very light boat, new teardrop technique?

[KevinR]

http://gaboats.com/



He calls it Geodesic Airolite construction. A wooden frame braced with kevlar ribbon and covered in ripstop dacron. The structure can be painted but loses it's ripstop quality if the finish penetrates the fiber. The boats look very cool and are extremely light. Would pack on top a teardrop easily.

But the technique looks like it might be adapted to a teardrop body. It would be especially good for something with complex curves like a Roswell or Airstream shaped trailer. Framing the openings might take some trial and error, but some of the boat designs are hybrid with partial plywood construction. If you can add a thwart, sail, and plywood bottom to a boat you should be able to build a door frame.

[Oldragbaggers]

Very interesting, thanks. I put it in my favorites for future reference.

[Lgboro]

You could build with this technique using cedar strip (or other light wood) but it would be really time and labor intensive. I cedar stripped the inside of my 4 x 9 tear and it took for ever. Would be awesome, but I'm not sure I would live long enough to build strip ribs and the use a similar process on the interior to allow for the extra curves in the aforementioned build.

[Lgboro]

Would love to see one built!!!!!!

[S. Heisley]

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This might be especially nice for a light-weight canoe, kayak or other roof-top carried boat.

Teardrop? ...Ummmmm... A person would have to find some way to eliminate the see-through problem without loosing the qualities of the rip-stop fabric.

[KevinR]

.
This might be especially nice for a light-weight canoe, kayak or other roof-top carried boat.

Teardrop? ...Ummmmm... A person would have to find some way to eliminate the see-through problem without loosing the qualities of the rip-stop fabric.

Yeah there's some very small, light canoes and kayaks on the site. It also talks about sealants that sit atop the fabric instead of soaking into it. And using two layers so the inner layer isn't compromised. I think house paint can be used.

[grant whipp]

Back in 2007, I ran into a guy and his trailer up in Oregon ... he had built the trailer almost exactly like that! It was extremely lightweight, and it did seem reasonably durable, but his two chief complaints were that, during the day, the trailer was a hot house, and at night, it was no warmer than a tent. I sat in it as he was showing it off, and it was indeed too warm to spend much time in there ... and, with the doors closed, you could almost feel the humidity.

Now, Dean Tennis's "Chummy" was built very similarly, but covered with two layers of a light-weight canvas with cotton batting between for padding over the ribs and a little bit of insulation ... being inside was much more comfortable, both daytime & night.

All grist for the mill, as they say ... ...

CHEERS!

[KevinR]

Oh wow, That Chummy is cool!

Doubling the skin with batting inside is a great idea. It could easily be roofed with the geodesic technique. If fact you could build a removable boat that doubles as the roof. (I wouldn't do it but it has been done before) That chummy with an insulated geodesic roof, 1/8" luan, looks doable.

I need a very light design to pull behind a volkswagen rabbit. More of a tent on wheels than an RV. Warming and cooling is the same as a tent. Park it in the shade to cool it and use a little ceramic heater at night if necessary.

[stumphugger]

I have a book on making kayaks like that. You can build the frame, and cover it with cheapo plastic in order to see if your frame will work like you want. There are pictures where you see the legs and feet through the plastic of folks trying out their designs.

The final skinning is done with ballistic nylon or some kind of durable/light fabric.

[Hillmann]

I have built several boats using skin on frame construction. They are quick to build but more expensive than building out of plywood for the smaller ones. For the skin I use canvas or painters drop cloth and to seal it I have use boiled linseed oil, thompsons water seal, laytex house paint and oil based paint, the linseed oil was the best but took almost two years before it actually was dry(Don't have to wait for it to dry to use it). They are surprisingly strong and abrasion resistant and patching them can be as easy as brushing some paint on the hole slapping a piece of fabric over the paint then another coat of paint.

I had planned on building my airstream knock off using the skin on that method, I figured it would make the compound curves easy. But in the end it was cheaper to skin it in aluminum rather than fabric, Mostly because of the cost of several gallons of high quality exterior paint ( the fabric really soaks up the paint and thinner)

[tmoenter]

My 750 pound Dacron-sided "Sorta-Scotty"

Camper.jpg (104.65 KiB) Viewed 4412 times

I have been working on my Dacron camper for a year. Nearly complete. Got rave reviews at the TCT NE rally at Sampson State Park.

[PKCSPT]

Love to see inside pictures, looks interesting

[CLChastain]

Camper.jpg

I have been working on my Dacron camper for a year. Nearly complete. Got rave reviews at the TCT NE rally at Sampson State Park.

tmoenter, where can I see more about your Dacron camper? This glimpse is fascinating.

[tmoenter]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1443304972.682341.jpg (44.01 KiB) Viewed 4275 times

Here is an inside shot. Queen sized bed. 6 ft 3 inch standup height with top popped up. Garageable with top down. Pussycat optional.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1443304787.535451.jpg (48.71 KiB) Viewed 4275 times

[tmoenter]

Dacron is dirt cheap. Lightweight. Strong. Also will follow compound curves well. I seal with water base spar polyurethane which doesn't yellow.