Hey Y'all, and Suggestions? | SouthernPaddler.com

Hey Y'all, and Suggestions?

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
Been away for a while. I haven't built a boat in a few seasons. It's time to strike again.

I like a lot of designs, and have bought 3 sets of plans. I believe the one I'm building will be Uncle John's Bayou Skiff, a bit modified. (Nothing wrong with her as is, just want to tweak her to my home waters).

I plan on using 3/8" Arauco for the bottom, 1/4" Okume for the sides (they don't make 1/4" Arauco) and have bought a nice piece of ash for some of the timbers. Probably go sapele fer them thwart thingies.

I may make the transom from a scrap of 3/8 Arauco. I may make it 3/8" or laminate it up to 3/4" as directed. I don't have a small outboard, so I don't know that I'll go all the way up to 3/4". No need for the extra weight there if no outboard.

Uncle John says the 12" sides may easily be raised to 14". I am leaning hard towards 16" sides (I have extra plywood stuff). Thoughts? This boat will see a decent bit of open, windy salt water. Core Sound, from the OBX Challenge if you're familiar with it.

I mainly plan to use her to row and sail. I have a nice, larger fiberglass skimmer for rod and reel fishing and this will be a 3 season knock around boat. Bigger than a canoe, but not a full sized, proper commercial fishing skiff for sure. What's a full sized skiff? 16' long and 5' beam on the bottom, minimum, built of Juniper planks and used for clamming, oystering, and net fishing.

My big question: What weight nylon ripstop material would be good for a decent sail? I'm thinking it would look nicer than poly tarp. A lady who lives over in Oriental NC who makes sails told me one time to use basic, Wal-mart variety nylon ripstop flag material for a good cheap sail. I just wasn't smart enough to ask what weight cloth. Any suggestions? I'm probably going with the sprits'l, and will make the largest one shown. It doesn't seem like an overly large sail for a boat this size, not that I'm an expert.

The other two boats I bought plans for are Mr. Ross Lillistone's drop dead gorgeous "Flint" and Mr. Conrad Natzio's excellent Sandpiper skiff. I'm building the one I'm building because she's narrower and lighter, and I couldn't decide between a skiff and a canoe. The Bayou Skiff seems to split the difference nicely.
 

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
I stand corrected. They do make a 1/4" (they call it 6.5mm I think) Arauco plywood. I'm trying to get some.

1. I'm wondering what wood to go with for the framing. Thinking about #1 grade pine 1x4's.

2. I'm wondering what cloth for the sail (though I've got some time to work on this).

3. I'm trying to decide between lee boards, dagger board, or maybe even doing a centerboard.

4. I'm thinking of modifying the bottom a bit. Maybe adding 2" of tuck at the stern to make her sail a tad faster; in most the pics she sits low in the water at the stern, which is great for a motor boat, but sorta a no-no for a row/paddle/sail boat.
I'm also thinking of cutting an arc from the bow stem to 2/3 the length of the panel, along the bottom, about 1 1/2" tall; this will flatten the bottom as viewed from the side. This is probably foolish and a waste of time on my part, I freely admit. It is done on a lot of boats locally to cut down on draft.

5. Rather than raise the freeboard a little, I'm thinking of keeping her 12" as directed, but adding sturdy washboards along the top of the gunnel to set on, like on a sunfish sailboat. This might add too much weight....
 

hairymick01

Well-Known Member
G'day mommicked,

and welcome to my dilemma too mate.

I have a bayou skiff about half built and really like the lines of it as is. A great little skinny water craft.

My problem is this, I also have a set of plans for a "flint" and couldn't agree more with you about just how nice this design is.

I think Flint will be a superior boat in every way and as soon I will only have room for one skiff, I need to decide which boat I can get the most use from. I think Flint wins that hands down.
 

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
I think Flint will be the best sailor of the three, hands down; she's long, narrow, high tucked up stern, and V bottomed. She should be quite fast. She also very, very closely resembles turn of the century work boats from this area, though they often were 18'-20' in length (6-7metres?).

My biggest fear about Flint: she has a 1/4" bottom panel. I once broke through a 1/4" okume? bottom panel on my pirouge. I was quite out done. I was stuck in the mud, soft bottom, oysters. I put my loose foot in the pirogue and went to pull myself out, and 'snap' the plywood gave. I should've seen it coming, but I was quite upset. I've been leery of boats with 1/4" plywood bottoms every since. It's no fun if the boat isn't rugged enough to get muddy and bloody! I want a boat that can be a tool, not a china doll to be looked at and set gently back in the display case....

