Creating a Harmonica Shantyboat

Ok now I've finished all four of the Frames, the Bow and Transom Bulkheads and two others between. What impresses me so far it's how simple the build is. The next phase calls for me to cut out and butt join the Sides, assemble the Frames in position and then six the Sides. So I expect that any errors or bows in the Frames will show up then. But that's another day, and besides I'm not too bothered if there are a few wrinkles. She's a Pocket. Shanty Boat after all. Costs to this point are about $A200, and side from the outboard, I reckon the biggest expense apart from ply will be epoxy to waterproof below the waterline. I'm reading a pretty fab ebook at the moment called "Houseboat on the Seine". It's about an American artist who is living with his family in France where he builds and renovating a canal boat as a future residence for his family. The author is a self-confessed landlubber  and is doing the build on the cheap, so it speaks to me. Fa

Today I began sanding and priming the bulkheads. Unfortunately I tried to save a few dollars and buy a quarter litre of primer. Pffft! I've struggled to paint just the bulkheads before I ran the pot dry. So tomorrow, having realised i need to paint the sides and hull in and out, I will get a 4 litre can of primer. Live and learn!

A bit of building today, cut out bits for the final bulkhead. Actually it's the Transom, and owing to the fact that metric 8' x 4' sheets of plywood are really quite a bit narrower, you have to make the transition in two halves and butt them together. So anyway I've done that today and am now waiting for the epoxy to go off.

I've just been reading an Escargot Builder's Log by Bryan Lowe. BL is now quite a prolific presence on shanty boat sites for a few reasons, one he finished his build some years ago so he has a web history and secondly he seems like a keen communicator having worked as a radio dj. So now at 4:41 am on Friday May 24, 2019, I am wide awake drinking coffee and wanting to write reams about my tiny shanty boat build. So, first the Escargot. Well without fact checking, it's a towable shanty boat home build, with ducking headroom powered by a five horse engine. She's like a bigger brother to Harmonica, just a little longer, a foot wider and nearly full headroom. I first came across the design in an Australian amateur boatbuilders' magazine. At the time I was unhappily married to a woman who would have made my life a misery if I'd undertaken such a build. The fact that she did anyway is a moot point. Anyway, I've fallen in love again, with the local river and the p

The third bulkhead, called "Bulkhead 10" because it's 10' from the bow, is a simple build. Four uprights, more or less the cross members and two small plywood infills. The only timber joins are at the roof beam to upright joins. Next is the final bulkhead, "Transom" ! The Harmonica so far is an easy build.

Mpre bulkhead building today. Last time I  thought  "Bulkhead 3.5" was pretty well complete, but no. Today I cut out the forward companionway opening and framed it, and cut limber holes. Framing takes a while because all joins have to be cut and fitted. Anyway after a few hours Bh 3.5 was a shot duck. Mext I prepped the framing for "Bulkhead 10". This bulhead is 10' from the bow and fits at the aft end of rhe main cabin. And prepping the timber means that 35x70mm. DAR pine is ripped down its centre line to make 1 1/2" square timber which is required in the Plans. So already Bulkhead 10 is drafted up, needing joints to be marked off and cut before final assembly. Bow and 3.5 Bulkheads in mock lay up.

Open plan. Excellent for day touring. Developing the rowing technique, before fitting an engine.

I've learnt the Harmonica design loosely fits a plethora of monikers. (Tiny/Micro) Houseboat, Shanty Boat, canal Boat and Jonboat / Johnboat. All good, but most reflect their respective locations, whether UK or USA. In Australia it would probably be called a Tiny House Boat. Anyway, the name Jonboat is unfamiliar to me and I decided to do some research. Wikipedia describes the boat as those seen on the "Swampmen" (?) tv program, about 20-feet long, aluminium, bench seated and powered by a massive outboard engine. I suspect that the similarities lay in the hull profile, flat with a sweep up at the bow. But there's bugger all else, no hard top, relaxed pace of life and so on. But the website advertising the disadvantages of a Jonboat got my attention. Just to be shore I wasn't building a floating coffin! Here goes, the top five disadvantages:- 1. Inability to cut through heavy waves like a vee-hull does. 2. Lack of comfort due to rigid movement and lack of cushi

Today was as much about getting a build system into place. I found an old study desk under my mum's house, sturdy with a big draw under four tool storage. I cut the frame pieces and began making simple joins, before gluing and screwing them in place. Having been bedridden with a gut bug for 24 hours, I was happy to forge ahead albeit only modestly. PHOTO TO COME The following day I had a real good go and by day's end I'd created the second bulkhead. The plans refer to this as "Bulkhead 3.5", because it's 3'6" from the bow. A Word About the Building Plans : When I opened the Plans hot from the US of A I was pretty underwhelmed. There were just two pages of plans, and one of those was a period cutting guide. There were a handful of typed pages listing detail on various parts. My previous experience was of working through the build, plan by plan until you reach the sail and riding plan. The Michalak plans are quite different. The plywood cutting

On a sparkling autumn morning after days of rain, I made a coffee went out and cut wood. The physical beginnings of a micro shanty boat build. Later that same day I paddled my kayak for four hours to complete the navigation of my local river. With run off and ebb flow, the flow was quite strong. Good lessons for drifting a shanty boat.