Racing to Rio A perspective on Crossing the South Atlantic Ocean

I have crossed the South Atlantic under sail four times. Three times it was with full crew from Cape Town, South Africa, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the Cape to Rio Race. The other crossing was double-handed and going the other way. I will do it again in January but this time the build-up is proving to be very different.

First, I am not there to prepare the boat for the race myself. I have always been there to take charge of the preparations, with much able assistance from my crew and my family. This time I must rely on someone else to sort out any issues and to ready "Black Cat" for her 3,250 nautical mile voyage. That distance is nearly 3800 land miles and more than 50% longer than the famed Trans-Pac Race.

This voyage is small compared with a round-the-world voyage but it is, nevertheless, a major voyage and it is across waters that see very little traffic. Aside from commercial fishing ships and the boats that are racing, there are very few vessels crossing this ocean at any time. We have to be self-sufficient, to take care of whatever situation fate and the weather gods might send our way. We cant make a VHF call to the Coast Guard or US Towing to come fetch us. Each boat has to rely on its crew in an emergency and vice-versa; boat and crew are totally inter-dependent and both have to be fully prepared.  And, in the traditions of all seafarers, all boats are ready and willing to assist each other if needed.

I am very grateful for the work that is being done in Cape Town by Dave Immelman in preparing "Black Cat" in my absence. Dave will be my navigator for this race and was her skipper for the 1,800 mile Governors Cup Race from Simonstown to St Helena Island in December last year. He is the only one on the crew who lives in the Cape, so a big load has fallen on his shoulders ahead of this race. The Cat is now 18 years old and Dave has been charged with upgrading anything that needed upgrading, from structure through to finishes, rig, systems, equipment and sails. In many respects the St Helena Race served as a good shake-down to highlight any issues that have developed in the years since I handed her over to her current owner, Adrian Pearson.  I look forward to test-sailing her on Table Bay with all the new goodies that she has gained since I last sailed on her.

Racing under spinnaker into inky darkness.
Sean Collins & Adrian Pearson in the cockpit.

 The other difference is that for previous races I lived in Cape Town and  this time I live in USA. In Cape Town I was always surrounded by people from the sailing community. Cape Town is a beautiful place to sail, one of the best in the world. It can also be one of the toughest places in the world to sail, with sometimes violent weather and extremely testing seas. In that environment the fact that I was soon to cross an ocean on a small boat was of passing interesting but not considered to be too much out of the ordinary. After all, if you can sail in Cape Town you can sail anywhere, so what could be special about an ocean crossing?

This time it is very different. My neighbours know that I design boats for a living. They have not seen the big boats that I have built, only the little Paper Jet that took shape in their neighbourhood and drags around faithfully behind my minivan when I am going sailing. They have not seen the boisterous to wild conditions in which so much of the Cape Town racing happens. Here I am a bit of an oddity because I just dont fit into the mould. They are very supportive of what I am doing but dont really comprehend it; the who, where, what and how of sailing across an ocean. I must admit that I do enjoy explaining to them what I will be doing, where we will sail, the beauty of Cape Town and Rio, the good and bad experiences of sailing a small boat across thousands of miles of open water, through good weather and bad and the real or imagined dangers. In their view I fit in somewhere between eccentric and totally crazy, leaning mostly toward the crazy end of the scale. They worry mostly that it is a very dangerous thing to do.

The truth of a voyage is really somewhere between how it is viewed by my friends in Cape Town and those here in Virginia Beach. In each of the races that I have sailed we have had to cope with at least one big storm and another one or two smaller ones. Yes, it is dangerous; but we do what we can to reduce the danger. As far as I can recall, only one person has died during the Cape to Rio Race in the 42 year history of the event. Thousands have participated, two boats have sunk on the race, two have sunk on the return voyage and only one person has died. That was from a heart attack that would likely have happened on land anyway.

Gavin Muller repairing sails during the 1996 race.

