Dinghy to take knocks?

[BillyBudd]

Might just need to build a very inexpensive dinghy to get to a lake mooring -- would need to row maybe 50-100 yards. Would leave dinghy chained to tree most of the time, would drag up/down over rocks to launch. Have looked at Bolger's "Nymph" and White's "Nutshell" and think "Nymph" least costly, quickest to build. Why subject "Nutshell" to such use/treatment? However I notice the use of 1/4" ply (luan okay? because that's what is available) in Nymph -- 2 sheets, making it quite possibly the least expensive dinghy going. Any comments on weight, stability, ease of build?

[James McMullen]

Bolger's Tortoise design is even cheaper and even quicker to build because you can abandon the FG and epoxy that the S & G Nymph requires. I built a tortoise in literally a single afternoon for an emergency dinghy three summers ago when I realised that the new paint on my good dinghy wouldn't be dry in time for the coming weekend's cruising. 1/4 CDX and a couple of 2x4's and a tube of liquid nails and you can have a dinghy for practically free. . . . . .

It doesn't row all that well compared to my more sophisticated shaped hard dinghy, a round-bottomed, clinker pram--though it rows much better than any inflatable. It slaps and pounds and doesn't tow behind the mothership very docilely either (again, in comparison to my beautiful, little lapstrake pram--but the tortoise does tow better than an inflatable) It's exceedingly unlikely to be stolen, too. I haven't had to use it again myself since that one trip, though I have loaned it to various friends who had need for a dinghy. All in all, I think it was a good use of the $40 it ended up costing. Like many of the simple Bolger designs I've built think it serves its purpose very well if you are willing to trade the mediocre performance for the sake of low cost and ease of building.

[Tom Robb]

The theft resistant quality of a Bolger Tortoise is not for nothing.
However there is the possibility that someone may use it to mix up a mess of cement when you're not looking:D

[kc8pql]

However there is the possibility that someone may use it to mix up a mess of cement when you're not looking:D

That's what pops to mind alright.

[PaulC]

I was thinking Tortoise first too. How about Atkins TinyRipple:
http://www.atkinboatplans.com/
or the Apple Pie:
http://www.boatdesign.com/applepie/

[htom]

If you're going to have to carry her any distance, how about the Atkin Takapart (http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Dinks/Takapart.html)?

[BillyBudd]

Sort of think Tortoise is here already...have a plastic cement mixing trough. OK. Will consider more deeply the Nymph if I can find some Doug Fir or Southern Yellow Pine CDX ply. Perhaps just tape and epoxy at the joints and bottom/bilge and the sides/interior painted.

[Lewisboats]

Check your PMs

Steve

[Paul Fitzgerald]

I have and regularly use a Nymph, and a Bolger Elegant Punt. Both are widened by 6 inches. The Punt is great as a utility dinghy, but the Nymph is the best dinghy I have ever used.
It took four adults (2 men and two women) out to the boat in one go the other day. No effort to row. The guests are very experienced cruisers and they were impressed.
Think about widening the Nymph if you are around 200 lbs. Chain it to something if you want to keep it.
The Punts are really easy to make, a weekend project. Much faster than stitch and glue.

[Paul Girouard]

Here's some old plans that might be of interest ,

http://www.countryplans.com/vintage_farm/

http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/rowandsail.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/seaskiff.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/happyclam.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/dollyvarden.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/jonboat.jpg

[Steve Paskey]

The Atkin "Itty Bitty" -- a 7-6 flat-bottomed pram. Could be built from solid wood, all ply, or a combination (ply on the bottom, solid wood for the rest). Construction is easy as pie compared to other Atkin dinks like Tiny Ripple or Take Apart. This one does not require lofting or a building jig, just one mold in the center.

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Dinks/IttyBitty.html

[BillyBudd]

Paul in Sydney -- what is the length of the Nymph that you built? I'm impressed that it took 4 adults! I"m (not yet) 200 lbs., but does the extra 6" width give it more stability in your opinion? Did you just widen it 6" all about or just at the beamiest area? Did you keep the fore-aft seat?

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Here's some old plans that might be of interest ,

http://www.countryplans.com/vintage_farm/

http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/rowandsail.jpg



http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/seaskiff.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/happyclam.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/dollyvarden.jpg


http://countryplans.com/vintage_farm/boats/jonboat.jpg


All the above stuff and 150 other plans are available for perusal and downloading from;
http://www.svensons.com/boat/

[Steve Paskey]

Paul in Sydney -- what is the length of the Nymph that you built? I'm impressed that it took 4 adults! I"m (not yet) 200 lbs., but does the extra 6" width give it more stability in your opinion? Did you just widen it 6" all about or just at the beamiest area? Did you keep the fore-aft seat?

