put together this quick video of our boats sailing together on Biscayne Bay. Most of the clips were taken in the past few days... The cat boat is a 12' Westphal we bought from the builder, Dave Westphal, about 5 years ago. She became the inspiration to design and build the 26 footer which we launched just over a year ago. Both are stripped planked over divinicel cored frames, stringers and deck.
Hi, I remember the first video you posted of this nice vessel. Do you have a photo record of the build process? Your design? What woods you used for spars, knee, frames, planks, decks, etc.? What type mechanical fasteners you went for? Did you laminate the stem or was lucky to find a good usable log? (Sorry for excessive questioning, this subject is of real interest to me. Thanks). Nothing sexier on water than a wooden boat, add fabric sails to it and you have a hottie strutting elegantly on high heels! Thanks for sharing lovely moments on a lovely hearty vessel. Cheers,
To answer your questions.. Yes, my design, hull shaped loosely based on 20' Herreshoff fish Spars are doug fir. Gaff and job club are 2 solid pieces epoxied together, book is solid using 4 pieces, mast is birdmouth hollow (8 stages), hollow Planking is western red cedar (planking on the cat boat is cypress) down to just below water line, with a single layer of 8oz glass outside. Inside has 3 layers of 10 oz S Glass. Decks, frames, stringers, keel structure is Divinycel foam core glass. Below water line hull is also divinycel cored glass No mechanicl fasteners. Planks are epoxied to the frames and then tabbed with glass. No stem really just a short piece of western red cedar above water line Brightwork is west system epoxy with 207 special hardener and 3 coats of clear Awlgrip Here is a slide show of the build
Very nicely done sir, nice design and nice little features built in it. I see you capitalized well on light weight and low maintenance. In comparison, this build method is faster and more forgiving, as I feel from the process you followed. Well done. May she give you the best of pleasure and fairest of rides for years to come. A lovely boat and a worthy skipper to say the least. Cheers captain.
Thank you I wanted a real day sailor which means a big cockpit. Too often you see people buying "pocket cruisers" with small cockpits and "big" cabins they never use. I also wanted something traditional looking. That meant gaff rigged and wooden spars, even if we sacrificed peformance. I did include a number of features like having the cabin door fold up into the hatch instead of the traditionl small boat slats, a fold down transom for easy access to the water, a built in anchor chute with windlass all below deck. Oh... And the most critical feature: a mahogany table/cooler to fit four bottles of champagne or rosé that can not tip ovet