We all take precautions because it is dangerous to be on a small boat way out of sight of land. The boats are all fully equipped with a wide range of safety equipment, which has to be maintained according to mandated schedules. All boats are scrutinied before being allowed to start. All boats have to prove a high level of experience and/or certification among the crew before they are accepted. That experience and certification is for ocean experience, navigational and seamanship skills and the ability to take care of medical emergencies with the very comprehensive medical kit that we carry with us.

Additional to those documented requirements, every skipper sets his/her own standards for behavior on their particular boat. I cant vouch for other skippers but on "Black Cat" we go into safety mode in bad weather and from dusk to dawn, when no person is allowed on deck without first putting on their safety harness and clipping onto one of the many secure points on deck before exiting the interior of the boat. Along with this, a clear head is always required, 24/7, so there is no drinking of alcohol except for one optional drink at happy hour each day. There will be plenty of time to imbibe in Brazil.

An ocean crossing like this does not need to be dreaded but neither is it a cakewalk. We need exciting activities in our lives to build the memories that we cherish. They help to remind us that we are alive and have a purpose in our lives, they give us the material with which to tell the stories that will entertain our friends and grandchildren in the autumn years to come. If we dont reach those autumn years we still come out ahead because we have had a lot of fun and excitement along the way.

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A Cautionary Tale

A couple weeks ago the flood tide that would lift Saga north from Anacortes, Washington to Sucia Island near the Canadian border, started mid-afternoon. The boat was rigged, provisioned and ready to go that morning. The only thing unaccounted for was the compass. Couldnt be found anywhere.

No big deal, these are protected waters where land is always visible and the route well known. Anxious to get underway, we set off. The tide would be against the little boat for the next four to five hours, but after a gentle push west out of Guemes Channel on the ebb, the idea was to sail leisurely at the south end of Bellingham Channel until the flood, then ride the afternoon tide all the way to Sucia Island.

All was well. The day was bright and beautiful. The wind was a bit light and the current steady, so very little forward progress was made all morning. Just to the west a pretty band of fog drifted in off the Strait of Juan de Fuca and along the coast of Cypress Island. Saga was behaving well and making probably two or three knots over the water, yet none over the ground. In fact the set was a bit to the west, which caused no particular concern, it was good to just be sailing.

The fog on the western shore had dissipated as the sun reached its zenith, so imagine my surprise when Saga was suddenly engulfed in mist. Habitually, I looked for the compass which, as we already know, was no where to be found. Cursing my ill fortune, I watched the peaks on Cypress Island disappear as the sun turned to a diffuse milky haze. The regular rhythm of a light fetch was all the directional indication left.  
Saga held her course.

Directly behind me, I heard the toll of a navigational horn on a big ship. I must be drifting south, back into Guemes Channel!

Panic is deadly and must be avoided at all costs. File through all the options. Strike the sails and get the motor going. But then what? No worries, there is a compass function on the GPS. Now some of you may laugh because you know Doryman doesnt use a GPS very often, he depends on his charts and his COMPASS.

The compass function was not hard to find but it took me a few minutes to discover the gadget had to be oriented along the centerline of the boat to give an accurate reading. It didnt help that this little hand held toy has a turtle shell shaped back and will not lay flat on a seat or thwart.

It does no good to have plenty of fuel and a dependable engine if you have no idea where you are or where youre going. The horn on my stern was much louder by now and it was time to get the hell out of here. I flipped to the map function and panned out to get a bearing and imagine my surprise to see "Strait of Juan de Fuca" on the western margin of the tiny screen. The magnitude of my dilemma just set in. I was possibly in the shipping lane for Guemes Channel, and even more disconcerting, might be very near the much more heavily trafficked Rosario Strait. The horn from that freighter was very loud, very close.

This story might have a different ending if the fog had not lifted at that moment. The stark reality was apparent in the mid-afternoon sun. I had indeed drifted southwest into Rosario Strait and was close to three miles from where Id last taken a visual bearing.
I never saw the freighter. (and Im sure they never saw me.)

