Merlin Yawl

I heard from Bill Bronaugh recently about a boat he built after a stint as a student at the Great lakes Boat Building School. Our good friend Kees Prins was an instructor there last year, during an eastward bound cross-country trip he made. Bill had a definitive idea of what he wanted in a boat and Kees had the talent to make that boat a reality. Bill built his boat after graduating, while working at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum and has been applying his newly developed skills. It shows in his first build, of the Merlin Yawl, Falco.

"When last we spoke, I was a student at the Great Lakes Boatbuilding School in Cedarville Michigan where Kees Prins was a guest instructor. Kees and I got on the idea of developing a new boat together. Today I launched that boat."

"It is a derivative of a No Mans Land Boat, specifically the Beetle model, and a peapod. It is 17 6" in length, 5 7" beam and carries a gaff yawl rig of approximately 130 square feet. It has a gaff main and a lug mizzen. Construction is glued lap using 9mm ply for the planking, 12mm ply for the watertight bulkheads and 9mm ply for the decks.


"It has a flat keel plank like a wherry and it is two layers of 18mm ply. The stem and stern posts are laminated Angelique, as are the centerboard trunk cap and ends. The double rails on the outside, the inwales, breasthooks, and all of the thwarts and side benches are Honduras mahogany. The floorboards are sassafrass. The mast and spars are old growth CVG doug fir. It has a hollow birdsmouth main mast and all others are solid."

 "The paint is Fine paints of Europe which I had mixed to match Kirbys green/grey for the topsides, the sheerstrake is matched to Marshalls cove off white and the interior is FPOE light grey. The bottom is epoxy and copper powder which I got from Progressive Polymers."




"My sails are on order. I really wanted to use Oceanus cloth, it is just wonderful stuff. Ive sailed on three large vessels that used it and its wonderful to handle and to listen to (or not listen to) and it is a beautiful cloth, on the right vessel but the lightest weight they offer is 7 oz and I am limited to 5.5 oz as a heavyweight cloth on my little ship and 7oz wouldnt do. Im looking around for options that match my wants though. The rig consists of a 109 sq ft gaff main and a small 22 sq ft lug mizzen."

"I named the boat FALCO. The design is the Merlin Yawl after the Merlin Falcon, a small, swift predatory raptor that inhabits coastal regions.

The scientific name of the Merlin is Falco Columbarius, hence, FALCO."

Thank you, Bill.
We hope to have the privilege soon, of seeing your fine vessel under canvas.

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Bolger Cat Yawl Romp

20 years ago my wife Rachel , our young daughters Kalessin, Lillian and I sailed into St Augustine Florida and anchored off the town marina. We had just sailed up from the Bahamas and were looking for a quite town with some nice architecture , a good school and a  place to live at anchor. 20 years ago this was a simple town. The schools were good and for Kalessins first year of school it was a short walk from the anchorage. We could use the marina dock to tie up our dinghy, get showers, do laundry , secure our bycycles and all for $115.00 a month. A nice deal. 

I got a job right away at Luhrs Mainship in their R&D dept building boat plugs. Every thing was within biking distance. This was when I first spotted the Romp in my creek roaming evenings. 

I had watched one of these boats get part way built years before in Key Largo at Blue Fin marina by a guy named John Connelly if I remember right. He got the hull stripped up and the deck on and then the project ended and he and the boat dissapeared.

I have never sailed on a Romp but this hull is similar to Bolgers other design the Mannatee. Both have firm bilges with long straight keels. The Mannatee "Alert" tracked very well . I felt that in going to weather the mizzen played a roll in keeping this boat on course by dialing in the weather helm. I did not like the way Alert felt at sea in tacking and so forth with this long straight keel hull shape. Was kinda like sailing a huge Whitehull dinghy in regard to the bow being deep and no rocker to the long keel.