Bolger also designed a boat called "Rueben's Nymph," which has a beam of 4'6" -- a full 12" wider than Nymph. I used to have plans for both, and the Rueben's version simply adds 12 inches down the middle of the boat. In other words, imagine cutting the boat down the middle from bow to stern and separating the halves by twelve inches, so that the bow transom, midship frame, stern transom, and bottom are ALL 12 inches wider. The side panels are identical.

Using a similar approach, one could build a Nymph that falls anywhere between the original and the Reuben's version, including a boat that's 6 inches wider than the original.

Paul -- is that what you did?

[Jiji]

Billybudd-

I built the Rubin's Nymph over a series of weekends and evenings last winter. Added the sailing rig (which also took next to no time). It was an easy build, super cheap, and a very useful knock-around tender. No surprises from Bolger.

I only deviated from the plans by using 1/2" ply for the front and rear transoms. Easier to nail the sides to, thicker bow (to take a beating) and thicker stern (to eliminate the framing and still take a 2 hp outboard). On balance I'd say the thicker transoms were unnecessary (and I'd recommend sticking with thickness indicated in the plans).

Capacity is super. I've often taken 2 adults and 3-4 kids without a problem. Or a skittish dog and a couple of kids...you get the picture. Stable enough that my 4-year old learned to row it solo (with appropriate supervison close at hand).

I particularly like the fore/aft thwart that makes keeping it level a piece of cake.

I'd recommend Rubin's Nymph but for the following caveats:

It sails like a tub. Probably a function of the leeboard and added width. I imagine the standard Nymph probably sails a hair better.
Heavier than I would have liked. My own fault for beefing up the transoms and using heavy stock for the mast partner (could have saved 5-10 lbs fairly easily). That said, I car-top it (but my wife hates helping me lift it and it it's heavier than I can safely lift solo). Evem warped the roof-rack on my explorer with it's 80-100? lbs.
No work of art. Lacks any kind of classic grace...but functional.Bullet-proof, simple, cheap,a great fishing platform. Will ultimately be the tender for my Chebacco.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably build the regular Nymph.

-Jiji

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Paul in Sydney -- what is the length of the Nymph that you built? I'm impressed that it took 4 adults! I"m (not yet) 200 lbs., but does the extra 6" width give it more stability in your opinion? Did you just widen it 6" all about or just at the beamiest area? Did you keep the fore-aft seat?

The local council specified a maximum of 8ft x 4ft for their dinghy storage pens, so I built the boat to fit inside those dimensions.
It is the standard Nymph length, a bit under 8ft, and I just widened the fore and aft transoms and bottom by 6", so it is a smaller version of the Ruebens Nymph.
I think of it as the Botticelli Nymph.
The Nymph(s) have a lot more rocker than most tenders, so they take a lot of weight before they drag their transoms. They also increase in stability as they carry more, like a dory.
By my calculations, it takes over 600lb before the aft transom is immersed, so it rows easily if the weight is properly distributed.
I also modified the seating. It has the fore and aft seat from the bow to the mid frame, so the rower sits on this, and has a standard aft transverse seat.
Because of this, it is more stable getting into and out of a larger boat, as we stand on the centre of the bottom of the dinghy, not the longitudinal seat.
.

[BillyBudd]

Thanks, Jiji and Paul. You both have been very informative, helpful. I do (now) think that this Nymph (a Ruebens or a Botticelli Nymph) might well be just the right thing. Hmmmm, Botticelli's Venus coming to shore not on a seashell but her very own Nymph!

Jiji, if you like, please send me via WBForum's direct email, your email address. Since you're building a Chebacco, and I assume you mean that it is Bolger's Chebacco, I'll send you a photo of my recently completed, though currently hauled for some...ummmmm...necessary repairs (don't ask, don't tell) , Chebacco. I'm in western MA and I built the sheet ply version. Living in Newton you're exactly placed to be the perfect Chebacco as Brad Story intended the boat to be trailerable about the Boston Bay area.

Paul, I'm particularly taken by your modest but obviously effective 6" widening and your rearranging of the seating. Is there a photo that might be emailed? You can do that directly to my email address (would email it to you) if WBForum's photo requirements are too complicated (as I last recall). Let me know if this is doable, please.

And, other than Jiji's use of heavier stock, all have used the 1/4" stuff that Bolger specifies. Great.

Cheers,

BillyBudd

[Paul Fitzgerald]

I'll try to get a photo on the weekend.

[Figment]

I notice the use of 1/4" ply (luan okay? because that's what is available)

About 4 years ago I too needed a quick-n-cheap dinghy. I knocked-together a s&g pram with some 1/4" luan I had laying around. Sheathed in 4oz glass, I have no complaints.
I actually kinda wish the damn thing would start falling apart so I could have an excuse to build a Nutshell or something.

[ssor]

Lauan is alright if it doesn't stay wet. I built a Nymph of 1/4 lauan and after four years of neglect, water got into the wood at the gunnel and the glass sheath kept it wet. I cut out about a square foot and repaired it.