Came across a few photos from ONKAHYE's Corpus Christi days. We liked to launch downtown at the L-Head ramp, the ramp location has since been moved. Some days we never left the breakwater, other days ONKAHYE would romp in the bay.
Skipper would tend to the boat while I drove the truck. She'd get ONKAHYE spun around and pointed out. If other folks were launching she'd walk ONKAHYE down to the end of the pier and move her around the end, to be clear of other folks who preferred the same side of the ramp.
Once the truck and trailer were parked we'd send out the bumkin, ship the rudder and drop the centerboard a bit. Then Skipper would get ONKAHYE a little walking start, step aboard and unfurl the jib. We'd crawl away for the dock on some jib while the main went up, and we'd be off sailing.
It's the time of year that local yokels like to burn stuff, and Pine Pollen Season, so CYANE can get pretty grimy pretty fast. Gave her a fresh water wash down today, no soap, just water, also wanted to see how the 2019 paint job is holding up. Satisfied overall.
When CYANE is in storage it is important to check that the bailer plug stays open and and the drain stays clear. We've had her fill up with enough water to tip stern down. That was one of Capn Jack's favorite things to do, was to pick pine needles out of her.
Here's a shot of the elusive inspection port. It opens into the flotation compartment, there is one on either side of the centerboard case. The flotation compartment is under the cockpit and also goes up under the cuddy floor. That compartment is one of the major design upgrades of the DSII, to meet new Coast Guard standards in 1972. The centerboard bolt can also be reached through the port(s).
Capn Jack designed this mast crutch for storage and trailering, it keeps the mast from resting on and possibly breaking the top lip of the cabin cuddy. It also supports the mast in a better spot while raising or lowering the mast using the tabernacle.
Worked on an article for Small Boats Magazine on the venerable Grumman 17 Double End canoe, so we pulled out the 1965 brochure to use as a reference. Also wanted to look at the sail rig photos to get ideas for our 17 SCOUT.
75th Year of Grumman canoes, still being made in Marathon, N.Y. by Marathon Boat Group.
There's the plan and then there's actually what happens. We have Chapelle's line drawing for a 17 foot diamond bottom catboat, and we planned to scale that plan down to 16 feet. Let's see that's .941176 smaller. So I did a bunch of measurements and scribbled all over a copy of the plans and headed out to the Carriage House to transfer those numbers onto a lofting on the Carriage House floor. But first I had to correct my highly calibrated blue tape baseline, and mark off 1 foot increments out to 16 feet. Then I used the square to find a perpendicular at each foot mark, took the steel tape to find the Feet-Inches-Eighths point, make a mark and put in a deck screw.
Somewhere along the way I remembered that I wanted to scale the beam of this boat down from 8'6" inside of plank to 8 feet outside of plank. I thought I could just reduce everything by 10 percent but instead discovered I needed to draw a new sheer line, and get those new measurements off of the new line. Fiddled with the fair curve and came up with a sheer that looks okay, pending Skipper's approval.
If Skipper is happy with it then we can pull new measurements off of the lofting at a few points to get the measurements we need for building molds and bulkheads.
Placed the rough keel batten down to start thinking about keel shape.
Wandering around the Carriage House, worked on the mizzen for our Grumman 17 Scout and took care of a few other items, not all planned or in an expected sequence. When we get distracted by multiple small or large jobs while on the way to do what we first set out to do, for instance today it was to work on the mizzen spars for SCOUT, we call that "yak shaving." As an example, when I pulled out the spars today, I noticed the cork board behind the work bench. That got me to thinking about the catboat that we are designing, and I thought, hey, I can move this cork board real quick to a more accessible area before I start on the spars. So the work bench got rolled out away from the wall, and I saw that the border had fallen off the cork board. Should I fix that or just put the board in the new spot by screwing the frame to the studs? Tried screwing the frame, that didn't work. Take the board back down. Skipper said fix it. I tried putting screws in the corners to hold the frame, which required me to pull out 2 drills, different bits and a hardware box. That didn't work because the particle board frame just crumbled where the screws went in. So I went to find some gaff tape to just tape the corners, that worked.
