Mission Navigation’s 3rd Custom Workboat Construction

Currently in the works at Mission Navigation

Design

The boat will be a 20 ft semi-dory with a 7 1/2 ft beam, and be powered by a 30 HP outboard.  This boat was specifically designed to meet the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission’s needs to can carry a lot of cargo, but still be light enough to be stored on the beach and the outboard removed for safe keeping.  2000 pounds of positive flotation is built into a watertight compartment beneath the entire deck for extra safety.

Logistics

The boat is being built by a volunteer team in Kingsport, TN, with remote virtual supervision by RV Hodge our master builder, and Jay Majors, our designer and naval architect. COVID has taught us to be flexible and resourceful. Mission Navigation has partnered with The Inventor Center, a maker’s space in Kingsport, to access their 5 ‘ x 10’ CNC router to cut the building frame components, and the hull side and bottom panels from the designer’s CAD drawing. This collaboration enabled a novice building team to assemble a hull to precise standards, a must for safety and performance.

Progress Description

Construction of the building form began in July 2022, and the Douglas fir marine plywood hull shell was completed by the end of August. The exterior of the inverted hull was fiberglassed, skegs added, painted, and flipped upright by Thanksgiving.

The inside bottom was fiberglassed and 20 transverse deck support beams were installed. The outer deck panels were epoxied in place, and then the entire subdeck area was filled with waterproof 2 lb./cu. ft. polyurethane foam to provide an additional 2000 lbs. of positive flotation. The center deck panels were epoxied in place to seal in the foam. As this was being done, a 6” gunwale was being built up, one ½” band at a time. A mid and aft thwart were cut out and a bow seat/storage box was cut. By year end, all of the carpentry had been completed and dry-fit.

2023 will see the fiberglassing of the interior, installation of the seating, and interior painting.