As I motored back into position, the tide turned and the trip north began. The rest of the day was by turns easy and exciting. Around the east side and up the north end of Cypress Island, Saga again entered the wind tunnel that is Rosario Strait. With all sail set, the motor pushing at an idle and the tide at her back, Saga clocked a top speed of 7.2 knots on a port broad reach toward Orcas Island. Not bad for an eighteen foot boat.

Soon Sucia Island was in sight. The first task, after setting anchor and before dinner, is to find that compass!

To be continued...

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Tales from a Terrapin

While I was in Port Townsend for the Boat Fest, I met up with Bruce, who I first met here on-line. Bruce is an adventurer from Portland, Oregon. Now, its a true reality check to meet someone in person, who you think you know so well, here in the Internets. Apparently Ive advised Bruce on everything from purchasing the right trailer to finding a good deal on oars. Hes had some good advise.

I must admit, when Bruce told me he was going to row from Seattle to Port Townsend, I was intrigued but when I heard he was to do it in an Adirondack Guide Boat, hed gotten my attention.

The Adirondack Guide Boat was designed for flushing out game in the reeds of backwoods lakes, not cruising an open sea. But Bruce was determined and he did it. Bruce is a philosopher as much a sailor... possibly there is very little distinction there.

You can share his experience on Terrapin Tales.

 


He keeps a log in a notebook and sketches some of the entries. How he can do that and navigate a (very) small boat in variable weather is completely beyond me.

This first sketch is a map of his Salish Sea adventures to date. The distances in miles are modest, yet the voyage ethereal.

We found camaraderie on the day-long ride home. Bruce sketched us on the road in the "DoryMan Big Truck", which, with a couple beautiful boats on top, got some attention. For the back-story, please visit Bruce at Terrapin Tales.

Bruce is the new owner of an Iain Oughtred Arctic Tern, of which, we will hear more anon....

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A Madcap Boat Scavenging Journey

Kai and I took a mad motorcycle trip up the Sacramento Delta to check out a couple of "pontoon boats."  They turned out to not only not be pontoon boats, but much longer than we were told and barely afloat.

The first was a fiberglass houseboat around 35 feet or so, much too large, and much too... not what were looking for whatsoever.  The best thing that could be said for it, was that at least it was floating pretty high and.. not quite dry as it had lots of water sloshing around in its hull.  It was probably a 70s era houseboat, fiberglass hull, fiberglass cabin, ugly aluminum windows, rotting deck, and rusty inboard engine.  They offered to give that one to me free.  Uh.. thanks?

The second boat, and the reason we went up there, was an alleged pontoon boat that could easily be shortened, we were told.  Instead, it had a steal twin hull, something like triangular Vs that went down in the water, vaguely pontoon stylee.  Some of the bulkheads below the waterline had been filled inexpertly with foam. Unfortunately, these werent pontoons and the boat sat inches off the water and listed to the port side.  I couldnt see exactly how the hull was configured, but it looked like it was a steel hull with twin-Vs that couldnt have offered much displacement.  It was also filled with a lot of rusty water.



We guessed at the cross-sectional area of these "pontoons" was something like 249 sq in (compared to a round pontoon of the same width at 452 sq in).  We take the cross-sectional area of the "pontoon" times the length to get the displacement at 60.5 cu ft.  Times the weight of water to get the buoyancy at 3776 lb - plus youd have to subtract the weight of that enormously heavy steel hull.  For comparison, a similarly sized round pontoon would provide 6855 lb of flotation.  No wonder the boat was barely out of the water.

The one thing it had going for it is that it had a trailer. Still, though, I think well take a pass on these.  Chicken John, a friend who is no stranger to building with scavenged boats, says these sad houseboats are as common as dirt.  Or as he put it, "You can get that kind of stuff forever for free. Finding clean pontoons, steel or fiberglass is rare for free. They are worth $1,000 each. Steel is better, I say. Aluminum is swank, but there is always the possibility of theft, and they sell for like $2,000 a pop."

The guy who showed us around was a grizzled old fella who lived in a floating house in the marina and was heavily up-selling these boats.  "You can easily cut this down, make it the size you want, and wham!  There you go."  And "Just needs a little TLC and you got a beautiful boat."  He set my teeth on edge with a few borderline racist comments. The topper was when he tossed his filtered cigarette butt into the water.  Maybe Im stupidly naive, but uh, doesnt he live on these waters?

