Photos from my shop from 1983 1996

Here are some shots of some of the projects that I was involved in during this period. I will be posting many more shots as I get the time.

This is the Mako 17 hull with my plug modifications on the bottom and stern , waxed and ready for mold gelcoat and glass.

Mako remake hull out of mold, solid glass hull ready for custom interior, 1984 just across the street from Cambells Marina Tavernier Florida Keys. Thats Lawnada my ex and Christian Kuerstiner  helping to lift hull into the garage we were renting for a shop.

These are the wood plugs I make to form the hatch drain moldings for the decks. The red is clay that becomes the radius edges. Very fast and simple to do.

Deck is laid up and flipped over and I am pulling out the hatch moldings. I now have this system down to very few parts. To make a custom deck this way it takes from start to finish about a week.

Bert Sherbs deck after all the plugs pulled. This is the deck idea that I believe that Silver King copied. 

This deck weighed about 100 lbs

Here I am 25 years old laying up cored stingers in 17 ft. Hull in 1983 using S- glass over core.

Interior shot of hull # 1 of Mako remakes 1983.

Stern lockers before floors going in. Way over built by my standards today as hull would be all core so would not need the stringer.

Charley Causeys hull just launched with Rick Justice who rigged it starting up the Merc. 1983.

Charley and I going out for test ride. I ended up building 3 different skiffs for Charley over the years.This is the canal inPlantation Key in1983.

This is Carl Naverras  all core skiff made up with all S- glass cloth and core. I believe this to be the first all core boat. 1984.

    Here I am in1984 just moved into my new shop in Tavernier , Key Largo finishing off Carls all core skiff " Back lash" . One time a couple of clients were in the shop as I was working and one said to the other " boy you sure couldnt get a Cuban to do this kind of work" . I looked up smiling and said , " well youre getting half of one right now as my dad is Cuban !" 

My mom was born in Sweden so I am a first generation half breed American.

 Hal Chittums Mako experimental skiff getting ready to flip over for painting. This boat was cored in all plywood. Weighed a ton .Thats Ray Dye and me in what is now the middle of World Wide Sportsmens shop in Islamorada. 1982.

Hal Chittums Mako Experimental skiff finished waiting for Ray Dye to rig. I am 24 years old in this shot.

 This is Sandy Morets all core Kevlar skiff one off that was finished in my new shop in 1986.

Sandy Morrets skiff.

Stern shot of one off skiff that I designed and built for Charley Causey that is the predecessor to the Whip Ray. I built this boat in Marathon Florida Keys  in 1995.

Whip Ray predecessor one off 1995 all core.

 Whip Ray predecessor one off .

Whip Ray predecessor side view ready for glass skin. I built these one off skiffs from design to finish alone in 3 months time in very simple work shops so I feel everybody should be able to do the same with a little guidance .

Finished skiff with a big ass motor on the stern 1996. This is the skiff that I told Hal Chittum and Flip Pallot to go for a ride in before we talked about their ultimate John Boat idea.This skiff cost fully rigged as a one off $ 20,000.00 . I have always built my skiffs on a set price and always made a living. The best deals out there today are used skiffs, but a one off can be built for a fraction of a new skiff if you have the inclination and drive.

 More photos to come and Chapter 2 about my time at Hells Bay. Thanks to my daughter Lillian for helping me post these shots as all this computer stuff is way above my pay grade.

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Fancy Pants New Renderings

Since I originally made my 3D sketches of the shantyboat, a few things changed, a few things forgotten about were remembered, and Ive learned a lot about the boats construction. I wanted to reflect those changes in my 3D sketches.

 In these renderings, you can see the addition of the head which bumps out on the aft porch a bit. Also, of course, the motor well and Mr. Johnson have been added.

Less evident is that I positioned the floor correctly 21 inches below the deck. I also resized and repositioned the windows.

Here are colored and textured versions of same.

What you cant see from the outside is the bucket shitter in the head.

