Help! I've been nominated...

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

We are having a family reunion this coming summer on the farm. There is a creek (properly pronounced "crick") back home that runs through the farm that would make for some fun model boat floating. With my extensive experience (I built a flat bottom skiff - ha!) I have been chosen to build small model boats for all the itty bitty cousins to float during the reunion.

The cousins total seventeen in number and range in age from two years up to fourteen. I know the older ones may not be as interested but it seems like I need to treat them all the same and make a boat for each one. The point is to get them in the creek splashing around and having a good time so the adults can visit and do things adults do, like consume beverages. So, any thoughts?

At one extreme I can take some one inch pine and cut it into ten inch lengths with a pointy end for the bow. Drill a hole, insert dowl, thread on some construction paper and ya got yahr boat. Seems a bit lacking though and I'd like for each of them to have a cool thing to take home.

My thought is the boys get boats painted blue, the girls get pink boats and each one has the name of the child on it and the date of the reunion. Something to remember it by...

[Venchka]

Howdy Cap'n!

The local wooden boat festival does just about what you need for kids during the festival. They get the kids involved in the production and decoration. Do the hard part-sawing, etc. Let the kids get involved and do the fun part.

[htom]

The Bolger/Payson "Build the Instant Catboat" has directions for making a model that uses an internal slotted frame that's planked. Make one, use it for a template to cut twenty more, glue them up, let the kids paint them. Use dowels for masts, gaffs, booms.

Problems: Lots of parts, lots of work, even with an assembly line with one worker. You'll have to figure out how to deal with the centerboard, which the model doesn't have. I'd do a daggerboard with a case that's part of that internal frame. The gaff and boom need jaws, or a useful substitute. Sails would have to be badly shaped.

[Bruce Hooke]

My Uncle taught woodworking classes for children and one of the regular classes was a model sailboat building class. Over many years of experimentation he developed a system that children could do themselves (with his help & instruction) and that produced very workable, simple boats. I, unfortunately, do not have the details, but the basic principle was, I think, along the lines of:

A piece of plywood (1/4" door skin most likely) cut out in the shape of the deck fastened at right angles to another piece of plywood in the shape of the side view of the hull, including the keel (so the deck and keel piece form a T when viewed from the bow or stern). Foam attached on either side of the "keel" piece (under the deck) and carved to shape formed the hull. I think the foam was wrapped in canvas to provide a more durable and paintable surface. The mast and sails could then be mounted on top. I don't recall what was used for ballast, but there had to be something. The mast and sails can easily be added on top. The only remaining trick is the rudder. I think he may have found a way (or have been looking for a way) to leave out the rudder completely and depend on sail trim to guide the boat.

These models really sailed and did so rather nicely as I recall. HOWEVER, they need reasonably deep water and at least a little wind so they may not be the best solution for you, depending on what your creek is like.

I would recommend keeping things as open ended as possible. Kids, if given the right degree of latitude, are likely to come up with all sorts of ideas that would not have occurred to you. Depending on skills and age level, involving them in at least some parts of the building process (even if it's just the painting stage) is likely to be much more interesting for them.

[N. Scheuer]

R3minds me of the 2x4 boats we used to make as kids in South Bend, Indiana. A simple bpoard about two feet long, sawed to a point at the bow, with some crude superstructure nailed on. We'd launch them from the Colfax Bridge over the St Joe River by simply dropping them off the midpoint. Then we'd ride our bikes fast over to Mill St. and grab a couple of paving bricks where they were loose along one side, and take them to the LaSalle St Bridge one block downstream. Then we'd try to "bomb" those 2x4 "ships we'd launched a few minutes before.

This was WAY more fun than video games today.

Moby Nick

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Now I know why there is that strangely shallow area on the river. Finally it all makes sense... :D

[rbgarr]

Nowadays, kids drop bricks from overpasses on highways (six cars hit on Rt. 95 outside of Savannah yesterday)... saves all that boatmaking work. :mad:

In all seriousness, you might consider making up teams of two (an older kid and a younger one) and using styrofoam board that they could cut with a utility knife (if you'd feel safe with that) with your dowel and construction paper. Have a box or hoop that the 'boat' would have to fit in or through in order to race. You be interested in how much fun they have with this sort of thing. We see it happen every summer at a local yacht club. Some kid almost always tries to make a catamaran work, while others go with the simple square shape. Include paints or magic markers for decoration. Get noisemakers for prizes.

