I want to share this PT Spear with you. Built in Texas and transported to the East Coast, the builder has done a great job and customized the boat to hang just right on the mother ship's davits. The custom cover they had made is also very attractive and functional. See the photos below.
And..of course... the following comment was very happily received! 😉 "...We have been using the dinghy for nearly two weeks to get to and from the boat and the beach/dinghy dock. So far, we have not splashed so much as a drop of water onto the crew or passenger (other than what I splash up with the oars - I’m still learning to use these long babies), despite rowing ashore and back in up to 20 knot winds and fairly choppy conditions. It rows like a dream and I get an upper body workout for no extra charge. We could not be happier with the finished product."
Creating protected holes for a bridle.Mock up of lifting the boat to create the bridle.Swallow in place on the 'mother ship'..Rain cover for Swallow, a PT Spear
Construction pictures of PT Spear, "Swallow", and current adventures can be seen on the owner's blog HERE>
I know ...it took forever! I will just say that I am a MAC person and if I never have to use a certain MS word processor again, I will be happy. After a lot of tutorials and finally formatting the book, the version I used did not allow active links even for the table of contents. I scratched it and went back to my free word processing program. It took a while to get over the lost time.So now you can get the DIGITAL version of SCARFING BASICS HERE.
I have also just published a children's book.
I created this book when I was cruising with my daughter many years ago. Sailor Sai Aboard Big Blue is a little tour of life living aboard a sailboat from the eyes of a child. The book hosts rhyming verse, a colorful illustrations and colorable line drawings. Each page is a sampling of living on a boat and the nature seen while cruising. The story was inspired by the real life of a little girl named Sailla who sailed many of the worlds oceans before her 10th birthday. Best suited for ages 2 to 10.
I have it priced at $12.95 (26 full color pages) and can send it postage included for that price anywhere in the USA. You can also buy it from AMAZON.com HERE. Amazon.com likes to play with numbers and they offer the book at a range of prices. Thank you! (Ashlyn)
Brian in Australia has completed his PT Skiff and I think there is much to consider about what he has done with his boat. After developing sensitivity to epoxy, he had to hire help to finish the boat and we tip our hat to his perseverance. Clearly Brian is a stickler for detail and he has maintained a clear vision for his skiff. He sent a detailed account of his choices for outfitting the boat and it is this account that I want to share. I have put it together as a PDF document (HERE) that you should be able to download or read online. It is filled with photos to compliment his notes. If you are currently building a PT SKIFF, these notes will be informative. If you are thinking about building one, this should wet your appetite! His boat is very impressive!
In addition, the following photos arrived with this 'Launch report"
My PT Skiff launch went extremely well today. Everything worked. The photographs attached were taken during the initial 15 minute warm-up of the motor at the boat ramp at Adelaide Sailing Club. Whilst it looks very calm at the ramp (large breakwater), we ventured out into wind waves up to 1 metre in St Vincent’s Gulf. The wave fetch here is approximately 38 nautical miles from the other side of the gulf with the wind in a WSW direction. I have checked our weather website tonight and the wind was 11 knots gusting to 14 while we were doing stage 2 of the motor run-in (2000 to 3000 rpm). The boat was lively. Whilst it is quite tender at the dock, once you understand that you can deal with it. We went upwind for about 20 minutes. The boat was reminiscent of a lively sailboat. The boat was bouncing around a little into the wind waves, though it was dry. The boat was very pleasantly quiet even in the one metre waves. After flooding the water ballast tank, the boat was a little more stable, but did not show any significant loss of speed into the breeze. Running downwind (again limited to 3000 rpm) the boat started surfing the waves. It was fun. The first 1 hour of run-in is now complete and I can now use the boat at weekends without causing queuing problems at the ramp.
September 5-7th were the days of the 38th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
This year was unique for us due to having a relative fleet of PT 11s on hand; 8 or 9 PT 11 dinghies could be seen over the weekend of marvelous sunshine and sailing breezes, tethered behind their "motherships" in the harbor or out in the bay among so many beautiful boats!
