up with another idea to secure it to the dock.

If that's your only need, then you've got fifty gaps in the inwale you can tie a rope to. No real need for the bow ring.

The boat is light enough for 2 people to pull it up onto that dock without a winch or ramp. But you are likely to get water in it on the way in and out if the stern is in the water and the bow is on the dock. The angle would be too great. You could try sliding it in bow first and see if it stays dry. If not, you are probably going to want some sort of ramp or simple derrick-like thing.

[surlyone]

What's the tidal range there?

We actually live on a fresh water crater lake (Lake Atitlan). There is no road access to our section of the lake; so it is either walk or travel by boat.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.6758.../data=!3m1!1e3

Though the lake is technically endorheic (does not allow any water to out flow to rivers or the ocean), there are believed to be some seepage points. The water height can change significantly across the year, generally rising during and just after the wet season and lowering during the dry season. However the water level does move over time; within the last 100 years the water level has been 5-10 metres higher and also significantly lower. In the last five years the water level has risen by around 3m.

All of the docks are constructed so that sections of them can be lowered and risen through out the year.

[surlyone]

If that's your only need, then you've got fifty gaps in the inwale you can tie a rope to. No real need for the bow ring.

The boat is light enough for 2 people to pull it up onto that dock without a winch or ramp. But you are likely to get water in it on the way in and out if the stern is in the water and the bow is on the dock. The angle would be too great. You could try sliding it in bow first and see if it stays dry. If not, you are probably going to want some sort of ramp or simple derrick-like thing.

I think there are a myriad of designs that should work. I'm currently leaning towards a derrick/crane type lifting device. Given the other uses the dock has I think a ramp would take up to much real estate. A davit type system was the favourite at one stage and I still haven't ruled it out either.

[paulie]

I think a simple derrick could be built quite cheaply. No need to get fancy. It's a light boat. It looks like you have plenty of places to anchor it in the rock and plenty of places to tie off guy ropes in the trees above. Easy-peasy.

[Sumbloak]

Main problem that I can see is the wet season*. You'll be wanting a watertight cover over the boat, so that may influence how you chose to store it. I'm thinking getting such a cover in place while the boat was on davits wouldn't be easy. OTOH, if it's sitting on the dock and you have access all round, no problem.

Other alternative, depending on how keen you are, would be have it on davits under a small roof. That could be really handy. No cover required. Just drop it straight in the water.

*I live in the sub-tropics myself, so I know what "wet season" can be like.