Where to sleep on the GV17?

Ask questions before buying our plans or request a new design. Anybody can post here
Klumpie
New Poster
New Poster
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:18 am
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands

Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by Klumpie »

I recently bought the GV17 plans and I'm excited about it!

I'm a first time builder with no experience, but I do have a lot of time and I'm determined to build the best boat I possibly can.

I'm planning a three year build, most of the time in my small backyard.

I already made the order for all the ply specified in the plans. I went for the quality stuff, Okoume from Bruynzeel. I wanted to buy the ply from BBC, but it would become to pricy to ship to The Netherlands.

I also bought a new single axle trailer, so I can finish her on the trailer after flipping the hull.

Goal is to make a comfortable and roomy two persons (and a dog) weekend cruiser.

Only protected waters with no interest in planning speeds; that's why I already bought a used four stroke high trust 9.9 HP Yamaha. That will be sufficient enough to move safely around.

I chose this design for the looks, I like it a lot!
I prefer straight lines and the more boxy looks. I'm the guy who rather chooses the old Volvo 700 above a new BMW or Audi sports car.

My children often do say that I'm stuck in the eighties, so maybe that also plays a roll why I chose this design, I don't know.....

This winter I make a 1:5 model first, to explore this design further and to see what the results are from the changes I want to make:

I will build the hull as designed. At this time I'm not sure to build her with a single side console or dual console. Choice will be depending on where I can create the sleeping area.
And there is my first question:

How far can I move the steering console to the aft to create a 2000 mm sleeping area beginning at frame A, so I sleep in the front of the boat between frame A and the console?

If that's not an option, can I move the consoles more to the front to create the same size sleeping area aft?

Nice to be here, thanks for your help!

Klumpie

fallguy1000
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
Posts: 10198
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:25 am

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by fallguy1000 »

I will not comment on moving the console; it is generally a bad idea as most boats are fairly weight sensitive.

However, if you wanted to accomodate sleeping on the GV17; I will tell you what I would do.

First of all; sleeping on deck at sea is largely out. The boat would just be very hard to trust in that fashion.

But, if you wanted to sleep onshore or just a bit offshore in shallows; I would build a step forward of the console and take the deck all the way up and across the gunwhales. This would make a very nice large deckspace where you could put a tent or tent bags. Then you use some short ss railings around it to keep you from rolling off.

That space would make a nice casting deck for fishing as well. Underneath, you could make some lockers to stow your gear. The lockers are easier accessed from the sides where you'd step up.

I would avoid trying to move the console forward. The aft area should be maintained for boat ops.
My boat build is here -------->

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62495

fallguy1000
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
Posts: 10198
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:25 am

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by fallguy1000 »

Another option would be a narrower console and tent bags on each side of the console.
My boat build is here -------->

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62495

rick berrey
Active Poster
Active Poster
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:16 pm

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by rick berrey »

If you are only going to put a 9.9 on a boat that can take up to a 75hp then you have already shifted weight . An option would be to go with tiller steering and a soft top something like is on the Nina . You may be able to or , need to move the center console back a foot or so based on the weight of the 9.9 , and skinny up the console like fallguy suggest .

Online
OneWayTraffic
* Bateau Builder *
* Bateau Builder *
Posts: 1663
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:13 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by OneWayTraffic »

As I don't know that boat at all, I have only one piece of advice. Do not change the specifications. The boat is designed to plane, so you might as well keep that ability than lose it.

cracked_ribs
Very Active Poster
Very Active Poster
Posts: 511
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:58 pm
Location: Western Canada
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by cracked_ribs »

If you're only ever going to run it with a 9.9, moving the console back won't really matter much. Pretty easy to shift loads around and have a boat that manages fine at low speeds. Just eyeballing the design it looks like the center console is designed to be in front of a cooler seat; if you do a standing height console and leave the seat out, and go with the lightweight little motor you have, you can move it back a lot without affecting much. If you give up the fixed cooler seat, now you have the option to put a movable cooler wherever you want, and that will also help to control the trim.

But if it were me, I'd just build the side console version, only do a console on one side, and have a big open space next to it. That way, you don't run into issues if you later decide to get a 40 or 50hp and extend the distance you can travel in a weekend.

Wouldn't likely be a big issue anyway, though. It's pretty rare that you can't solve that stuff on a small boat just by opting to pack all your heaviest stuff in the forward compartment etc.

Actually, the more I think about it, I probably would just put in a standing console further back, and shift my gear on deck as necessary to trim the boat. I was out yesterday on my similarly sized boat and happened to have, among other things, 200lbs of lead on board, taking stuff up to my cabin for storage.