However, the trip was not wasted as I learned to ask better questions when Im on the phone with potential boat sellers.  "When you say pontoon, what do you mean?"  And "By 20 foot, do you mean actually 35 foot?"  Things like that. 

And Kai and I enjoyed the trip.  We loved the idyllic little towns along the delta, such as Walnut Grove and Islandton, where people were ridiculously friendly and helpful and seemingly lonely.  We had beers at Giustis Place and then sat out on the deck watching the fishermen and the migrating ducks.

In the meantime, if we cant find a pontoon boat base, well look into building our own hull using the fiberglass over plywood method.

Are we ready to tackle the craziness of being DIY boat builders?  I mean building everything above the deck just felt like being a carpenter, which Im comfortable with.  But building a boat?  Like, a real boat hull?  That part that floats in the water?  That feels crazy.

We took a very brief tour of a foreclosed boatyard.  Apparently, according to two different lonely men, the previous owner Bee owed lots of back rent and lost the boatyard.  Lots of tantalizing loot in the yard that wants to be turned into our shanty boat.

As we talked to the "caretaker" (read: a guy who lives in his RV in the yard), his tiny tiny guard dog Jezebel was vigorously attempting to eat my pants cuff and my boot.  He asked the usual questions, You from around here?  Where you from?  What you want a pontoon boat for? As we rode the motorcycle around the yard, we were in constant danger of either having our ankles chewed off or flattening poor ferocious Jezebel. Kai lifted her feet up on the hard bags out of range, and only risked dying of laughter, while my feet were thoroughly hazarded by Jezebel.

After listening to this lonely man for a while, we were taking our leave of Jezebel and the caretaker when he yelled.  "Hey, stop!  I got one more question."  I slowed the bike so Jezebel could attempt to noisily eat my boots again.  "Santa Cruz," he said, "Is it pretty much the same, or has it gotten worse?"  I pondered the many possible meanings and responses to that for a moment.

"Pretty much the same," I said.  "Its pretty much the same."

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A little more work on the transom

Tonight I cut two more holes in the transom. A 1" drain hole, and a square hole for the boomkin.
That makes a grand total of 17 perforations through my transom. Six for the Duckworks motor mount, eight holes for the gudgeons, and three more for the tiller, boomkin and drain!  I hope the boat will still float despite all these holes!

Another challenge was how to trim all the planks flush with the transom. I thought about using a saw but was afraid of scratching the surface of the transom and chipping the planks. Then I thought Id carefully whittle away at them with a sharp chisel. That would have taken forever.  I ended up using the Gain Machine


I set the Gain Machine so that the router bit was flush with the bottom of the base, like this:

Then, holding the base firmly against the transom, I used the Gain Machine to route the protruding planks flush with the transom.

The planks were perfectly flush a few minutes later.

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How to Make a Displacement Hull Plane

The Bartender line of fishing boats has a reputation as a superlative surf boat. The Coast Guard has used them as rescue vessels. As doryman everywhere know, a good surf boat is double-ended and is thus less likely than a square transomed boat to broach on a following wave.

Unfortunately the double-ended hull will not plane under normal, non-surfing conditions, no matter how much power they produce. So, George Calkins designed a spray skirt for his power dories to provide more lift at the stern.

The nineteen foot Bartender in the lean-to out in the boatyard has never been outfitted with a spray skirt, as far as I can tell, but it has one now. Frank, the current owner has been frustrated that this boat tops out at 10 miles-per-hour.

 
Now, that would be just fine with me. Mentioning this to Frank made him laugh.

If this were my boat, Id have no more than a ten horsepower motor on her and be happy just puttering around. The hull drives easily and this could be a very economical package.

