My Bolger Brick Sailboat
"Kitty Litter Express"
Cartopping a 175lb Bolger Brick
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There is a small 200 acre lake about 5 minutes from my house that I like sailing in. No matter how hard I try, employing every trick I can, can't seem to get my Vagabond 17 sailboat setup in under 20 minutes. What I needed was a small boat that I could car top and quickly setup for sailing. A simple little boat that would allow me to go for 1-2 hour quicky sails with the least amount of effort.
What a great excuse to build my own boat! Having never built one before, I narrowed my possiblities to what I thought I could make: a Brick or Tortoise. The whole curved wood thing was kinda spooky to me in the beginning, so a box with a curved bottom sounded great to me.
The Brick has great specs:
1000 lbs capacity - I can haul my whole family with that much capacity.
8' x 4' - I have a spot in the front of my garage that it can just fit into.
Luggage rack - I have heard some people turn these upside down and use to transport luggage on top of their cars.
"It's disconcerting that these box boats do everything better than elaborately modeled boats of the same overall dimensions, if they both carry the same load". --Philip C. Bolger
VARIATIONS FROM ORIGINAL PLANS
Originally I didn't want to make any changs from the original plans for fear of disaster. Then I went to a messabout at lake Conroe and saw Tim Webbers June Bug with MANY modifications from the original plans. This turned out to be both a good, and a bad thing.
Internal Chines - External chines look easy to construct with, but they provide a lot of turbulance in the water. I figured the brick was going to be slow enough, so everything I could to to increase speed would be welcome.
Deck at bow and stern - The original plans called for little triangles at each corner to brace the box shape. I had plans to enclose floatation air boxes at both ends so a deck from the beginning made sense.
Centered mast - The offset mast looked like a neat idea. Since I was going to have a deck, I went ahead with a mast in the middle.
3/8ths plywood (really bad idea) - At the hardware store the 1/4" plywood looked really flimsy. The 3/8ths stuff was on sale so I purchased that instead. Really bad idea, this made the brick unbearably heavy - I estimate about 175 lbs. I found a good solution for car topping it that did make it functional. [click here]
Extra Stringer on inside - I added a horizontal 1" x .75" piece of lumber down the middle of each side. I think that really helped the strength of the sides. A regular boat with all curved surfaces would not need such a stringer because of the strength of curved plywood. I didn't know this before, but when you curve plywood it becomes incredibly rigid. This is the reason larger boats can be constructed from that 1/4" plywood and survive many bumps with the dock.
3 disposable skids - Because of the enormous weight I couldn't pick it up. It's storage location was at the front of my garage on the floor, and dragging it around on the concrete would really scratch up the bottom. I decided to attach 3 disposable skids so I could drag it around as much as I wanted, and when they wore out I could just replace them. One of the skids split at an end where I attached it to the hull with a screw. Instead of replacing that skid I tried glueing it back together with good ole Titebond II and a clamp overnight. That skid is still on there and holding well.
No Epoxy - The cheapest epoxy I could find cost more than all the material for the rest of the boat. My friend Tim has a June Bug that doesn't have any epoxy in it, just latex house paint and Titebond II glue. That June Bug is now in it's 4th season (as of 2001) and looking great - pretty good for a boat that lives outdoors. With such good durability, I decided to build without the epoxy. I coated the bottom of the hull with painted on "unbleached muslin" fabric. The painted on fabric really formed a strong surface! I have bumped a few underwater rocks and the bottom resisted puncture.
After the last coat of paint dried on the hull, we dragged it out into the yard and my daughter went fishing for pretend sharks. Notice my specialized sail. I personally developed this sail design from a concept that was brought to fruition thru the masive power of distributive computing. 897 volunteers allowed me to run a screen saver program on their computers which did the computations to reveal the perfect shape for my Para-Umbrella-Sail, other wise know as the PUS. Coincidentally, optimum shape of a PUS is exactly mimicked by a beach umbrella available at Walmart for $11.95.
For more information on Distributed Computing Projects [click here]
SAILING PERFORMANCE
After I got the basic hull together, took it out and rowed it around. I sat on the bottom and tried to row, but I could barely see over gunwale. It was rowable that way, but it wasn't that comfortable.
Then I tried sitting on top of a cooler, and that worked really well. Picture this, it was about 7am, there was a slight mist on the water which was glass smooth, the fish were biting at the surface, the lake was empty except for a couple of fishermen down the shore. I am out on the water in a craft I built myself. A dream has been realized. .... hmmmmm..... I wonder if this thing is going to spring any leaks?