Of course Jim Melcher sailed the Alert across the North Atlantic to Ireland single handed at the age of 74 and took her through out the canals of Europe  over many years logging over 55,000 miles over there. This does not include the sea miles he put in her sailing in the Pacific , and Caribbean seas.

My guess another 40,000 or so miles. 

It all comes back to... People sail boats , not boats sail people.

So to all you Bolger dreamers .... Heres the Original Romp waiting for you to rescue her and take her away from her most likly death. 

The owner said he wanted $15,000.00 three years ago. Romp has some rot in the deck. The mainmast is made of fiberglass. The hull is cored with Airex or Kledgecell and glassed over well.

The interior is classic Bolger, that means all small single bunks so no sleeping with your better half.

I dont think Bolger was into snuggling.

Lots of open space to fill in with lockers and stuff to go afar.

This is way cheaper than building . The ballast alone is worth a third of the price. 

So someone get going !!!!!

Lots of no trespassing signs and no one in sight so I only got this far last week.

Romp needs you. The name is on the stern. This mizzen was up three years ago.

Good luck !

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A 28 Junk rigged Yawl design

This is the junk rig that I dream about. I found this picture in a small frame in an obscure office while in town in Grenada while I was building a house there. The owner had no idea where it came from. I borrowed it to get a copy made. In my dream its Commodore Monroe at the helm with Herrshoff making sandwiches, while I hike out from the shrouds with a big smile on my face. 

This is my slightly more subdued version.

Since I posted my blog about my shallow draft design ruminations I have received some nice emails asking for more info on the small " Box Boat " sized Junk rigged yawls.

Several of the inquirys are from folks looking for just the hull lines as they have been around boats for quite awhile and are capable of figuring out the building dimensions and scantlings on their own.

This saves lots of time in hand drawing out a set of plans. I feel that this is all you really need once you have a set of lines like I have presented here. Anyone capable of building a plywood dinghy can surely build this yawl. Also everyone comes in different sizes so most people tend to change the interiors anyway to fit their own needs. I am 53" tall so I can fit into most any small boat. I overcome my height perfection on shore when working with tall clients by having a plastic milk carton box near by for me to stand on to understand why everything needs to be so high.

What people are looking for is a small simple shallow draft boat to live aboard with two people. To have headroom to stand up in to cook. An nice bunk to sleep in and a place to hang out below out of the weather and bugs at night. The boat should be able to motor well in most any sea and to be offshore capable with an crew understanding of their abilitys and what the boat can do.

I drew this up today to share with you all how very basic and simple it is to come up with your own design and build your own boat. I have spent 6 hours drawing these lines, doing the calculations and writing this blog. Its been nice to be thinking of small boats and get away from my deck job on Wild Bird. BTW shes all painted and deck hardware going back on this week.

I will be setting up with my daughter Lillian this December a new blog site called Hogfish Designs. In it all drawings will be perfectly clear. If you want a very clear picture of anything in this blog email me and I will send you the pictures this way as they are perfectly clear via email.

The hull lines with all dimensions and a set of offsets. The offsets is all you really need to redraw this boat. There are lots of books out there that explain how that box in the middle with all the lines and numbers in it really are the treasure map of discovering this boat full size. Its not that hard to learn.

Now I have added all stations with all dimensions written along side every angle. If you can see this clearly it will just show you how simple it is to draw up full size.

Lots info here if you can see it.

A little better. Doing all this with an IPad is a challenge for me.

When thinking of small boats for cruising and living aboard I have several things that have to be incorporated into these designs to work for me.

- Must be able to carry a good hard dinghy on deck.

- Have headroom in the galley area.

- A very good bunk for two people.

-Self draining cockpit that is comfortable to sail in and at anchor.

- Great anchoring setting and retrieval area and system.

-Great ventalation.

- Must be able to recover from a capsize or knock down at sea.

-Lots of dry secure storage.

-Have a good simple set up for motoring incorporating the dinghys outboard if possible.