A PT 11 chasing Vito Dumas and sister dinghy the PT Spear on the leash..
Joining them was our own PT 11 captained by Cooper Parish.
Cooper in our PT 11 chasing Scott in his International 14
Cooper (who currently works for Scaled Composites) has built a PT 11 at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building. Many of our friends and customers share our deep appreciation for innovative aircraft as well as boats. We love the following picture Cooper sent to us earlier this summer, (wearing a Port Townsend Watercraft hat!) and we love having his help at the festival!
Cooper in..."one of the rocket motors from Space Ship One... Representin' PTWatercraft!"
As usual, I did not get out and about to take more pictures. The reason, I am pleased to say, is that our display maintained a virtual flood of visitors and our team (including my wonderful sister, Dana) was happily kept busy showing off 2 PT Elevens (one on the stand and one for rowing demos), and a PT Spear, (generously loaned by Mr. Swantner).
Our display next to WEST SYSTEM
Our tent hosts, the smart folks from WEST SYSTEM EPOXY, were on hand with expert epoxy advice, interesting props and informative booklets. This year’s festival was also special and memorable due to having our dear friends, Kathy Massimini & Steve Callahan here. Steve was a guest speaker for the festival. If you have not read his book Adrift or don't know about Steve, you've missed out. See his website HERE.
Steve & Kathy
You might already know about Off Center Harbor, and all of the really well done, interesting videos they offer on a wide range of boating topics. We were honored (and pretty camera shy) to receive an interview request from the OCH team. Filming took place right after the festival and the video will be available sometime in the future. Thank you Steve Stone and Off Center Harbor!
The fine weather inspired more boats to be out sailing for the entire three days than I have ever witnessed in my 5 years of attending. The final ‘Sail-By’ was quite spectacular. If you missed it this year, mark your calendar for the first weekend of September 2015 and keep an eye on the NW Maritime Center website for events over the year.
Please enjoy a small album of pictures I took during the Festival.
Layers of boats in the harbor at Point Wilson
Visitors study the PT 11 nesting dinghy
Capt. Cooper in PT 11 chasing Vito Dumas and sister dinghy the PT Spear on the leash..
Virginia V joining the sail-by.
rowers in the longboat from the NW Maritime Center.
PT 11 keeping up with SV Vito Dumas
Outrigger Jr chasing the PT 11
longboat hoists sails
Cooper in our PT 11 chasing Scott in his International 14
First sail for Mr. Kuntz and a friend at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend
Painted sail from the Community Boat Project (http://communityboats.wordpress.com/)
visitor taking the PT 11 for a row
On the water and on the beach
Maneuvering in a full harbor,
perfect ‘still-life’ opportunity
wood and flowers
There be treasure at the festival!
we know who is in charge on this boat
Off Center Harbor filmmaker, Steve Stone films the PT 11.
taking a boat wake in stride
Some videos of this years' festival are on You Tube. This is a particularly artistic slide show. HERE
Many of you already know about EPOXY WORKS magazine, a FREE publication from Gougeon Brothers Inc, that is sent out twice a year. Issue #39 for this Fall of 2014 reviewed Russell’s EPOXY BASICS on the back cover!
Issue 39 of Epoxy Works
This is a huge bonus for us and many of you have proven that! We had such a run on books within days of the magazine landing in mailboxes, that I have been kept busy sending them out. I want to thank those of you who had to wait with faith and patience for your back ordered copies. THANK YOU!
So why did Gougeon Brothers do such a nice thing? All I can say is that we are thrilled. Our relationship with Gougeon Brothers/WEST SYSTEM, is based on our long history and trust of their products, through which a lasting friendship has emerged. Russell’s nearly constant work with epoxies over the last 40 years has given him many opportunities to try various brands. His livelihood has depended on very refined composite workmanship and building lightweight, tightly engineered parts and craft. Many experiments, challenges, and successful projects have lead him to trust in one epoxy in particular; WEST SYSTEM.
