Phil

Yea I agree with Barry. Stump. 3-D is just that 3-D. You can hold it, feel it, see it! There's nothin like a model! Build it!

Cap'n Bud I think with no bridge you could call it an "amazm't park" , & . Ya'll check out this link, whether your going to Craigs' mess-about or not! You can back-track the site & see from Tampa bay to Texas. I wonder whether they're SAT or aerial? http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1044/indianpassSW.html Good luck Craig!

Capt Bud go one more to the east the one with no bridges I hate to hear about the lighthouse. Lots of erosion going on down there edit to add: no bridges they can't come

Craig those are great shots of a great part of the GM coast. I was on St. Vincent a few years back walking along the beach then up into the pines and got the surprised out of me. I was told it was a Sambur deer from India. Brought in by some owner of the island who stocked it with exotic wildlife before it became a refuge. They are bigger than Whitetails and smaller than Elk. So if you're out exploring & hear some rustling in the bushes, it's probably not a fellow cruiser but likely a bruiser keep your distance . I'm going to to be two islands to the east in three weeks. Can't wait!

Sam & Ben now there's some Yankee ingenuity , as long as there's none of that gooey stuff stick'n the pages together. I'll be happy to contribute to the next set of plans! PM me, Phil

I looked for the Amphora book on Amazon here, but it's no longer avail.? Whats your LOA and beam and any other ideas? Edit: Those Mohawks are 8) !

Greg Not trying to throw off your thread, just 2 quick ?'s. Is that a Spindrift you built for your sons? I've been looking for a cradle/ play/ rocking boat design for a 3yr. old first mate that could become a "real" boat" in 2-3 years. Maybe 4-6 ft. long. Got any ideas? Phil

Hey Noklin Sounds like Ken is on the right track. Just a quickie, I'll adjust those dimensions if you need. Phil

Yea Stump exactly. I considered using the stitching technique, but didn't want all the holes. Instead I built sunnyside-up with no forms or jigs. Just tack welded +/- 12"'s oc. with a tacking tip (no welding rod) Oyster what does FWIW mean? :oops:

We do it here at the landfill they weigh you going in then after you dump and charge you by the pound :evil: They will do your boat for free . See the gov's not all bad.

Nice Jim 8) Whats the CAD program used for the drawing in your gallery. BTW the large image gives me the dreaded "red X" Is that me? I would like to see a large image! Thanks Phil

The welder shown in your link is okay for repairs (ie 1-6" inches) you use it similar to using a torch set up for welding metal. Pre-heating the material and rod manually as you press the rod into the joint. Any decent auto-body shop has one. The difference between this and what I used is the same as between a MIG or TIG welder & stick & torch method (huge diff.) http://www.laramyplasticwelders.com/torchpage.html The 30-10 is the one I used: With a speed tip which feeds as you go (36" rods) & makes doing continuous long welds very easy. You have to be careful as overheating will cause material deformation, the same as in thin metal. I worked both sides of the boat simultaneously stopping 1/2 way thru each rod. Forming is a little tricky I tried 90 deg. bends but the 1/4" material is to thk. You now HDPE is what most formed products are made of (ie..roto-moulding kayaks, rod holders you name it...) in a spinning autoclave setup using pellets of what ever material the part requires. There is also vaccum-forming. all-in-all edit to add: order the book for $5 it's worth it just for the low down! The recycle symbol on all plastic products is the stamp mentioned (the one with a 2 is HDPE) ou could weld your plastic coffee can to your boat 8)

Yup Charlie I agree that boat is definitely not for open water. I just wanted to turn ya'll on to a different material/construction method. Like I said it can be used for anything! My next boat will be BS1088 okoume with a Meranti bottom, but it will be for the river not the creek. I couldn't imagine what this boat would look like had it been plywood :shock: . Look at all the products offered by WestM for example out of HDPE and the majority are screwed together :roll: , anyway like they say "open mines are falling hazards" open minds are, well open minds!

A few things to keep in mind: Make sure you get UV stabilized (carbon black added) Use the light wt. (air entrained) the normal wt. material is super dense and super heavy. The light wt. does have minute(sp?) voids but a sharp plane, thanks to Bob Smalser, almost hones or burnishes it. The technology comes from building fume hoods for metal plating, chemical laboratory ventilation etc... as HDPE is resistant to almost all chemicals. I've got a lot of resources I would be happy to share. The welders are all over I used Laramy out of Vermont. Your welding rods have to match your material exactly, including UV stab. You can even make your own from the mat. your working with.

Cooler one side bait well the other

Hey Oyster and Charlie. Thanks for all the great info ya'll post on this site! Glad to see your interest this technique could be used for so many things! I can't get a detail shot to load :evil:

Alright so no one's going to play the guessing game aye. It's built of 1/4" thk. HDPE Marine plastic a knock off brand of Kingstarboard. I welded the pieces together using welding rod ( the black lines you see on the boat) and a plastic welder that looks like a soldering iron w/ an air attachment for temp. control. Pretty cool process and scary as I had no idea whether or not it would work. I got the idea from seeing the drift boats in the PNW using UHMW as protective bottoms. I thought why not just use it for the whole boat? So I put my $ where my brain fart was and it worked

1-2 mi. driving depending on which creek. No kayak mixed in, although it does a good job keeping up with them using a double paddle.

Yea I was... hang on someone is knocking on the front door

Okay Stump since it's snowing and in the 30's here brrrr..... and the line @ customs takes so long to get thru here

In the (Phil) gallery but they seem to be unapproved as of yet.

I just posted photos of a creek boat I built last year in the gallery. $350 & 50 hours shop time. It was built strictly for fishing local creeks, dragging thru some of the worst snags you could imagine, up banks, over rock ledges, etc...It weighs 60#'s is 12' long x 3' wide, is a bit tender initially but well founded with it's secondary stability & is super tough. After a year of hard use it has become really comf'y and a joy to explore and fish with. 4#er's all day long and dry storage for overnighters. 8) So what are your guesses as to the material/ building process/ original design inspiration? Phil

So do they start without a battery. Magneto?

Thanks Frank

So Stump on the one cylinder diesel. I used to work for a guy who had a 27' sailboat full keel, cutter rigged... heavy boat! It had one, an old one, like from the 60's very cool. 8) Chug...chug...chug awsome sound and feel. It started using the flywheel, but I was to stupid at the time to ask the details. I also have been on Mr. Whites' "Rescue Minor" which is started using a kick starter sim. to a motorcycle. So do they have a magneto? Where does the glow plug get the juice for pre-heating? Phil