So for me personally, I rarely worry about getting the static balance dialed in carefully. You can set up a sports car to have perfect weight distribution for you to run Nurburgring if you want, but if you have different passengers and cargo every time you go out, to me it makes more sense to just build stuff that has a wide range of adjustment available.
I designed my own boat. This is the build thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65349

User avatar
VT_Jeff
* Bateau Builder *
* Bateau Builder *
Posts: 1857
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2019 6:32 pm
Location: vermont

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by VT_Jeff »

cracked_ribs wrote: Sat Nov 13, 2021 5:23 pm I was out yesterday on my similarly sized boat and happened to have, among other things, 200lbs of lead on board

😂😂😂

I'm gonna assume those are rounds for the gatling gun that I STILL think you're gonna mount on that boat!
There are only two seasons in Vermont: boating season, and boat-building season.

Completed Paul Butler 14' Clark Fork Drifter
Completed Jacques Mertens FS14LS + 10%, Build Thread
Started Iain Oughtred Tammie Norrie

cracked_ribs
Very Active Poster
Very Active Poster
Posts: 511
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:58 pm
Location: Western Canada
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by cracked_ribs »

Nobody who knows me well would argue with that for a second.

But in reality, it was cannonballs and bulk lead that I know I'm not going to pour for a long time and I have been slowly relocating stuff I don't need for a while, that I don't want my kid to get into, to under my cabin.

Of course, ammo for a belt fed would probably fit into that category, and I have not supplied photographic evidence, so... yeah, not outside the realm of possibility!

I did do a bunch of work for FN Herstal at one time and I can honestly say that not only are they A) great people, and B) shockingly generous.to completely undeserving people at times, but also C) are fantastic architects when it comes to machinery like the Minimi. If I could go back through my entire work history and "borrow" one thing from the office of any outfit I have been associated with over the years...there would indeed be a pintle mount on that little skiff.
I designed my own boat. This is the build thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65349

Klumpie
New Poster
New Poster
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:18 am
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by Klumpie »

Thanks everyone for your comments, there very helpful!
With all your suggestions, I'll go back to my drawing table and play with some ideas, one of them is:

I also have the C17 plans; what about copying that nice cabin on the GV17?
Fitted with a small side console or would that become to heavy upfront? Maybe with a canvas closure like the Nina to save weight?

I'm just curious about structure, safety and weights, if a cabin would make the design boxier, well...for me that's a plus! That's why I chose the GV17 to build and not the C17.
I understand they're two different boats, but the GV17 has an enormous load capacity.

I bought two small Yamaha 3 gallons full tanks, I'm gonna put them one each side, under bunks aft.

I'm no fishing or sports guy, so I'm not taking a lot of gear, just a cooler and bbq.
I only sleep in marina.

Again, thanks for your help, much appreciated!
Gladly, at this stage, there is enough time to think things over, so the outcome will become better.

Klumpie

cracked_ribs
Very Active Poster
Very Active Poster
Posts: 511
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:58 pm
Location: Western Canada
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Where to sleep on the GV17?

Post by cracked_ribs »

Without doing the math, my guess is that if you put an effort into keeping the cabin build light, you'd be okay stability-wise with that exact cabin, but I think the one thing to consider there would be the hull depth. I'm not really knowledgeable about the GV series but the C series are really deep hulls, so you can have cabin sides that aren't too high, and still get sitting headroom in the cabin.

I would guess, without checking the measurements myself, that the GV17 would be a much shallower hull at the bow, so if you wanted sitting headroom you'd need much higher cabin sides and the roofline would end up proportionally much higher.

Not necessarily a problem in terms of handling as long as the cabin is light. There's a fishing boat a guy near me owns that is a 17 foot glass deep V, and he cut the little cabin off, and put a standing-height cabin in its place. Picture something the C17, with a cabin roof four feet higher. It's known locally as the Popemobile. But he loves it, because he runs it all year round and just as an example, today, we're expecting 100-150mm of rain. He trolls for salmon and stays in the heated cabin and never ducks his head going in and out. It's not a boat that's going to win design awards but I think the further north you go on the Pacific Coast, the more boats like that you see and everything starts to look like a work boat and your aesthetic sense changes a bit anyway.

There's another local guy with a boat shaped a lot like the GV17; he actually found a pickup truck cap that fit just about perfectly on the bow. When I first saw it, I thought man, that's pretty ugly, and what's the point? You couldn't sit in there. But then I saw the boat on the water a few times over the course of a couple of months and I realized he has a place on an island right by mine and he's using it to haul supplies all the time. He just pitches all his gear into that makeshift cabin, and it's waterproof storage. He's building a cabin on his island property, and can sleep in the boat on its mooring until the building is closed in.

So now I see that boat and think the guy is kind of a genius. The boat is an old tri-hull and he probably bought it for the cost of the gas in the tank, and the truck cap was probably $200. I believe he can get entire plywood sheets in there.

Anyway I guess my point is that there's a lot of unconventional stuff you can do that no designer would ever draw because aesthetically, they have a different vision than a particular user. The one thing I would say about putting a cabin on a boat that isn't designed for one, though, is keep the weight low: make a very lightweight cabin, and any weight that you have to have in it, keep it as far down as you can.

But considering your planned usage, well, I'll tell you the Popemobile goes out in some real weather, and I guarantee it's a lot tippier than a garvey with a low, light cabin on it.
I designed my own boat. This is the build thread:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65349

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests