KVA
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2020
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Spain
Hello ! I appreciate being able to join this network. For the last couple of months an idea has been formulating in my mind about designing and building a rugged, trailer-able aluminum sailboat in the 7-8m (23-26ft) range. Based on what I have read on here and elsewhere, the general consensus about using aluminum for smaller boats is "don't"... however, in this case I think it deserves additional consideration.
Some background on me - I am a mechanical engineer working for a Canadian company which specializes in 5-axis milling and tool design / grinding. Day to day my nose is buried in Rhino and Grasshopper software, python, vb, C#, javascript, on and on, generating cnc code and often tedious geometry. I have been in love with sailing since 2013; starting on Lake Superior, working through ISPA levels and also hold a commercial Masters Ltd. < 60t... although I hardly consider myself a real sailor sitting at this computer every day and without a boat!
And now on to the reasoning - I grew up in Winnipeg, MB. Canada, and every summer was spent on Shoal Lake (Ontario), where my family has owned a small summer cabin on an island since the late 1970's. Getting there is a 15NM passage from Clearwater Bay, ON. through Shoal Lake Narrows which we have always done with old 16-18' motorboats, and learning the winding route 'by heart' is considered a coming of age passage. This lake system is just inside of the Canadian Shield. Shorelines and lake bottoms are rock, simply. The odd thing about Shoal Lake in particular is that as far as I can tell it is incompletely / uncharted (and I have inquired directly with the Canadian government department of Fisheries & Oceans, and was told charting 'has not been a priority'). This applies to the lake proper, otherwise there are marked routes and reasonable but old charts for the area to the north. Anyways, I know first hand about dinging props and shearing off outboard bottom-ends, and every year there must be hundreds of incidents related to surprise bottom contact in that area (Kenora, Lake of the Woods, etc.). Aside from a giant lake full of uncharted shoals (name is not a coincidence), many areas are connected by narrow, often shallow passages. Up until now, the idea of having any sailboat of my own in that lake which would also be large enough to comfortably spend a week at a time on was immediately dashed by the logical probability that it would find the bottom too often to be enjoyable. Additionally, any wooden or glass boat would inevitably be abraded by each small contact with the rocky shoreline, or any scuffing against the typically sharp, prismatic boulders common just below the water level along shorelines. The only other thing is that this lake system is, as far as I am concerned, the most beautiful place in the world.
So, how to sail there without watching your boat crumble and chip away? Aside from Lake Superior , my only mention worthy lake-sailing experience is in the Mazurian area of northern Poland (there is no comparison to make there really). The Mazurian Lakes are very pleasant (if not also a bit overcrowded) to sail and sail-camp on. The shorelines and lake bottom are sand, mud, and grassy. Even the rocks where they exist are smooth and round; the stakes are low. The overarching objective of this project is to achieve the Mazury sailing comfort on Shoal Lake/Lake of the Woods, and to make my own boat.
In slightly more detail:
Objectives:
A) Live-able on week-scale.
B) Trailer-able
C) Unlikely to take on water as a result of grounding @ hull speed
D) Unlikely to be rendered inoperable as a result of grounding damage
E) Draft / hull allows close approach / dry access to shallow grade shoreline (15 deg)
F) Meets Transport Canada requirements, minimum rating "D".
Of course there is no intention to strike bottom at full speed; simply it is a possibility. Additionally, there is a need to figure out some ways to promote less than instant deceleration in such a case to decrease the chances/magnitude of injury onboard.
Other than steel, I don't see any readily available material besides aluminum which would reasonably withstand frequent contact with rocks. I don't intend to contemplate or discuss the matter of general hull materials any further.
That sums up the intent and reasoning. My only previous boat building experience was a plywood and fiberglass trimaran that could fit in an elevator/Toyota Auris hatchback. That boat took me three years to build, if only about 100 hours. I realize that without results talk is just talk and hope that by making myself somewhat accountable publicly here any results will occur sooner and to a higher standard than they might otherwise. Thank you to anyone who actually read this!
