Boat Flip

Today is boat-flipping day.

I've lined up about 6-8 strong guys and bought a few cases of beer. This is probably more than enough (people, not beer). The plan is pretty straight forward: (1) lift the boat off the hull-shaped cradle,


(2) disassemble cradle and get it out of the way, (3) get boat into the yard, (4) replace cradle with new supports that support the inwales. Then (5) roll boat the boat over and (6) place on the new supports. Finally (7 and 8) drink beer/eat pizza.

Anything that seems so simple makes me suspicious. I think probably the biggest lesson I've taken from sailing over the years is that it's a good habit to always keep in mind the worst-case scenario. Not in a paranoid, tinfoil-cap-wearing kind of way, but rather cultivating a heightened sense of impending doom. Then, when things start to go south, you have half a chance at being prepared and perhaps even a step or two on the way to recovery. And, when things do go according to plan, it seems much more like an actual victory. Much more pleasant this way.

So in this tradition, I've spent some time mentally walking through the rollover. Here's how that has gone:

1) We lift the boat off the cradle then promptly trip over all the scrap lumber stored under the cradle. I've now relocated all the scraps.

2) Lift the boat off the cradle, trip over the dog. He likes to help whenever there's a big project like this. Can't help it, he's part cattle dog. Apparently, the cat is looking for ways to help as well, mostly by taking a nap in the seat tanks. Here's the evidence.

Tell-tale paw prints

3) Lift boat, start moving it when someone discovers one of those nasty, sharp epoxy drips, cuts their hand and drops the boat. I've now given the hull another once-over with a chisel and some sandpaper, plus bought a few extra pairs of gloves.

I quickly realized I could imagine about a million ways to screw this up. So rather than worry too much about it, better to just get on with it.

For the most part, the hull is pretty strong at this point. The only potential weak spot is at the top of the sides at the widest part of the beam. This is because the decks, which will be fiberglassed at a right angle to the sides, are not installed yet. So the problem is that when rolling the boat, this is the part that will naturally want to rest on the ground, potentially bending it to the point of cracking the inwale. My solution was to add lateral braces that screwed into the inwale as well as braces at the forward bulkhead and near the bow.







The bow is an especially tricky part when flipping, because there aren't any good places to get a grip. So I constructed this little block shaped to fit under the inwale and bolted it to a two-by-six to use as a lifting bar. Like so,




The brace at the forward bulkhead was screwed to the forward beam, but rather than let all the weight fall on these screws, I added cargo straps that went around the hull to help carry the load.

All of these braces were allowed to stick out beyond the edge of the sides so that when rolling, the braces, rather than the sides, would meet the ground. This distributed the weight of the hull nicely to the strong bulkheads and made the flip go very smoothly.

Here's a quick view of the whole process.

A few strong guys, a plan, and Bob's your uncle.

Now with the boat inverted, it's on to taping the outer seams, fiberglassing the bottom, cutting the centerboard slot, installing the keel, and installing an Anderson bailer. Then fairing, sanding, fairing, sanding, fairing, sanding...then painting.

With any luck, this will be the only time Goodfoot will be upside-down.

Thanks to everyone who helped out (Bob, Bob, Maureen, Nathan, Jay, Andrew, Tom, Marie and Penelope and Woody). You guys are the best.