Hey Barry! Check out this boat

[Stump]

Is this similar to the type you designed? Is it the same? Enquiring minds want to know :twisted: err...built?....tested?...ran up on the rocks full speed ahead?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/boa/113324834.html

8)

[Barry Pyeatt]

Yes, very much so. I didn't design them however. This is one of the larger boats that was designed to be placed in specific locations with about a mile of containment boom stowed on deck for rapid deployment. With two 175 hp engines it was capable of between 55 to 65 knots in light wave action. Very stable and virtually unsinkable. Bow ramp made working off the front end totally practical. This is not one of the boats that we built however but a little later version of it and may have been from our molds.

Another version was made to be air dropped out of the back end of C-130's anywhere with two jumpers going out after it to facilitate boom deployment in more remote locations until other craft could get to the scene of the spill.

The smaller boats were used for everything from mariculture and marine research to search and rescue work and hauling drums of fuel up into the interior of Alaska. These would be in fuel dumps for winter use with snow mobiles using the frozen rivers as highways.

We built the majority of these from adjustable transom molds 8' wide and from 16' long to 24' long in 2' increments. They had barge boards that slipped into slots in the sides to divide cargo and could take up to a 175 hp engine with an option for two engines on the larger ones. They could be nested stored one inside the other if they didn't have fixed helms in them. Made shipment of quantities to any location a lot easier and less expensive from a freight point of view. A Boston Whaler type helm station could by installed in one in about an hour and was shipped unmounted with the boats as an option. But a lot of them had just a simple side mounted steering wheel that attached to the starboard side with throttle controls and a drop down seat. Maximum space available for freight or cargo. Flat interior decks made cargo handling a lot easier.

You could cut holes in them fill them to more than rated capacity and pump water into them and they would stay afloat.

Great dive boats with the bow ramp which could be dropped right down into the water to make access very easy.

We made a few with cabins on them and some with more deluxe decks and trim on them for fishing or hunting parties. The vast majority of them were sold essentially empty and bare hull and in less developed countries and used for cargo hauling and net fishing. They were pretty cheap and affordable initially, even with postive flotation and could be abused to an incredible extent and still perform well. But they were hard riding craft at top speeds in chop.

Some of them had been fabricated with stainless steel bows and bottoms on them to protect them in severe weather locations. We had quite a few of these built and to test them they were loaded to max capacity and run full speed up onto the rocks. They had to survive and still perform when pulled off or they were not accepted.

Glad I don't have anything to do with it anymore. Too many regulations and design variations in demand and the cost to produce them became prohibitive to build them in the States.

[timnphx]

Hello Barry,

Happy Turkey-day, I was reading the strings about more boats building and such and looking for things to do while I am stuck at work. have to work on holiday with nothing to do. Does that make any sense? it will be a few cents for me and dollars for the government, but that is another matter. Anyway, sitting here being lonely, so called my brother and all who are all together for turkey dinner up your way around Lake Stevens, WA. My brother who has been working for boat manufacturing companies up there for years now is working for C-Dory, http://www.c-dory.com and they have some real nice units, but no sailboats yet.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Well Happy Thanksgiving to you too Tim.

I'm kinda banged up a bit so I'm alone at home this Thanksgiving. But have some Thanksgiving dinner coming to me later on today. I'm passing the time making grommets for my blocks. Keeps me out of trouble and off my feet. Amazing challenge getting them all to the right sizes to fit. Good mental exercise and challenge for my manual dexterity.

Been making up singles, doubles, _with and without beckets), fiddle and cheek blocks and some specialized application turning blocks too. All from elm. Finished them by soaking them in hot boiled linseed oil until they wouldn't take anymore and then allowed them to dry for a couple weeks and buffed them up good. Using some of the Buff Polyester 3-strand for the grommets and it is easy to work. Some waxed seine line to sieze them off around brass thimbles. They actually are working out quite nicely. 8)

Turned a whole lot of various sized sheeves from UHMW earlier this year and have had them ready along with a bunch of 1/4" brass pins to hold them securely.

Good poor sailing weather/off season project.

The C-Dory's are nice looking boats and totally practical for the Pacific Northwest fisherman. Good all weather boats that keep you high and dry and fishing even in the dreary days we occasionally get a break from now and then. :roll: If I were into power boats and serious fishing their C-Dory 22 would be my choice out of all the others on the market at this point. Seen some of them on the water and they are a right smart boat.

Have a good day!

[Stump]

Since your banged up with nothin' to do, I'll take a full set of those blocks when you get 'em done :roll: 8) :wink:

[timnphx]

Yeah, those look pretty good. What is the specs on them and cost :?:

[Greg Luckett]

Barry,

If I am not being too nosy, how did you happen to be "banged up"? I hope it is nothing serious and that you are up and around soon.

Greg.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Well Greg,

When that Capt. Jake and his bride decide to party things get a little crazy.

