A few Gypsy pix, and design-tinkering details
I've posted four pictures of my Gypsy to "Files." Never able to leave
well enough alone, I made a few modifications, which might be of
interest to future builders.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_bare_hull.jpg
First is the bare hull abuilding, showing the modifications I made to
the seat layout. The seats as designed looked awfully cramped and
limiting, so I decided to drop bulkhead #9 entirely, run a 1X3
stringer for the seats all the way up to #6, and double the gunwale
thickness to insure adequate hull stiffness without that frame. I
measured off widths every six inches from the stringer edge to the
side, and cut the seat tops from 1/4" luan. When screwed to the
stringer on one side and epoxied and glassed to the boat side, it is
perfectly strong and stiff -- the box effect. I suppose Mr. Bolger
wanted to keep the sailor's weight centered right in the spot where
the original small seats are -- and small changes in position do make
a big effect onthis boat -- but I find there are plenty of occasions
where you want to scoot forward or aft, or lay out for comfort.
The rowing thwart gets hinged on the starboard side and lands on a
3/4" stop on the edge of the port seat, so that I can still stow
oars. I had to cut special holes in form #6 to receive the blades of
the oars.
I also took out Bulkhead #12, and cut a new one, shaped to tilt back
about 20 degrees, for general comfort, for sitting on the floor of
the boat during runs, when the boat wants to roll and you want to
center your weight. Also nice if you're just sitting on the seat and
leaning back on it. Coming up with the right shape involved tracing a
cardboard template and tweaking it a lot -- and still coming up a bit
short in spots. Epoxy and glass tape fixed the errors.
Here's a shot of the finished boat showing the seats, etc.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_seat_modification.jpg
A note on doubling the gunwale thickness: I used a trick John Bell (I
think) posted in the files some time ago: ripping a 16' 2X4 on a
table saw, first taking off a 3/4" piece from either edge, then
evenly dividing the remaining 2"-wide piece with an angled cut of 21
degrees (matching the flare of the sides) -- then placing that
beveled piece on first, following with a straight-cut piece, so as to
make a perfectly flush surface for screwing on decking.
I put a special bulkhead in just forward of the mast step, to create
an airtight flotation compartment. (Hatch went in after these pix.) I
cut a big round hole in Bulkhead #3 so everything aft of the bow back
to the new bulkhead (at about 4 1/2') is all flotation. I put foam
flotation around the mast step, in the area between Bulkhead #6 and
the new bulkhead, just leaving room for the oarblades to get tucked
up in there. This might sound like flotation overkill, but I wanted
to be sure I could self-rescue in fairly rough water, so I worked in
as much buoyancy as possible. (Still haven't had occasion to test
self-rescue.)
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_out_on_the_lawn.jpg
shows the finished boat.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_cartopped.jpg
shows the boat as cartopped, singlehanded, for our trip to Cape Cod.
I added handles to the transom -- not terribly attractive, but
helpful in maneuvering the boat up onto the rack.
OK -- sorry to bore you with the details. I hope some find this of
use.
All best,
Garth
well enough alone, I made a few modifications, which might be of
interest to future builders.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_bare_hull.jpg
First is the bare hull abuilding, showing the modifications I made to
the seat layout. The seats as designed looked awfully cramped and
limiting, so I decided to drop bulkhead #9 entirely, run a 1X3
stringer for the seats all the way up to #6, and double the gunwale
thickness to insure adequate hull stiffness without that frame. I
measured off widths every six inches from the stringer edge to the
side, and cut the seat tops from 1/4" luan. When screwed to the
stringer on one side and epoxied and glassed to the boat side, it is
perfectly strong and stiff -- the box effect. I suppose Mr. Bolger
wanted to keep the sailor's weight centered right in the spot where
the original small seats are -- and small changes in position do make
a big effect onthis boat -- but I find there are plenty of occasions
where you want to scoot forward or aft, or lay out for comfort.
The rowing thwart gets hinged on the starboard side and lands on a
3/4" stop on the edge of the port seat, so that I can still stow
oars. I had to cut special holes in form #6 to receive the blades of
the oars.
I also took out Bulkhead #12, and cut a new one, shaped to tilt back
about 20 degrees, for general comfort, for sitting on the floor of
the boat during runs, when the boat wants to roll and you want to
center your weight. Also nice if you're just sitting on the seat and
leaning back on it. Coming up with the right shape involved tracing a
cardboard template and tweaking it a lot -- and still coming up a bit
short in spots. Epoxy and glass tape fixed the errors.
Here's a shot of the finished boat showing the seats, etc.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_seat_modification.jpg
A note on doubling the gunwale thickness: I used a trick John Bell (I
think) posted in the files some time ago: ripping a 16' 2X4 on a
table saw, first taking off a 3/4" piece from either edge, then
evenly dividing the remaining 2"-wide piece with an angled cut of 21
degrees (matching the flare of the sides) -- then placing that
beveled piece on first, following with a straight-cut piece, so as to
make a perfectly flush surface for screwing on decking.
I put a special bulkhead in just forward of the mast step, to create
an airtight flotation compartment. (Hatch went in after these pix.) I
cut a big round hole in Bulkhead #3 so everything aft of the bow back
to the new bulkhead (at about 4 1/2') is all flotation. I put foam
flotation around the mast step, in the area between Bulkhead #6 and
the new bulkhead, just leaving room for the oarblades to get tucked
up in there. This might sound like flotation overkill, but I wanted
to be sure I could self-rescue in fairly rough water, so I worked in
as much buoyancy as possible. (Still haven't had occasion to test
self-rescue.)
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_out_on_the_lawn.jpg
shows the finished boat.
http://www.egroups.com/files/bolger/Gypsy_cartopped.jpg
shows the boat as cartopped, singlehanded, for our trip to Cape Cod.
I added handles to the transom -- not terribly attractive, but
helpful in maneuvering the boat up onto the rack.
OK -- sorry to bore you with the details. I hope some find this of
use.
All best,
Garth