There you go. 3D rendering doesnt make anything more real, but it does help me understand some of the challenges Ill face when I start constructing the cabin.

Also, please note that I was unable to find a Queensland heeler 3D model for Hazel, so for now, the border collie continues to be a stand-in.

This is a rendering of you trying futilely to get on the boat while my 3D models callously look on unwilling to raise a finger to help.

UPDATE: I spent a ridiculous amount of time learning how to create 3D components from illustrator files.  New rendering, now with more Hazel dog!

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1959 C2 S S 34 by Swarbrick

We have discussed the S&S 34 before and also the model licensed for sale in the United States, the Palmer Johnson 34.  We dont know exactly how many of these popular boats have been built, only that in the first year of production at Winfield & Partners (later known as Aqua Fibre), 39 contracts were signed.

The boat shown here is yet another version, built by Swarbrick of Western Australia and designated as Sparkman & Stephens design #1959-C2.  The images shown are of a launch sequence of a new boat from the early 1980s.  We dont know exactly how many were built by Swarbrick at that time either.

Here is an interesting article from the Italian magazine Yachting Quarterly about the S&S 34 design in general, in Olin Stephens own words.

Any way, back to Swarbrick.  Did you know these boat are again in production and available from Swarbrick?  Heres a brief article about the subject from Cruising World magazine.  As always please double click for zoom.

More information can be obtained from the builders website by clicking here.

Principal Dimensions
LOA 33-6"
LWL 24-2"
Beam 10-1"
Draft 5-10"

Displacement 9,195 lbs

Ballast 4,800 lbs

Sail Area 484 sq ft

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Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival Part Five

Mid-day Sunday, the final day of the Festival; only a few hours left until the Grand Sailby.

The Grand Sailby is the parade of boats that marks the end of the Festival.  All of the boats depart the festival beginning at about 2:00 and join the 90 minute long parade just offshore of the festival grounds. They are joined by boats from Boat Haven marina and by many dozens of spectator boats.  Hundreds of spectators line the shores, the breakwater, and the Maritime Center to cheer the boats. The Festival gatekeepers abandon their posts, allowing many friendly Port Townsend locals to join the fray.  The Sailby is followed by hundreds of fond Farewells.  Boats ranging from dinghys and kayaks to schooners and square riggers, tugboats, steam powered vessels, motorboats, all manor of sailing craft, and everything in between are suddenly everywhere.  Its quite a sight to see.

I took a break and headed over to the Small Craft Advisor Magazine tent to see what was up. Several of us chatted for a while and it was then when we came up with the idea which was later dubbed the "Rugby Scrum".  The plan was to try to get all four Welsford boats, and a photographer from Small Craft Advisor Magazine, close together during the Sailby for a photo op.  Maybe, with a bit of luck, the photo would be good enough to make the pages of the magazine.  Now that would be awesome!

The plan was to meet around Scamp, piloted by Howard Rice, John Welsford and Johns wife Denny.

A few hours later, off we all went!  As we left Port Hudson, we could see the Sailby beginning to form off in the distance.

Soon we were in the middle of it, surrounded by boats.

Now we just need to find Scamp.  A bit like finding a needle in a haystack!
Oh, hey!  Theres Mike in Jean Alden.  Hi Mike!

Then I spotted her.  Scamp!  There she is near the shore entertaining a huge crowd of spectators!  Head thataway!

And there is Ricks Walkabout "Puddles" headed toward Scamp, rowing faster than I can sail!

And Tenacious?  She should be easy to spot.  There she is, headed towards Scamp from the SouthEast!

We all converged on Scamp, circled around one another several times, and then lined up for the family photo.  I heard a cheer come from the spectators on the beach, but I dont know if they were cheering us or something else.

We did it!  Will it make the magazine?  Only time will tell.

Nearly close enough to shake hands, we all shouted fond farewells, and just like that, the 35th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, the best one ever, was over.

