Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #7A

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

I don't convert; I import.  But glad you found something that works!

[DBthal]

Fairing....oh man. That's where 3/4 of the work building a boat comes in! Getting it to fit and look GOOD. Your eye can see the tiniest of mistakes and it takes lots of work to get it right. I only managed to do that about 75% of the time too. The rest was figuring out how to make it acceptable and remedying my inadequacies.

I enjoy epoxy work, but Riley's comment on Fairing is so true! Fair - sand - fair - sand.......... The hard part for me is when to say it's "good enough now".

[Charles Brennan]

I don't convert; I import.  But glad you found something that works!

Noemi, Zoom in a little and you'll notice that there are actual polylines; nothing to trace over.
Think conversion is the way to go.
Very cool.

Charles Brennan

[Charles Brennan]

Riley and DBthal: So I should fair to a fare-thee-well?
Always been more of a "form follows function" kind of guy.
While I want a decent and presentable boat, I'm maybe more accepting of a "work-boat" finish, as opposed to a "wooden boat show queen" type of finish.
Hey! *I'M* all lumpy and bumpy, why should my boat be any better?   
That's my inclination, anyway. 

But a Southern Upbringing is a hard thing to overcome.
Even writing this I can hear in my head, the voice of my Great-Grandmother (long-dead, these 50+ years) saying:
"Do it Right, or do it Not".
Or my Grandfather: "The Best you can do, is barely Good Enough."

Having spent a life-time trying to over-come that drilled-in indoctrination and striving for:
"Better is the Enemy of Good Enough."
I honestly can't say how it's going to turn out.
If it doesn't sink or leak water and maybe even sails, I might count that as Good Enough.

One guy's opinion,
Charles Brennan

[Doug SC]

Hi, CB I haven't been able to get on the form for several months. I posted today for your help getting back here on your part 1 Scamp post at SmallCraftAdviser Scamp forum. Which inspired me to try here again today and finally was able to figure out how to do it. I sure did miss all the scallywags here!

I had hoped to make the Cedar Key small boat gathering but was unable to contact you because of the 403 error message which prevented me from logging in here. As it turned out I was in FL to visit my 100-year-old Dad in Rehab after he recovered from Covid during the boat gathering and couldn't make it anyway.

I look forward to following your progress on the Scamp. Epoxy is easy. In hot weather I mix small portions as that reduces the amount of heat generated by the chemical bonding when you mix it. You could always work with the epoxy at night or early mornings when things are a bit cooler.

I am currently beginning on making a canvas tent for my Scamp. I don't know much about using a sewing machine but have all the materials now on hand. So I am going to bite the bullet and learn to sew. I have twice fully wetted down the canvas duck and let it dry out in the sun hoping to reduce any shrinkage to a minimum. It really is too hot to work after about 11 here.

Here is a link to the video of the tent I hope to make. The tent section of the video starts at 26:49 on the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJKFX1SmXEI

[Riley Smith]

Charles. how think is that centerboard?

[Charles Brennan]

Riley, The centerboard is made from two pieces of 18mm plywood.  Adding two layers of glass and the requisite epoxy, the overall thickness at the thickest part (it is foil shaped, so the edges are thinner) is about 38mm - 39mm or around an inch and half.
In the pic below, the  left side is the top of the centerboard and it looks (to American eyes) like two ¾-inch pieces of plywood.
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Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan 

[Charles Brennan]

Dale, I tend to think about posts some, before I answer them; your skeg scribing idea has a lot of merit. 
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I used something similar: a compass and pencil.
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This was useful for getting my bench seat tops to conform to the curved hull sides.
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My concern with making a skeg template was not for matching the bottom of the hull shape:
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It was getting those curves on the opposite side of the skeg.
I do NOT draw well.  My first attempt at lofting lines for the rudder was disastrous.
To get those graceful lines on the skeg bottom required far more precision than I'm capable of achieving.
Fortunately, I'm able to get computers to draw with that kind of precision, FOR me!! 

