Sinking!

We received our Manufacturers ID from the Coast Guard awhile back.
Our ID is "SEA", awesome.
Any builder of boats has to register with the Coast Guard and meet regulations for safety.
On our application we listed the Mississippi River Skiff as one of our models.  We have since decided to move on to the next design and not produce additional hulls of the MRS.

The de-watering with a submersible sump

Filler up!

But the Coast Guard, now under the auspices of Homeland Security called and wanted us to certify that the MRS meets regulations.
To do this there are calculations that need to be done.  They all start with the maximum capacity of the craft.  This is the weight that sinks the boat to the shear line.

  

To do this we hauled the skiff over to the pool at the house of our friends the Walters.  We shot a video of the whole sinking that we were going to compress into a high-speed clip. Unfortunatly the battery died and corrupted the file.
We did have a successful sinking.  The skiff stayed in trim and evenly sank to its shear line until water spilled in and out but would sink no further.
There are no floatation compartments.  It is simply built of wood encapsulated in a glass/epoxy skin.
It took 72 minutes at a flow rate of 6.451 gpm.
This equals 464.472 gallons.
At 8.33 pounds per gallon, the maximum capacity is 3,869.052 pounds!
We will tackle the rest of the Coast Guard calculations tonight.

New shop / new plan

We have been off the computer awhile enjoying summer.  I had the fun job of taking our youngest son to Camp Sea Gull in North Carolina.  We had never seen it but heard it was the place to go for sailing.  Wow, what a place. A beautiful setting on the Neuse river near Pamlico sound and the facilities are first class !  Boats every where.
Check out this link:
http://www.seagull-seafarer.org/
After a great trip to North Carolina we packed up our shop and home and moved to a nicer home slightly closer in the the city.  It has plenty of room for the boats and the shop space is functional too.
We are setting up a small part shop in a large utility area and the big molding will take place in a two bay garage.
Our first order of business is beefing up our shafts.  We had a couple of failures so we are reworking the layup schedule.  The first new test shafts feel much stiffer.  We put more CF tow under tension as the first layer of the shaft.
We will break some to see the difference.

We registered with the Coast Guard as a boat manufacturer and received the Manufacturer's code:
S E A
How about that!  It wasn't taken.
SeaNymph was the previous manufacturer with the designation but it has been out of business over 10 years.
Ron Hassler of PPG Marine gave us a visit on behalf of the Coast Guard to inspect our operation and see about compliance to safety regulations.
In our application we listed the Mississippi River Skiff as one of our boats.  In order to sell the skiff we have to calculate the capacities and powering of the craft.
Ron walked us through the calculations.  The Coast Guard has formulas that are based on the maximum capacity of a boat (the weight needed to sink it in still water). To get and accurate number for the maximum capacity,  the easiest way to figure it is to get a flow meter, fill the boat to sinking in a pool or pond.  Then when you have the water volume, calculate the weight (fresh water is 8.34 pounds to the gallon).
We will do this and properly label the boat before a sale.
The MRS is a great boat but for our next boat we are interested in a molding project.  In a future post we will share some of the ideas we are working on.