I rowed around for 2 hours. The brick forms a bow wave very quickly, and with each stoke I could feel the bow raise up on the wave, then settle back down. My GPS reported a maximum sustained speed of 2.5mph. I could row at that pace for a long time - funny feeling with the rocking motion though. Upon getting home I emailed a picture of my brick (the umbrella one) to my friend Tim and told him how I had built it (he didn't know about it before that), taken it out for a test row, and it had sank in the middle of the lake. Bad joke - he showed the picture to his wife and then they had a short discussion of "how could a wooden boat sink?". Tim wasn't sure how, but if anyone was capable of that, I surely was. (I agree with him). I had left for the mall with my family when Tim got the email - he promptly called and left a message stating he had his boat trailer hooked up to the car and ready to come rescue my ill fated brick. When I returned home and called him back to tell him it was just a joke, I could hear his wife in the background - boy was that a bad joke, and was I in trouble. The next time Tim and I went sailing she sent a present along with him. It was an empty one gallon milk jug to provide floation so Tim wouldn't get any more emails like that.
Trip 2 - my mast and borrowed Lug Sail. Tim let me borrow the 60sqft sail from his June Bug and we set sail for the high seas. The crew was Tim, my daughter, and me - about 510 lbs combined. Couldn't believe it, the brick sailed great. Pointed well, tacked without stalling, and held the crew weight incredibly well - so well infact that my daughter had a tough time reaching the water. This is actually a bad point about the brick, the sides are so high for her to splash her hands in the water she has to stand up on my leg and lean way over.
(This picture was not taken the day I chased Tim's June Bug)
Trip 3 - Brick VS June Bug race. I had finished my sprit leg-o-mutton sail, 16' mast, about 59sqft, 10" draft at 45% back. The winds started at 0 knots gusting to 2. Tim sailed all around me for about 20 minutes, I was pretty much a sitting cork in the water. After a while the wind started to pick up and then the brick sprung to action. Pushing tons of water like an amphibious bull dozer we started to chase the June Bug down to the wide section of the lake (same small 200 acre lake). Tim circled back a few times to make it more sporting, so I pressed on. The winds were up to 10 knots gusting about 15 and kicking up a bit of chop. Since racing against a long slender boat really was hopeless, I settled for trying to get my brick to sail as fast as possible. On a reach I could get to 3.5 mph by healing to windward and presenting a the corner of the hull. When a gust would hit the brick would go upright, but not much further over. I am continually suprised at how stable a brick is for such a small size. The best performance was on the run with following chop. I reached 4.5 mph that day, partially convinced that the flat stern was digging into the chop and riding down the front of the waves.
Final sail modifications - The windward performance was horrible, I couldn't point into the wind worth anything. The problem was my placement of the draft in my sail. I don't know where I read the 45% of the way back, but after re-reading Michalak's essay about sail design, I cut the duct tape and moved my draft up to 30% from the leading edge. Sailing was improved immensly, much better pointing ability.
OFF TO NEW HOME
The main goal of my brick was a simple to setup little boat that I could toss in the water and go sail around with my daughter. The brick I built came close to what I wanted, but far enough away that my interests turned to a sit-on-top kayak. The high sides kept my daughter from splashing her hands in the water, the car topping system worked good but took 5-10 minutes to setup with the rolling over part, and assembly of rudder etc took several trips from the car to the water. If it were just me, no problem, but my 3.5yr old daughter was in limbo the whole time while I was messing with the boat. Last time we went to the lake she slipped on some slime at the ramp and bonked her head pretty good. Luckily she is made out of rubber, but that was kind of the last straw that turned me in the direction of a simpler boat. I found a good kayak to get, and my wife agreed to buy it for me as long as I got rid of the brick. Bob Taylor came and rescued my brick from the circular saw, and it now lives in his back yard next to a 1/2 acre pond with a loving family to take care of it - couldn't think of a better home.
The kayak arrived a few days after the brick went to Bob's house. Just as I had hoped for, a simple boat to go play in the water with my daughter. We drove to the lake, parked, dawned our lifejackets, I carried the kayak under one arm and held my daughters hand in the other, we walked to the water together and were off! Now I am scratching my head trying to figure a sail for it... but that is another story.
MODIFICATIONS I WAS THINKING OF DOING
Tent top - I have a 6'x4' tent from Walmart that I was thinking about cutting the bottom out of and snapping to the gunwales of the brick. The tent has a center height of 36" and the brick sides were 24", so that would have made a pretty big sized cabin area for camping. The camping we did in it was by setting the tent up inside the brick with a rain fly over the suspended boom.
Float Boxes - I decked the bow and stern in preparation of enclosing the ends for floatation boxes. I was thinking of having diagonal bulkheads that would be angled so that I could have a full 6.5 feet of lay down room on the bottom.
