Another DIY Yacht Builder

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

Guess I will be the 1....I hope he sails it wherever he wants. While I understand some of the comments, I find it hard to criticize someone working their ass off for their dream. Going in with beer under pretense to post pics and poke fun is shitty....the steering would be port not starboard based on pic being aft and rudder looks straight.

Sounder · **Posted:** Wed May 22, 2013 11:01 pm

john55c wrote:

Here is a local story of a guy who took 26 years to built a cement ship here on the Cape, then sailed it to Halifax, Nova Scotia where is sank. I remember driving by this thing for years as a kid until adulthood! It was a cool looking boat, but ended up being in a real sh1tty situation... (sorry I had to) :lol:

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031021/NEWS01/310219963

What's really sad and shocking about this story is that Halifax has been dumping raw sewage into the harbor for 250 years. They built a treatment plant recently but it becomes overrun by heavy rain and still dumps raw sewage. Seriously? And people swim there... After a three day waiting period. Wow.

john55c · **Posted:** Thu May 23, 2013 6:34 am

Sounder wrote:

john55c wrote:

Here is a local story of a guy who took 26 years to built a cement ship here on the Cape, then sailed it to Halifax, Nova Scotia where is sank. I remember driving by this thing for years as a kid until adulthood! It was a cool looking boat, but ended up being in a real sh1tty situation... (sorry I had to) :lol:

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031021/NEWS01/310219963

What's really sad and shocking about this story is that Halifax has been dumping raw sewage into the harbor for 250 years. They built a treatment plant recently but it becomes overrun by heavy rain and still dumps raw sewage. Seriously? And people swim there... Father a three day waiting period. Wow.

I thought the same thing. Seems really odd to me and disappointing.

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Sat May 25, 2013 6:53 am

UPDATE 5/25 (INTERIOR PHOTOS AND FIRST ATTEMPT TO LAUNCH):

More photos and commentary from this thread on Sailing Anarchy. I am posting the pics because you can't view them on their forum unless you sign up.

Okay here we go with some new photos taken just a few days ago:

On this day I got the grand tour and pretty much everything was available to me except the Captain's cabin. I am going to post a few at the time because I haven't quite got the Flicker acct. working as I'd like it and there is alot here to digest. Some of you will be disappointed because the images I am posting often frame out what I considered personal items that probably shouldn't become part of this discussion. Its "camping out" but there are people living here.

This is the view looking in from the aft deck. That is the starboard steering station and in front of it immediately inside is "moms cabin" Like the rest of the interior it isn't that finished but includes a pretty conventional looking bed and lots of personal items. One thing of note: I asked HR about the patio sliding door and he said that other than some trim it was a finished installation. He also said that the sizeable space above the door frame and the overhead is there to accommodate movement and flex in the boat so as not to break or bind up the slider.

Okay, here we are in the cabin looking back slightly at the galley. This is the most "finished" part of the interior. There is a stainless steel sink and running water is a bit cobbled together but apparently works. Counters are epoxy finished pine and there is some built in storage most of which can be seen in the photo. Barely visible in the foreground you may notice one of the nicest things on the boat, a very nice 4 burner residential style gas cooktop (Kitchenaid I think). Structurally, the posts visible are triple 2x4s that are center supports for the deck above. The one at the left edge of the photo also serves as a compression post for the Mizzen Mast. However, the base of this mast has a narrow plate under it on deck several feet wide that spreads the load along the beam and serves also as anchor points for a pair of this mast's shrouds (can't remember if they are uppers or lowers.) If you look closely at this and the next picture you will see some areas without the grey filler between the 2x4 ceiling framing. The grey is insulation board and the blank sections of plywood are said to be planned windows. BTW every stick in the boat other than plywood started out as a 2x4. More on both of these last two observations later.

Stepping back a little aft this is another view of the galley against the plywood dividing wall. It doesn't appear braced or fastened as a bulkhead, and the plywood is not really continuous. Mom's head is directly behind this partition.

From the same position as the previous photo this was taken looking starboard at the "nav station". Again note the blank plywood rectangles. These I was told will be windows of 1/4 plexi, but HR is waiting to install them until the boat is in the water because he is concerned that the window seals will be displaced by the movement that will occur when the boat is moved on the trailer and launched. When asked if he was concerned about them moving while the boat was underway he said that they wouldn't move in same way or as much. If you look closely on top of the chart cabinet you might be able to make out some of the contemplated graphics indicating the boat's name.

