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OK I’ve thinking more about raising the cabin height 4 inches as others here have done. On the Vacationer plans the side of the cabin is at 10 Degrees and cut at 11.25 ft long. To add the 4 inches vertically I do the math?

11.25 cos (10) = 11.08 => 4 + 11.08 = 14.08 => 14.08 / cos (10) = 15.312

For the front of the cabin

15.625 cos (35) = 12.8 => 12.8 + 4 = 16.8 => 16.8 / cos (35) = 20.51

This gives a vertical height increase of 4 inches but is this the path others have taken in raising the cabin top.

Or is it adding 4 inches on angled piece as in

11.25 + 4 = 14.25

for the front of the cabin

15.625 + 4 = 19.625

This would raise the cabin height, but not as much as the first process I mentioned. I just don’t want to make it to high and look funny. I do like the slick look of the boat but would like a little more head room but not sacrificing the overall look.

Brian

Ahoy Brian,

I'm not sure about the math, but we did raise our cabin roof. I do not recall what the actual inches were, but the interior is a full 48 inches high, as much as a single sheet of plywood would allow.

I believe one builder from Canada raised his cabin height some 6 inches or so. Ours would match or exceed that. (It would seem that our modification falls in the average range of 7 or 8 inches above Stevenson design.) What we did, however, was to lower the sides of the cabin, rather than to raise everything uniformly. By uniformly I mean extending the height by the same dimension everywhere. That might work, but for us, the height of our apex would have made the cabin sides higher than we wanted. Here is a photo of how the design turned out.



Miss Pat wanted a gingerbread look to the cabin bulkhead, a look similar to what a gypsy wagon might have had. In my opinion, the wall height is not nearly as critical as is the apex. We have full headroom along the entire length of the berth. By that I mean, I can sit on the berth anywhere and be able to read a book. We reasoned that the cabin wall height was not as critical as the apex height. After all, it would be physically impossible to sit immediately next to the cabin wall anyway. So, if we could create ample headroom with a high apex, and achieve ample headroom so we could be comfortable while sitting on a berth, our modification would be acceptable. We wanted to have an illusion of having a lowered cabin when that was not the case.

In my opinion, if you raise the height by 4 or 6 inches everywhere, the result will be a look more akin to a tug boat than a sailboat. At least, that's the way ours looked until we cut the cabin sides back more proportionally.

In brief, here is what I would suggest; raise the apex to a full 48" inches (the width allowed by a full plywood sheet); gradually cut back on the cabin height until you have the look you want. Incorporate a bulwark or raised toe rail to help hide the raised look of the cabin. Keep everything in proportion. I remember going back some 30 feet and squinting before I cut back the sides of the cabin. In short, go tall, and then trim to get the look you want.

Don't change the arch of the rafter. Here, follow what Stevenson has laid out. The man from Canada who raised everything 6 inches had problems coming up with a new rafter arch. In fact, he personally shared some thoughts with me to help us avoid the problem he had faced.

Raise your apex to the maximum height, cut your cabin walls by sight, and keep the Stevenson arch. You can change the look of the arch on the cabin bulkhead. We did that, as I mentioned just so Miss Pat could have the gingerbread look she wanted. We planned on having louvered doors from the beginning and wanted maxim headroom, and proportional sides.

One other thought in passing, a vertical bulkhead with a 48 inch apex is higher that a angled bulkhead cut to 48 inches. Here, we radically changed the Stevenson plans which call for an angled bulkhead.

Here's a photo illustrating the look of the raised cabin wall from the exterior. For us, the look was not objectionable, but as I said, we did not raise everything uniformly. Our cabin walls, though are considerably higher than the stock Vacationer. (I am uncertain here, but the original Stevenson plans may call for the cabin walls to be set at an angle, rather than plumb.)




Here's an interior perspective. The rafter follows the Stevenson arch.
I would suggest reinforcing the cabin wall bulkhead corner. We used a large cove here, similar to what has been traditionally used.



Here is another interior photo:




Here is a look at the outside of the cabin bulkhead.



The beam running athwartship is something Paul Riccelli would highly recommend. Here, I followed his advice and then, through-bolted floor, sole, and keel. I am not an engineer, but from my perspective, this juncture would have to be weak, and therefore, needs reinforcement. Craig Gleason also cautioned me about the potential structural weakness at this juncture.

Another modification we did that seemed to help was to make our cabin 7 feet rather than 8 feet. The extra room we added to the cockpit. Our cockpit is about 7 feet in length. We also followed Chris Gerkin's modification and made our cockpit follow a horseshoe design, achieving the same layout as the original Friendship Sloop. Our foot area, for example, is about 3 feet, nothing tapers. No one is cramped. (Gaff Rig has a number of featured articles on Chris Gerkin's fine boat. Take a look at some of the photos.)