Next I had to move a couple of tool trolleys to get to the new spot of the cork board and Skipper said, "Hey did you cut yourself?" She said it looked like there was blood on my elbow, I looked around and noticed drips of red on the floor, on my shorts, but it wasn't blood, it was paint. Followed the drips and saw where a bag of red paint had been punctured by a nail when I moved it to a new spot, out of the way of the cork board. So I got the paint wipes, Skipper cleaned up my elbow,and I got rid of the bag and cleaned a little where it dripped, but it added some patina. I have a new set of Shop Shorts now. Finally got the cork board moved to the new spot and hey, an hour and a half later, we're finally working on the mizzen spars.
The issue with the mizzen spars was that the boomkin was too short. The mast was also right close to being too short. So we bought a longer closet rod to become the new mast, and planned to move the old mast to be the new boomkin. The spars are held together by a Sunfish spar interlocking bolt. The old bolt was stripped so I pulled out the Alcort parts box to find a new piece. Here's the bolt, with the boomkin installed upside down. I noticed that later...
Some of the flotsam and jetsam that accumulated during yak shaving.
Hey did we mention that the cork board got moved?
Mizzen bent onto the new mast.
You know I just remembered, I originally went out to the carriage house to shoot a short video about our line whipping kit!
Back to the canoe, I wandered back to the house to find the Grumman Sail Rig Instructions. They're for a Gunter Rig but there are other tidbits in there that are helpful, like where to place the leeboard spreader.
That'll get us started, might need adjusting because we have a mizzen added to the fray. Still looking for the metal rudder adapter, if anyone has one to send our way please post a comment below.
Adjusted the angles of the boomkin, it ties to the stern to keep it fixed, and Skipper will adjust the sheet like she does on the Lugger. Poor Skipper, all she wanted was a gaff sail for running downwind, and she would steer with the paddle. But we knew The Usual Visitors might get a laugh out of all of the extra bits we are adding. Not sure if SCOUT finds it amusing though.
Starting to get a little busy. Rudder control line, mizzen sheet....supposed to be another 8 foot long rudder lifting line back there somewhere as well...
Rudder goes about here.
TLAR
With those yaks shaved, we turned our attention back to the catboat. Laid down a baseline for lofting, marked out 1 foot increments out to 16 feet, actually I first marked out 11 foot 2 inch increments and then realized I goofed that up...too much math...called it a day.
Took ST. JACQUES out for a short row, half an hour. Skipper tended the tiller and we had some coffee out of the Stanley thermos.
She's got sand on her keel.
She's got water and sand on her keel.
Notes: We have tried different ways to launch from the beach, and the best we have come up with for our spot is for ST. JACQUES to be nosed up on the beach, Skipper steps in just past the forward seat and works her way to the back, then i give a little shove and step in by the forward seat. Lately Skipper has paddled us back a bit and I use the padook until we are clear of the groins, then spin ST. J around and I can row out the rest of the way. Oars seem happy being staged in the oar locks with the blade tips resting just under the breast hook.
Coming back in we nose up onto the beach, I step out over the forward quarter then Skipper follows.
Pete Culler is one of our favorite authors, he mused that boat building was simply about correcting one mistake after the other, with the biggest mistake being to have begun in the first place. But oh what fun! He also offers that "Experience starts when you begin." Here is a compilation of some of his work.
R. D. "Pete" Culler, The Master Craftsman's Collected Teachings on Boat Design, Building, Repair and Use. Includes Skiffs and Schooners; Boats, Oars and Rowing; and more from writings such as those in The Mariner's Catalog.
Edited by John Burke, author of Pete Culler's Boats.
FMI: Burke, John. 2008. Pete Culler on wooden boats: the master craftsman's collected teachings on boat design, building, repair, and use.
Current State of the Sunfish Shack (L-R): Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES, empty stall, Finishing Dolly, 1982 AMF Alcort Sunfish PHOENIX and 1965 Alcort Sunfish WAVE. WILLOW's trailer and and empty stall to the right off camera. Empty stalls? Hmmmm. There is exciting news on the horizon about that....Stay tuned.
I was looking for some articles by Pete Culler and the Mariner's Catalog popped up as a reference (International marine Publishing.) So I bought Volumes 1-4 and am having fun looking through all of the articles, from the mid 1970s. Each catalog is around 180 pages of Editor articles and other articles submitted by readers and suppliers.
Boats and Craft - Building and Design - Tools and Fittings - Gear and Supplies - Ideas for Mariners - Engines, Oars, Rigs - Marine Books - Rare and Unusual Sources
Editors: Peter H. Spectre, George Putz, Pete Culler, David R. Getchell
