GIS Build in Mississippi

I am about to start building a Goat Island Skiff at the end of the month, and would just like to introduce myself, as I am sure I will have many questions.

I work as Maine Engineer offshore, and although I am gone for half of the year, I have the rest of my time off to work on projects such as this. My goal is to finish the boat before June 2016, in time to participate in the Texas 200 (assuming I will not be at sea during that time). This will be my first boat building project, and I am very excited about it. I have some basic wood working and fiberglass skills already, but I think I have a lot to learn during this build.

I was wondering if there is anyone else on the gulf coast (Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Texas) who has completed a GIS or is in the build process as well. I am still in the planning stages and having trouble finding where to buy the right lumber for this build.

I am planning on ordering the Okume plywood, and have found a place by my house that sells Spanish cedar, that I intend to use instead of western red cedar, but am not sure where to find the rest of the lumber that I need. I know that I can find plenty of pine in my area, but would like to stick to the specified materials as closely as I can.

Any help would be much appreciated!

-Zach

If it helps, try finding a local sign shop. Like in my area, Harbor Sales near Baltimore Md. delivered my plywood to a local sign shop for free. I think I paid 63 dollars a sheet for Okoume. I've been picking my doug fir and wrc out of the box stores like Lowes and Home depot. You can spot the doug fir a mile away as it has a pinkish color compared to other pines. You won't find any spar quality stuff, but you can find some knot free stuff if you pick through it.

Looks like I will be picking through the lumber yards when I get home. What are some alternatives to the doglas fir if I can't find any? I am planning on building the spars and foils first before the hull as others in the forum have suggested, so spar wood is the priority.

If you have facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoatIslandSkiff/ is a very active site Mr. Storer is active on.

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Originally Posted by wvjohn

If you have facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoatIslandSkiff/ is a very active site Mr. Storer is active on.

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Most of the GIS chat has moved to Facebook these days. There are 605 members of the GIS group, John Goodman in Texans (builder of the first GIS) and Simon (planingaround.blogspot.com) in Florida just two that I remember being from your part of the world, but there is usually a lot of tx200 talk going on so I'm sure that there are many more. The GIS group and the storer boat plans group are the reasons for me being on Facebook...

Regarding your choice of substituting wrc for spanish cedar I'm not so sure it's a good idea. WRC in not a cedar at all, have you checked that spanish cedar has the right properties? I seems to remember it doesn't, but I could as well be completely wrong. Many use plantation grown paulownia instead of WRC as it is even lighter (and light is good).

Good luck with your build!

Pontus