JEM Watercraft

Mike, In that drawing, It shows the boom as 8 feet and the mast as 9 feet. By enlarging the image and making measurements on screen, it seems like the front edge of the sail would be about 5 feet the top would be about 6.5 feet and the rear edge would be about 9.5 feet. I think that would give a sail area of about 51 square feet which is just a little more than the 49 feet that the drawing shows.

Jimmy

Jimmy,

I could have sworn that I already replied to your post, but I must have been dreaming. . . !?!?

Anyway, thanks for those numbers, that's pretty much what I was thinking they were. I'm certain hoz knows what he's talking about, and I do believe I'll reduce that sail area a bit, just not quite as much as he suggest. I'm thinking more along the lines of about 40 sq feet.

It has two reef points designed in, and if I find myself using them on a regular basis, I'll just re-cut the sail. The whole idea is to make it simple and fun. Fighting to keep a boat upright was never what I liked about sailing, or I'd have taken up racing the things. I've always been more of a cruising sailor, not so much part of the 'round the buoys go-fast crowd.

Although many have use aluminum or fiberglass spars, some even PVC, I do want to keep with the wooden boat idea. I've seen discussion on making a hollow mast using the "bird's mouth" method, but I came across an alternative to that recently, the "faux bird's mouth" method. Since I'll be using a good epoxy to make it, I think it will do just fine and be a lot easier to build.

You can see both methods HERE.

Even though other methods might be considered stronger, making this mast with epoxy-saturated wood and gluing the pieces together with an epoxy-wood flour mix, it will be more than strong enough for our applications.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

I realized this morning on my way to work that I miscalculated the area of the sail. Actual area would be a bit less than I said. I would also like to keep with wood and use either the faux bird's mouth or just solid wood. I am also not interested in going fast in the canoe. I have been known to turn my 14' Hobie Cat over a few times and don't want to do that with the South Wind.
I bet the South Wind would be fast with the Hobie sail though.
I could add a keel with a heavy lead weight on the bottom.

Jimmy

I bet the South Wind would be fast with the Hobie sail though.
I could add a keel with a heavy lead weight on the bottom.

. . . .

Get a grip there, Jimmy!

Almost too funny! Now I'm a laid-back, take-t-easy and enjoy the trip, cruising sailor, but I also looked at it a bit differently in the past.

Used to have a little 13 footer (one foot of that was a beautiful wooden bow sprit,) that carried a mast and set of sails for a 18 foot one-design class boat. That little thing would plane on a heart-beat. (It also taught me the meaning of the phrase, "knock-down."

Later on, I crossed a yard on the mast and flew a home-made square main with a raffee (topsail) above it. This was able to drive the boat up onto a plane, dead down wind when it blew hard enough. I once spent 8 days cruising the Gulf of Mexico in that boat, including sailing her right up the Egmont Channel, under the Sunshine SkyWay's center span, into Tampa Bay. Strictly white-knuckle sailing.

These days, I'm looking for a sailing rig as an alternative propulsion system, one that I'll enjoy using. Just another method of getting around on the water in an enjoyable, relaxing fashion.

So, for the South Wind and the Freedom, that will mean a sail with only 30 to 40 sq. feet. Rather than Tyvek, I may go with some easier to work with material from one of the kit making supply shops. I've messed with that before and some of their ripstop nylon materials are strong enough, very light, easy to work with, and comes in just about any color (or pattern) you'd want.

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

Hey Mike
Just something to look at on the mast making.

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/ordersta ... miter.html

Joe W.

Hey thanks for the reply Mike. This once seemingly dead post is taking off again. I'm finding it fascinating. So come one guys keep it up and make me make up my mind to do something about it

John,

I like to solve as many problems as I can before I run into the. So, I did searches both here and on the Old Sparkey's Forum. I found quite a bit of useful information.

Then, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of material I found by running simple searches on Google, such as "leeboard canoe." Looking for info on "sailing canoe" works well, but looking for more specific phrases is also productive.

Gotta' love it!

Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL

Folks have been sailing kayaks and the paddling craft since the beginning of time , especially when they found the wind will move you without paddling.

I posted a rig for the pirogues on Uncle Johns web site , the same one I use for a canoe or pirogue. There are a lot of different ones out there for canoes , kayaks and pirogues along with Jon boats and on up to any size boat.

A buddy of mine when paddling the Everglades use two Mangrove branches and his shirt to make a sail so he could troll a bait and fish while covering some water without paddling. Now he races canoes at the sail regattas with a sail outfit he likes for canoe racing under sail.

All that information is out there for anyone wanting it and a lot of it is on some forums or better yet , just using some imagination to have what you want. If you are wrong then you will get wet but that is part of the learning curve.

Chuck.