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Lots of lofting

The despised kneepads are gone. The lovely new, gel-filled, velcro-on kneepads are staying. I had help with the lofting: Dad popped down for the day. He wore the old ones for five minutes and threw in the towel. I threw them in the bin.
With his help and a looming deadline Im making very good progress. The body plan went in very quickly, the half-breadths went down fair and the only points we could find that didnt look right were my plotting mistakes, not from the table of offsets. This photograph makes me very happy: a fair diagonal with no need to adjust any points.

This means that all the lines in the body plan will work.

Ive adjusted the colours in the photo to emphasise the red. Often builders will set out the diagonals in a different area of the lofting board from the half-breadths to avoid confusion. A different colour also sets them apart.

Its a testament to Paul Gartsides design and drafting that this all worked so well. Ive read detailed explanations about how to adjust points in each of the different views of the lines constantly chasing ones tail around the lofting board until all lines are fair. We didnt have to do any of that. The lines as drawn in the body plan are fair in the profile view, the half-breadths and the diagonals. Time will tell if the boat looks right.

I spent a devil of a lot of time on my hands and knees peering at increasingly faint pencil lines. I wont miss this and am looking forward to working upright for a while.

The last job left before I take up the boards is to develop the stem sections. The inner and outer faces of the transom are developed and looking good, the sections for the keel are drawn and I have finished the bevel board which means I could actually lay down the keel!

In the photo to the right you can see the keel sections. Kopanycia recommends drawing these on the body plan but says that because of the number of lines on top each other it will become "confused". My solution was to lay tracing paper over the body plan and then draw them in. Its not the drawings I want, so much as the measurements, so I can happily bin them but some how I cant bring myself to so inevitably theyll kick around the study until long after the boat is built.

A couple of things have vexed me.

Yesterday I set out to draw in the crown of the transom and discovered that my trammel beam was an inch short. At least thats how it appeared. I brought a piece a couple of feet longer from home but it was still too short! I taped the two beams together and that extra inch actually needed about three feet. In fact the end of the trammel had to be off the board to get the proper sweep from the crown to the edge of the transom.

What is the poor book Ive chosen to impale with trammel point? It was the first thing that came to hand at the right height. Stabbing compass holes in classical texts takes me back to my own childhood. I like to think Odysseus would be happy that its been scarred in an effort to bring a boat to life. Im not sure the Gartside #127 would have got him back to Ithica but it might have helped him escape from Calypso.

Im following Kopanycias instructions closely but sometimes he leaves me wondering. When drawing out the keel sections Ive been recording the measurements specified in the bevel board. Most of these measurements are taken from the outside of the keel, the bottom of the hog or apron or the top of the keel. However measurement A, which tells me where the ghostline/apex line/call-it-what-you-will is measured from the centreline, not the outside of the keel. This seems daft to me. Why not measure it from the outside of the keel which is surely going to be the surface Ill want to register my marking gauge or square from?

Its a small point but seems to ignore the purpose of lofting: to build a boat.

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Hull Ends

Oh god, at the end of every work day when we are high-fiving each other, we are always marveling at just how much more boatlike the boat looks. But today, for reals, at the end of the work day, the boat doesnt just look boatlike -- technically if you dropped it in the water, it would actually float for several minutes. Today, we attach the hull ends. 

We start by beveling the edge of the bottom sheeting. 

And since we are cutting up two perfectly good pieces of plywood with complicated angles, we draw a picture to help us.

We cut our first cut along the edge and our second cut after we snap a chalk line.  After that, we check for fit and, magic!  It fits. 

We had already put on a first coat of thin epoxy.  Now I needed to thick coat and screw the ends.  I think I did this epoxy work alone, which might have been a first.  So I was a little busy and didnt take a hundred intermediate photos.

However, when done, I took celebratory photos from almost every angle.

Again, screws every 3 inches on the edges and 6 inches in the field.  Thats a couple hundred screws. 

So at the end of this day, if the boat were flipped over and plopped in a pond, it would float for several minutes before slowly settling to the bottom.  Exciting.

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