The boat has a 40 horsepower motor however, and a rated speed of 25 - 30 mph, which is what we are trying to achieve. The bottom had a keel hog from sitting on a poorly designed, dilapidated trailer which probably contributed to its reduced performance. Ive stressed as much of the hog out as I could, reinforced some old, tired keelson framing and re-welded the offending trailer. All in a days work for a shipwright. The spray skirt was a challenge - the hull shape aft has such a radical camber that the face of the skirt is a helix. I laminated Oregon white oak using polyurethane glue and stainless screws. Didnt have to steam bend anything, but very near.

Frank will be camping aboard this boat at the upcoming Sucia Rendezvous so Ill be able to see first hand how all this works out.

Hope you all had a better solstice than I did. You can see what I was doing on the longest day of the year.

The spray skirt meets the chine at the stern, sweeps up past the waterline about half-way, then on to touch the bow in a fair curve.

Need to clean and polish that bronze half-round for a finishing touch.....








I also prepared some salmon for the Rendezvous. John St Clair is known locally as the Salmonator. He is a prolific fish killer. (many people find it confusing that I spend so much time on the water but dont fish. With friends like the Salmonator, why should I?). Recently he gave me a 20 pound salmon that had been in the freezer for awhile. The best thing to do with a fish thats a bit past its prime is smoke it. I dont have a smoker, so I slow cooked my fish. After marinating it in a brine and sugar mixture for 24 hours, it was spiced with garlic, onion, tariyaki and sesame seeds. It was then cooked at 170 degrees F, for six hours. Dessicated fish is not photogenic, so I will forgo any pictures. Take my word for it. Its delicious!

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Latest news on the Chris Morejohn Tom Gordon Islamorada Marine skiff and several other home built skiffs a building

Tom Gordon sent me some pictures of our skiff collaboration a few days ago with an update on whats up with it. I also will be sharing some pictures of several homebuilt skiffs that are being designed and built by their owners for their own use. Each one has a different story to go with each skiff.

Here are some shots of the plug being built. Tom is building the plug as a mold that he will build a hull from and then wet test. When satisfied with the hull he will put the infomation he has gathered into the cad lines drawings program that he has made from my original hull lines. He can then with this new info final tool the plug mold and make a perfect plug. From this he will then make the working hull mold.

Sounds complicated but its not. The pictures that you see are a basic plywood jig set up to hold the putty that is being sprayed into this jig-form. Then the computer driven router comes over into this glob of cured putty and starts routing out to the hull lines. When done its perfect. Of course if our thinking is not then we will just end up with another skiff.

Tom Gordon gave my hand drawn lines drawings to a navel architect by the name of Johnny Sebastion.

I love that name. We have never met. Johnny put all my lines into a cad program and faired them with this.

In doing this he could now see the displacement at any angle, with any amount of bow weight and stern weight at any draft. All this and you can see every thing in 3- D moving it about the screen.

From this you can see what the weight could be. That is what the displacement would be at such and such draft and tilted angle.

From here you have to do a hull skin analysis and get your whole hull weight list together. With a computer in the right hands this is the best way to go.

Tom has told me that they are sticking very closely to my rounded stern concept. They ended up moving my upper chine up a bit from my drawing. They have widened the hull a bit as drawn to be able to meet the Coast Guard standards for a 115 HP engine on the stern.

I figured he would do this as the hull lines I sent were to the inside of the hull skin. They have stuck to the hull sides and bottom I drew and have tweaked the aft bottom pads to their current thinking and knowledge. I can see a very intresting detail in the stern vee. Looks to me like a nice keel setup for turning at speed. They ran the stern bottom through many different programs before settling on what you see here. Iam very happy with what I see. Notice how all the hull lines flow. No hard parts or straight lines except for the lifting pads aft.

The skiff will weigh 530 lbs ready to install an engine on. With two 250 lb guys aboard with a 70 hp outboard it will draft 6.5". With the same two guys and a 115 hp motor it will draw 10".

I am looking forward very much to riding in this skiff. I feel this skiff with a 70 hp should be a great all round skiff for the anglers that want to be able to go into some rough waters and still get into the shallows.

The great thing that Tom Gordon is doing is using all of todays modern technology to make a perfect hull with out rushing and worrying about everyone else. This skiff will stand alone when done.