Finally for today, this last one is taken slightly forward of the previous photo looking over the nav console. This shows a typical post and beam arrangement that exists several places in the cabin. The beams are what HR often refers to as Steel reinforced laminated beams. This one is made up of three thicknesses of 2x4 face laminated with some sort of epoxy past. HR says these beams are far stronger than "regular laminated beams because they are made with "Special Aircraft grade Epoxy and steel reinforced." "You can't just go to Tap Plastics and buy this stuff." The "steel reinforcement consists of galvanized builders screws at about 6 inches on center.TO BE CONTINUED:

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Sat May 25, 2013 7:11 am

More pictures of the interior.

I took this shot standing in the center of the cabin area looking forward and to starboard. It is framed just forward of the starboard side sliding hatch and stairs. When the hatches are closed the stairs are hidden. If you look again at the exterior shots you will see what I mean. I had to frame forward of the hatch because the sun was shinning so brightly through the open hatch that I struggled for a decent exposure. Hot Rod says that most of the forward prortion of the cabin will eventually be "windshield". defined by him as fastened and sealed 1/4" plexiglass. Again, he says that he is delaying installation because of his concern for damage to the seals that may be the result of moving and launching the boat.

Here I am standing near the same place but slightly forward, a bit to port and rotated toward the center line. This photo shows the center support beam, another "Laminated steel reinforced beam", (Check one of my previous posts if you are unfamiliar with this designation.) this one is constructed of 5 X 2x4 and supported by the short gusseted posts. There are in fact three of these mega-beams that divide the forward sloping deck / "windshield" area into 4 sections. As can be seen in the first and third of these photos the two intermediate beams span the distance, they are supported at the top by the beam shown and at the forward end of the bridge deck. If you look closely in the this photo the burner portion or a propane powered turkey deep fryer can be seen center forward.

Still in roughly the same place standing a little further aft and now rotated to show the forward port corner of the cabin. I am told that this area will be designated as the gym on the boat. Actually I am standing with my back pushed up against some sizeable piece of gym equipment.

FIRST ATTEMPT AT LAUNCH:

The storage container has been moved and son Mike is working to get everything off the boat to lighten it in preparation to launch. Parked cars have been cleared along the path to the ramp and there is anticipation in the air. Unfortunately, it’s the air that is the problem. The wind has been 12-14 knots all afternoon and Hot Rod says that he won’t try to move the boat in anything over 3-5. As I reported before the boat is balanced on the trailer. The stacked cribbing underneath the bridge deck is chained to the trailer, but the boat isn’t attached to either the trailer or the cribbing. I am thinking they may fasten some crossing lines from the hulls to the trailer but the angles are likely to be such that they wouldn’t do much good. Even if the boat could be securely fastened, the trailer offers such a narrow base that the whole thing, trailer and all could be tipped by the wind onto one hull.

If the boat does make it into the water the plan is to spend all night loading all the stuff from the container back on the boat by morning so they can be towed out of the harbor by the welder friend who I am told has a 25’ Whaler. Hot Rod is very cagey about where they are headed but it’s going to be an anchor-out situation. When I enquired about the possibility of going to Richardson Bay Hot Rod’s response was “Something like that.” I am going to head back down to the marina in about an hour and see what’s up.

Posted Today, 04:28 AM

I am back from the marina and the score is: Law of Gravity 1, Hot Rod 0.

Where do I start?

Clearly I should have spent a little more time looking at the trailer. As I left this afternoon I took a look at it, made a few photographs and thought: this is never going to hold. The trailer material is very light gauge and it is set up for a 2 1/4 ball. The hitch on the tow vehicle is a 2" reciever type with a 6" drop ball mount. These trailer balls and mounts are rated at about 5000#. I tow my small boats with this type of gear all the time. Hot Rod has been telling me that he estimates the boat weight at 10,000 to 12,000 pounds and I'll bet the trailer and all the big timbers on it weighs at least another 3-4,000 pounds.

You might want to take a moment now and do the math.

