sailboat in a day?

[johngsandusky]

After a recent trip to the Bahamas, I realized that if I wanted a small boat to sail while on vacation, I would have to bring one or build one.I made a cardboard model today of a sharpie skiff, 11" long, using only 2 sheets of 4x8, and a few sticks. I think I can build it and rig it in a day, for less than $100. No, I'm not intoxicated. I once built a flatiron skiff of pine in 3 days, no power tools. I helped some novice students build a couple of temporary boats in an afternoon. They raced them and won, against similar jury rigs. I'm not bragging, I do want suggestions, experiences from you. What's the quickest, cheapest boat you know of?

[ken.bryant]

A log.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Ken warn a man so as I can put up a splatter screen :D :D :D

[Graham Knight]

We have a fun raft race on the river here every summer, the simplest ones I've seen are a slab of polyfoam with a bamboo mast and square polytarp sail.
One guy turned up with an old GRP bath which sailed surprisingly well, and another had a plywood coffin with a sail!

[skuthorp]

See if you can hire a canoe. Plank for a leeboard, sprit rig. Tarp or sheet sail, paddle to steer. :D

[PeterSibley]

Sure ,can be done depending on your standards of pretty :D .One afternoon a few years ago I had just finished putting up a wall for a bloke who lives on a river bank.

We had 3 hours to knock off and he smilingly announced he wanted me to build him a boat to cart rocks along the river :rolleyes: .

A pile of ply left over from the job,some 2"x2" pine ,power drive screws and a tube or two of gung.He had a boat in 3 hours,flat bottom,pointy ends,suprisingly fair,cos the 1/2" ply formed the shape,a reasonably sheer.And it floated and carted rocks for a year or so before a flood took it away. smile.gif

Good fun and I got paid for it :D

[Billy Bones]

Originally posted by ken.bryant:
A log.Never been to the bahamas, eh?

[Ken Hutchins]

If you were a Cuban all you need is a few empty drums and an old truck. Add a blue poly tarp on a broomstick.

edited to add the sail. :D

[ 03-01-2006, 08:04 AM: Message edited by: Ken Hutchins ]

[Delboy]

Take a look at this site.

http://www.simplicityboats.com/LCB.htm

[Keith Wilson]

Phil Bolger's Teal. (http://www.instantboats.com/teal.htm) As long as you don't want to carry much weight, this is an incredibly simple boat. A crude version could certainly be built in a day or two. Mast and oars might take longer.

http://www.instantboats.com/images/tealconst1.jpg
http://www.instantboats.com/images/tealconst2.jpg
http://www.instantboats.com/images/tealrow.jpg

[Garrett Lowell]

What if you built your boat (say Teal), took it apart, packaged it, and shipped it to where you're going, and then reassembled it when you arrived? Then, when you leave, you can donate it to someone who needs it. Just a thought.

[Thorne]

Well, I'm guessing that the 'rules' for this 'contest' are this:

1. Materials purchased on site (Bahamas)

2. Tools likewise (possible exception small battery drill and/or handsaw carried in luggage). Possibly nothing but handsaw and battery drill?

3. Boat must SAIL, so you've got the rig and sail added into the building time.

4. Boat must assemble in a day, so no epoxies or scarfs.

I'll place my 'entry':

Simple jon-boat style skiff with flat bottom that curves up in front, flat sides, flat transom. All made of ply, and to get it over 7', ply sheets joined with butt-joint backed with batten/frame.

Ply leeboard attached with rope to gunwale and weighted with fishing weight, mast and boom of 2x4, polytarp sail, ply rudder.

Interior framing 1x2 or whatever you can get or rip from 2x4's -- lumber in the Bahamas will be expensive and limited from what I hear.

Attached with PL Premium or whatever gun-goo will dry in 24 hours. All seams backed with battens, glued and screwed, sheetrock screws of course.

Howzat?

;-0 )

[james burt]

check out pdracer.com
2 sheets of plywood, gorilla glue & some nails

[maa. melee]

22 Hour Sailboat (http://www.simplicityboats.com/daydreamSA.html)

[John Turpin]

Just brainstorming here. Go to the beach and sculpt out a boat-shaped hole in the sand. Make it roughly 4' X 8'. Then, when you have the shape you want, line the hole with plastic sheeting. Then, use spray foam from cans to shoot a layer of quick-hardening insulation foam against the plastic. Follow this with some thin plywood or door skin to firm up the interior and sole. Maybe use 1/4 or 3/8 ply for the sole. With the boat still in the sand mold, screw in some knees, a mast step, a bulkhead and a thwart or two using 1X and sheetrock screws.

Once everything seems firm, pull your boat out of the sand and remove the plastic. Paint your new composite-hull boat fire engine red and step your closet-rod mast. If your plastic is reusable, you've got your sail.

[ 03-01-2006, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: John Turpin ]

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Not quite what you are thinking, but maybe another solution to your problem folding kayak (http://yostworks.com/)
Sorry, I cant get the url to go to the site in my favourties. Maybe if you google ""folding kayak", I think the authors name is Bob Jost

[ 03-01-2006, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Paul Fitzgerald ]

[Karl A. Hilbert]

Here's a cheap hull. Cheap Canoe (http://www.bateau2.com/free/cheapcanoe.htm)

[ 03-01-2006, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: Karl A. Hilbert ]

[johngsandusky]

Thanks guys. Thorne, you give a good description of the cardboard model I built, we're on the same page. While everything in the Bahamas is expensive, in Abaco I saw a large lumber yard, and a couple of hardware stores, houses being built, so I can get construction stuff. This could work anywhere with those sources, Florida for instance. I did consider the shipping option, even boxing my sailing canoe, but shipping costs are more than materials costs. Besides, it would be
cool to go on vacation, build a boat, sail it, give it away?

[WindHawk]

This is a great thread, which I believe would have been greatly appreciated on Alcataz. Two further contraints, of course:

1. Must be built in the dark with no artifical lighting.

2. Must be soundlessly built in the dark with no artifical lighting! :D

See: http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/

[Tom Robb]

Alcatraz is a National Park. You can leave whenever the tour boat daparts. ;)