Pascagoula Diamond Bottom Catboat MARGARET ROSE 13 Jul 20 Bottom Planks

13 Jul 20:

Air Temp 88 F, Dewpoint 82 F, Heat Index 104 F so we are hiding in the air conditioning. Winds gusty all day too, 15 knots gusting over 20 at times. So if you like windy saunas, head to Florida!

We'll be learning a new planking method with MARGARET ROSE, diamond bottom cross planked. She was planked that was for expediency and because those were the materials available, off cuts from the shipyard. We are chatting with a few folks about the method and referencing some photos from Pete Culler's book Skiffs and Schooners.

We did sneak out long enough to see how the inner stem might look.

And if you're wondering if you could evere build boats, Pete Culler said...

Log of MARGARET ROSE.

Pascagoula Diamond Bottom Catboat MARGARET ROSE 05 Jun 20 Builder Notes

05 Jun 20:

Chatted with Carter at East Passage Boatwrights about a few catboat build topics. He strongly recommended solid wood planks for the crossplank bottom vs plywood, lots of extra work sealing the plywood and still a decent chance for water intrusion, so our decision is finalized on that. Skipper probably already knew anyway, she was just waiting for me to catch up. For the bottom planks, 2wo 3/8th inch layers, staggered, with some canvas or batiste in between to act as a membrane to reduce leaks. He says the crossplanking on hard chine hulls really tightens up the hull and fewer frames are needed, which is also what we have seen while reviewing other similar cross planked, deadrise diamond bottom boats. More conversations to come, on scantlings for stringers, transom and stem plus centerboard weight and overall target weight for the 16 foot hull.

Log of MARGARET ROSE.

Pascagoula Diamond Bottom Catboat MARGARET ROSE 01 Jun 20 Sheer Line and Skeg

01 Jun 20:

Played around with the sheer line for the catboat, gave her a little reverse curve aft of the beam.

And propped the keel batten up to see the shape of the skeg, plus checked out tiller placement.

Log of MARGARET ROSE.

Pascagoula Catboat ROSE 20 Jan 18 Sail Rig Ideas

20 Jan 18:

We have been quizzing our Biloxi buddies, Russ and Buddy, about Gulf Coast catboats. Buddy mentioned a 16 foot cross planked, lapstrake boat designed by Peter Culler and offered to send us some of the plan drawings for us to look at. One thing we are especially interested in is the dimensions to the gaff rig, at 182 square feet it is quite impressive.

Buddy is sending the rest of the plans and maybe that will give us some more ideas on cross plank construction. Thanks to Russ and Buddy for keeping the Gulf Coast boating heritage alive!

Build Log for ROSE.