Launch photos - Chad's GIS in Essex UK

[chad]

:2tsup: Launched my GIS, Sailormade, tonight after work. Just had enough daylight left as you can see! Boat was very light and responsive. I rowed out away from the jetty but drifted back towards it as I set the sail due to the current. I had not lowered the rudder and by the time I realized this and pushed it down the boat was about 4 seconds from a collision :C
After that it was plain sailing in the light conditions I'd been waiting for. A success!
Photos: 1, launching
2, sailing.......
3, .......and back safely!

[keyhavenpotter]

Congratulations, Chad. She looks great. Please tell us more. Good to see a UK boat. Brian

[chad]

tell me what you want to know and I'll reply tomorrow!

[keyhavenpotter]

Hi Chad, everything! There are a number of Goat builders and possible Goat builders here who I am sure would like as much feedback on sailing and rowing her as possible. Just today I have had a rowing pal who feels a sail and oar boat just has to have a wineglass stern. Brian

[Joost]

Hello Chad,

Nice build! You must be proud of her.

Good to see the Duckworks sail in action since I also ordered this sail. The good news is that it arrived today together with the battens. The bad news is that it will still be a couple of weeks (hopefully, fingers crossed) until my GIS' maiden voyage.

Anyway, happy sailing!!! But looking at the launch pictures, I am pretty sure you are fully enjoying the boat.

All feed back regarding your GIS is appreciated.

Regards, Joost

[Maximuss]

Yes, 'grats on that :)
I'm very much looking forward to when it will be my turn. But that will not be before next spring :C
I also have to invest in some wetsuit to both kids and hopefully one for myself to. It will expand the month where i can sail.

'grats again :)

Bjartne

[Boatmik]

Hi Chad,

Looks wonderful!!! I'll bet you are happy!!!

Looking at the rigging pictures I thought of something that the Biting Midge did with his GIS.

He put some brass strip half roundon the bottom runners of his boat. That way he can rig it on a concrete boat ramp. The brass will eventually corrode and have to be replaced but it will last a few years.

It would be easier than rigging while half afloat.

Another way we use is to rig on the trailer/dolly, dress for sailing, then take the trailer down, point it head to wind hoist the sail and slide the boat off the trailer/dolly. One person holds the boat at the front while the other gets rid of the trailer.

With his we have rigged it on the concrete just above the water. Then when I dragged it in by myself it makes the most awful noise in the universe as the brass grinds agains the concrete and the boat resonates like a giant soundbox. But no harm

The brass was 12mm (1/2) wide half round. He used bronze or stainless screws which were put in slightly oversize holes countersunk flush and the whole lot was bedded in sikaflex including the screws. Screws were quite small so they could be countersunk easily. Bottom skids were predrilled, epoxy was put in the holes before the parts were sikaflexed and the whole thing screwed in place.

Don't use silicon seal - terrible stuff and can be of an acidic type which will promote corrosion.

Best wishes
Michael

The bronze or stainless screws will set up electrolytic corrosion if you don't use sikaflex or something as an insulator.

[CCBB]

Yay Chad. Looks so salty.

I second the approach Mik suggest...rig things on the trailer...get the mast up, halyard led, prep the rudder and tiller (perhaps you can hang these while on the trailer), get everything sorted out then...here is my 2 cents....choose the side of the dock such that boat is tied up as close to head-to-wind as possible and so that when you raise the sail the sail luffs away from the dock so it doesn't trip anyone or bang the dock...if no dock...

row out and have a kiddo keep you head-to-wind under oars while you hoist the lug...then stow oars and bear off onto your tack. If solo...it is tricky in tight quarters...I usually row out into the open and try to hoist where there is plenty of leeway so you don't cut it so close.

Good job getting the kids out...so important!

Keep us posted.

Clint

[Cliff Rogers]

:2tsup:

[Boatmik]

Yay Chad. Looks so salty.

I second the approach Mik suggest...rig things on the trailer...get the mast up, halyard led, prep the rudder and tiller (perhaps you can hang these while on the trailer), get everything sorted out then...here is my 2 cents....choose the side of the dock such that boat is tied up as close to head-to-wind as possible and so that when you raise the sail the sail luffs away from the dock so it doesn't trip anyone or bang the dock...if no dock...

row out and have a kiddo keep you head-to-wind under oars while you hoist the lug...then stow oars and bear off onto your tack. If solo...it is tricky in tight quarters...I usually row out into the open and try to hoist where there is plenty of leeway so you don't cut it so close.

Good job getting the kids out...so important!

Keep us posted.

Clint

The other way depends on the wind direction. If it is possible to sail out from the launch point then it becomes simple to point the trailer or dolly into the wind. The the sail can be hoisted and set properly without the boat rolling around And then slide it off the trailer. One person holds it near the front. Best not right at the front but about where the mast is .. .the boat will sit more happily. Other person gets rid of the trailer ... and you are off when they come back.