I'm pretty sure I posted earlier Hot Rod's comment that the boat was so well balanced on the trailer that there was "almost no tongue weight". Well there was tounge weight alrighty. The jacks around the perimeter of the trailer were lowered and the boats full weight was brought to rest on the axels, then the last two jacks at the front of the trailer were lowered placing the tongue weight on to the trailer ball, at which point the ball mount promptly snapped in half, and the trailer tongue dropped into the dirt. I didn't actually see this happen but Hot Rod was right on it, swinging the Grade-all around and placing the forks under the forward section of the trailer. His intent was to bring the trailer back to level so that they could replace the jacks and relieve the weight from the axels. The tires on the front trailer wheels were pretty much flattened at this point. As he attempted to lift the front portion of the trailer one side of it just crumpled. Several bottle jacks were brought in and things were stabliized. It looks like they will be up all night jacking the whole thing back up, as it took them 3 hours to bring it down.

I have some still photos that I will post tomorrow after I get some sleep. There was a guy with a video camera there but I don't know if he got the "moment". I was planning on using my ipad to shoot some video but I figured the action wouldn't occur until they actually tried to pull the thing. I will be more proactive for the next attempt which may come tomorrow night. It all depends on whether or not they can get their welder over to make the trailer repairs. It may not get put back together right away as Hot Rod says he is really hurting for money.

Donations anyone?

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:12 am

UPDATE 06/01: LAUNCH !!

Sorry for the late post but it was a busy week at work. To the dismay of the members of SailingAnarchy.com, HotRod made a successful middle of the night launch on May 27th.

Now the betting on that forum has gone from "will it break up during launch" to "how long will she float".

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index. ... 42&page=18

Jdpber · **Posted:** Sat Jun 01, 2013 9:44 am

Lord that is a ugly boat

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

Hey - you got to give it to him....it floats and floats LEVEL, which is something some of us struggle with at times.

Tom R · **Posted:** Sat Jun 01, 2013 12:12 pm

Kind of reminds me of the old "Spruce Goose" that Howard Hughes had built years ago. Made out of plywood and much larger than a 747 (I think that was the model they showed in comparison?)...and he did get it into the air...albeit for just a short flight not far off of the water (I believe it was a "float" design). The Spruce Goose used to be in Long Beach in a large building available for tours...not sure where they moved it.

Likely this monster wooden "boat" can at least equal the accomplishments of the Spruce Goose? Many of you seen the Spruce Goose...truly amazing...and kind of the airplane equivalent to this "boat".

Tom R

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 01, 2013 2:21 pm

That piece of crap comes nowhere near the level of engineering or construction quality of the Spruce Goose. That was one amazing piece of work, this thing is just a tragedy waiting to happen.

sachem29 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:50 pm

The spruce goose is located at the evergreen aviation museum in McMinnville Oregon. It was an amazing airplane.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

Yep...and the rotary drill bit invention has been a little useful too....in car air filtration.....rail mounted cameras....he was a thinker

Jdpber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:03 am

From a designers eyes there are no lines to this bait only flat plaines. It's is simply an eye sore. I bet if my dad inspected it it would OT come close to passing USCC inspection for durable vessel of habitation

Tom R · **Posted:** Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:55 am

I think you guys are being too hard on the poor guy. He did get it in the water and it is floating (as far as we know). The Spruce Goose is an amazing spectacle of an "airplane"...that flew once for a short distance...just a few feet off the water.

Plus, I don't think the "boat guy" had unlimited funds like Mr Hughes

I give the boat guy credit for his "dream". Hope to see him "sail" it just a bit. Not sure if he will ever get a building to "show" his creation from. May likely see it sink if he tries too hard to actually use it as a boat...probably the Spruce Goose would have had a similar fate if HH had tried to actually use IT as a plane.

Please keep us up to date with the "boat guys" escapades.

Tom R

P.S. Spruce Goose was not really an airplane work of art from an appearance or design stand point either...TMR

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:12 am

Meh, I side with the "why should the rest of us get stuck with the bill to bail him out of his eventual disaster" argument.

But I suppose the rules never get around to being written against the notion that someone would be spend such a colossal amount of money on something so utterly poorly conceived and executed.

Yeah, it's luridly fascinating to watch idiots in progress. Here's hoping nobody dies from that folly.

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