The picture below is of the completed Chigger-Boat on display at the 2006 “Pirate’s Cove Wood Boat Festival” in Josephine Alabama.
Ok, I know it’s not much of a boat, but that’s was the whole idea. It is after all, a “minimalist” cruiser. My brother had won an argument between us about my world famous “Chugger-Boat”.
After completing the Cugger-Boat I had told Tim she was a true minimalist Cruiser. Tim immediately replied saying “That ain’t no minimalist cruiser, it’s a regular luxury yacht!”. He went on to explain that the Chuggerboat had way more room than was really needed to cruise down a river, and that if I had only consulted with him first I could have had a real minimalist cruiser. After several of my homebrewed beers and a continued discussion he offered to draw up a design that would reflect all the attributes of the Chugger-boat without all that luxury. I was skeptical but told him I would be happy to look at the design if he wanted to take the trouble to do it. He said he’d do it but if he was able to prove me wrong I had to help him build it. I foolishly agreed thinking he’d probably never draw it up much less want to build it (note to self….do not obligate self while drinking beer!).
I guess the picture shows I was wrong on both points. He showed up the following weekend with a couple pieces of paper and a truckload of plywood. Although I ended up editing a lot of the design to allow it to be converted into an actual floating vessel, he did have enough done that I conceded that it could work. It was at that point I knew I had really screwed up because he started unloading plywood from his truck! I had already agreed so kept my mouth shut and helped him upload the wood. We began laying out the design and had the basic boat cut out in a matter of ½ a day. Stitch & gluing (actually screw & gluing) the sides, bow & stern allowed us to see the basic outline of the boat. We then glued the flat part of the bottom to the boat so we could sit it on rollers. I can tell you we got our share of stares from the folks driving by trying to figure out just what the heck it was! We’re pretty used to being stared at so it didn’t bother us much.
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After several of my homebrewed beers and a continued discussion he offered to draw up a design that would reflect all the attributes of the Chugger-boat without all that luxury. |
We hadn’t calculated how hard it was going to be to get the bottom to bend around the sharp curve we had designed for the bottom to meet the bow. 3/8 inch plywood doesn’t like to bend that sharp but a come-a-long can be very persuasive and we did get the bottom around that curve and attached it to the sides and bow.
| 3/8 inch plywood doesn’t like to bend that sharp but a come-a-long can be very persuasive. |
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Next we installed the structural supports for the seats and berth area inside the boat’s interior. We over built it and made lots of watertight compartments with only a 2’X 2’ foot well inside. We left the extremely short motor-well at full depth to allow for gasoline storage needs associated with world cruises. A 2’X 2’ hatch in the overhead directly over the foot well made it possible to stand up while inside the boat. We decided to make the rear side windows slide forward so the occupants could hang their arms out the window like a car and to get some air since there would be virtually no opportunity to be outside while underway. Last but not least, we installed the take-off front window that would store on the overhead inside the boat when not in use. The take-off front window allows folks to step right out onto the beach without getting their feet wet.
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Next we installed the structural supports for the seats and berth area inside the boat’s interior. We over built it and made lots of watertight compartments with only a 2’X 2’ foot well inside. |
A rub rail all round and a top rail for tying stores on the top were the last additions.
| A rub rail all round and a top rail for tying stores on the top were the last additions. |
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Tim decided to make a patriotic statement and painted her red, white & blue. At that point we were ready to take her to sea! A quick installation of a 5hp outboard and off we went. The 5hp wasn’t nearly enough to get her up on a plane and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go fast in her anyway. She’d only do 5mph but she’d do it at an idle as well as wide open, so we idled her down and cruised around the bayou. We’d have to stop about every five minutes to show her off to everyone that waved us down. We’d slow her down to a crawl and push the tiller over so she’d spin like a top. This made Tim dizzy and he got a little flustered with all the attention. He said that we’d take three days just to get out of sight from the dock with all the attention she drew.
She was very stable and comfortable but caused a little claustrophobia after a while. We did take her on an overnight trip in tandem with the Chuggerboat and she did great. With a filler over the foot-well she has a 6.5’X 4’ berth in her that was very comfortable to sleep in. At the end of the trip I told Tim that if ever there was a “minimalist” cruiser he had one! It fits in the bed of his pickup and weighs about 200lbs without the motor or stores. She’s 4ft wide 4ft tall and 8ft long (dimensions of full sheets of plywood made her easy to build). My brother Tim wanted to call her “Noassatall” but I thought Chigger-Boat might be more appropriate since the kids might get too much of a kick out of Noassatall and the wife would get mad too. Besides, she was the little brother of the Chugger-boat and Chugger and Chigger seemed to fit together pretty well. Tim reluctantly agreed and she was officially dubbed the “Chigger”. That’s my little brother Tim in the pictures.
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we installed the take-off front window that would store on the overhead inside the boat when not in use. The take-off front window allows folks to step right out onto the beach without getting their feet wet. |
About the author….Pat Johnson builds boats as a hobby and has built about 25 odd boats to date. All of the boats are less than 16ft and about half are power and the others are sail or row boats. Pat enjoys helping others get started building boats and offers to show people how it’s done if asked. Pat lives in Pensacola Florida and often sails in Pensacola Bay and surrounding rivers and lakes. Pat’s most common advise to people thinking about building a boat is to start small and start now!
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