"small diesel cruiser"
Obviously folks have different ideas about what constitutes "small".
In the size range discussed, I think that the 26' ELCO would be a
pretty good benchmark as far as appearance, arrangement and
performance. A nice set of plans can be purchased for U.S.$65.00 from
Weston Farmer Associates, 18970 Azure Road, Wayzata,MN 55391. The
drawback for the would-be amateur builder is that the boat was of
conventional carvel construction and the plans were drawn for the use
of experienced production boat builders who did not need a lot of
detail in construction plans. Still, I don't think that it would be
impossible to build using say, Reuel Parker's "New Cold-Molded"
technique. It is clear from Bolger's description of the lengths he
went to to come up with a more-or-less satisfactory forefoot on
Design #56 in BWAOM that attempting to render this kind of design in
plywood poses some pretty difficult problems for the designer. I
wonder if building in plywood on this scale might be more difficult
than other techniques for the normally solo amateur boatbuilder?
Certainly installing the foward hull panels in Design #56 does not
sound like a job for the faint-hearted. When Bolger tackles this type
of boat in round-hulled form the results can be very striking - see
e.g. Design #37, "Alice" in BWAOM. The most recent issue of MAIB
(vol. 18, No. 4, 7/1/00) features his design #528, a rather striking
looking 30' "Day-Cabin Diesel Launch"
Bill in MN
In the size range discussed, I think that the 26' ELCO would be a
pretty good benchmark as far as appearance, arrangement and
performance. A nice set of plans can be purchased for U.S.$65.00 from
Weston Farmer Associates, 18970 Azure Road, Wayzata,MN 55391. The
drawback for the would-be amateur builder is that the boat was of
conventional carvel construction and the plans were drawn for the use
of experienced production boat builders who did not need a lot of
detail in construction plans. Still, I don't think that it would be
impossible to build using say, Reuel Parker's "New Cold-Molded"
technique. It is clear from Bolger's description of the lengths he
went to to come up with a more-or-less satisfactory forefoot on
Design #56 in BWAOM that attempting to render this kind of design in
plywood poses some pretty difficult problems for the designer. I
wonder if building in plywood on this scale might be more difficult
than other techniques for the normally solo amateur boatbuilder?
Certainly installing the foward hull panels in Design #56 does not
sound like a job for the faint-hearted. When Bolger tackles this type
of boat in round-hulled form the results can be very striking - see
e.g. Design #37, "Alice" in BWAOM. The most recent issue of MAIB
(vol. 18, No. 4, 7/1/00) features his design #528, a rather striking
looking 30' "Day-Cabin Diesel Launch"
Bill in MN