George Buehler Yacht Design and Diesel Ducks

George Buehler Yacht Design was probably the starting point for my boat-building research. The Backyard Boatbuilding mailing list has a large following of extremely knowledgeable and helpful builders. It was started around a book by George Buehler named Backyard Boatbuilding. Mr. Buehler is a proponent of what I term "rough and ready" boatbuilding. Fine woodworking and high quality are fine, but some parts can be built from locally available "lumberyard" wood and common materials. He "over specifies" some of this frames, etc. to ensure high strength, and the boats that have been built to his plans seem to have been quite successful.

Recently, Mr. Buehler's Diesel Duck series of designs have become quite popular (including one of the boats winning the 2007 "People's Choice" award from Passagemaker Magazine's Trawlerfest). Many are being built in steel, although the plans are available for wood or steel construction. Some versions are licensed to only be built at Seahorse Marine. Those designs (and their prices and construction details) look awesome.

Someday maybe I can build a boat like that (or have it built for me more probably :-)).

Related Links:

• General list of Buehler resources
• Design Catalog Page
• Ducktalk.net - a discussion board centered around the Duck line
• Diesel Duck Launch
• The Building of Helge

Devlin Designing Boat Builders - new web page

In another of our revisits of an old friend, Devlin Designing Boat Builders has totally revamped their web page. Lot's more detail, current news and comments, and much easier to navigate. Make sure and check it out.

I came close to choosing Devlin's Czarinna 30' for my build... in some ways I still wish I had, but after working on my existing build, I realize that it would have been more than I could bite off. Now that I've learned a lot, I might stand a chance, but it's a lot more complex design, and would have cost a lot more in materials than I could have afforded.

All boats/designs are tradeoffs.

Various Devlin links

Shanteuse

Shanteuse is an interesting Jim Michalek design (with contributions of Phil Bolger ideas) that I hadn't ran across before. This is a shantyboat fit for a couple of people at 16' x 6' and has an origin of a slightly enlarged Harmonica.

Duckworks has the plans for an incredible $37.50. Their site has a more detailed writeup and pictures.

MacNaughton Group Yacht Design and Design School

Another designer that I have followed extensively and drooled over. Mr. MacNaughton has a large collection of sail and power designs available as plans. He also does custom design work.

Of special note to those budding designers, MacNaughton operates a well respected (and affordable) correspondence yacht design school. I may still do that someday...

If you recall my fascination with dutch barges and canal boats... I was sorely tempted to have his Eventide design finished for me. Again, maybe someday.

Related Links:

* General list of MacNaughton resources
* Design Catalog Page
* Dutch Barge links

Mark Van Abbema - V28

New Storer designs - Venezia and Dayboat/Launch

Got a note from Mr. Storer today pointing out a couple of plans (one old, one new) that he has made available.

The first, older design is his Dayboat/Launch:

Length 23ft (7m)
Beam 6ft 6ins (1.98m)
Power 10hp
Plans $250

The new release is the larger "Venezia".

"Venezia" - canal boat/river boat for the Venice Lagoon. A compact trailerable motorboat with accomodation.

Length - 26ft 10" (8.2m)
Beam - 6ft 8" (2.05m)
Hull Weight (approx)  - 850lbs (400kg) - Gaboon (Okoume) Ply
Displacement (people and some equipment approx) - 1600lbs (720kg)
Power - shortshaft high thrust 4-stroke outboard 10-15hp

Both of these are built using his interesting "bottom up" building method where he builds the bottom, props it into the required curve, adds sides, cabin, etc. to it. No strongback required, no hull turning... just build from the ground up. Both are similar hull forms to the Mundoo II/III, but without the box keel. Mr. Storer has a good discussion about the hull design of both of these boats and their capabilities. These are river/canal craft, not offshore vessels, but for that use, they apparently perform very nicely.

Materials lists are available from Mr. Storer's site. Plans are available direct or (in the case of the Venezia) from Duckworks here in the U.S.

Bartender boats

Bateau.com

An online plans purveyor since 1993, Bateau.com has a good following. They have a selection of plans, sail and power, including an interesting new 28' Trawler.

One thing I like about their site is the inclusion of online "study plans" which have a great amount of detail about the construction of the boat, various specs, a bill of materials, estimated costs, and even scaled drawings. I think this is a good move on their part... I'm more likely to just order plans than jump through the "study plans", pick one, then order real plans trying to get my refund for the study plans I got.

Bluejacket Boats

The Bluejacket series is interesting design for home building... Tom Lathrop has attempted to address a problem with planing boats, i.e. that they are fine on plane, but behave very poorly between hull speed and plane.

He has produced his design in 20, 24, 25.5, and 27 foot versions.

Mr. Lathrop had a list of design goals:

Light enough and small enough to be easily trailerable with a family vehicle.
Capable of economic cruising at 12 to 14 mph with a top  speed of at least 50% higher.
Seaworthy in coastal and inshore waters.
Economical in and out of the water.
Sitting headroom over the berths in the sleeping  cabin and standing headroom in the pilothouse.
Classic lines.
Comfortable for cruising with a crew of two for  a week or more.
A private head with standing headroom.

