The backyard building and adventures of a small shanty/houseboat based on the "Dianne's Rose" design by Roy Schreyer. The designs can be found at https://www.roydesignedthat.com/
Well, another nice Sunday, and managed to get the bow panel completed for Hull #98 - checking out the angles and B-sides, the A side will face the water. Still lots of panels to cut - its a journey - but glad to be underway. I will need to fully encapsulate all the pieces in epoxy resin to protect against the elements.
Finally, some good weather -- sunshine and a day off. As the saying goes, it is time to make "hay while the sun shines!" I began making the first cuts on the partial bulkheads. Its the start of a long project, but it is nice to finally be underway and have the tarps off the plywood.
Cutting the notches was a bit of a challenge, but the operation went pretty smoothly! Dianne's Rose Hull#098 is full steam ahead!
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| Cutting Out The Partial Bulkheads |
Well, Spring is coming again soon, and it is time to get some marine plywood for the new boat. This will be the first of many investments into lumber. There are a ton of choices to be made. Previously, I just used exterior radiata pine, and it works fine on the small craft. It is easily repaired and touched up.
With the Mystnyx houseboat project, it will require a higher grade of wood. The weight of the boat means it will be difficult to do any repairs. The cost of the project and the size makes it a prime candidate to use the best available materials.
That being said, its worth a look at the various wood types. Here is a good little primer that I wrote a long time ago about wood types: https://shadyislepirates.com/?q=node/39
Woodenboat magazine also has a great write up on differences: http://woodenboat.com/marine-plywood
Another great source of information on specific differences in Marine Plywood: https://www.wolstenholme.com/pdf/Marine%20Plywood%20Comparison.pdf
This is an interesting write up taken from the Glen-L forums:
"The Baltic Birch plywood's are a sound choice if you can confirm that they are made with waterproof glues, more specifically the Phenolic Resin glues.
Also with the Baltic plywood's the grading standard is considerably different than what you see here in the (West). While we have (APA grades) A, B, C and D grades, plus Marine grades (Mar A-B indicating that it's Marine rated with one face being A grade and the other side being B graded) plus the British standards BS1088, BS6566 (although now only used for historical sake - the BS standards are no longer "certified" by Lloyds) they do not equate to what you may see with these birch plywood's.
The Baltic grading system is typically the Russian GOST system. The plywood is made with two different types of glue. One is a phenolic glue, which is waterproof/boilproof - so what would be considered "marine rated" - it is identified on Baltic Birch with an "FSF" stamp. The second type of glue is melamine based, and while (technically) "waterproof", water "resistant" is more correct (on our side of the pond this would be classified as a sheet that can be used (structurally) if "protected" - like under shingles on a house roof etc. This second type of glue is identified with an "FK" stamp on the birch panels (and should be avoided on the hull/transom, but fine for interior stuff - bulkheads etc).
Also the grading system is typically with a double letter (single letters exist, but are not often seen on commercial panels), so you will see BB/BB or BB/CC. Just like over here the grade has to do with the quality of veneer layers, how well they are joined to form a single layer (higher grades = closer joins = less gaps etc) but the GOST ratings are actually a little more stringent than on our side so a BB rated birch panel has considerably better joins than a B grade in the APA rating system.
So while a Mar A-B would be a preferred structural marine panel and would roughly equate to a BS1088 panel (using the lloyds rating), a BB/CC FSF Baltic panel would be pretty close to the other two graded panels.
There is one other advantage to the birch and one detractor.
The advantage is that for any given thickness it will contain more plies than an APA panel, and usually "at least" equal to the BS marine ply, and considerably more plies as the thickness of the panel increases.
A 12mm (roughly 1/2") panel with an APA rating of Mar A/B would have (typically) 5 plies. A BS1088 panel and the Vost panel would have 9 plies.
On the downside, the BB and lower rated panels allow "patches" in the face plies. These are seen as very small football (not soccer) shaped "plugs" in the face veneer. These can "pop out" under extreme stress/flex and should be avoided for major structural panels. In the APA system you generally only see the patches (albeit about 2 1/2 times the size of those seen on VOST rated panels) on C grade faces and they are usually identified with a grade of "C-Plugged".
Now, for all my yapping here, this is my position on using Baltic Birch.
