Fellow Builders

Well in the layover between placing my order for the plans and waiting their arrival I continue to research and participate in discussion groups. The wait for these plans is killing me. I have spoken to a couple of others who are involved in building Tideway's of their own and the consensus is pretty similar - shes just a beautiful little boat.

I spoke to a nice gentlemen in Texas via email and the wooden boat forum who's also gearing up to build a Tideway. He's mocked up a small paper model at 10:1 scale of the hull, and that can be seen in the photo at the right, and there are more photos here. Impressive lines. I really like the design of this little boat. He too will be starting relatively soon, so we hope to be able to trade stories and tips. Support is great among boat builders! I really enjoy all of the great tips I'm getting along the way.

Talk and speculation continues over making a true coastal journey in the little Tideway. I've been thinking and planning of ways I might be able to upgrade her to ready her for coastal voyages. I mentioned earlier in the blog that I'd like to put in around LA, or SOCAL in general and sail along the Pacific Coast up to Seattle or maybe down south along Baja. When building begins I'll detail mods I have made to accommodate a single sailer on long journeys. I am relying on the calculations that indicate she's a stable and comfortable sail, based on hull dims and displacement. Let's hope those prove to be true.

Plywood and Coastal Sailing.

Well I have been doing a lot of reading in newsgroups and how-to websites about choosing the right plywood for a stitch and glue boat.

There are the obvious concerns, such as quality, weight, workability, etc. However, being COMPLETELY landlocked in Colorado, it is proving quite difficult to find a reliable source for marine-grade ply. I have checked out a few mom-and-pop lumberyards, as well as the big-box home improvement warehouses and am coming up relatively dry.

I have heard and read that luan plywood can be used, and I have priced it out at a few different places. The quality is surprisingly high, and grain seems to be adequate. Home Depot sells luan in the standard 1/4" size and a 1/2" as well. Both sides of the sheet look nice and it's well priced at $13.00 per sheet. I still don't know how many sheets i'll be needing for the Tideway but if I can rely on luan for hull construction I think it will suffice.

I have read things regarding checking and voids. Obviously, only the pick of the litter luan would be going into my Tideway, and numerous coats of system 3 epoxy would be applied. I don't know if the plans call for fiberglass cloth, but it will certainly be incorporated into my project, as durability will be essential if i'm to be trailering this boat and sailing in some of the "unpredicable" waters of the Rocky Mountain lakes and reserviors.

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The other thing I wanted to mention....

I have been researching coastal sailing and have found a lot of great stories out there on the web of people sailing small coastal cruisers up and down the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. I've been daydreaming about sailing this little boat up the Pacific coast. If properly trailered, she could be towed down to Los Angeles, or Santa Barbara and sailed up the coast to the Bay Area, or even Portland/Seattle.

This is something that I'll be considering when building her, as I would want to make accomidations and upgrades that she might need for an 800 mile round trip sail up and down the coast. Safety features are an obvious must, and since she's got such a large displacement to size ratio, she aught to be quite stable and comfortable.

Again, daydreaming........ who knows?

Portholes, portholes.

So while I wait for the plans to show up, I am browsing the TENS OF THOUSANDS of pages of information out there. I'm just checking into different equipment, tools, materials, hardware, and anything else I think I might eventually need to get. (More a mental price tag for the boat.)

I've been looking for small and affordable portholes. Everything I find is either too big or too expensive. Some of the nice brass portholes are $400 or more! Then I found THIS. Not bad. Simple non-opening round chrome-plated brass portlights. I am thinking about using the one at the top for the Tideway. I believe she'll require six. Two on each side, and two looking forward that are not visible on the profile view.

About the Tideway 14

The reasons I chose the Tideway are pretty obvious. She's a small craft, capable of riding via trailer to any of the numerous lakes and reserviors in the area, and her ease of construction will be quite handy when it comes time to begin the build.

The blurb on the Selway-Fisher website reads:

The Tideway 14 is a modern stitch and tape version of the old heavy displacement pocket cruisers that were popular in the 30’s and 40’s. By using modern construction techniques (using pre shaped ply hull panels, frames and transom) we have brought back to life a type of boat that offers good long distance cruising in a small package. She has 2 full length berths and plenty of stowage space and indeed, could be fitted out with a smaller cabin and larger cockpit to suit your needs. The standard arrangement shows a long ply box keel filled with concrete and scrap iron but she may also be fitted with bilge keels (also shown) or a centreboard. She may also be fitted with internal water ballast making her lighter to trail. All fittings have been kept to a minimum to keep costs low and if you would like to fit her out in a different way (ie. an open layout), we can supply all necessary new frame shapes and details. LOD 14’6’’; Beam 6’1’’; Draft 2’1’’; Weight with 700lbs. of ballast 1900 lbs.

There are slightly larger boats out there that I could just as easily build, but there was something about the lines of her hull that drew me to the Tideway. Maybe it's the gaff cutter look, or her stately displacement (1900lbs.!!!)

I will be ordering the plans soon, and will begin work at the end of the month (when time will finally allow)

The Grand Scheme

As I sit in my home in Boulder I often wonder what made the world what it is today. Early explorers come to the Americas on sailing vessels in search of new found prosperity and trade routes. Coastal explorers sailed into every bay and estuary mapping the bounds of the world.

Why then can I not explore?

It may be some primal urge, but to explore is my destiny. To fashion a vessel from my two hands and lumber felled in these great United States, this is my dream.

Reality Check: I am just an ordinary guy, with an ordinary job, living the ordinary life. What means do I have to explore this great Earth? Relatively little. If I am to fulfil my destiny, I'll have to think on a smaller scale.

About a year ago, I found solice and enjoyment in browsing through boat design catalogs at the library, and online. I found the designs of Paul Fisher of England to be quite enjoyable, mostly because of their easy construction methods and clean lines. In keeping with the Selway-Fisher method, I chose a design that could easily be constructed in the confines of a two-car suburban garage.

That is when I fell in love with the Tideway 14..