Thread: Curlew

Have you thought about one of those inflatable zodiac style boats? I don't knw a great deal about them other than seeing them on TV from time to time. From what I remember they can be stored in a fairly small space.

Hi Bluegum,

Hmmm! I know a few people who refuse to call them inflatables, preferring the term deflatables. This was reinforced for me recently when an old friend turned up in a 70 foot steel sloop at the start of a major cruise. He picked us up from the jetty in a partly deflated "deflatable" and had to go to enormous trouble to deal with the problem leak. If only he'd had a "Curlew" folded up on deck.

However, the real reasons for not going down this path are -

a) Whenever we go camping, I'm the one who gets to blow up the air mattress (and everybody else's). :eek: I know, I should use a pump!

b) I'm nuts about wooden boats.

Though about a Porta-bote?

http://www.porta-bote.com/

howabout a canoe.

How about this as seen on the New Inventors on the ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/newinventors/txt/s1706369.htm

Thought about a Porta-bote?

It's simple, practical, proven, probably more economical, less risky, etc etc,

Why would I want to do that?

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

howabout a canoe.

Yep! A canoe's on the list, but this isn't it!

Originally Posted by Barry_White

How about this as seen on the New Inventors on the ABC

I thought about something along these lines using flat plywood panels. Somehow it doesn't quite seem like a "real" boat.
Probably makes sense though.

Cripes, he's going to the trouble of designing his own boat and all you lot can do is tell him to get something else :mad:

It looks good and, being in two sections like that, you shouldn't have troubles with leaks. How are you planning to fix the two halfs together? Occky scraps :eek:

Richard

Originally Posted by Daddles

Cripes, he's going to the trouble of designing his own boat and all you lot can do is tell him to get something else :mad:

It looks good and, being in two sections like that, you shouldn't have troubles with leaks. How are you planning to fix the two halfs together? Occky scraps :eek:

Richard

A couple of "G" clamps should do it.

Originally Posted by Daddles

How are you planning to fix the two halfs together? Occky scraps :eek:

Ah well, that's another whole story! We had some discussion on this topic recently when I designed our (WBAQ) boat for the Caloundra Classic Regatta, Rough & Ready Boat Building competition. The scheme was that we entered two teams and each built half a boat (2 sheets of ply each). At the last minute we joined them together to create a 26 footer that carried a crew of four paddlers around the course next day.

We won by half a course. You can't beat waterline length!

Anyway, our skipper has a Bolger Folding Schooner so he's the expert and reckons lashings are the way to go. In this case I plan to use the rubber rings used to seal drainage pipes. One at each gunwale and one at the bottom centre (on a small skeg extension). I'll also have a couple of plugs matching a couple of rebates to ensure correct registration of the two "transoms".

It will all become clear (including to me) as it progresses.

A friend has just pointed out that "it's already been done" and referred to an article on p16 of AABB #46 (June 2004). In which Lindsey Turvey shares the experience of building Spindrift from B&B Yacht Designs at http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/spin.htm

Now there's a challenge, they have included a centreboard.
Looks pretty neat too!

Undaunted, we carry on (with a possible detour via the drawing board).

One interesting point with Spindrift is that they scarfed the ply sheets to get the required 12 foot lengths, then cut it in half, after construction, to separate the two boats. Makes sense for getting the curves right but my approach was going to be making ther two halves separately. Obviously need to be very careful doing this.

Any suggestions?

Not obvious to me, from the AABB article, how the two halves were fastened together for use. I bit more research here perhaps.

I've been revising the plans to include a forward thwart to aid load balancing, and scaled down the size a bit so it can fit inside the caravan.

I'm just about ready to start building. Bought some chip-board for the building frame and should get it cut out and assembled during the week with a bit of luck.

Just thinking through the details and wondering how best to tackle closing off the bouancy compartments. I guess I'll bend the bottom first, then attach the bulkheads as they are key to shaping the planks. Once I start fitting decks, seat tops etc I can no longer get inside enclosed compartments fillet the join and tape over it.

The obvious approach seems to be to glue a piece of 12 or 16 mm square framing inside the compartment then glue the final panel to this. Is this the best way or does someone have a brilliant alternative idea ?

You blokes probably already knew this, but I thought it worth sharing for the sake of possibly less experienced members. All my previous build, repair, or refurbish projects have single-chine hulls, either planks, or ply, over frames. Hull shape more or less guaranteed.

With Curlew I wanted to try multi-chine construction because I had a vague notion that it would be more able to hold it's shape, given that the break in the middle means that the planks are not actually bent around anything. maybe this meant that I should have intermediate frames in the middle of each section and, if so, should they be construction moulds only, or permament?

Well I can't afford to waste the ply (or suffer the embarrassment) if I get it wrong so I spent some time over the weekend making a paper model to prove it one way or the other.

I was amazed at the structural integrity with absolutely no internal moulds or frames, even with the relatively poor fit that comes from sticking it all together with sellotape.

Picture 1 is the two halves, separate, before fitting any thwarts or frames.
Picture 2 is the two haves joined together (with paper clips).
Picture 3 is with all the thwarts and bulkheads fitted.
Picture 4 is in "folded" form ready to put in the caravan.

I've made a building frame but, by this test, it might be redundant. However, I'm sure it will help get a really accurate fit without too much stress. Next thing is to move a couple of boats around to create some space, and start cutting out. Nervous? Not me!