I know nothing of Sailing Can someone be so kind to HELP me please!

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by thiago1979

...I am one of those guys that is just tired of society and want to get away from it all and fallow the beautiful images from the movie "Blue Lagoon". Do I know anything about Sailing? Nop . . . All I have is this deep desire to adventure throughout the World in search of Blue Water Dreams...

I think many of us have had these dreams and deep desires. Lucky you! You have a movie to actually rent or buy to help satisfy those primal feelings and urges toward Brooke Shields or possibly Christopher Atkins. (It's cool these days.) In my estimation, Brooke isn't all that attractive as an adult and is quite tall to boot, over 7' I've heard. I have no idea about Mr. Atkins. But I digress.

A careful CF reader knows by now that the world has matured. If there are any paradisical locations left on the blue planet, the indigenous populations still have to defecate and urinate. And we know from past threads that these simple and natural acts tend to muck things up, literally.

Why not dig a small, discrete, cat hole to poop in? I dunno why but humans don't. They dump on the street, in alleyways, in rivers, in ... well, really whenever and wherever the urge strikes them. I have heard that it's normal to eliminate up to 3 times per day. And what of the enourmous (Br. sp.) amount of papre (Fr. sp.) used to wipe up? And women waste more (by a factor of 2:1). Sure, you can dispose of the merely damp tissue at home but the point is this is a big issue that we haven't worked out as a species.

Rather than go to all the trouble and expense of learning to sail and buying a boat, then making the tedious trip to Tahiti, Tonga, or Timbuktu, it would be both easier and faster to just fly there. Or better yet, go to any public library and peruse the works of Paul Gauguin. The artist captured the Tahiti of your dreams, Sir. Now it's gone.

People pooped in the pool.

[tamicatana]

this and this thread

need to be merged...

[LifePart2]

Originally Posted by carstenb

ah Noel you cynic, how can you speak so harshly to a young man who probably has never had to do anything by himself? Everyone is spoon fed by society today. And if you can't do exactly what you want, when you want, without any effort on your own part - well that is also the fault of the society, and if you get a lawyer, you can sue for a few million.

The fact that you happen to be right has absolutely nothing to do with anything on this thread.

Carstenb - you are so right! What was I thinking? My bad.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by watergypsy

Cranky and not so cranky old ladies can be good teachers too, and do occasionally need assistance with ( boat ) bottom scraping. ;-) . I agree with the previous poster Growley, I loved the lessons Carradine ( aka grasshopper) learned in that show . You can learn a lot from old boats and doing the grunt work around boats in general.

I guess Grasshopper must have missed the lesson on wardrobes in Bangkok .

[Bash]

Originally Posted by thiago1979

Hello! At the Marina where I signed up for some classes they start off on Catalina 20's. I don't know if it's a good start, but that is what they offer.

Uh. That's not a Catalina. It's a Santana. Huge difference.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by tamif27

this and this thread

need to be merged...

No. Really. This guy has a gun permit that's good for the whole world.

No worries. No worries. No worries.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by thiago1979

Object propelling device is what we call it in the Army. True most of these objects propelling devices are close quarter tactics. Very good for short range reach for instance a spear fishing gun. It’s very risky caring a weapon on board, as most of the members say. The laws may contradict any weapons on board a vessel. Unfortunately there are two side of this coin that is very hard to balance. One is personal safety which is self explanatory, but there are other forces against protecting your own self and property and that is called Politics. Coming from an Infantry background I love my weapons. I have done some research about the “SKINIES” or Somalia Pirates and there is no such different than

any other Middle Eastern tactics. AK47 regular Assault Rifle and Sniper versions are commonly used as RPG 7. AK 47 max effective range is 150 Meters! RPG Max Effective range is 50 Meters. Max Effective range of an AK 47 Sniper Rifle is 400-500 Meters. Keep in mind that these facts are on land not on water. Dramamine yes I remember going on a fishing boat to get used to motion sickness here in Miami. I got tell you I almost pass out from sleepiness. I also have heard Ginger is very good for motions sickness, but I haven’t tried it yet. I have this Saturday off work. I’ll try to get in the same charter that I gone before just to see if it works. I have read of boat storage places around the area as well. Some people leave their boat there for so many years and don’t really go out. Passport, Visa, Boat registration and Vaccine Records is what I have been reading.

All though Visa I believe if you can acquire before departure the better, but if not I think you need to go to the Harbor Master Office to Apply for one? Registering a boat in another country would be preferred for me, as I would be traveling with my cousin and I don’t really have my entire Platoon with me when someone spots that American Flag on the boat. I don’t know if you noticed, but an U.S Flag most of the times are not welcome by others in International waters. Since I have dual citizenship I can register in my country of Birth (Brazil), however if you wanna play the gringo in other countries go ahead, I am sure you will catch some unwanted attention.

Cheers

If you'd put down the Xbox for a while we could have a serious chat

Dave

[rebel heart]

No one cares about your American flag. Believe it or not, the vast majority of 6 billion people have a lot more pressing issues.

[thiago1979]

Hello. I am using Fusion 360 to practice making frames. I have seen many Aluminum Hulls, but can't seem to know the spacing and thickness of the frames. I call it The Square # Horizontal spacing from one frame to another is 60cm. Vertical spacing is around 30cm. The thickness of the frame is what I don't really know. The thickness of the stiffeners, or that metal peace like a bar going horizontal on the frames. Does anybody know the usual thickness of these frames? Thanks

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by thiago1979

Hello. I am using Fusion 360 to practice making frames. I have seen many Aluminum Hulls, but can't seem to know the spacing and thickness of the frames. I call it The Square # Horizontal spacing from one frame to another is 60cm. Vertical spacing is around 30cm. The thickness of the frame is what I don't really know. The thickness of the stiffeners, or that metal peace like a bar going horizontal on the frames. Does anybody know the usual thickness of these frames? Thanks

You might want to start a new thread, in a more appropriate forum. You would get more relevant replies.