That covers a lot of it, doesn't it?

Also check out his cruise log/blog covering the Ontario Waterways.

I tend to keep sites that are "interesting" to me open in a tab on my browser (

)... its interesting to me that I've had a Bluejacket tab open for probably months, but haven't really looked at it. Back when I ran across it, it wasn't a design that was that interesting to me. As my plans have been changing and I go back and revisit it, I find that this is worth a lot closer look. And in the mean time, Tom has updated his page :-)

Bon Viveur 825

Water Bug

Well, I don't know that I call it attractive, but "cute" might make it... kind of like a pug (type of dog).

Anyway, by the same builder as the Bon Viveur 825, here's the WaterBug, an 18'x6.5' 'houseboat'.

C-Dory

And the "other half" of the C-Dory/C-Ranger group... some neat boats...

C-Dory

C-Ranger

Not a bad price either. This is the same outfit that makes the C-Dory, which I've seen mentioned by several for Great Loop and inland river trips.

C-Ranger R21

C-Ranger R25

Chesapeake Marine Design Trailer Trawler 28

Cruising Cats USA

Glacier Boats of Alaska

I ran across Glacier Boats of Alaska long ago, but at the time they didn't have quite what I was looking for. Of course what I was looking for changed several times :-).

Brian Dixon wrote me pointing out that they now have their wood-composite "BC Trawler" design available. He knows of 6 already under construction, so it looks to be a popular plan :-)

25-28', trailerable withOUT a permit, affordable plans. Looks like a nice boat and one to check out if you're looking to build.

Little Island Trader 30

Nimble Boats

Some years ago designer Ted Brewer produced the design(s) that were built as Nimble Boats... the Kodiak, Nomad and Wanderer. These seem to have been well regarded small (pocket) cruisers.

Now Nimble Boats is in business again, building these craft. They have one dealer listed: Nimble Mid-Atlantic.

With a slogan of "A Vote Against Boredom and Mediocrity" the layouts on these boats look like something some other designers could learn from.

Osprey Pilothouse

Another commercial craft in the C-Dory vein. Geared pretty heavily toward fishing, but nice looking.

Other Pocket Cruisers

In my hunting there have been several other designers and designs that would fit in my "pocket cruiser" category. These either weren't quite as interesting to me, or I just didn't find as much about them. Usually for me that means there isn't as much of a "following" in the online world. This isn't necessarily indicative of the validity of the design... it may just be one of those hidden gems we all find time-to-time.

A thread on BoatDesign.net has a log of discussion of similar designs that is worth reading through.


Downeast Cruiser 25 - A nice looking craft with plans from a company geared toward the home builder.



Hercules - a 24' trailerable cruising yacht. A Glen-L design that has some good references.



Noyo Trawler - another Glen-L design, also 24'. Designed as a commercial fishing or cargo boat, but it has been built with at least two other cabin designs (pictures on their web page).


22ft Motor Cruiser Jennifer - a nice, shippy looking design that has made Alaskan and BC trips, according to the designer, Paul Gartside. Some pictures "as built" are available. Mr. Gartside has a fairly extensive plans catalog with boats from small to large.




Chesapeake Marine Design's Puffin 28 - Have seen some references to this, but know little about it. The company has many other designs worth a look also.



Devlin's Surf Scoter 25' is billed as a full sized boat with full size features. Has an 18" draft with the drive unit up. Some pictures of construction are available also. Another designer well worth a look.


The Hilda 26 - Interesting looking craft. I don't have much on the designer, John Holtrop, but he has several designs available, and the plans are relatively inexpensive. Construction photos are available at the same link.

Passagemaker Magazine - Trailerable Trawlers

Got my June 2007 issue of Passagemaker Magazine today. One of the cover stories is concerning Trailerable Trawlers. This is definitely worth reading if you don't normally see their stuff. Its a detailed, 15 page article with lots of pictures.

Natalie Friton covers many of the same craft that you have see on this blog: C-Dory, C-Ranger, Chesapeake Marine Design, Devlin, Nimble, Rosborough and others.

She also speaks of trailers and the requirements for trailering a boat of this type, along with some home build considerations, including a nice mention of Cheasapeake Marine Design's Trailer Trawler 28.

This article also led me back to Passagemaker Magazine's web site which I hadn't visited for a while. It has been re-worked and improved. You can register (free) and see various indexes of back issues, including some free articles.

Another addition is the Web Exclusive Articles which apparently are intended to provide further information above and beyond the printed magazine. In support of the Trailerable Trawlers article, there is a detailed discussion of the building of Greenhorn I, a home built, electric 18-foot tug. 

Rosborough Boats

Tolman Skiffs

• Fishyfish.com - an extensive build log and "community" site with a mailing list, etc.
• The Tongass - a build log with other links concerning the Tolman skiff. That's where I borrowed the picture above... very nice job!