Ahoy
For a bulwark, hawse thick should a kevel be?
Never having seen a kevel, I suppose an 1 1/4 to an 1 1/2 inches thick should be fine for the horns on boats such as we build here.
What say ye mates?
(Sheba, the famous and fearless sea-dog, convinced me this week that we will need to have a bulwark aboard our boat. A bulwark is good, but a bulwark with a keel and a hawse is downright salty.)
Will well made kevels keep away pirates and other BYYB ne'er-do-wells?
The really need to be in proportion to the rest of the accrudiments.
If they don't keep all the nasties away, they at least will help to keep the boats bow down a bit and that will help to make it a better handling Yacht.
Miss Sheba will have less issues in walking the decks. :roll:
Ahoy,
The notion of a kevel and bulwark came from what I read in Ference MatÄ, The Finely Fitted Yacht. The book offers a sketch of such a kevel, complete with hawse pipe fairlead.
MatÄ recommends mounting the kevel with 3/8' carriage bolts. The bolts will need to go through the hull. According to MatÄ, such a kevel is intended for those with possible pirate phobia.
I don't know how much of a phobia like that Miss Pat and I might have, but we do have a respectable concern of losing Sheba, the fearless and famous sea-dog, losing her to the wine-colored brim and sea.
You might consider a nicely appointed and fitted personal floatation device for Miss Sheba the Sea Dog. They come in many fashion coordinated colors and some are even trimmed out in shark repellant and have flashing beacons on them to aid in locating an overboard pooch. :wink:
Carpet tacks, placed business end up, all around the obvious entry points aboard you boat, will go a long way toward thwarting would be boarders.
Scaling those types of details is much easier with accurate drawings of the areas in question. Without these, mocking up a bulwark from bits and pieces of whatever junk 2 by stock you may have around, could be a fast method to determine size, thickness or scale issues. Foam, covered with 'glass will make a fine bulwark of the dimensions you have suggested. They will be light, surprisingly strong, will not rot and can be shaped quite easily. Really it's going to serve as a waterway and a mini rail to keep fuzzy bundles aboard, during soggy sloshes to windward. I've often enjoyed the fish shapes carved into the bulwark end caps of finely built yachts. It creates a nice touch and terminates the rail in a stylish fashion, though a simple scallop will also do and is much easier to carve. I personally use the leaping dolphin motif, but each designer has their own favorite, which usually gets incorporated into designs that can comfortably wear this type of garnish.
James I have enough to worry about without you losing that fine sea dog. Make the damned rails !! She will look funny without something to provide the shear detail anyway. 8)
Ahoy,
Yes, indeedâ bulwarks look simple enough. Most likely the biggest problem is keeping everything in proportion. A small bulwark would lower the height of the cabin, or so I suppose.
We plan to go to Paul Riccelli's boatyard this week, and maybe scrounge an idea or two. Unfortunately, we left our camera at home, but I think we should be able to find a camera or two.
The fearless and famous sea-dog, Miss Sheba is doing fine. We had thought about bringing her with us, but she doesn't have all the needed shots yet. We left her at home in good hands. Just a day or two ago we spoke to her over the phone. Miss Sheba looked at the phone receiver with ears at attention and almost barked.