Hello everyone,

The other day I was overcome by the usual spring dose of “Boatbuilding Fever”. I succumbed… and I’m knee deep in epoxy again. Yeah, I know…I had sworn “never again”...but here we are at it once more. What to do?

I am 7 days into the build of an Ndrua type Proa (big, buoyant ama) ...called Sweet Aloha.
Construction time will be as short as possible (shooting for 6 weeks) and the budget will be…to put it bluntly…pitiful.

Sweet Aloha will be 20 feet long. The Vaka (main hull) will have a 3ft beam and will be made of 1/4 inch ply, sheathed in glass and epoxy.
The ama (smaller hull) will be 16 ft by 2 ft
Crossbeams will be…a suprise!
I haven’t decided on many of the details yet. I enjoy building “on the fly”, as I find that boats have a way of almost designing themselves, once the whole process begins.

The overall concept is for a quick, easy and cheap to build craft… that can be demountable and trailered/shipped with the minimum of dramas. He will be a Camper Cruiser.  An Island Hopper. Absolutely bare minimum accommodations, luxuries and frills.

I have made a few YouTube videos covering the build so far (it’s been about 7 days) and will be updating them on an almost daily basis.

Please “cut and paste” the link below to see them…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQayClcTLhc&index=2&list=PLSrsRDO2_lCDoPuhIgWxFqyR1Ht6-9RcJ

I hope you enjoy some of the images and I look forward to any comments and suggestions.

Aloha to All,
claudio

Hi Claudio,

Welcome to the forum. I love the simplicity of your project and I enjoyed watching your videos. I had to laugh at your saying, “If you haven’t changed your mind lately, are you sure ou still have one?” :D

Looking forward to more.

Cheers,
James

Thanks for the Aloha vibe, James. Much appreciated. I look forward to participating in your community.
Cheers
claudio

Hey Claudio, great to see you are still building boats, and that they are still proas! 😊 Great series of Youtube videos, and if anyone missed it, here is the website: Sweet Aloha Boats.

Hi Michael,
Thanks for the warm welcome and kind comments. Much appreciated.
Feels good to be back in the playground.
Now where’s that epoxy…?

Cheers for now
claudio

I’m enjoying your continuing episodes on youtube, Claudio. Nice to see your smiling face too! Pity about the elves, though.

I’ve been wondering about your choice of a vee hull (60 degrees?) and why. You mentioned that it is the simplest shape and in your latest video that the hull will be mostly for storage. So I’m guessing that the vee is not an inconvenient shape for stowage though it can be for accomodation.

Have I got it right or is there more to your thinking re vee shape?

Hi James,

Thanks for the kind comment and sorry for the tardy reply.

Every hull shape is a trade off, of course…(and they are all beautiful!)...but there are many advantages to the deep V .
I have owned and built many of them and so naturally gravitate towards them.

Simplicity and rapidity of build is their #1 main draw for me. Much easier to build today than even the old Wharram techniques. They are also the cheapest by a decent margin. When the only “chine” on the boat is also the keel, one is ahead of the game by a long shot. Any repairs are also quickly and cheaply dealt with.
A small amount of epoxy and some spare cloth/scraps of ply stored on board will take care of most “emergencies”. I try to avoid marinas and anything that charges “nautical” prices.

I find there is no need to put up frames or temporary bulkheads when building a stressed-ply V hull. The beveling of stringers can also be avoided, if designed in. Another time saver.

Not needing to build any kind of dagger/center/lee… boards is also a huge plus in my books.

The V ride is pure Cadillac.  Fine entry, clean exit. Smooth.
(Keep the ends as full as possible… forget overhangs (does anybody still use them?!)... and keep all the weight centered).

Deep Vs are light and strong and have proven themselves to be eminently seaworthy.

I don’t place much emphasis on top speed. That’s the world I’m trying to leave behind : ) 

The downside:  Even in a 45 plus footer, interior accommodation is really sparse by western standards. So why even bother?  All Polynesian craft…aside from the paddle crafts… were a “topside” affair. The hulls were something to sit on top off, not enter into…and I really like that. A small, compact, simple shelter topside…with a big, easy to rig awning overhead…  takes care of my needs. Bathing on deck,etc., behind a windbreak/drop-down canvas walls is plenty fine.

Even storage in the hulls is kept to a minimum. A couple of sleeping bags, self inflating mattresses, change of clothes, water and a few bananas and nuts can all be kept on deck, in small, lashed down storage bins.

Because of their light weight and streamlined shape, small outboards, small sails and even oars will get the job done in a very respectable manner.

So my main mantra when it comes to boats is…Go Small, Simple, Cheap and Go NOW!

Thanks for the inquiry, James…it reminds me of what I’m doing!  : )
Sorry if the reply was long-winded!

Cheers for now,
claudio

No, not long-winded at all, Claudio. It is exactly what I asked for and I can see how it suits your purposes perfectly.

After following a couple of Wharram builds on the internet, it struck me that his vee hulls were not as simple to build in practice as they at first appeared to be. They became fiddly mainly because of having to build in floors and a sole and then access/inspection plates/hatches for stowage etc. But you are not doing any of that and so it really is simpler than a dory hull, for instance, and makes a lot of sense.

I’m curious about this comment though-

The beveling of stringers can also be avoided, if designed in. Another time saver.

Could you oenlarge on that when you have time, Claudio?

I enjoyed your comments on epoxies, too. Looking forward to more.

Hi James,

I agree with your comment on the Wharram builds. Nothing “easy” about them. They are BIG, time consuming projects.

In fact, I would say that plans from just about anyone out there are MUCH harder to build than is suggested in the sales pitch. A nice exception is Gary’s work down in NZ. Sensible designs. Reasonable prices.