-To have if wanted a place for a marine toilet to use when in crowed ports.

- And above all to have an efficient and easy to use in any weather sailing rig.

Lets go down the list and see whats up.

I do not like inflatables. This boat can carry a nice 8 hard dinghy of most any design. Use the main halyard to hoist up on deck. I would not have life lines it this was my boat.

Headroom is easy for me. This boat as drawn here has 6 headroom in the cabin area. Build the cabin to suit your needs.

Great bunk = great sex = great sleeping. I believe that having a good bunk to sleep and live in is very important. It must have plenty of room with great ventilation to survive in the tropics. Having lots of headroom over it with a clear view of the stars at night means that you will want to be next to each other all the time but when designed properly then you can also have room to spread out so when one of you is going to stay up reading at night the other can roll over and get some space. All this means you will love to be aboard. Our Bunk on the HFM is the best place in the world to sleep. This H-28 has a huge double bunk. When sailing at sea I would if going to weather for days at a time most likely sleep on the cabin sole. Its the lowest spot and very secure. When single handing on the HFM I sleep this way as I can hear the water going by the bottom of the hull and can tell in a second if the boats changing course.

Having a comfortable cockpit to steer and sail from is paramount. You will be spending a great deal of time in this area. When at anchor its a bonus to be able to sleep there. Everything must be set up to single hand from and have room for guests when day sailing. This boat has all of this.

This H-28 has a nice bow well that you can stand in to set or retrieve your anchor. With the mizzen set this boat will just point into the wind with the lug main just lightly flopping back and forth with the sheets eased. Being alone this is great. With a partner its so safe and easy to get underway.

Ventalation is a must. A big hatch forward will do it all. Also you could put in a small port by the mast tabernacle to let air in there to. Also two small hatches if wanted on either side of the daggerboard.

Being self righting is very important. With all hatches on the centerline and being watertight with a closeing watertight companionway door and all cockpit hatches dogged down this H-28 will be watertight in rough going. If rolled over and built to my standards she will want to roll right back over.

In a knock down there are no interior openings to let water in when she is on her side. But with having a junk rig letting the main sheet go or the main halyard is what you would do if pushing the boat in severe conditions.

This design has plenty of storage. The great thing about a boat like this is there is not anything that can really go wrong so you wont need a bunch of spares to carry around. I would make a small several day water tank to draw from and then carry the rest of the water in jerry jugs.

I would use a nice 6-8 hp two stroke outboard. Its designed to go in a well in the middle of the cockpit. This I have used and designed in on many boats. The prop is far enough under the boat so it will never cavitate in a sea way. The bottom being flat and nothing to obstruct the water flow this will make it very efficient. The main sheet horse above it could be used to hoist it out. I just lift up and lay it on its side when not using and plug the hole. If you cant lift 68 lbs of motor over the side use the mizzen halyard to do this to get it out and over onto the dinghys transom and viseversa. When I see the outbards designed to hang off the transom then I know its only for very flat water use. 

Heads verses buckets. I like buckets for the simple reason they only have three parts. The bucket, handle and lanyard. But in todays crowded anchorages using them can be a bit inconvenient and embarrassing at times. So what I would do is put in a Levac head in the port aft dinnett seat. If in a crowed situation then just lift up the locker seat, turn up the stereo and go at it with your other half up in the bow bunk or up on deck. This will work great too as its hidden so when the potty police come by just show them your bucket.

With this yawl rig the mizzen is designed to be up all the time except when running way off the wind.

The mizzen will be controlling the helms balance at all times when reaching and on the wind. This works very well. With the junk lug rig raising and lowering the mainsail will be a breeze. All lines could be lead aft if wanted. I would tend to just have the main halyard coming back to the cockpit. But I might change my mind later as I get lazyier. Just think of sailing into a harbour and rounding up dropping the mainsail in a second, with the mizzen sheeted in flat. Now step out of the cockpit and walk forward as the boats way is still going forward. Step down into the forward well, look about the anchorage like you are a MAN O WAR bird that has just landed and lift and lower your anchor over the side. The H-28 will slowly drift backwards head to wind. Now just slightly let the anchor dig in a bit. Let out more scope till satisfied and secure the Roade. The anchor now digs in and you are sitting like a duck head to wind. Look over the side and admire the sea bottom as you are anchored in 4 of water.