And now, thanks to Noemi (resident TSBB goddess) I can now get those scanned images into a real CAD program, instead of just a drawing program.  Instead of constant re-positioning of the image in the printable area of the drawing program, I can now print from a CAD program using extents and co-ordinates.
What I (greatly!) lack in drawing skills, I compensate for in computer skills! 

However your idea will work great for me when it comes time to start fitting the skeg to the hull.
Keep the ideas coming!! 

Thanks,
Charles Brennan

[Robert Hazard]

It looks like you're doing a nice job, Charles!

If it's not too late, I'd like to suggest that when you add those panels to narrow the cuddy opening (B-4) you make the opening a few inches narrower at the top.

The reason for that will become apparent if you look at photos of Howard's capsize tests. When capsized, a SCAMP floats at a bit more than 90 degrees to horizontal, so narrowing the opening at the top will help keep water from pouring into the cuddy.

Cheers,
Rob

[Charles Brennan]

Rob, Thanks for the suggestion. I hope you weren't basing that idea off a pic I posted that had significant camera distortion.  It looked like the panels were angling outwards, but that was just the camera.  In reality, I leveled the boat both fore/aft and athwart ships, then used a level to strike a line that was plumb with the front of the bench seats.
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Looks like it's angled, but really, it's plumb.

From what I've seen of the pics of other SCAMP build blogs (including capsize pics) putting in "wings" to narrow BH4, that seems to work good enough.
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Apparently I didn't pick your brain enough, two years ago at a Cedar Key Small Boat Meet,    so if you have more ideas or opinions, I'm more than open to them!

Thanks,
Charles Brennan

[Robert Hazard]

Charles, You've got me thinking about SCAMPs more than I have in years!

The first one that comes to mind, of course, is that iconic bow-on photo of SCAMP #1 reefed down in a breeze, looking for all the world like a sailing bulldog. That's the shot that got first got my attention.

Then I saw the photo of Mike Monies's RED SCAMP sailing along just after having been holed by a tree stump. You can't tell there's anything wrong with her! That got me thinking about the compartmented hull, and having the bottom well armored against rocks.

The first SCAMP I saw in person was #6, B. FRANK, which Steve Haines brought to Mystic Seaport for the WoodenBoat Festival. I didn't get to sail it, but I did look it over and climb around on it. I was disappointed that the cockpit wasn't deeper, but otherwise liked the design enough to order a kit from Josh Colvin, who was also there that day.

The first SCAMP I actually got to sail was Marty Worline's Fat Bottom Girl, which he brought to Cedar Key after his division win in the Everglades Challenge. I finally got to see how a SCAMP would perform on the water! I liked it but I still missed having a deeper cockpit.

As I started building Puffin I became concerned that the hatches in Bulkhead 3 were too small to crawl through, so I made my own sort-of oval hatches that were *just* big enough if I needed to get forward for some reason.

It was about then that I saw Howard Rice's thread about his expedition version, Southern Cross, SCAMP #2, and his design for a footwell, which answered my concerns about cockpit depth. After a few mockups I basically copied his plan and have been totally happy with it.

I've seen several other homebuilt SCAMPs since then with other folks' mods and brainstorms built into them. Some of them are brilliant and a few of them make me cringe!

I prefer sailing Puffin solo, and I like to sit as far forward as possible, right against the cuddy, so I made a tiller extension (not a hinged hiking stick) so it falls to hand when I'm there. It also allows me to sail standing up with the tiller braced against the small of my back. I love sailing standing up, because I can see down into the water ahead and venture into places where no sensible sailboat should go!

Instead of that crossbar with the swiveling cam-cleat for the sheet, I mounted a homemade thumb cleat against the aft face of Bulkhead 5, down in the footwell. I hook the sheet under it and can then hold it down with one foot on the ballast tank, leaving both hands free. As a kid I was taught never to cleat the sheet in a dinghy...

I'll leave it there. I trust you have perused the SCAMP section of the SCA website, which is chock full of brainstorming by other SCAMPers, many of whom have lots more sea miles under their belts than I have!

[Riley Smith]

As a kid I was taught never to cleat the sheet in a dinghy...

Good teaching!