Thickness of frames in an aluminum hull can vary wildly. Depends on boat size and type and usage, skin thickness, aluminum alloy used, a whole bunch of factors. Here in South Louisiana, a lot of 1/4" and 3/16" 5052 and 5083 gets used by backyard builders. 5086 is another one I have heard of.

Building a boat usually costs a LOT more than just buying one, and your first self built boat is most probably going to be a showcase for your mistakes and inexperience.

Unless you are already VERY experienced with welding aluminum, I recommend not going there. If you just HAVE to build a boat, plywood over oak frames is a time tested method that can be done fairly cheaply. Fiberglass over foam works nicely for small boats. There are lots of ways to build your first boat that are far better than aluminum.

I know, it is fun and absorbing to mess around on the computer designing boats, and it doesn't cost anything. When you step away from the keyboard and pull out the credit cards is when the pain begins. You can start by buying books... LOTS of books, and plans with a proven track record of successful builds. Study them. Maybe build a dinghy or a rowing shell. A dory. A skiff, maybe. Something that won't cost you more than a couple thousand $. You might actually save some money, by being too busy with the boat project to go out partying and stuff.

Trying to learn to build boats by using plans that you just dreamed up on the computer with no real knowledge of boat design, is going to be frustrating and yield less than satisfactory results. You really need to get experience building boats before you start trying to design boats. Amazon is your friend. Google for "Glen-L" for a site with a lot of information and resources. Thousands of backyard and garage builders have started with proven designs from this site, and the bill of materials is usually pretty basic and as cheap as you dare to go.

Start another thread in a more appropriate forum and you will be deluged with replies.

[thiago1979]

Thank you for your response. I would create another thread, but i don't remember how to do this here. Its been a couple of years since i have came back to this blog spot. Plywood seems nice, but I am thinking on building something for life. I agree on a test boat. I believe someone here told me to build a test boat that is 15 feet to test it out. I have seen models around YouTube that is 3 feet. How they do it I don't know, sure would like to know though.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by thiago1979

Thank you for your response. I would create another thread, but i don't remember how to do this here. Its been a couple of years since i have came back to this blog spot. Plywood seems nice, but I am thinking on building something for life. I agree on a test boat. I believe someone here told me to build a test boat that is 15 feet to test it out. I have seen models around YouTube that is 3 feet. How they do it I don't know, sure would like to know though.

Look at the top of the page. Find the "Forums" button. Use that to open the forums list. Choose "Const./Maint./Refit" and open that forum. On the left hand side of the page, above the list of recent threads, find the "New Thread" button. You should be able to figure it out from there.

I think maybe your question about aluminum frame thickness might be jumping the gun a little, though. By all means, ask it if you are consumed with curiousity. But maybe a more general question would give you more valuable and useful information. Perhaps you could give your thread a title indicating you are a newbie and you would like to build a very basic boat and need advice. And do search the forum for threads relevant to your needs, and read them. You will find a LOT of useful information, even questions that you had not even thought of.

Everybody likes to give advice. Good advice, bad advice, well intentioned advice or just pulling your leg. Put on your BS filters when you read, especially regarding homebuilt boats.

I think I can predict the general consensus pretty well.

1. Building a boat is harder than you might think, and more expensive than just buying one. That is mostly true. Of course, that leaves out the personal satisfaction and enjoyment of actually doing it.

2. Start small and simple. Don't try to build an exact copy of Donald Trump's yacht. Or even a proper small cruising yacht. A dinghy is something you can quickly and inexpensively complete, ant that you can always use, even (or especially) if you ever acquire a larger boat and need something to shuttle back and forth. Many small dinghies can be cartopped fairly easily. You can complete a dinghy project in a couple of weeks or months. Build one in the winter and you are ready to sail or row it in the summer. Maybe fish from it. Best bang for the buck, in terms of actual enjoyment. A dinghy is a great platform for learning the basics of sailing, as well as boatbuilding techniques.

3. Don't try to reinvent the wheel on your first attempt at boatbuilding. Follow the well trodden path of others who have gone before you and successfully built and sailed/rowed/motored small craft. Believe me, all the ideas you could possibly come up with have already been considered and tried. Some work. Some don't. But all the "great cool ideas" that actually work are already incorporated into a design somewhere.

4. Don't skimp on materials. If a bill of materials calls for spruce for the mast, use that, not white pine. If a bill of materials calls for marine grade A/C plywood, don't use C/D interior. If it calls for a piece of teak for something, don't substitute ash or hickory or walnut or mahogany. If it calls for bronze screws, don't wing it with galvanized. If you use an inferior grade or type of material in one part but use proper marine grade stuff elsewhere, you created a weak link in the build. If you want to go dirt cheap, use a design that is specifically meant to be a cheap build, and don't expect it to last 20 years.

5. Don't rush. Take your time. Measure twice, cut once. Think before you drill. Prefer hand tools over power tools. Read ahead and make sure you understand the next step and the next, before starting the current one. Getting it right the first time is not easy, but it is worth it. You don't want a half completed carcass of a boat in the middle of your garage that will never be floated.

Intelligent use of this and other forums will educate and inform you. Careless or thoughtless blundering around like a blind elephant will merely annoy others. I would take some time to figure out just exactly how things work and how things are done on this, and other, forums. Cunfucius say, "He who is still considering the words that he wishes to post, is the master of those words. He who has already posted them, is a slave to his words." Okay, he didn't say that, but he would have, if he had internet back then.

[Jim Cate]

Nice post, Monster, and good advice for the recipient, so pay attention!

Jim