Trailer Trawler Prototype

Vessel is nearing completion and is ready for your personal customization and diesel engine choice.

Innovative lightweight cruising Trailer Trawler with traditional appearance built using modern materials and construction techniques.


Click on pictures to view construction sequence and teak deck procedure
Specification

• Length: 7.6 meters
• Width: 2.5 meter
• Weight: less than 2000 Kg
  
• Motoring Speed: 6-9 Knots

Features

• Trailer able - Extended choice of cruising grounds (Choose the entire coastline of Australia as your cruising ground using the highway instead of holiday consuming ocean passages)
• Lightweight advanced construction allows vessel to be towed by large family vehicle (not a dedicated towing vehicle).
  
• Use as conventional caravan during land based travels and camping, beside a lake or up a river !!
  
• Water ballasted for stability at sea and lightness while trailering
• Store and work on the boat on land, cutting slippage and anti-fouling maintenance costs.
• Displacement hull matched with lower horsepower fuel efficient diesel engine for dramatically reduced fuel costs and extended range.
• Fully fitted for extended voyaging on land, sea, lake or river
  Galley with 100 liter drawer type refrigeration, gas cooker top, sink and pressure water
  Separate compartment, electric head and shower with holding tank.
  

Construction

• Entirely built from epoxy vinylester resin for elimination of osmotic blistering
• All laminates used are non-woven stitched fabric orientated for strength.
• Kevlar in laminate in fwd sections below w/l
  
• Hull, deck, cabin and cockpit construction with Divinycell H80 Core
• No heavy chop strand mat!! No useless chopper gun layup!!

Construction Photo Album

Molds have been created and process details documented for repeat builds of this semi-custom vessel.

Vacuum Infused Panels - Techniques and Applications

Since working on my most recent boat, which is built almost entirely from vacuumed infused panels, (see blog) I have discovered multiple applications for this vacuum infused panel technique. This whole process has progressed steadily, beating the detractors, since my first introduction to it in 1990.

• Hard Biminis and awnings for boats/houses
  
• Custom Trailers and Camper vans
  
• internal partitioning/paneling where a light weight stiff panel is required (large catamaran)
• Panels lend themselves to traditional hard chine construction techniques (power, sail or catamaran) One excellent site employing flat panel modular design for boats is Kelsall.
• Note: Flat panels don't equal boxy designs, panels are form able and very easily suited to entire sections of internal cabinetry, curved partitioning, cockpit soles and $%@#ing near anything.
  

Custom Infused Panel Options

• I can infuse large panels (currently up to 8m x 2.4m) with various laminate and core options
  
• Gel coat surfacing can be included on one side
• Panels can be precut with allowances for edge joining
• Varied laminate schedules within infused panel
  
• Hard pads and fixing point included with infused panel
  

We can work together to design panels for a complete or partial project. Once drawn in 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools, design surfaces can be unrolled into flat panels which can be modularly constructed.

I have worked in parallel with my fellow sailor John Sayer of Sayer Yachting Services to jointly discover the pitfalls and solutions to building complete high performance light weight craft using this technique. See Wasabi and RyuJin page

Trailer Trawler - Why?

I think I'm a true sailor at heart. I really do!!. Except I don't like to fold sails anymore. Or pull them up and down, or get hit by the darn jibbing boom.
Time to change !!

I've been cruising the South Pacific and the USA over a 30 year span.
During that time I experienced long enjoyable ocean passages as well as enjoying the inside passages of both coasts of the US, crossed the great lakes and 3 trips to Alaska.

One thing I realized over these many miles was you don't actually need a huge powerful fuel sucking boat to see some of the most interesting places.
While we were cruising the inside passage to Alaska in "Billabong" and "Foreigner" (Sailboats,43' and 41' respectively) we would watch HUGE power boats come in a bay fill their fuel tanks and race off into the horizon (watching the $$ fly out the window). At the end of the day we would typically end up sharing the same anchorage, but I really think we got to enjoy more of the scenery as we traveled along at our 6 knot max.

The other thing that did be come apparent to me was that I actually motored many thousands of these miles in my sailboats !! Now granted, Alaska isn't the best place for a sailboat (not much wind or too much) and the East Coast's ICW is just a no go to sail, but it did trigger a thought..

If I could (and did) travel a fair old amount of the US + 3 Alaska trips on a 20,000lb sailboat with a 45hp diesel and not even notice the fuel costs !! then, a light weight, trailerable cruising trawler, with a lower horsepower engine, designed specifically for these situations would be a winner for me !! Especially, as with a reasonable size vehicles I could travel from coast to coast lake to river. superb !!

In order to develop such a boat I needed to focus on the weight of the hull design and turned to my previous training on vacuum infusion.
I perceived a boat, designed using vacuum infused panels which can be far superior to conventional hand laminated or molded techniques for weight to strength ratio.
Fellow sailor and boat Designer /builder John Sayer assisted with laminate schedules which we chose based on those used for a 40 foot ocean going catamaran. Having built my first composite boat back in 1974 (and its still going great) I was comfortable with handling the structural design Myself.

I chose a displacement hull over a planing hull to provide best fuel efficiency at the speed the boat was intended for (6-10 knots). Typical planing hulls only reach their efficiency after getting up on a plane, causing increased fuel consumption at lower speed (not planing). Lower speed constraints were based on regulations (large potions of ICW east coast), debris (big big logs in Alaska, many of which I hit) and the enjoyment of the passing scenery.

John Sayer currently uses this vacuum infusion technique on his world class ultra light racing yachts with outstanding results.

Advantages I saw:

• Trailerable - Extended choice of cruising grounds (move between East and West coast's) Using the Highway instead of exposed ocean passages for more expansive crusing
  
• Store and work on the boat on land, reducing slippage and anti-fouling maintenance costs.
• Reduced fuel costs and extended range.
  

Hard Dodgers for cruising sailboats. Custom designed and built

Over the years I have designed and built Hard Dodgers and Hard Bimini's for various clients and their cruising yachts /sailboat.
I have cruised many ocean miles with a hard dodger on my own sail boat in much greater comfort than when I only had a cloth dodger. Most especially on my Alaskan trips.

Please contact me if you are interested in having a custom design done to suit your specific cruising sail boat and construction plans drawn up for you to build your own dodger.
If in Australia let us build it here in Mooloolaba!!
For overseas customers I am able to design your dodger to your requirements, supply cad files for unrolled surfaces plus the all important building /forming jig which allows accurate and easy construction.
In other words you can cut out various panels from my plans and assemble over them over a simple but precise jig in a stitch and glue method, using ply or flat composite panels. Please see my site with pic,s on flat panel construction and many dodger styles. Also you may care to visit http://www.kelsall.com for much more on flat panel construction.

As a large amount of interest has been shown in owner building of a dodger I am currently working on a book, natural titled "How to build your own HARD DODGER" and hope to have it available in a couple of months
Any one interested in having me design a dodger for them or wishing to discuss the merits of having cad designed plans can contact me at

steve.marshall@gmail.com or call Australia 61 7 5472 8776
08 drawings now included

Included with the following pictures are cad generated pictures of some dodger styles that are suitable for amateur building.
(the methods, to be the subject of my book)
Building of theses styles can be in laminated ply, which is totally glassed, or composite panel, with a foam or plastic honeycomb, core.
A ply, plastic honeycomb, and ply sandwich composition can also be used to very good effect in the tops.

I will be happy to discuss your needs.

CLICK TO VIEW 50 MORE HARD DODGERS. (you may need Picasa to view)