23' trailer cruiser

[Nomad Willy]

Durant F,
On post #21 he talks about 60 to 90hp .. Honda.

Scratchnsaw,
Are you planing on glass for the front windows or polycarbonate/Lexan? With the size of those windows I’d be leaning toward plastic. I have plastic windows in my Willard cabin and they are still useable after 43 years. Don’t have windshield wipers in rainy PNW. Would like the clairity of glass and the option of wipers. But we’ve had the boat for 14 years and changing to glass still isn’t a high priority.

 

[Miz Trom]

Hi Scratchnsaw:
My best wishes that the twists and turns with your life are handled and turned out okay, and if not, my sincere condolences.

What a beautiful photo of Red Knot in the water! I am just tickled pink by that photo, not only because of her balance and form, but because of how pleased you must be.

Did you decide to go with the 60 or 90 hp outboard? And if you have any more photos of her in the water, please post more. Red Knot will be the most unique vessel on the water wherever she takes you. I hope to meet up with y'all one day when we are up in NC and would love to see Red Knot in person. Your planning, your design and your woodwork are all amazing.

Fair Seas,
Pea

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Thanks for the comments. I ended up putting a 115 Suzuki on the boat, not that I really needed that much hp and wanted the extra weight. I may downsize down the road. But it was priced right and may work out okay when I get it really loaded for a long and extended run.


But to tell you the truth, getting my Honda serviced and parts across a wider area of the country made me sell the Honda that I had originally purchased for it and was using it on my skiff until I got this boat ready.

Life took some unexpected turns with family in several areas. One of my offsprings and his family was in the flood of Hurricane Harvey and lost next to everything but the shirt on their backs. So we assisted him in his recovery along with several others thru some charity workers in the area.

Then another family had two heart attacks and a stroke within two days. So that has required some attention until we could hopefully get some full time help for them. We shall see, as that's always a crap shoot. Having no other family member offshpring for some folks as folks age is tough. And getting old is not for sissies, you know. We must work harder to achieve half as much some days.

So the boat took the back seat. But we are over the hill for now, so full speed ahead, even though the prime weather for cosmetic work is on the decline.

But hopefully I can get it ready for a trip when the weather breaks in the springtime down south.

I do plan on going with plexiglass for the windows, except for the main and passenger seating. That will require tempered glass and windshield wipers. I may not put that in right now. But the set up that I plan to use will make it easy to change out the windows.

 

[OldDan1943]

I just found this thread and looked at all the pictures and read most of the dialog.
You are making very wise use of space.
You splashed the boat and now you are even more motivated to finish the project, if a boat can ever be totally finished. SMILE

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Thanks Old Dan. And you are correct. A good dose of a few minutes on the water will reinvigorate your blood stream and get you back pushing sandpaper really quick. Gosh I love sanding!

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Well things are slowly headed to the finish line. The hull and bottom is completely done. Now on to the cabin and roof top trim. The finish the wooden trim moulding . Of course I will work my way thru the cockpit painting, which is no big deal. Then I will install the windows and trim the frames on the interior. I am shooting for a March cruise, even if I cannot make the Feb. drink feast with my jug of ice tea. :lol:

 

[OldDan1943]

Well things are slowly headed to the finish line. The hull and bottom is completely done. Now on to the cabin and roof top trim. The finish the wooden trim moulding . Of course I will work my way thru the cockpit painting, which is no big deal. Then I will install the windows and trim the frames on the interior. I am shooting for a March cruise, even if I cannot make the Feb. drink feast with my jug of ice tea. :lol:

Take your time. Winter boating is no fun if you are up north.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Take your time. Winter boating is no fun if you are up north.

Oh we boat off and on about ten months a year, even if its a couple of days in Jan and Feb. We always do a trip on new years day for sure, unless its a complete freeze out. And we love it. My last cabin boat would back right to the beach and we would fold down the swim platform and step ashore without getting the tootsies wet. And where we go we have our own private retreat and beach front. Few of the current plastics, except maybe one of the more well known hulls with any amount of creature comforts can do this.

 

[Benthic2]

....and you think of North Carolina as "up north" ??

 

[Scratchnsaw]

....and you think of North Carolina as "up north" ??

Well we do have similar weather as the folks that's really up north. We have ice about twice a year when its really bad. And we have frost on the pumpkin probably a dozen times as a rule. Does that qualify as being similar to Yankeeland?

 

[OldDan1943]

....and you think of North Carolina as "up north" ??

Atlanta is in the deep south and it does get cold and occasionally snow. I guess that is why I keep both me and my boat in the Miami area for the winter.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Well I continue to put together my bits and pieces. These are my duel swim platforms that will get mounted on the sides of the outboard. {Probably not considered yachty like a full platform]
I will be priming the cabin for its final paint work after the weather warms back up the first of the year.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Scratch,
We’d consider any platform golden but messing w the salty and rather round Willard stern may take a considerable chunck out of her resale potential. And having a “transom door” would almost be required for access. Nix

Mount your platform “to the outboard” sounds like maybe you’re going to attach to the cavatation plate .. surely not I suspect. More specifically what do you have in mind? Antbody as creative as yourself would come up w something clever.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

I should have been a bit clearer. I am attaching the split or two platforms to the transom along side of the outboard since I cannot have a full swim platform with the outboard, which also trims up.