[ 12-10-2003, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: rbgarr ]

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Thanks for your input, here is what I've come up with:

This afternoon I took a 2x4 about four feet long and clamped it to my deck rail. Not having a table saw I took my circular saw and set it to cut a 45 degree angle. I cut the length of the board on both sides leaving a 2x4 that was a triangle. Then I cut off an eleven inch length for the hull.

I used a hand saw to cut the angle for the bow and then undercut the stern for it to be upswept like a launch. Next I got out my small plane and rounded off all the edges. I finished up with a rasp and am real pleased with how a 2x4 turned out. I may find a guy with a router to gouge out the interior a bit. Then paint it up and letter it "Reunion '04" on one side and each child's name on the other.

The extent that the kids will do will probably be limited to stepping the mast and setting the sail. I can already hear some "tisk, tisking" out there and to some extent I agree. You folks are at a bit of a disadvantage though as some of the children are, shall we say, more needy than others. At the end of the day I guess, I want this to be a happy and harmonious experience and want to do my part to minimize potential conflict. I am understating it when I say there was a major blowup over Thanksgiving involving some of the kids and adults. I can assure you that none of us want a repeat of that!

The bridge idea is a great one as this is out in the country on a gravel road with essentially no traffic. There is a bridge that abuts the property and I can't wait to suggest to some of the kids to launch them upstream and then run to the bridge with some gravel and "bomb" them. This could be entertainment for the whole afternoon!

[ 12-13-2003, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: Captain Pre-Capsize ]

[Bruce Hooke]

Sounds like a good plan -- just make sure they float well and don't tip over. It did occur to me that getting the kids more involved in the making process would probably mean some adult (probably you!) having to spend most of your time managing the boat "workshop" whereas what you are really looking for, it sounds like, is something you can set the kids going on and not have to play teacher all the time for.

On the bridge idea I would just make sure that only the kids who want to have their boat "bombed" take part in that aspect of the event, because I expect there are some kids who will love this idea and look for bigger and bigger things to drop and some who will want to treat their boats as treasured objects that should be gently floated on a quiet pool! :D

[Nora Lee]

Sounds like great fun... and for the youngest in the group have a rubber ducky race or just have a 'Fanny Race" for everyone, have them bring innertubes and decorate hats for their teams and have everyone kicking and splashing about. or another thing is an 'anything that can float but a boat race'

Family reunions are such great fun and I love to watch all the generations getting into the fray!

Regards,

Nora

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

An update:

I floated my pine 2x4 in the sink and was dismayed to see that the water line was within 3/8" from the deck, or top surface of the 2x4. It looked more like a submarine undecided about surfacing than a boat. Nuts...

Plan B: I called the neighborhood woodworker whose basement is literally filled with all manner of planers, bandsaws, table saw, drill press and more. He said to stop by the following day, that he had an idea he would mock up for me to see.

Today I stopped over and was simply speechless at what he had come up with. To be fair (to myself) I don't have any tools to speak of other than my circular saw, a hammer, handsaw and some sandpaper. He had glued together some 1x4 cedar to make up a 2x4 block that was ten inches long or so. Then he cut the block into the shape of a boat with gently curving sides from bow to stern. The platform on the bandsaw though was tilted at an angle. So as he cut the general outline of the boat he was also "undercuting" the side of the boat in such a way as to make the bottom of the boat narrower than the deck. Follow? Hard to translate into words but trust me it looks great.

The bonus? The cedar causes the boat to ride higher in the water and the little thing almost looks "sassy" if that is possible. Very pleasing. For the price of me buying him a new bandsaw blade I will have the run of his shop after New Years Day and be able to start cranking out the seventeen boats. The thought occurs to me to shave just a tad off the deck surface in order to give it some curve to the sheer. I can't wait for New Years! In the meantime I need to find some choice cedar and start glueing. I'll keep you posted.

Merry Christmas to you all!

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

As promised (threatened?) here is an update. I found some cedar 2x4's and went over to the neighbor's to cut out the little boats. I got done, came home and filled the sink with water. One at a time I put them into the water and was dismayed to see one third of them promptly flop onto their sides when in the water.