The other thing about Flint: Length. As is, she's just large enough to have to legally register and put up with paper work and tax. And, if I'm going to do that, I'd like to order some BS1088 5'x10' panels, instead of the 4'x8' panels. Why? To scale the boat up, in every proportion. That would make her around 17 1/2', (5.75 meters?) and have a little more room. Being a few feet longer, she'd be even faster, in theory. The longer hull usually has the higher hull speed.

From your previous posts I've read, I'd say we run on similar waters. Salt water marshes, sand bars, oyster rocks, shallow, choppy waters. This little Bayou Skiff I think I'd use a lot like you'd use a Swamp Girl, oystering, crabbing, and doing my part to reduce the local beer population.... :mrgreen:
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
The Skiff is a stable boat and for one person it offers a lot of room. I believe for two guys it would be a nice backwater fishing boat. I think of mine as an extra wide Pirogue since it offers the shallow draft and can be used like a pirogue but has more stability.
I haven't had mine on any real open water but only on rivers that are tree lined.

There are plans to use it for fishing some back country lakes where a person can't get a big boat into this spring. With the middle seat removed it opens the skiff up for two guys to fish from. All the stuff is in the middle of the boat so it is not under foot. All I have to decide is if I want the middle seat in there for when I go or out if someone goes with me. Might decide on the half way point and make it removable.
Plus the lakes are some ones where motors ( gas ) are not allowed so it is paddles , oars or a trolling motor. My preference is the oars or paddles since they are nice and quiet.

The darn thing is light weight so I have to remove some springs from the trailer before I can take it down a back road ( Jeep Trail ) without it bouncing all around on the trailer.

I don't know if this will help you but the sail I made for the canoe and pirogue was regular rip stop nylon from the dry goods store. It is light weight , inexpensive , strong and drys quick if it gets wet.
 

mommicked

Active Member
Nov 18, 2006
28
0
Coastal NC
Got my stem and frames cut, got most of the frames ready to glue up. Still have to make those gussets. Should I make em outta 1/4" Okume or 3/8" Arauco, or some clear pine?

I also have the rub rails ripped down. I should probably go ahead and rip the main center skeg too. I don't think I'm going to put the two smaller side skegs on. I can always add em later if I need em. The rub rails and skeg will be clear grade ash; I got a great big board and am in the process of slowly turning it into splinters and toothpicks. :mrgreen:

I'm dreading laminating up the gunnels and bottom. I'm not 'too good' to use fiberglass on a wooden boat, I just don't like the way I manage to get it on everything I own. :|
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
mommicked said:
<SNIP> I'm dreading laminating up the gunnels and bottom. I'm not 'too good' to use fiberglass on a wooden boat, I just don't like the way I manage to get it on everything I own. :|
Kinda like eating a big sandwich - do it in bites. The outside is easiest, of course. Do it in two or three chunks. Aft first, center, then front. Same in the inside, maybe four chunks on the inside. A bit easier if it isn't so big and overwhelming. (For a cuppa coffee and a large Budweiser, Chuck will drive clear over to your house and give a hand.)
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Kayak Jack said:
mommicked said:
<SNIP> I'm dreading laminating up the gunnels and bottom. I'm not 'too good' to use fiberglass on a wooden boat, I just don't like the way I manage to get it on everything I own. :|
Kinda like eating a big sandwich - do it in bites. The outside is easiest, of course. Do it in two or three chunks. Aft first, center, then front. Same in the inside, maybe four chunks on the inside. A bit easier if it isn't so big and overwhelming. (For a cuppa coffee and a large Budweiser, Chuck will drive clear over to your house and give a hand.)


Like Jack said but with a twist..........
Actually I like to refer to it like the Pygmy with the Elephant. ( Some offhand Southernpaddler Philosophy :roll: for tackling a large job.)

This white hunter while hunting in the deepest and darkest part of Africa came upon a Pygmy who killed a large Bull Elephant. The Pygmy was starting to clean the Elephant and the white hunter asked him what he was doing.
The pygmy told him he was going to eat the Elephant. The white hunter grinned and then laughed about the pygmy eating the elephant all by himself.
So he asked the Pygmy just how in the heck he expected to eat the Elephant all by himself.
The Pygmy just smiled and answered ......... One Bite at a Time.

So think of it as doing a part at a time and those parts will make a whole for you. About the same as walking , one step at a time. :D :D