But I also install my platforms so that I can fold them up when traveling and or not in use on the water, like when I fish. With the shallow draft boat, there is not enough room for any angle brackets to support the platform either, if it was fixed.

This is the set up. I use a reinforcing bracket on the undersize, which reinforced the free floating platform when no handrail is used either. In calm and shallow waters I really do not need the handrail. But when there is some rollers, I do use it.


But when I fold it up, the brackets are such that they go along side and I push the push pins in the connectors, which holds the platform in place.

 

[OldDan1943]

Fantastic looking. More class than my fiber glass swim platform.

 

[Donna]

This is quite impressive! Bravo!

 

[cardude01]

Loving your project. More pics where you can!

 

[Nomad Willy]

Hey Dude perfect,
I was right .. Trolling for input produced just what I thought .. clever.

 

[O C Diver]

Will you have a swing down step into the water or use the cavitation plate on the outboard as a step?

Ted

 

[OldDan1943]

Will you have a swing down step into the water or use the cavitation plate on the outboard as a step?

Ted

If we are voting, I think a separate swing down step would be safer than putting more weight on the outboard.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Scratch,
We’d consider any platform golden but messing w the salty and rather round Willard stern may take a considerable chunck out of her resale potential. And having a “transom door” would almost be required for access. Nix

Half way down the page you will see a platform that will fit you to a tee. Time and money takes care of everything but your health most of the time.

Swim Platforms

Will you have a swing down step into the water or use the cavitation plate on the outboard as a step?

Not really, except for a rare occasion,, The swim platform will have little to do with getting on and off the boat. I will explain that later. The hull side door will be the entrance and exist point most of the time from a dinghy and the dock if its floating.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Installed my custom bow pulpit. The bolts are offset so I can install my chain lock and a bow cleat. Its a bit over kill, solid and laminated Honduras Mahogany I had laying around. We we have a lot of surge in the wrong winds. It will get painted. Thanks for the comments. I am slowly winding down on all of these appendages . The painting went well today in this 70 degree temps.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

I did get a little bit of woodwork done during the artic blast. The cap moulding is in need of its finish shaping and sanding. But with the toe rail installed and primed, I will do the finish paint on the cabin sides after this next cold spell passed.

 

[OldDan1943]

Looking good and making progress!!!

 

[Nomad Willy]

Installed my custom bow pulpit. The bolts are offset so I can install my chain lock and a bow cleat. Its a bit over kill, solid and laminated Honduras Mahogany I had laying around. We we have a lot of surge in the wrong winds. It will get painted. Thanks for the comments. I am slowly winding down on all of these appendages . The painting went well today in this 70 degree temps.

Hopefully the bow pulpit will not be as strong as the boat. Could rip your bow off. I’d rather rip the pulpit off.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

Well the on deck portion of the pulpit, which makes it look even thicker is just a wedge which deals with reversing the upward sweeping shape and the crown. If not the anchor would be going up hill and would not launch correctly.

 

[Miz Trom]

Hey Scratch:

Did you have to steam bend that toe rail or was it pliable enough to simply clamp in place before bedding and screws??

I ran across this unique video on steam bending, using a plastic bag (!), by another wooden boat builder:

We are experiencing an arctic blast - the first of one of two with a second colder one on its way down on Tuesday - here in SW Florida, so it must be pretty darn cold up there in NC. Stay warm!

Best Regards,
Pea

 

[OldDan1943]

Hmmmm, an interesting and simple way to steam bend wood.
Thanks.

 

[BIG CAT]

Amazing project. Love all the little details.

 

[Scratchnsaw]

I steam nothing these days. Unlike the older days of wooden boat building, these days we have the advantage of epoxy laminated parts in areas of extreme curves creating a stronger part from cut frames or rails. Steaming small parts is a down side as it ages and dries back out.

If you have ever witnessed some of the older motor yachts or sailing yachts with the steamed frames, they have a natural tendancy to split after the fasteners are in and used over time. we either sister them up or remove them completely and now replace them with the laminated frames.

But unlike the video my boat is bigger and longer. So the stresses of tight bends are not as great. So if you choose the correct grain and even saw a part maximizing the grain shape for a particular bend, we don't steam bend any parts now. At least I don't. I just start at the tight bend in and fasten them in place as I go toward the belly or midships of the boats.

Now oak, which was one of the more favorite woods and readily available for structural parts is rarely used these days on trailer launched boats except for maybe a rubrail. We don't like the weight and there is little need for that tight of strength that comes with some of the hardwoods.

Oak will not bend as easily in shorter bends and runs. The meranti is a cousin of the mahogany species and a straighter grain. So I wonder why he steamed the rails, even in the shorter hulls, unless that's the way that he likes to do things.

Its turned cold here again and blowing a gale. So clean up is the order of the day in the next couple of days.

Thanks guys