The next skiff here is being built by Jon Conner up in Vermont. He has built several other skiffs over the years and after reading my blog decided to design and build another new model. We have been corresponding this past year going over ideas, the pros and cons etc. of each.

He likes to build in plywood using the stitch and glue method.

With this method you are kinda stuck with a limited amount of hull shape forms. It is hard to add in chine pockets and such as you are not building over a solid building jig and molds.

But a very nice hull can be made this way in a short amount of time.

Heres Jons skiff being stitched up, that is the 9 panels that make up the hull have been cut to shape and have been sewn together using small wire ties. When all together he will roll over and reinforce the inside of the hull with a few bulkheads to keep its shape and then Fillet and glass the inside Chines. After this is done you roll back over and fair the outside and glass this over. Then you add any spray rails or chine details on over this glassing over and final fairing the whole skiff. It looks to me he has the hull secure enough to fair and glass while still upside down. I will have to ask him about this.

Outside and upside down now. You can see Jon is trying out some reverse spray rails up forward on the bow area. He has also added a chine strake aft. We talked about this strake and its pros and cons. Jon liked my chine pocket idea but it would have been time consuming to try and build it into the hull sides when building a stitch and glue hull. My opinion was that adding it to the outside would work but with the liability of a bit of water noise when poling if the boat is tipped back and forth the water running off the top of this external strake could make a bit of noise. 

Jon felt it was worth putting in. He can always remove it. I feel when hes in a fast turn his skiff will be like on railroad tracks and will not slide much with this setup. The black bottom is carbon powder in epoxy. I personally think doing this is a waste of money. If worried about bottom friction or wear then add one more layer of 7 oz. cloth just in the areas of worst abrasion.

Right side up showing the aft strakes.

Nice shot showing the locker space aboard. You can see the aft chine- strake very well here. Lots of lift from this as it will catch the water going out the sides aft and gain lift from this.

Decks going together. Notice his bait well stern box transoms are vertical. Hes gained all the displacement he can by doing this. Also he has no plans to use trim tabs in such a light small skiff.

Nice lines to this skiff Jon. He has been weighing it as he goes along. Will finish out under 300 lbs.

Look at the sheer on this skiff. When building a skiff on the floor like Jon did it is hard to stand back and lean over with your head upside down to get a look at your sheer. To me this sheer is fine for this boats intended purpose which is to run and fish in shallow protected waters. Theres no pretense that this is going to be a rough water skiff. The flattish bottom precludes that to some degrees.

For looks an inch more in bow height might look good, But when running this bow will be up in the air at all times. When poling around it will be sitting perfectly with little windage. Jon fishing from the stern with the added bouancy of his stern boxes will support his weight well so this skiff should pole and float quite level when fishing alone.

This is Jons very simple home made trim tilt braket. See the crank in the stern. With the stern boxes added if they are straight as the bottom in the stern they will act like trim tabs holding the bow down a bit. With this engine trim setup the motor is set back a bit so this would help counter act this. I normally 

Design in a bit of upturn to the bottom of stern boxes. But with a light weight skiff, trim tabs and a biggish engine this is not needed. The skiff will just want to be out of the water when running. So thats where trim tabs help so much.

Here you can see how simple this trim plate is to make. Aluminum can be cut with simple power tools so a setup like this is very cost effective.

Jon says his skiff will be in the water soon so will post the pictures when I get them. Well done Jon !

A very energetic young man by the name of Dustin Bates has been corresponding with me as he has been making a plug and mold for a biggish flats skiff for himself and other family members to build and finish off on their own. He plans on building three skiffs from this hull design and mold. I feel he will be building more though once people see his work.

Dustin started off this hull design by building over an old hull shape that he acquired. He felt this initial shape would be a good starting point for him to add all his ideas and energy too. 

When going this route you can save yourself lots of time and money if the the hull shape you have cost next to nothing and is close to what you invisioned for the final hull. But you will be stuck with a lot of its old shape to start with and this can steer your shape in directions you may not eventually want.

So think about it, draw it out before you start.