The Gougeon brothers have an fascinating history and the company maintains an expert team unafraid to ask questions of themselves and the products they represent. In the spirit of doing what is right, ( yes, they do carefully consider environmental impact), full time scientists continually test every imaginable epoxy related scenario and tweak their products to best serve their customers of many industries. Their loyal customer base depends not only on having the best physical properties and workability in their epoxy, but also on knowledgeable customer support. The full time tech support staff at WEST SYSTEM are, in that down-to-Earth, humble, mid-western way, generous with their knowledge. If they don't have an answer for you right away, they will find out, and get back to you, even if it takes lab testing. All this greatly benefits the casual epoxy user as well.
Calling the company during business hours (phone #1-866-937-8797) will not reach an automated phone system.... Nope, a real person will answer and politely direct your call... I know... hard to imagine these days.. Can you tell we like these folks? I hope so. We have the highest respect for the people in the company and the principles on which they base the production of excellent products; integrity being far more important to them than fancy marketing. Working with the folks at Gougeon Brothers/WEST SYSTEM, is always a pleasure. Such person to person relationships, with friends, customers, and business associates, rank high on my list of things that make life meaningful. For a well written article about the Gougeon brothers, see: GOUGEON. G-O-U-G-E-O-N GOUGEON by Dan Spurr in Professional Boatbuilder Magazine Issue #125, beginning on page 36. You can buy the issue HERE: Also, coming soon in WOODEN BOAT MAGAZINE ; an article by Jim Brown called, "Catching Up With Meade Gougeon".
Things have come a long way since we first started producing kits. We have put a lot of effort into making production more efficient and timely. The current kits contain parts that require less fitting and fiddling. We have refined the kit, and the manual.
One thing we have maintained is the stance that a really good nesting dinghy is a complex boat and the PT 11 is a really good nesting dinghy. In order to offer it as a kit that even an amateur can build, we have had to take the idea of ‘kit’ to a new level. Some have asked why our kits are more expensive than the average kit boat of comparable size. Others who have bought and built our kits have said that we do not charge nearly enough. Their praise has been high for the content, instructions, accuracy, attention to detail, and overall quality of the kit and resulting boat. While kits are not exactly flying out the door in mass quantities and we are not getting rich, we are not complaining. We stand by our custom products and personalized service, and we feel that we have a special family of PT11 and PT Skiff owners, who have expressed great pleasure in both building and using their boats.
-cutting apart and pre-routering gussets for the PT 11
Not all feedback is praise....
...given the fact that we have forgotten to pack a part on occasion. This featured comment, in all it’s sarcastic humor, is a prime example...
"I found a small glitch in your packing. Nothing major: the installation of the dagger board cover calls for two washers (under the dogs, I think). Without them the dogs are too low with the gasket in place.... Through an outrageous and abject failure in your quality control, none were included. 😉 I know I can source nylon washers locally, even though that will put me far over budget. I thought I'd touch base and ask about specs: is there anything special other than serving as a spacer and friction control for these washers? Are any of the dimensions particularly important? Are you going to spank Russell? " J.W. June 2014.
On the flip side, builders take heed..
“man’s best friend” has been known to find kit parts to be yummy chew toys. Keeping parts in your crate with the lid on until needed keeps out both excess dust and curious ‘Fido’. I know it is nice to have company in the shop but there are lots of bite sized bits in our kits. We use a detailed packing list when filling the crates and if we checked it off, we put it in. (granted, sleep deprivation can interfere from time to time..) In most cases, we will replace lost pieces free of charge so do let us know if it just cannot be found..(along with a photo of your orderly shop space!...just kidding... 😉 Seriously though, there are a lot of small parts in our kits that need to be kept together in a safe container and we know of at least one 5 axis shaped inner stem that was definitely lost to the shop dog.
The PT 11 is known as a “nesting dinghy” and while many people know what that means, many again, do not. It is easy to explain that the boat can be separated into two parts, and the bow half ‘nests’ in the aft half, making it possible to own a relatively large dinghy that will store in a relatively small space, such as, on the deck of your boat. I had assumed that the term “nesting dinghy” referred to exactly that. In our circle of boats and dinghies, it does, but is it the right term?