We have to remember that we are usually being “sold” on a very expensive set of drawings. I feel plans for boats have been outrageously misrepresented (work-wise) and horribly over-priced for way too long.

The unchallenged, original Guru of simplicity of build (and reasonable plan prices) was Phil Bolger, of course…and it’s nice to see people like Jim Michalak carry that torch onwards. But they were/are not multihull specialists and that’s what calls out to us here.

Re the stringers…There are a few ways of getting them in there that are very simple. No beveling and no hundreds of expensive clamps. I don’t own a single clamp, by the way : )

One can glue stringers (including the sheer) when the panels are still lying flat on the table/floor… prior to “sewing” the sides together.
2 inches wide by 1/2 inch thick is about as heavy as I tend to go for the sew up.

If you want to go “heavy” on the scantlings, you can laminate an additional 1 or 2 layers to the first one, once the hull is together. Glued and screwed…no clamps!

Or…One could…again…lay a thin first strip as each stringer…and then, after the sewing…tack on a beefier strip on the outside of the hull. Glued and screwed directly through the hull and into the inside stringer.  Very quick and simple…again no clamps. : )  Nice.

The last route is good to remember, as it could be done after the whole build, if one finds the hull needs some firming up.

By the way, re screws…I remove just about all of them, once the epoxy kicks. The only joint that I leave them in for is the deck-to-hull joint. That’s always epoxied, screwed and tabbed with heavyweight fiberglass tape (usually 4 inches wide).

I’m sure there are other techniques out there…and I would very much enjoy hearing about them.

Cheers for now

Hey Claudio,
I really like your ideas about building simply. That was the goal I had when I started, but I didn’t simplify enough, and I made some choices that sent me down a more difficult road (not using epoxy, cockpit in boat, quarter rudders, etc.). I think it will turn out OK, but the build has taken much more time than I initially thought it would.

Keep those videos coming!

Have a good trip to Saskatchewan. It’s a nice place to be from - I grew up there. Watch out for the mosquitoes!

Curtis

Hi Curtis,

I know what you mean about things getting complicated all on their own. It happens every time!
It really is a challenge to not only begin with a simple plan, but to also stick to it in a diligent way.
There are several steps that I have regretted taking during the build of Sweet Aloha.  The next one will be simpler : )

It’s all fun, though…and once you’re out there on the Deep Blue, it makes it all worth while.
Onward and upward with the build…

Cheers for now,
Claudio

The V ride is pure Cadillac.  Fine entry, clean exit. Smooth.
(Keep the ends as full as possible… forget overhangs (does anybody still use them?!)... and keep all the weight centered

I agree with most of what you say, but i must contradict you on the “forget overhangs (does anybody still use them?!)” part. Overhangs will damp pitching and hobbyhorsing and give a even more smooth ride through waves. It is a very much needed property for a deep V hull.

Nice build!
I like your videos, your fast and easy method of building.

Cheers,
Johannes

Hi Johannes,

Thanks for the comments.

A few years ago I decided to check things out for myself and built a 16 ft by 8 ft catamaran with two different hulls. One with overhangs and one without.
It was amazing the difference (all positive) that the plumb bows make.
Much more buoyancy…exactly where it’s needed.
Drier at high speeds!
Less…not more…hobby horseing.
Etc..

There’s a reason that overhangs were laid to rest, several decades ago, by each and every multihull designer in the world.Wether on ocean crossers or fast beach cats…they simply don’t work as well. Most importantly they are not as safe. Sooner or later all that unsupported weight, hanging over empty space is going to bury right in, making a pitchpole imminent.

Thank you for bringing this issue up, because I think it is a very important one for homebuilders.

Cheers for now
c

Claudio, I watched your videos and like your boat, your attitude and the way you speak to the viewer (though like many youtube videos, you do go on a bit sometimes 😊.  I have two comments. First, you are pretty cavalier about making decisions on the fly, being a bit slapdash, ‘not making a career out of it’. But its clear those kinds of seat of the pants decisions are based on a lifetime of boatbuilding. I worry that a less experienced builder would not make such well informed ‘educated guesses’. Maybe to offest this, you ought to emphasise when some part of the job is ‘mission critical’. Also, I would be good to see video of you actually working, rather than just telling us what you did the day before.
best
Simon

Hi Simon,
            Thanks for your comments. Sorry if I ramble on sometimes…a tendency that happens with us old farts : )

“Cavalier” usually insinuates a non-caring or reckless attitude and I surely don’t mean to promote that. And I can see that I need to address that in the next videos.

What I [am] trying to share though, is that small boat building isn’t rocket science. A 20 foot multi is just two logs strapped together after all. (The One-Hull-Flying boys are cringing… but that’s not the type of vessel that interests me).

With todays’ building materials (plywoods/metal fastenings/epoxies/glass fibers/etc..)  absolutely anyone is capable of building a floater in the 20 ft range. Even if one is incredibly incompetent and a lousy craftsman, one will still end up with something that will provide heaps of fun.

There really is not much that can go too wrong. The pointy end goes in the front (two pointy ends are better than one) and if water starts to seep in…goop the hole.

The fun and relaxing thing about small boats is that there really isn’t [anything] that is “mission critical”. The huge stresses and immense loads that are present in large vessels are almost non existent in the smaller sizes.

Small and simple isn’t for everyone, of course. But for the Zenistas out there, I just want to say that, Yes, they can do it…easily, quickly and cheaply.

Thanks for your feedback, Simon, much appreciated.
Cheers for now,
c

People can go a bit overboard with cheap construction. Above a certain size it doesn’t really make sense. 65 foot for example 😊