The next post will move on to more specific considerations and a summary of work done previously.
Some background on me - I am a mechanical engineer working for a Canadian company which specializes in 5-axis milling and tool design / grinding. Day to day my nose is buried in Rhino and Grasshopper software, python, vb, C#, javascript, on and on, generating cnc code and often tedious geometry. I have been in love with sailing since 2013; starting on Lake Superior, working through ISPA levels and also hold a commercial Masters Ltd. < 60t... although I hardly consider myself a real sailor sitting at this computer every day and without a boat!
And now on to the reasoning - I grew up in Winnipeg, MB. Canada, and every summer was spent on Shoal Lake (Ontario), where my family has owned a small summer cabin on an island since the late 1970's. Getting there is a 15NM passage from Clearwater Bay, ON. through Shoal Lake Narrows which we have always done with old 16-18' motorboats, and learning the winding route 'by heart' is considered a coming of age passage. This lake system is just inside of the Canadian Shield. Shorelines and lake bottoms are rock, simply. The odd thing about Shoal Lake in particular is that as far as I can tell it is incompletely / uncharted (and I have inquired directly with the Canadian government department of Fisheries & Oceans, and was told charting 'has not been a priority'). This applies to the lake proper, otherwise there are marked routes and reasonable but old charts for the area to the north. Anyways, I know first hand about dinging props and shearing off outboard bottom-ends, and every year there must be hundreds of incidents related to surprise bottom contact in that area (Kenora, Lake of the Woods, etc.). Aside from a giant lake full of uncharted shoals (name is not a coincidence), many areas are connected by narrow, often shallow passages. Up until now, the idea of having any sailboat of my own in that lake which would also be large enough to comfortably spend a week at a time on was immediately dashed by the logical probability that it would find the bottom too often to be enjoyable. Additionally, any wooden or glass boat would inevitably be abraded by each small contact with the rocky shoreline, or any scuffing against the typically sharp, prismatic boulders common just below the water level along shorelines. The only other thing is that this lake system is, as far as I am concerned, the most beautiful place in the world.
So, how to sail there without watching your boat crumble and chip away? Aside from Lake Superior , my only mention worthy lake-sailing experience is in the Mazurian area of northern Poland (there is no comparison to make there really). The Mazurian Lakes are very pleasant (if not also a bit overcrowded) to sail and sail-camp on. The shorelines and lake bottom are sand, mud, and grassy. Even the rocks where they exist are smooth and round; the stakes are low. The overarching objective of this project is to achieve the Mazury sailing comfort on Shoal Lake/Lake of the Woods, and to make my own boat.
In slightly more detail:
Objectives:
A) Live-able on week-scale.
B) Trailer-able
C) Unlikely to take on water as a result of grounding @ hull speed
D) Unlikely to be rendered inoperable as a result of grounding damage
E) Draft / hull allows close approach / dry access to shallow grade shoreline (15 deg)
F) Meets Transport Canada requirements, minimum rating "D".
Of course there is no intention to strike bottom at full speed; simply it is a possibility. Additionally, there is a need to figure out some ways to promote less than instant deceleration in such a case to decrease the chances/magnitude of injury onboard.
Other than steel, I don't see any readily available material besides aluminum which would reasonably withstand frequent contact with rocks. I don't intend to contemplate or discuss the matter of general hull materials any further.
That sums up the intent and reasoning. My only previous boat building experience was a plywood and fiberglass trimaran that could fit in an elevator/Toyota Auris hatchback. That boat took me three years to build, if only about 100 hours. I realize that without results talk is just talk and hope that by making myself somewhat accountable publicly here any results will occur sooner and to a higher standard than they might otherwise. Thank you to anyone who actually read this!
The next post will move on to more specific considerations and a summary of work done previously.