Not everyone gets it right away..
The internet provides lots of definitions that all begin with the base word NEST. My 4” thick Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines “nest” in the 9th definition as,”to fit or place one within another”... Or the 12th: “ to fit together or within another or one another..” This definition works until I get asked if it means that one or more of our dinghies stack well. The fact that the dinghy comes apart into two ‘nestable’ parts, is left out of the equation. The word “nesting” is not even in this big dictionary. It is online and I kind of like this one lonley meaning for the word even if it is related only in an abstract manner ; nesting — adj, nesting (ˈnɛstɪŋ) — n the tendency to arrange one's immediate surroundings, such as a work station, to create a place where one feels secure, comfortable, or in control.
I have also had people ask me about our “nester”. Looking up the definitions for this was interesting. In my big old dictionary, “Nestor” is the wisest and oldest of the Greeks in the Trojan War. In the urban dictionary online however, see this screen shot:
urban dictionary definition of 'nestor'
But that is nestor with “or” and I usually get “nester” with “er”. “Nester” is not in my dictionary but it is online and not exactly fitting. Look at the urban dictionary definition too. This was new to me! You can be sure I will refrain from casually using the word “nester” when talking about our beautiful dinghy. 😉
internet screenshot
Urban definition:
urban definition of 'nester'
I think, after this belated study on this terminology when related to the PT 11, we can settle on something closer to the following: The PT Eleven is an 11 ft, two part dinghy with nestable parts that store in a 6ft by 4ft 2 inch by 20 inch space.
You probably know where to find more info on our PT Eleven nestable dinghy kit and if not, click HERE.
Thank you for following! PTW 😉
More NEST definitions. (I deleted the bird and insect references...) nest noun ... 4. a snug retreat or refuge; resting place; home. 5. an assemblage of things lying or set close together, as a series of boxes or trays, that fit within each other: a nest of tables.
verb (used with object) 8. to settle or place (something) in or as if in a nest: to nest dishes in straw. 9. to fit or place one within another: to nest boxes for more compact storage. verb (used without object) ... 11. to settle in or as if in a nest. 12. to fit together or within another or one another: bowls that nest easily for storage. ... Origin: before 900; Middle English, Old English (cognate with Dutch, German nest; akin to Latin nīdus nest, Old Irish net, Welsh nyth, Sanskrit nīḍa lair) ≪ Indo-European *nizdo- bird's nest, equivalent to *ni down (see nether) + *zd-, variant of *sd-, ablaut variant of *sed-, v. base meaning “sit” (see sit) + *-o- theme vowel
We recently finished our sixth (yes, sixth) PT 11 prototype. This was to incorporate a few design changes and re-write much of the manual in an effort to make the boat easier to build. Building this many boats can lead to some labor saving ideas and we felt that we needed to do our best to make this, “kind-of-high-tech” boat as easy to build as possible.
In the last related blog post we detailed some of the changes we have made to the boat. Everything worked well, the new manual is done, and kit parts are stacked to the ceiling and ready to fly out the door.
transom inwhale with bow notch allows for a more snugly nested package.
Relevant details even if you already have a PT11;
We have a few new details to share. Most are in the new manual but could be useful for people that already have PT 11’s.
The back seat had two issues: One is that the seat needed a way to be held against the tank wall when nesting the boat. For some reason we never realized that if we trimmed 1/4” off of the aft edge of the seat (it’s now 7” wide), it could wedge between the cleat and the shock chord knot as shown below. It’s secure enough not to fall over when nesting the boat and that’s all it needs.
seat wedges neatly when ready to store the boat nested.
The other issue is that the back seat could slide forward, (even with the bunji cord) come off the cleats, and drop you on your butt.
The fix is pretty simple. We trimmed a bit from the outboard edges of the seat with a sanding block (to move the seat aft) and we block sanded the forward corners of the seat as shown, all so that there was enough cleat showing to drill holes in. We then drilled 1/4” holes to a depth of 3/8” for the 5/8” long hardwood dowels to glue into.
