After much deliberation, and sadness, I am considering giving up on my long-ignored boat project. We are prepping to sell our house and unless I can find a place to store it, I will probably have to cut it up and throw it in a dumpster. I have a significant investment of time, money and memories invested in this, so I wouldn't object to accepting modest purchase price, but my primary concern is that it went to someone who will finish her out properly. Some materials that could be included is some CVG Red Cedar I was going to use to line the hull interior, and some old CVG Fir barn beams that my Dad salvaged. Beautiful stuff when ripped down that the keel, chines, and stringers are already laminated with using West System epoxy. I also have a pair of brand new 2003 (?) 25hp Mercury 2-strokes still in crates to go with it (not giving those away!). One "freebie" is a single axel tilt-bed trailer for an 18' boat. It needs work but has "good bones". My plan was to have it sand-blasted, paint/rewire it, and build bunks to match the hull.
Anyway, due to a series of major life-changing events over the last 25 years, the hull is basically finished - but otherwise an empty shell - and is still sitting on the construction dolly in my garage. Either I haven't had the time or money, and for many years neither one. The main issue last few years has mostly been lack of work space. Which really sucks because we are hoping to find acreage and build a smaller retirement home with a shop. Unfortunately our realtor made it clear the house will sell quickly so we will have to find a place to rent while we search for a build site.
But before I get into specifics on the project, some back story on this is probably in order. This all started with my Grandfather who was a shipwright who worked on wooden sailing vessels in Norway before he immigrated to the Bellingham area sometime in the early 1910's. Grandpa built many small craft for friends and neighbors, and taught my Dad a great deal in the process. More importantly he gave Dad the boat building bug. I say "boat" building, but Dad's aspirations went well beyond craft that could be built in a home garage. He was a brilliant mechanical engineer, who dreamt of building world cruising sailboats and immersed himself in the subject. He studied Chapelle and other notable marine architects, researched historic craft of the PNW, and there were always stacks of Wooden boat magazines in his study. He even designed several full-keel cruising hulls. Unfortunately none of which ever materialized other than as models (which I still have). Designing and building skiffs and other small craft was another matter, and we built several together over the years which were all excellent, and well-used boats in their own rights.
So in 1996 when my first wife and I moved into our "dream home" that had a 3-car garage, and was walking distance from a boat ramp on the lower Columbia River - I was drawing up plans almost immediately. The project started as a variant on my Dad's basic skiff. I was on a tight budget at the time so I kept it at 14' - even though I wanted something I could potentially take onto the ocean (with the ultimate dream of trips to WCVI). Likely why I had barely started laying plywood on the jig when I realized the beam was excessive for a 14' boat. My solution was a pair of 3' integrated hull extensions at the stern - effectively creating a outboard well and extended the LOA to 17'6". Dad hated the idea of an outboard hanging off the back of a square transom - seeing it as a "sinker" just waiting for a big wave to crest from behind and swamp the boat. Whether a justifiable concern or not, this fear infected me as well. So I took the idea a step further by designing the well to accommodate twin outboards. In retrospect, maybe not the way I would do it now - especially with the advent of reliable 4-stroke O/B's. But in 1996 the memory of fighting cantankerous Evinrude's and an old Gale over the years, was still fresh in my memory. Outboards were the only problems we ever had with any of these boats.
So the design is what it is. If by some chance someone was interesting in taking this on, there are serious design and construction challenges to consider. Or "opportunities" depending on experience and perspective. I have drawings but no formalized plans. This is essentially a "blank canvas", empty hull that can be finished however. My original idea was as a center console, although I did draw up a few small cuddy cabin versions. What I can say about this hull is that it is based on smaller craft that proved their worth on both coasts of Vancouver Island, Northern Puget Sound, coastal bays, the Columbia River (including Bouy 10), and even Lake Michigan when we lived in Wisconsin for 5 years.
Anyway, here's the design I'm calling the "Bar Fly". If I can't finish her I would love to see what the right craftsman could do with her.
Hull flipping day in '96.
Interesting 1-to-1 overlay comparison with a 19' Bartender . I thought they might be similar but didn't expect this close of a match. Forgive me George Caulkins!
Anyway, due to a series of major life-changing events over the last 25 years, the hull is basically finished - but otherwise an empty shell - and is still sitting on the construction dolly in my garage. Either I haven't had the time or money, and for many years neither one. The main issue last few years has mostly been lack of work space. Which really sucks because we are hoping to find acreage and build a smaller retirement home with a shop. Unfortunately our realtor made it clear the house will sell quickly so we will have to find a place to rent while we search for a build site.
But before I get into specifics on the project, some back story on this is probably in order. This all started with my Grandfather who was a shipwright who worked on wooden sailing vessels in Norway before he immigrated to the Bellingham area sometime in the early 1910's. Grandpa built many small craft for friends and neighbors, and taught my Dad a great deal in the process. More importantly he gave Dad the boat building bug. I say "boat" building, but Dad's aspirations went well beyond craft that could be built in a home garage. He was a brilliant mechanical engineer, who dreamt of building world cruising sailboats and immersed himself in the subject. He studied Chapelle and other notable marine architects, researched historic craft of the PNW, and there were always stacks of Wooden boat magazines in his study. He even designed several full-keel cruising hulls. Unfortunately none of which ever materialized other than as models (which I still have). Designing and building skiffs and other small craft was another matter, and we built several together over the years which were all excellent, and well-used boats in their own rights.
So in 1996 when my first wife and I moved into our "dream home" that had a 3-car garage, and was walking distance from a boat ramp on the lower Columbia River - I was drawing up plans almost immediately. The project started as a variant on my Dad's basic skiff. I was on a tight budget at the time so I kept it at 14' - even though I wanted something I could potentially take onto the ocean (with the ultimate dream of trips to WCVI). Likely why I had barely started laying plywood on the jig when I realized the beam was excessive for a 14' boat. My solution was a pair of 3' integrated hull extensions at the stern - effectively creating a outboard well and extended the LOA to 17'6". Dad hated the idea of an outboard hanging off the back of a square transom - seeing it as a "sinker" just waiting for a big wave to crest from behind and swamp the boat. Whether a justifiable concern or not, this fear infected me as well. So I took the idea a step further by designing the well to accommodate twin outboards. In retrospect, maybe not the way I would do it now - especially with the advent of reliable 4-stroke O/B's. But in 1996 the memory of fighting cantankerous Evinrude's and an old Gale over the years, was still fresh in my memory. Outboards were the only problems we ever had with any of these boats.
So the design is what it is. If by some chance someone was interesting in taking this on, there are serious design and construction challenges to consider. Or "opportunities" depending on experience and perspective. I have drawings but no formalized plans. This is essentially a "blank canvas", empty hull that can be finished however. My original idea was as a center console, although I did draw up a few small cuddy cabin versions. What I can say about this hull is that it is based on smaller craft that proved their worth on both coasts of Vancouver Island, Northern Puget Sound, coastal bays, the Columbia River (including Bouy 10), and even Lake Michigan when we lived in Wisconsin for 5 years.
Anyway, here's the design I'm calling the "Bar Fly". If I can't finish her I would love to see what the right craftsman could do with her.
Hull flipping day in '96.
Interesting 1-to-1 overlay comparison with a 19' Bartender . I thought they might be similar but didn't expect this close of a match. Forgive me George Caulkins!