Sunday, January 26, 2014

Folding the Bow



Cabin sides and forward section in place, preparing to install the laminated plywood roof.







Initial test of the starboard bow section in its folded  storage position.

The long slender bow section fits exactly along the main hull as intended to form a rectangle. It will fit inside a 20' shipping container, or a 20' moorage slip.









Close up of the joint between the bow section and the center accommodation section.

There will eventually be two bronze hinges between the two sections. The black clamp at the top is temporary.






Close up of the the bow section folded against the main accommodations section, showing the excellent fit.

The accommodation section curves downward, and the bow section stays horizontal, as you can see in the distance of the photo.







Accommodation section to the left, and the folded-back bow section to the right. The clamps hold them in position as we research attachment options. This is the configuration it will have when stored.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Last Major Section: Installing the House Sides







The proud designer/owner in what will be the cabin space, standing next to the main door from the cockpit, before the installation of the cabin side panels.



Looking from the cockpit side, at the newly installed accommodation space side panels, before cutting in the windows. The door frame will also be raised and arched to match the top of the cabin. 







Master Boat Builder Brad Rice takes a break against the perfectly-pitched-for-a-backrest transom. A removable sun pad will make a comfortable lounging platform in this location. The sole surface is yet to be installed over the frames. 

This portion of the boat will detach to form a (very odd shaped) dingy. 







Elegant curve at the aft house-side. 

You can see the half-round hinge point along the combing that will take a bronze reinforcing plate and bolt and will allow the aft section to fold forward over the cabin.









Each section of the boat is water tight, which you can see here. The folding bow sections are separated to facilitate installation of the bronze hinges that will allow the bow sections to fold back without compromising the water-tight integrity of the boat sections.






Two water-tight bow sections which will contain hatches for anchor and fender storage. Each weights approximately 250 lbs. and will hinge and fold aft against the main cabin module, for storage or shipping. 

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Color Study


Custom paint job, inspired by the work of California artist Richard Diebenkorn. 




Word Gets Out







Friends stop by to check out the progress. 



Assembling the Parts - Center and Stern






We begin to skin the center section.





To keep the long thin shallow hull from sliding sideways, we installed a centerboard trunk under the forward double berth.




Skinning is underway on the starboard side.

 (An earlier shot of the stern section.)

The stern section of the hull folds forward over the cabin when the boat is loaded into the 20' shipping container. Unfolded, it acts as a back porch to the main cabin and offers plenty of room for lounging and storage.

The bulkhead is comprised of two matching parts, one that stays with the stern and one that stays with the center section. They are bolted together when the boat is fully unfolded.

The two 9.9 horsepower outboards are located just forward of the bulkhead.




Assembling the Parts - the Bow




The two sections of the bow are each quite narrow, and butt against each other along the midline of the boat. This shows the superstructure before skinning.

You can see the beginnings of the bulkheads for the cabin, aft.

We decided to build the boat right-side-up on a flat bottom, which had to be braced to the proper profile.







Completed starboard side bow section, with cabin bulkheads in the background, with main cabin door roughed-in.




A very elegant, sleek bow. The blue tape covers the seam where the two bow halves butt. 

At this point, the first thing people say when they walk into the barn is, "Wow!" 

Cutting Bottom Panels from the Lofting





3/4" thick, marine ply bottom panels are cut and laid out for the full length of the boat (port side only). To the left is half of the aft deck (the side deck that goes around the cabin.)







1/2" plywood bulkhead panels are cut and ready to go.






You can see lofting drawing for the cabin (on sheetrock),  showing to the left of the plywood bottom panels.

Lofting

Brad glued 4x8 sheets of sheetrock to  the concrete floor of the barn to use as a lofting surface.








We finally get an idea of how big this boat will really be. It pretty much fills Brad's 60' barn.

Drawings

Brad's development of Bob's original concept drawings. 


The forward folding mechanism required custom bronze hinges on port and starboard sides. The bow splits lengthwise and folds back against the center cabin section. The (two) bow sections have small storage areas built in for anchoring equipment. 


Custom bronze hingen will be made by a local artisan. 



Building a boat always requires a lot of discussion with neighbors, friends and various boat aficionados that happen to drop by.











Looking at the model brought up lots of questions that needed further study.












Brad's elegant little sketches of Frog Prince.