A Stitch & Tape Recreational Fishing Boat

With the overall success and, amount of enquirys regarding the Mushulu 14, the most common question asked was, could the design be made, without the midship seating arrangement, which would make it more suitable for mudcrabbing, casting of nets and fishing. In consultation with Jim Lee, an avid fisherman, could it also include plywood side pockets for all those bit's and pieces that you need for fishing and in easy reach.So after careful re-designing, taking into consideration for simplicity in construction, practicality and seaworthiness, we designed the Sandy Straight 14.

Overview

The Sandy Strait 14 is designed to be a fishing vessel suited to sheltered and semi-sheltered waters. The Sandy Strait 14 plans are large scale drawings printed on 2 ft by 3 ft sheets (or D size) The CAD plans are drawn to a very high degree of accuracy in both metric and imperial measurements. Included also is a building manual and material list.

Overall, the Sandy Strait 14 offers a great opportunity for those weekend fishing adventures, designed to be tough, reliable and seaworthy for those who love to venture out on the water

Design Brief

The brief for the Sandy Strait 14, (a composite/plywood design) was it had to be based on the Mushulu 14. It had to be lightweight for its size, easily handled by 2 people and quick and simple in it's construction. It had to have an overall beam of 6 ft (1.82m) and the freeboard raised to 1ft-8in (508mm). Overall, the Sandy Strait 14 had to be tough and rugged, yet simple in it's design and construction without the added "toys" to complicate the design. Most importantly, you had to feel secure when out and about, whether it be fishing or just plain exploring. But overall, it had to be simple and practical.

Arrangements:

The Sandy Strait 14 is designed for seaworthiness and people's safety in mind. With her high topsides and comfortable seating heights of 457mm (16"), the seats are designed to provide full buoyancy and storage compartments. Combined with the volume under the false floor, which is filled with foam, the total capacity will support the boat in the event of swamping.

The forward seat, not only doubles as a buoyancy compartment, but also storage for all the necessary boat gear (anchors/ warps etc). The rear seat, moved away and forward of the transom, allows for room for the fuel tank and other nessacities such as esky's between the rear seat and transom.

The spacing between the aft seating arrangement and the forward seating arrangement is 2.312m (91"or 7ft-7in), providing ample room, or area, for those crab pots, casting bait nets or simply just casting a line. With all those lures/ hooks and fishing bit's and peices, the full length between the seats and along the topsides is allocated to side pockets, where everyhing pertaining to fishing can be found within easy reach.

For those long days out fishing, seating width is paramount in order to be comfortable. With the Sandy Strait, the seating width is 346mm (14") in width!

Overall the Sandy Strait 14 is designed to be comfortable, stable and seaworthy, and more importantly-practical.

Construction

The requirement of the Sandy Strait 14 was simple. It had to be light, quick to build, easy on the pocket, and yet still retain its strength, seaworthiness and performance. The Sandy Strait 14, designed to ABS Power Boat scantlings, is built of Marine plywood. Sandwiched in epoxy, and directional E-glass fabrics using the Stitch & Tape method, the overall design results in a stronger, tougher and more durable "Composite" boat, while still retaining its lightweight construction.

The Mushulu 14 boat (boat only) weighs approx 64kg (142 lbs) When compared to an alloy boat of the same dimensions, the Mushulu 14 weighs approx 50 kg (112 lbs) less!

The Sandy Strait 14, designed with full seat bulkheads and a sealed floor, drainage to wash the boat is provided by a series of pvc pipeworks to make the job easier to clean after a hard days fishing and crabbing.

As far as building is concerned and the simplicity in its construction, the Sandy Strait 14 is built and constructed in a similiar way to the Mushulu 14.

Overall, the Sandy Strait 14 is lighter and can be built for just a fraction of that of a purchased alloy boat of similar dimensions

Plans

Click the image above for a PDF Plan sample

Plans for the Sandy Straight 14 are extremely comprehensive, with 6 sheets (D size or 2ft by 3ft) of drawings, complete written specifications and builders manual. Back up service is also provided as needed. Please read our Back Up Policy. This is an ideal project for the first time boat builder.

Drawing #	Drawing Description
1	Arrangement & Plan Profile
2	Cradle Construction & Setup Sheet
3	Laminate Schedule & Construction Sheet
4	Construction Profile & Plan Sheet
5	Panel Meaurements & Lofting sheet
6	Plywood layout sheet