Everyone else is way offshore in all the big wind and chop. Such is the life of shoal draft boats.

 Save the lowering the mast by its tabernacle to yourself till later. It will freak everyone out when you do this alone to go explore up under some low bridges leading to unspoiled cruising.

In the drawings I have drawn in a daggerboard and kick up rudder. This is to make this small boat sail very well. You could put in a centerboard and have it offset going along side the galley wall with top loading storage lockers. I do not like putting the board case against the hull side like other designers have been doing. I feel the the cases outer wall will be too close to the hull sides for proper future maintence. It will be a dead zone like behind an icebox. Not for me.

For self steering I would use a Ray Marine piston autopilot installed down below and hooked up to a Mores cable to a trim tab on the trailing edge of the rudder. This system works like a dream.

In todays world of expensive woods and materials I would if on a budget build this boat in basic plywood that has waterproof glue in it. It would have to be pine or fir. Finish is only needed a bit on the inside of the hull. I would build the boat in pressure treated pine or any local wood that will not rot right away like spruce or hemlock. From there I would still use ss fastenings and white wood glue for the interior cleat work. For the rest I would buy two part 1-1 epoxy and glue the boat up with that. Then I would glass its hull , deck and cockpit using polyester resin to my specifications. Doing this you will have a lifetime boat. Ballast can be steel punchings set in cement,or lead.

Mast to be an aluminum flag pole. Start looking for one alongside the highway. Preferably along a very quiet road. 

Mainsail battens and main yard I would make myself. The main yard I would glass over a foam core. Very light and strong.

The battens and all the rest of the junk rig stuff can be found online today In great detail.

The best set up Ive seen is Pete Hills system. 

Today you can buy Dyneema line in short lengths online for very little. I would go to great lengths to buy the best lightweight blocks and line to make the mainsail as light as possible. Use Dacron cloth for the sail. Go to China to get your sails made. Still a great deal.

 

 Writing this blog at anchor on board the HFM today comfortably at anchor its hard to think of why I would think of down sizing. The lure of a well designed and thought out mini cruiser is many fold.

Thinking of painting its bottom using only a gallon of bottom paint verses the five that I need for HFMS.  

The thought of no rigging shrouds, hardware, winches, lifelines, anchor windlass, inboard diesel, tanks,awnings,extra sails and all the tools and spares to keep all this running is always at the back of my head.

With a small boat coming along side a dock its no big deal, with HFM its 16 tons and you better be ready.

When hauling out or tying up to a marina its by the overall foot today.

In todays anchorages a small boat like this will not be noticed. This is nice. It also will be very cheap to put ashore for the season. I like this a lot.

I can go on.

At the present time I have plans for the HFM and myself sailing around the world in the next year.

After this trip I might be ready to start thinking of a smaller boat. Our kids have grown up so smaller makes more sense. But at sea on long voyages if you can handle and afford the bigger boat it is much more comfortable and faster. I will stick with HFM for my dream trip.

In the mean time I will be continually dreaming up new plans and ideas for that perfect boat.

Thinking of the perfect shoal water sailboat has got me wanting to sail back home to the Bahamas.

We will be sailing back in May.

These wonderful paintings were made by our friend Jerry Rose. He sails a 37 French Ovini sloop that draws less than 2. He has crossed the Atlantic in it and sailed through out the Bahamas and Caribbean.

 

There is no place better to sail with a shallow boat than the Bahamas.

These old working sloops have all dissapeared but the waters are still the same.

See you out there.

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