This works well, it’s an easy fix, and if you already have a boat, we can send the dowels to you along with the handy-dandy tether washer we shown below.
See the dowel stopper in the bottom right corner of the photo.The back seat dowel stopper prevents the seat from slipping forward.
Custom machined Delrin (TM) washers with tether loop.
We have always kept our dagger-board trunk cap in the forward compartment, but it can be hard to find in there if it’s full of stuff. It’s easy to glue a tether into a hole drilled in the cap, but where to tie the tether? To the washer under the forward turn dog, that’s where.
It’s a special washer made for us by a neighbor who laser cuts other parts for us as well. This is a thin Delrin(TM) part, but we had a very hard time breaking one.
Replace the round washer with this one and rotate the washer aft for fishing the tether through the hole.
PT 11 dagger-board trunk cap with tether.
Holding the dagger-board down has always been done with a rope loop that can hook over the aft turn dog, but having the loop fairly snug (as shown below) keeps the board down all the way.
Having the loop the right length keeps the board down all the way.
Having the board down fully will make the boat climb like a 12 meter when sailing upwind and it will also help you run aground. No, what I meant is that it will help if you run aground.
-showing the dagger-board fully down at the underside of the trunk.
We hit a rock very hard and not only did it nearly throw us out of the boat, but the sharp trailing edge of the board hit the aft end of the trunk (because the board was up about four inches) and did a small amount of damage to the trunk. The dagger-board was fine, but we now sail with the dagger-board down all the way or we unhook it and let it float up (about a third of the way).
We recently had the opportunity to test drive a Lehr outboard on the PT 11 nesting dinghy. http://golehr.com/lehr-marine/
I should say up front, that we are personally anti-outboard for this boat. The PT 11 is lightweight with a hull shape well suited for easy, near effortless rowing, even for longer distances. The sailing rig is also very easy to use. Our vision has been that this dinghy can be a tough, utilitarian, and totally enjoyable alternative to inflatables, as tenders for cruising boats. Even so, the PT 11 can be used with a small outboard. We have calculated that a 2HP outboard would be plenty of power to move this little boat with ease and also keeps the PT 11 within a certain USCG category.
In our opinion, however; those who expect to use a motor on their dinghy more often than not, might be better off with a different dinghy. One could choose a boat with a fuller aft end. Rowing performance would be compromised but these boats would plane with a 5HP motor.
There are, it seems, few, new model outboards of 2HP or less. Most outboard producers currently have models of just over 2HP. Other than the perceived "need for speed" from the general public, we are not sure why they have chosen to discontinue lower HP motors. See a PT 11 test drive with an EP CARRY.
For the sake of experiment and because this motor was offered to us for this purpose, we went ahead and made a test drive. Thank you to J.S. for this opportunity.
Here is what we found and there is a link to a short video at the the end of this post.
I. Motor: New Lehr 2.5HP propane outboard. ( 15” shaft, cost: roughly $1050)
II. Weight: We feel like this motor is quite heavy at almost 39 LBS(incl small 1 LB gas bottle)
Electric Paddle 16LBS(including battery pack) (shafts 33-38” $1600)
III. Noise: Moderate.
Comparison:
On forums online, the Honda 2.3 has been proclaimed as very noisy.
Electric motors are obviously the most quiet.
IV. Speed: The Lehr 2.5 propelled the PT 11 with a single, 180 pound operator, at 6.8 knots, at full throttle in protected waters.
No comparisons at this time.
V. Trim: The PT 11 is light weight. The weight of the motor being nearly half the weight of the boat, and with a single operator having to sit far enough aft to reach the tiller, causes the bow to ride high. One would need a tiller extension to be able to shift driver weight forward.
Taking off at full throttle..
