Paul Gartside's #120

[Mark Turner]

I'd like to build a tender and Paul Gartside's #120 caught my attention. I'd like a stable, nice looking tender w/a transome and bow that can be rowed, sailed and motored and can cary two to four ppl. My current tender was poorly designed. See link for story.

Can I make this tender more stable? (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=011749)

Does anyone know about this boat or have any pictures? Any other suggestions for a tender? It would be my first boat so should be easy to build. Thank you.

Paul Gartside's #120 11' yacht tender.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid173/p1840b75f603c88a97e8f461c4c1f761c/f3b72f5d.jpg[/IMG]

[ 06-13-2005, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Mark Turner ]

[Venchka]

There aren't many boats this size that are this nice.

http://www.gartsideboats.com/pgimages/11plyconst.JPG

One more thing in Paul's favor: he answers the phone or an email promptly. No question is too trivial for a thorough answer. He always makes you feel like you are his only client.

Wayne
In the Swamp.

[ 06-14-2005, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: Venchka ]

[Keith Wilson]

Just down the page a bit (here) (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=004288) there was a discussion of tenders, with a pretty complete list of the usual suspects. Gartside's boats are very nice, but probably not the easiest to build if it's your first boat.

[Mark Turner]

Kieth,

Ease of build is certainly a consideration for me. In the end, I'm sure I'd be able to build the 120, but how much time will it take? I've sent Mr. Gartside an e-mail to discuss those issues. By the way, I responded to your Nymph suggestion in the Building and Repair thread. While I'm looking for functionality and ease of build, I'm trying to find something that's a little more "eye candy" than the Nymph.

[Venchka]

The other consideration is the 4 people requirement. The usual run of 8' prams would be a bit snug for 4. I also note that Paul's boat has full flotation bow and stern. A good news/bad news thing. The good news is an unsinkable boat. The bad news is extra time and money during construction. My boat has a similar arrangement of bow and stern tanks. Now that I have the boat I don't regret a single penny of the extra cost.

This boat looks like it will double as a nice daysailer for 1 or 2 folks.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[essaunders]

Gartside's website (http://www.gartsideboats.com/catrow.php) lists this boat as needing "Basic" skill level for building. Boats of his with Lapstrake on bent frames get listed as "High" This one:

10 Ft Clinker Dinghy, Design #127
Construction: Lapstrake on bent frames where glued clinker plywood

8 Ft Plywood Yacht Tender, Design #135
Construction: Glued clinker plywood. are indermediate.

Keith, (or anyone else for that matter), have you built a Gartside? Do you have any assesement that will help us calibrate his difficulty description?

[Stephen Hutchins]

Looks like Paul's very busy these days. Just visited his site and he's got yet another new design:
#146 "Swansong" shown on home page. Previous to that he had a 12' strip built sailing dinghy "Riff" displayed. Great thing about Pauls designs besides their looks; he has designs to suit every level of boatbuilder, from first timer to Master. My favorite new design from Paul and maybee my favorite daysailor design of all is his 18' Centerboard Sloop #139. The sections are not shown but he does mention this new sloop to be a close relative to Skylark.

[ 06-14-2005, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: Stephen Hutchins ]

[Keith Wilson]

I haven't built a Gartside boat, but I've built a couple of glued lapstrake boats on about the same scale. Plywood lapstrake requires more careful work than stitch-and-glue, and somewhat more precision that strip planking, but anyone who's reasonably careful and knows how to use basic tools should be able to built one. He certainly designs nice-looking boats, a lot prettier than cruder and simpler designs like Bolger's Nymph. #120 on closer examination is simpler than I originally thought, about the same level of complexity as a Shellback, although it has a few more parts. This boat has only five panels with its seams taped on the inside, sort of intermediate between a taped-seam boat and glued lapstrake - less carpenty, a little more fiberglass and epoxy.

I really like glued lapstrake as a building method; pleasant work mostly, with not too much sanding and not too much nasty goop. Its one real disadvantage is that you can't scrimp on materials; first-class plywood is pretty much essential. That may not be a disadvantage, actually. The amount of time depends on the level of finish you want. The hull will go pretty quickly.

If you don't have them already, I'd suggest you get Tom Hill's Ultralight Boatbuilding and Iain Oughtred's Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding. I prefer Tom Hill's building method, but the other book has a lot of very useful information as well.

[ 06-14-2005, 04:48 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[Mark Turner]

Venchka, I had the same thought regarding the boat doubling as a day sailer.

Paul replied to an e-mail I sent him where I described my status as a novice and the fact that this would be my first boat. He said the 120 "is as simple as you can get from a construction point of view". I've subsequently asked him about expected construction time and materials cost estimates.

Kieth, I got Tom Hill's book as a gift a month ago and will pick up Ian's book. Thanks for the recommendations.

[ 06-14-2005, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Mark Turner ]

[Venchka]

Questions during construction will be answered in direct proportion to the number of construction photos posted for us to marvel over. Deal?

#120 could definitely stand alone as a sailing dinghy in the tradition of the Tideway 12.

Go for it!

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Mark Turner]

Paul says the 120 would take him between 200 and 250 hours to build. Given my skill level, I might need to almost double that. He also estimated the cost, w/ sail, at C$2000-2500 (US$1600-2000).

You can count on me to keep the forum posted with lots of pictures and questions (I might be one of the most prolific question askers on the forum). Unfortunately, I can't start until the Owens restoration has reached critical mass (ie restored except for cabin/galley pleasantries), that probably means I start the tender in September. However, I'm going to buy the plans now just cuz I'm excited.

[ 06-15-2005, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: Mark Turner ]

[Venchka]

There you go. :cool:

Standing by until September.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Stephen Hutchins]

Looking forward to this, Mark. We want pics every step of the way. Even of the Plans (as long as Paul says thats ok) and what you think of them. smile.gif

[ 06-15-2005, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: Stephen Hutchins ]

[Stephen Hutchins]

So Mark, have you started # 120 yet?