We did extend the length of the sole in the cockpit area by some 18 inches, but retained the width of the original design at the stern. By eliminating the Stevenson end triangle on the keel, we were able to achieve another 14 inches. As a result, our cockpit is very large.
The acute angle of our transom also made a 4 foot aft deck possible.

We intend to hide the floor next to the bulkhead with a bridgedeck. The bridgedeck will also house a bilge pump and serve as storage for tools.

If I had to do anything over again, I might raise the height of the cabin door opening to allow for a higher bridgedeck. If you do that, I would suggest that you keep the opening as a rectangle rather than as a square.
Otherwise, the opening will not look right. Something there is about a square.

These suggestions are intended only as that. Take or reject whatever you like. This is what worked for us.

Brian this is one where the math can fail you. Extending the sides up at or near the 10 degree slope will give a pinched look and ruin the rafter curve. Taking Jim's advise and some big pieces of cardboard, mock up the sides and play with diffrent angles and heights to get what you want. If you raise the sides very much they must be changed to plumb or there will be serious headroom issues near the house walls. Be ready for the other things this modification may impact. As drawn, adding the 6" will dictate a boom height change as well. (It needs that anyway). HAppy building!! 8)

I added 4" to mine and it looks fine to me and everyone else who has seen it. I kept the original angles and just added 4" to the hight. The rafters were shortened a bit to fit and the cabin roof is a bit smaller as well. I'm very happy with it. I think 6" would be too much unless you added to the hight of the cockpit seats so you could see over it. At 4" it is harder to see but not all that bad. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress

Keiht

I added 4" to the rear cabin bulkhead and the cabin walls as well it pretty much is like Keiths and it looks good so far I have the rafters all made up and eady I just have to put the roof on.

Ahoy Brian,

For some reason I had forgotten that Keith had raised the height of the cabin wall on his fine boat. There are a number of photos of his boat. In fact, the last issue of Gaff Rig has a rather good shot. Take a look; what Keith has done may be exactly the look you are after. The angled walls and bulkhead of the Stevenson design rather look rather nice and even rakish, don't you think?

We went with vertical cabin walls, vertical bulkhead, and smaller cabin because we wanted our boat to look like a Friendship Sloop. I rather think that by shortening the cabin to 7 rather than 8 feet would be an advantage. For us we wanted a larger cockpit. Again the look of the Friendship Sloop predetermined what we were going to do. However, the 8 foot cabin would certainly have its own advantages as well. Keith might tell you whether or not the extra one foot in cabin space is useful. Something can be said for having a larger cabin.

The point about obstructed vision does concern me. The higher the cabin, the more difficult it will be to see what might be in front of the boat while underway. Our pronounced curve at the aft bulkhead does help, and I would like to tell you that we had planned it that way all along, but honestly, we went for a gingerbread look, and God must have been overseeing the efforts of a fool, because everything turned out just fine.

Good lucking on your boat building.

So Keith to which Arrow (Vector) did you add the 4inches in the following picture? Or is it you added the 4 inches to the cabin bulkhead and altered the cabin sides to match.


http://byyb.org/cpg143/albums/userpics/1...ectors.jpg


I'm sorry if I'm pushing for to much detail, but I've been wired that way by my occupation. Did I read that you’re a home brewer? I have a batch of hard cider bubbling right now in the basement. S.G. = 1.121 :twisted:

Hi Brian, I just added to the bulkhead and continued from there around the sides and front. The angles all stayed the same. You may think about changing the angle of the companionway to keep it from growing too wide. You could just go with the original width at the top and bottom and see how it looks. It's been so long ago now I don't remember what I did, but it works.

That's gonna be some strong cider when it's done, I've got a porter in the primary now with SG 1.072 and I may brew up batch of Full Sail Ale clone today. I've got a keg of Sweetwater 420 in the kegerator and I have 4 more taps to get flowing. I've got to keep brewing. I may set up a keg for rootbeer soon, it's cheap, quick, and the kids can enjoy it. If you haven't already found it www.homebrewtalk.com is a great brew site with a ton of info on it including recipes.

Keith

Hello Jim

Thanks for the pics. That is one beautiful cabin. I have a 2 and a 4 year old so I’m not to sure about how a nice cabin would hold up against them. If I’m going to fit a family on a camp out, I will put in bunks on the side for the kids and Mom and Dad will sleep on the floor.

Brian