VI. Mounting: The outboard was mounted with a raw mahogany block just below the inwhale. For the purpose of this demo, we adhered it with double sided tape. For more permanent installation, we would advise exchanging the bolts on the top gudgeon, for screws that bite into the block. On the outside of the transom, we used raw mahogany strips. The block and pads are to prevent crushing or denting the hull skins when tightening the clamps. For a motor this heavy, we recommend re enforcing the transom with vertical ribs adhering to the buoyancy tank walls and butting up to the underside of the inwhale. This would be light and effective.
VII. Conclusion: In general, if you are set on mounting a motor on the PT 11, it is preferable to choose a motor that weighs less than 30 LBS. We will be making some effort to mount and test drive the Electric Paddle in 2014. Click here to see a short video of the PT 11 with the Lehr 2.5HP. PTW 😉
Note: If any of our builders have tried a small outboard on your PT 11, please contact us with your experiences.
UPDATE: This information was sent to us from one of our builders in Florida. The HP used exceeds sanctioned HP for this boat but the results are informative.
POWER: 2.5 HP (rpm restrictor removed to increase to 3.3 hp), 1990 vintage two stroke, factory propeller, 27 pounds, Mercury outboard with tiller extension.
Life jackets, paddle, no additional gear.
Top speed, one 140 pound operator, 10 mph. Top speed, two people 330 pounds, 8 mph. Top speed, four people 810 pounds, 6 mph.
Russell and all of our design consultants have a lot of experience with wood and epoxy boat building and a lot of thought and science went into making sure our boats are designed to be both light and strong. No boat is indestructible of course, but please consider carefully any modifications and feel free to consult us if you have concerns based on your planned use of the boat. We may not have a full time tech line but we do try to be available for customer concerns.
There are lots of ways to personalize your boat but please do not attempt to alter the structure. Also, a well built Pt 11 is a valuable boat and modifications could negatively affect resale value.
Boat building is a creative process. With our kits, it may be said the Russell has thought of 'everything' and thus, the margin for builder inventiveness is limited. I beg to differ and I have great faith in each person's ability to creatively personalize their boats! It is also our hope that the building experience in itself serves the creative spirit well and the end result is a boat that makes the builder proud and happy. It is difficult to make guarantees, and especially so if any part of the design and/or the described building method, is omitted or modified.
In reference to some questions we have received ; Flotation vs Storage; about the PT 11: The three compartments, one in the bow and the two in the stern, are completely sealed flotation and have the same value as foam flotation in this type of boat. If access ports to flotation compartments are installed, equal foam flotation would then be required to replace the sealed air. This would be a lot of work and totally pointless. Trying to use designated flotation compartments as storage can be dangerous if the boat flips or floods. On the PT 11 & Spear, there is a large storage aft of the mast step with ample space and the PT Skiff has 3 separate storage areas. We had to calculate flotation for the PT11, the non nesting PT SPEAR, and the PT SKIFF in order to satisfy the USCG safety guidelines. It is the builder's responsibility to abide by those rules, and, it is just plain smart.
Re-enforcements; Any additional wood or glass than what is prescribed in the manual, serves to add weight and will not necessarily make the boat any stronger than designed. Our boats are already designed with heavier glass on the bottom and solid fiberglass caps on the skegs for added toughness. If it is expected that the dinghy will be typically dragged over rough landings rather than carried, one could beef up the fiberglass on the bottom further, but it will add weight.
The transom, as designed, is strong. The rudder is a kick up rudder so there should be no chance of ripping off the transom of the boat with this rudder. If you plan to use a small outboard, (max 2HP) you would use bearing strips on the outside and clamp pads on the inside. Builder resources; Our PT 11 family is growing. This is very exciting for us as we are a small company of just Russell and myself. Even more exciting is that our customers have been building beautiful boats! This year, 2013, we established a registry of sorts (see the map) as an owner/builder resource and aim to create an interactive community. (see our Builder Center page) The questions, comments, shared experiences of each builder are all welcome material that I will look forward to adding to the blog for others to learn from and enjoy. Our heartfelt thanks to our customers, followers, and friends who share their opinions and enthusiasm about our products. We would not be here without you.