Hmmmm... They all came from the same pattern... A close look at the wood from which the defective boats were cut revealed that the 2x4 was divided somewhat irregularly into a darker half and a lighter half. The darker half rode lower in the water and the lighter half rode higher. Apparently the darker half was denser and thus heavier.

So it was off to the sporting goods store to buy me some fishing sinkers. I drilled holes into the side of the lighter colored (higher riding) side of the affected boats and inserted enough weight to balance things. Next is to paint the boats and build the sails with the muslin I bought.

[cs]

Hey Cap't, I think that maybe I would add a little ballest to all of them. If they are that sensative, once they get in the water they might all be a little more tippy than when they were in the sink.

Chad

[Ken Hutchins]

I'vs seen this being done with a group of 6-10 year old youngsters. They made the hulls with styrofoam, used straws for masts and paper for sails. Rough out the blocks ahead of time then it is quick and easy for them to do the shaping, they can cut the styrofoam with plastic knives and/or coarse sandpaper.

[Bruce Taylor]

The platform on the bandsaw though was tilted at an angle. So as he cut the general outline of the boat he was also "undercuting" the side of the boat in such a way as to make the bottom of the boat narrower than the deck.That's exactly how I make model boat blanks for the kids & their friends. Sometimes (if the kids install tall cabins and masts, etc.) I'll tack a strip of mild steel to the bottom as a sort of weighted keel.

[huisjen]

Once you get that worked out, here's a method of self steering for toy boats. You'll have to play with the lever arm lengths and such, or maybe spring load it some other way than the rubber band sheet.

http://www.angelfire.com/mac2/huisjen/self-steer.gif

The boat I saw it work on was about 2' long and 1' wide, made of tape and heavy poster board and painted to waterproof, with a 2' mast.

Dan

[ 02-04-2004, 07:04 PM: Message edited by: huisjen ]

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Bruce:

I am just going to tie the string from the corner of the sail onto a screw eye at the transom. These are just flat on the bottom and I have been wondering (hey, it's winter out there and I have time for the thinking part now!) if I need a rudder. What did you do?

They aren't going to do much in this creek but float really so my goal is not to make sure that they can sail but rather look good and float.

Give me your thoughts. What did you use for the metal on the bottom of the boats?

Dan: THANKS for the diagram - simple but effective looking. Candidly, I'm not sure I'll try that on these seventeen boats (MAN, my folks have a lot of grandkids!) but I may just make myself a model and rig it thus.

[ 02-04-2004, 07:13 PM: Message edited by: Captain Pre-Capsize ]

[Donn]

I don't know about a rudder, unless you get tickled by the thought of actually steering them, but I'd at least slap skegs on their bottoms, so they'll track straighter.

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Donn:

That's a great idea - I'll probably have two skegs running most of the length on either side of the centerline. Then they will track straighter but also still be able to sit up properly when on the shelf at home. Let's face it - the shelf is where they are going to be spending most of their time.

I'm thinking that I'll take some of the dowels I bought for the masts, flatten one side of them and glue the flattened side to the bottom. Not too streamlined but... any better thoughts?

Scott

[ 02-04-2004, 08:13 PM: Message edited by: Captain Pre-Capsize ]

[Donn]

Popsicle sticks or plant name stakes, glued into a kerf cut with a circular saw.

Tip. Set the skegs to move the boat away from shore, using the current. You launch them at shore, and let the current, and the angle on the skegs, move the boat out into the stream.

[Bruce Taylor]

Scott, the ones I've made for the kids have been very quick n' dirty...no rudders, and no fancy rigging. They're meant to go wherever the current takes them, like the little boat in "Paddle to the Sea."

I let the kids paint them on their own, and fit them out on with masts, makeshift sails, & cabins, if they like. I generally hollow out the hull, dugout style (a quick job on the drill press, w/ a Forstner bit). If the little boat looks top heavy, I cut some lengths of 1/2" steel strapping & affix them to the bottom w/ a couple of fence-tacks.

Speaking of Paddle to the Sea...after finishing Blackfly, last year, I let the kids launch the scale model I made while designing her. They wrote wishes on scraps of paper, and put them in the boat with a crew of tiny plasticine people, and set her loose in the river. So, if you see a little clinker ship manned by blue and yellow pixies clutching scrolls of paper...don't forget to wave!