[chad]

Just today I have had a rowing pal who feels a sail and oar boat just has to have a wineglass stern. Brian[/quote]

Dont know a lot about rowing, but I reckon anything wine glass shaped is harder to build. I chose the GIS firstly because it looks great and second, because it looked easy to build. For me the rowing is a back-up until I gain experience!
A WARNING to all......you really must incorporate some kind of anti-slip surface on the floor of the boat. The first time I attempted to put in a tack I slid all over the place. I'd bought anti-slip pearls for the varnish but didn't use them, so now I don't want to put any more coatings on as drying time eats into sailing time, so I've bought 18m of anti-slip tape from Screwfix which I'll stick on at the weekend before sailing. Can't work on the boat during the week anymore as I leave it at the boatyard now.

[CCBB]

Your rowing pal may feel like a sail-and-oar boat must have a wineglass transom but that isn't so...dories do not, double enders like faerings do not, and skiffs do not, yet these are all by their nature rowable boats until they get too big and heavy like a large dory or a Cal yawl or a outboard skiff where the transom is submerged. A large reason I feel Michael's GIS would be a great sail-and-oar boat (besides the fact that I want one and we are expecting another child by next summer and I need to build a boat quick!!!!!!) is that it doesn't have a submerged transom and it is LIGHT! so rowing is not a chore as it'd be a in a slightly larger/heavier sailing dinghy. However, I am mostly sailing....

You might try putting a matte/satin finish on the floor of your boat and seeing if that helps...if you go non skid you don't need or want it as non-skid as say the deck of sail boat...I'd recommend trying sating finish first and if that doesn't help enough add some non-skid compound to the final coat of paint. Some people put either salt or sugar...I'm sure someone will remember. I don't like the result but others seem to.

Cheers,
Clint

(sorry about editing your post Clint .. but it is the best place to put a link to the slippery floor problem - boatmik (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=804168))

[bitingmidge]

Congratulations Chad! It looks terrific and it's great to see another corner of the world represented in GIS-dom!

If I may enter the rigging debate:

I don't like rigging on the trailer, I've done it many times, but the extra height means a taller reach with the mast before it's stable, and I certainly wouldn't recommend standing on the hull while on the trailer. It will hold you, but I don't like all that extra strain on it!

The brass strips will work just as Mik described! You could use aluminium if that's easier, and it may sound a little softer too!

Cheers,

P:D

[Boatmik]

Peter is a ground rigger and with the metal strips .... why not! The harder the launching ramp the better!

But trailer rigging... if the trailer is like midges ... no worries as all the load is taken through the chines and bottom runners.

Keep your feet near the chines!!! Good idea to leave the boat tied down too.

I would put an extra horizontal rest about 400mm (18") behind the bow so the whole thing does not tilt over on top of you. Best places for the two main supports are under the mast partner area and under the bulkhead at the front of the rear seat.

Rollers are not generally recommended as they create point loads and chafe badly on long trips. If you set them up to help get the boat on and then it sits on supports like this .. then that is great.

http://www.storerboatplans.com/GIS/GIS%20Trailer%20setup.jpg

MIK

[keyhavenpotter]

In the book Dinghy Cruising, by Margaret Dye, I am sure I remember they used inflatable boat rollers to roll the boat up the beach when they landed in a new location, obviously without trolley or trailer.

Now, just the other day a pal was sailing his Acorn 15 and although he launches ok from the trailer, after he has fitted the rudder he can no longer rest her on the beach because it is a non lifting rudder. Lo and behold out came his inflatable boat roller, placed under the aft section of the hull, it held her nicely whilst he rigged the boat.

The roller was 400kg capacity and I will find out what make it was and post.

I intend to use these for Raid41. With her flat bottom they will be ideal for launching and recovery when I am "expeditioning" along the coast. If I can car top her to longer distance events then the rollers will again prove invaluable.

For day sailing Goat you could launch off the trailer, pull her up the beach on two rollers, roll her back down the beach and then sail off using them as extra buoyancy bags.

Here are some from Force 4 in the UK, lets have a search for best value

http://www.force4.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/1848

This one is 350kg and half the price

http://www.force4.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/1847

Brian

[arbordg]

I too have a trailer like Peter's, with bunks located under two of the bulkheads. I rig on the trailer - being careful to stand only on the ground for most of the process. For stepping the mast and setting the wedges, I stand only on the forward thwart, preferably over one of the two bulkheads there. Then I back the trailer down the ramp and launch. I'm usually somewhere with docks, so I raise sail at the dock, cast off, and sail away. If I'm beach launching, I'll row out a bit, then raise sail. Or... if there are offshore winds, I might just push off and drift away from shore while I raise sail and tighten the downhaul.


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