Given the "crap" that the APA rated stuff has turned into in the past 20 years, I consider the B.Birch "far superior" to anything on the market with an APA rating.
In the last 15 or so years even the (formerly) BS rated stuff has gone way down hill. So unless you are chucking big bucks for Joubert certified BS1088, the stuff that's being passed of as 1088 is barely better than 6566 Aquatek, so hardly worth the premium.
Because of that, if you can find some BB rated Baltic Birch with the waterproof glue, FSF, stamp, you will have a vastly superior panel both aesthetically and structurally to anything else on the market. The biggest issue in North America is sourcing full sized panels. It is typically imported here in 5'x5' panels only."
In the end, I order a ordered a pile of yummy specialty plywood from Smith's Plywood for the new boat build.. U can spend quite a bit of time in a plywood specialty shop... I got the 1/2" in Baltic Birch, and had it delivered.
Alot of nice grains and beautiful wood. Smith's doesn't have Meranti or Okoume. I then went to PJ White's and was able to get both BS-6566 and BS-1088 Meranti for the build. I now am all set. Very excited to get going!
Picked up the first of many things to start off the "Mystnyx" Dianne's Rose project. I began a complete teardown on a 1963 FDL-17M which is an 18 HP Long-shaft Electric Start Johnson 2-cycle outboard. A relatively rare engine these days, but had a long and mighty run in the both the Johnson and Evinrude lineup, as OMC made Johnson and Evinrude 18's from 1957 until about 1973.
In that year, OMC changed the engine slightly, putting on bigger carburetor and began marketing it as a 25 HP. The old 18-20 hp Johnson/Evinrude motors were some of the best pound for pound motors ever made and very sought after these days. It was a good find for me at $200CDN, with a few things to be done, the motor was in a great condition overall.
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| The OMC 18 H.P. outboard was made from 1957-1973 |
As far as shanty-style boats go there are many different possible designs.
Phil Thiel's Escargot is a good start, but I didn't feel it had quite the headroom I was looking for.
Well, its three years later, and no further progress. Many changes, a new house, health issues, and other projects kept me from working on the Vacationer project.
I have to say, my thoughts have now shifted from the sailboat, which I have always been comfortable with, and love the idea of using the wind for "free power" to a motorboat design. Mainly for family reasons. I am now looking for something that provides a "cabin" on the water. It seems that it is getting increasingly difficult to find camping spots in B.C., and with the freedom of a boat, it make sense that a "shantyboat" or small houseboat would be in order.
During the 19th century into the 1930s, itinerant workers lived in shanty boats along the canals and rivers of industrial American towns. It was once a way a life. While doing genealogical research I read an excerpt from my own family, from my 6x great grandfather, Jacob Judy who was considered a "very ancient and respectable pioneer" in Illinois who immigrated to America when he was just 3 years old. According to The Combined History of Randolph, Monroe and Perry Counties... , Illinois (1883) p.448:"In the year 1786 he and his family descended the Ohio river to Kentucky. On the river, at the mouth of the Scioto, he heard the Indians making noises to decoy him to land, but he kept straight on. He had but one man with him besides his family. His daughter Nancy Judy, then eighteen years old, steered the boat, while her father, her brother, Samuel Judy, and the hired man, rowed the craft with all possible speed by this dangerous section of the river. He remained two years in Kentucky, and descended the Ohio in a flat boat . He was forced up Cash river , in the present county of Alexander , for protection from the Indians , and remained there for seven weeks, until a boat could come from Kaskaskia to his relief."
Living in Steveston,a shantyboat design it is also a nice fit with the history along the Fraser river.
"Life was rough and ready on the river front around the turn of the last century. Shown here, a couple of First Nations canoes, three Fraser River type gillnet skiffs and a Columbia River type skiff are moored near the dyke at the foot of Second Avenue in Steveston. A group of men stand on the deck of a small float house and, at centre on the dyke, the Dyke-side Saloon is open for business ready to provide refreshments to bored fishermen between fisheries openings." (Friends of the Richmond Archives)
A pontoon boat while nice, are expensive, and in most likelihood would not be able to stand up to the wave on the Salish sea. It would be best that such a design would be able to handle some reasonable chop. It would be best if it could accommodate both salt and freshwater.., from lakes to exploring small inlets. A barge style design would work in rougher water, and would also maximize space and comfort.