Dustin knows boat building and mold making. His last company was Barracuda Boatworks.

We have talked back and forth about details on the bottom of his skiff. My advice to him and to everyone is to keep things as simple as possible and dont make cute gimmicky details.

Dustin liked some of my idea details that I had posted a while back on reverse spray strakes, and chine details.

Lets look at what hes come up with.

Stern looking forward. Because of his initial hull shape being long and straight he has had to deal with that aspect. I would like to see some curve going in forward about midway on this chine. But as you will see it will work with his bow once seeing the whole boat.

Here it is at its forward end. Wow this should really redirect the water flow off the bottom as it goes out and aft. Cant wait to see how this looks underway.

Bow shot before final primer goes on. 

Shooting on the mold gelcoat over the finished plug. Its pretty amazing that just a simple polished on coat of wax will keep this stuff from sticking. But you have to have well designed draft angle in your plug and you must let every process on the building of a mold sit for a few days to vent its gases otherwise things could stick. After having built close to 200 plugs and molds I know pretty much what can go wrong.

Nice, now let cure and then skin coat.

Plug all glassed waiting for its outer core skin and framing. See how nice and neat everything is. The fuzzy edge will be cut off and then wedges will be hammered in the sheer plate with a little bit of water squirted into it to part the mold from the plug. Such nice neat work. A Very exciting time. 

If you see sloppy glass work around a builders molds its a good sign that his boats will be sloppy too.

Ah ! Shes free ! Now you have to grind and trim the sheer edge. Next you go into the mold and sand the entire surface up to 600 grit to smooth out all imperfections. Then next its buffing away for hours.

For this boat size about two days worth. Then let sit and gas off. Then its wax on wax off. Five coats. Will take two days. Then let gas off. Now you can build a hull.

Bow detail. See how long and straight the outer lower chine is. If you start with your own design then that could have a bit more curve in it. But this skiff is going to be very stable at rest. It looks like it should be very dry when running. Lots of stuff going on down there to stay dry.

The thing is with a mold like this if any of those reverse spray strakes need to be removed or shortened its just a matter of filling in the mold and refairing. 

Transom details. The little white strips are where the mold stuck to the plug fairing. No big deal.

When building the Whipray plug I used a new type of Bondo type fairing compound that was so easy to use and sand. I went through all my usual steps. When it came time to remove the mold it was stuck completely! I had to tear out the entire plug piece by piece. Luckily the plug was built in cedar strips. About 50% of the bottom had stuck. The plug was destroyed. I later learned that this new putty was giving everyone the fits. It needed days to gas off before spraying on the gelcoat. 

When I got the last piece out of the mold I called Hal Chittum and said we now had a mold to start the project with.

To me theres too much going on in this transom. Like I said before I dont like cute. All those little pockets add drag and turbulence when running. I did suggest Dustin round the corners as much as possible to help with the noise.

I will keep posting Dustins build updates as I get them. This young man needs to be followed as he is doing this whole project in his spare time on his own dollar. He must have an understanding wife.

This next project is being built by another young man that wants his own skiff to guide and fish out of. He cannot afford the current costs of flats skiffs so has taken it upon himself to design and build his own skiff. Ren emailed me a month ago asking some basic questions about foam cores and building a one off. I did not really have the time so just said give me a few weeks and I would post a blog about lofting a skiffs lines and how to set up for building. ( soon).

Ren is a man that wastes no time so these past few weeks he started on his skiff project with his vision in his head and his energy getting things done.

He is building to his own devised method. 

This is the picture he sent me of his temporary plug - mold to form his foam core over. Underneath the plywood veneers are his station molds. I have not seen a sketch but I figure he has draw out his skiff on paper and has cut all his stations from this drawing. Again building on the floor is such extra hard work bending over. But Im 57 now and when I built my first flats boat hull I did it the same way. I had energy to spare back then and I too was in a hurry to get her in the water.

Ren has temporarily laid on a light fiberglass Matt sheeting to hold his plug together.

He has now started to cover his plug with foam core by screwing down the sheets with a limited amount of screws. He intends to pull them out when he rolls over the finished glassed hull.