We spent last Saturday together seeing some of Seattle's maritime attractions and when I got home I was stepping out of a van I was driving and hyperextended my right knee causing some ligament damage and ripped a small tear in the tendon at my ankle. Stepped down too far and onto a little lip in the shoulder of the road. Brought me an incredible amount of stars and lightning bolts to illuminate my evening. :shock:

So...end result is that I'm off my feet as much as possible for a short period and go back to see a surgeon on Monday about the tenden tear. Siure is the pits getting older. :wink:

[Greg Luckett]

Barry,

I feel your pain....sort of. I am 54 and way too fat. Age is a mixed blessing isn't it? I hope you heal quickly. :salute:

Regards,

Greg.

[nae0254]

I'm passing the time making grommets for my blocks...

Barry, your blocks are beautiful!

Will you post some closer pictures?

I'd love to make something like this.

Thanks in advance

Guillermo

_/)

~~~~~~~~~

[Barry Pyeatt]

Thank you Guillermo!

These blocks have been fun to make and not difficult other than the rope grommets. They get a little tricky and it is a little difficult to get them the same sized. But they come out close enough so that an extra wrap or two on the siezing holds them tight.

They are based upon the rope stropped blocks in "The Marlinspike Sailer". There are a couple line drawings of what I was working to achieve below.

I used American Elm because of its interlocking grain which keeps them from splitting in use. The wood works beautifully and when heated and soaked in poiled linseed oil becomes really hard and is protected well. Elm doesn't polish up to a great shine so they have a soft matte finish on them. They can be coated with varnish or exterior grades of polyurethane if a glossier finish is desired.

I posted some photos of the process in making them in The Gallery in my photos. Those are the only other photos I have of them at this point. When I get them all finished I will take some closeups and some with them in use.

Best part of it is you can work on them almost anytime, anywhere with simple tools although I did it as a production line for the most part. You can make them to commercial sheeve sizes or make your own sheeves as I did. If it were a larger boat with higher loading I would use commercial sheeves with bearings instead. But these should work just fine for a Weekender or Vacationer.

[Stump]

Make sure your gape for the sheeves is exact. If you have too much (like me :oops: ) the rope will jam between the block and the sheeve :cry: which makes sailing just that much more challanging. :wink:

The actual construction is fairly simple. Only hard part are the tolerences.

Actually, thinking about it, my problem is that I tend to get bored...hence sloppy work.

Get 'er done!! :twisted:

[Stump]

One more thing. I was having triouble finding the UMHV (or what ever those letters were) with the proper thickness for making the sheeves. I found some of the thicker cutting boards worked great for a fraction of the cost of buying the material by the sheet. :shock: Used a hole saw on my drill press to cut them out. Worked great.

[Barry Pyeatt]

I should point out that I was greatly influenced by Phil Gowen's Aloha in deciding to make my own blocks, jam cleats, fairleads and chocks.

Here is one source for UHMW in 1/2" and 3/8" thickness. http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?sid=&ccurrency=2&page=32045&category=3,43576,43581

UHMW is quite a bit denser and has a higher slip coefficient than the poly cutting board material. It will hold its shape when turned for sheeves where the poly cutting boards will break down quicker and the shaft holes will quite often warp and become out of round fairly quickly. This results in binding and lines getting caught on the flanges of the sheeve when under load. Generally not too much of a problem except for higher loading blocks, main/gaff/jib and main sheet.

I've also found that a fiddle block will often work better where you need a double such as on the mainsail halyard, main sheet and peak. It keeps the loading in a straight line rather than pulling off to one side or the other.

I would use the white poly cutting board material if you absolutely couldn't get UHMW. Quite often machine shops and mills will have scrap UHMW that they will give away. It can be cut down to what ever thickness you need quite easily. Color doesn't make any difference in performance.

You can also set bronze bearings into the UHMW and have a more or less permanent sheeve that will hold up longer than you will probably need it. But with a good brass rod thru the middle hole drilled out to 17/64" they will last a long time and are easily replaced.

I used a 3/8" half round microplane file to cut the grove in the UHMW blanks after cutting them with various sized hole saws. I also use thin teflon washers as spacers between the sheeve and the block.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=43501&cat=1,42524

You can also download a very good article on making rope stropped blocks by Derek Walters from Duckworks. Duckworks also has very reasonably priced sheeves and round brass thimbles.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/articles/woodenblocks/woodenblocks.htm

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/sheaves/l-nylon/index.htm

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/misc/thimbles/index.htm

I found the English Braids Buff Polyester 3-strand the easiest to use to form the grommets. I get it from the Chandlry at the Wooden Boat Foundation and pick it up myself. I pay a little more for it than from a Canadian Source but by the time I add shipping it works out to about the same.

http://www.woodenboat.org/store/folder_alternate.asp?f=213

[capt jake]

Stump, I have goobs of UHMW (ultra high molucular weight)! I have about 6 sheets, 3'x8', the centers are worn thinner than the original thickness of about 1" +/-, but there is a lot of good material there. Came out of the mill in Tacoma, off of the green chain.

Come down and I'll hack you off a chunk.