Slotted Rail on Bulkhead - To store gear with bungee cords, a slotted rail at the bow bulkhead would be able to handle everything including the porta potti.
Tiller Tamer / Single Paddle Alternative - One time while out at the lake a kid came up and thought my brick was the greatest thing he ever saw. I took him out for a quick row around the lake, and when it was his turn to row, on the first stroke, he lifted one of the oar locks out of the socket and it went kerplunk in the drink. I didn't have the sail with me, and I didn't want to go home, so I managed to get back to the dock, drop off the kid who I was trying to keep from feeling really bad (I should have tied that oar lock on) and I continued on my way by rowing with one oar and steering with the rudder. Another time while out with Tim and his June Bug, he was in a Pirogue, there was no wind, and I only had 1 paddle. To keep from having to go home I knealt on the bottom, held the tiller with my feet and paddled on one side. With these two experiences I thought it might work if I had a loop of rope with a bungee to add friction that would hold the tiller for me while I paddled on one side. I would be able to correct my course by moving the tiller slightly, and go strait line by paddling from one side only.
Kickup Leeboard - I put the dagger type leeboard on because it was so simple to install. I ran the board aground a few times and it would have been neat to have a kickup leeboard instead. Also I wanted this leeboard to be stowed on the boat by putting a pin thru the blade in the "up" position to reduce the number of things I had to carry to the water.
Paddle Holder, Rudder Holder - Store other essential item on the boat all the time. While at it, might as well make on boat storage for everything I have to take.
Reboarding Step - I never knocked my brick over, but wondered what it would be like to re-board. Maybe a step attached to the stern, or a loop of rope that I could get my foot into. Some people build steps into their rudders.
Small Bimini - The sun is a killer out here in the summer. The sprit sail is so high I can see making a bimini top to sail in the shade.
Square Sprit Sail - A 4 sided traditional sprit sail looks like a very viable way to put a large amount of sail on a fairly short mast. David Beede [click here] has the type of sail I am talking about on his One Sheet Skiff. My 16' mast wasn't that hard to make, but it was kind of a pain to haul around. Looked like a jousting stick on my roof rack - a 12' mast would fit inside on the floor of my minivan.
Organize a Bolger Pirate-like Race - All boats start from the shore. There are 3 buckets stashed around the lake, each has a selection of different colored tennis balls attached to 10' of string. After aquiring a tennis ball you must attach to the stern of your boat with very light string. Object is to get one of each color tennis ball and return to the starting point. Each boat equipped with a short boat hook to steal the tennis balls from other boats.
PARTING SHOTS
First I want to say that the Brick is a great boat design! The limited skills that it takes to build make it a great first boat project - I wasn't sure if I would be able to complete the project or end up with an object that would float. After completing it I gained enough knowledge and confidence to desire building a more complicated craft. The enormus capacity means you can haul lots of friends, or go overnight on the beach. With so little invested (mine was around $60 in materials), there is plenty of room to tinker with crazy modifications. If your ideas aren't that great, it isn't that much of a loss, you can always patch it up and try something else or build another hull next weekend.
The next boat I build will probably be a 12'x4'x15" June Bug lookalike. It could probably be car-topped with rotating down wheels similar to the ones at Happy's . Use the tent idea for camping, and have a little more room for gear. Possibly a Michalak Piccup Squared, not sure. Are all boat builders as fickle as me?
Links To Other Bricks & Brick Like Boats
http://www.geocities.com/bitme1234/sailing_my_polysail_brik.html
http://www.geocities.com/bitme1234/naohs_ark.html
http://home.att.net/~t.l.hansen/Brick_home.htm
http://www.ace.net.au/schooner/sites2.htm
http://members.nbci.com/curtisbarrow/Boats/Boats.html
http://home.att.net/~t.l.hansen/
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/articles/dasbox/index.htm
http://www.visi.com/~darus/brick/
http://www.common-sense-boats.com/boats/Multi_Purpose_Boats/brick.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/henryclann/pointyskiff/pbskiff.index.htm
http://mkstocks.tripod.com/boats/brick/index.htm
http://members.aol.com/polysail/HTML/boatnote.htm
http://dbay.com/Free/dwnlds.htm - look for tortoise near bottom
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/articles/Seth/
http://mims.com/maib/brick.htm
http://www.instantboats.com/tortoise.htm
http://www.cliffisland.com/hans.html
http://www.instantboats.com/skimmer.htm
http://www.carlsondesign.com/projects.html#Brick
http://www.jordanwoodboats.com/sprite.htm
http://www.simplicityboats.com/willie.htm