This is fine. There are lots of ways to hold down the core. I like finish nails as they pull out really easily with only a small hole to fill with putty. 

I have never seen a skiff go together like this. But Iam very impressed by Rens energy and get her done attitude. He should be done with the outside of the hull soon.

Look at this shape. With a bit of fairing this could be the next new skiff.

Keep up the energy Ren.

This skiff I saw on Facebook on a site-group called Trick my Skiff that I follow. I dont know whos building it but a mold in the background in one of the photos looks like one of mine that I designed and built. So.... Someone please let me know.

Iam just showing this skiff to not pick it apart but to share what I see. This might help you to look at all skiff designs with a questioning mind. Please look at all what I say in the same way.

The mold just over its bow looks familiar. The " Plankton-Ultimate Skiff?"

Ok, this is a great looking skiff hull. Love that bow. The chine detail is very crisp. This skiff from here looks like it will run great with a 6 hp.

Now what I question is if its designed to be a flats fishing skiff then with its very obvious shallow draft that very nice chine detail most likely will be very noisy as the boat hull is tipped from side to side. The sharp edge of the chine when coming out of the water will cause a small wave and dripplets that will make noise. Its to close to the surface of the water so will be coming out allot. No one fishes a boat totally flat at all times.

What a nice run. Nice curve to the hull Chines. A great skiff for small HP. 

But the Chines are up too high for being quiet. If this skiff were totally flat bottomed then you would have to really lean over to get its chine out of the water. Not so with this type of bottom. Will only take a few degrees of tilt. The difference between this ever so slightly veed hull and a totally straight flat bottomed skiff in ride would only be in speed underway. And only just a bit. A totally flat bottomed skiff if leaned over by its operator and passengers to a ten degree angle would present a nice vee into an incoming chop. With a veed hull you will end up with a flat bottom when leaning over.

So I feel the dead flat bottom would  give you the better ride if you knew how to run the skiff. 

But this skiff looks so cool upside down. I want one! But without that stern bottom.

Classic shape here except for the stern.

The stern. I would love to hear the explanation for all of this ! I can see some things. A bit of a pocket for less drag when on plane. The steps can act like a keel when turning. BUT ! When turning if this skiff leans just a bit they will not be grabbing but wll be in the air doing nothing. That rounded keel sould have a sharpe edge to it to grip the water in a turn.

All this will add drag when poling. I would like to know how this skiffs turns out.

It should plane out with a 15 hp if built in the 250-300 lb range at about 18 knts.

I sure like its lines but want to know if all that stern bottom stuff works.

Its back to cute stuff. Is it really worth it? Well see. But I would love to have a hull like this with a clean run to the stern, solid glass bottom with cored sides. Nice all round nock about skiff for low hp.

This Last skiff was built by a Bahamain in the Abacos of a Hells Bay Skiff. There are lots of HB skiffs over there fishing the Marls. This photo was sent to me by Oliver White. Thanks Oliver.

When I next sail back home to the Bahamas next summer I will look up this Bahamain and give him hull lines drawings to work from for his next build.

A few skiffs out there being built. Lots of the skiffs today will look very similar but in reality they will all be different as its all in the details that will separate them all. Some will be be real yachts done to perfection but all will float and get you out to the same spot looking at the same fish. Remember this.

I live aboard my own self designed and home built plywood sailboat that is moored in the same anchorages as the wealthiest people in the world with their perfect yachts. We go to the same reasturants, shop in the same stores, drink side by side in the same bars, breath the same air and swim in the same sea. Are they having more fun than me? Do they see the same sunsets differently? Probably not.  The difference is they drink more expensive Rum than I do.

Start building your own skiff, yes it will take a bit of time out of your life. Give up your time on the Internet and you will have plenty left to get building. Think of the satisfaction of catching fish out of your own self built skiff.

The Hogfish Maximus is a very unusual looking boat. But because I built it myself and sail about the oceans in it I get more job offers than I can take to help others with their store bought boats.

 Lets get going!

 

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