PocketCat 18

Hi Chuck,

Here are the construction photos of Enterprise. The design is by Cliff Vaughan and is called PocketCat 18. It is 18.5 feet long and 8.5 feet wide. Weight is about 900 lb. The nice feature is that the boat is trailerable without disassembly of the hull. Just lower the mast (a Hobie 14 mast) and go. The boat daysails 4 and sleeps 2.

Framing is exterior fir plywood and strips cut from 2 X 4 treated pine. Raka 2 to 1 epoxy was used throughout for glue, coating and for glassing. Seams are covered with 6 oz. tape and all exposed hull sheeting is covered with 3.25 oz. tight weave fiberglass from Raka. Plywood sheeting is all 1/4'' exterior Lauan from the lumberyard.

Rigging: A Hobie 14 mast, mast step, boom and main sail are used. Stays are 1/8'' stainless. I have 3 jibs. The smallest is a jib from an International Star. It is about a 100% jib. The next jib is small genoa per the plans. I made it from light weight rip stop nylon and it will only be used in light air. The third jib is an asymmetrical spinnaker I saved from a Tremolino 23. I tried all sails last Saturday and the boat is balanced with each one. Actually, there was not enough wind to really test the Star jib.

The boat is very stable in the water, launches and retrieves easily and so far has been a pleasure to sail. The only problem so far is fore / aft balance. Had two big guys on board plus a Honda 4 stroke and it squats some. I'll figure out how to balance it. Speed with the 5 hp Honda was 5.5 mph cruise and 6 mph max. Max speed for the day was 6.3 mph under sail with winds to about 12 mph.

Frames Stem, 1 and 2	Frames set up on building jig	Splicing stringers	Making long pieces of plywood
Stringers installed	Partially planked, I used air gun with u staples, it goes quickly	More planking	Hull planked, still needs endpiece
Taped and glassed port hull	Detail of keels	Keel installed	Bottom primed with Kilz 2
Hulls upright and spaced for decking	Another view of spacers	Bulkheads 1 and 2 installed, 3 is on the port hull	Bulkheads in and 1/2'' plywood between hulls
Cabin bottom sheeting	Framing the sloping front bottom	Front completed and deck supports	More deck supports
More views of deck framing	Note that watertight space is painted now	Cabin front framing	Cabin front
Cabin interior	Entire boat primed with Kilz 2 latex house paint primer	Finish coat of exterior semi-gloss latex house paint, and ablative bottom paint	View showing tramp laced on. I made it from regular tramp material with sewn-in border rope and brass grommets.
Here is a view from the stern showing motor mount and cockpit.	Detail of trailer. I had to add another 2 x 4 on top to keep the boat off the tires.	light air jib under construction. Notice Mardi Gras Colors?	Note the operable ports on the front. Side windows are fixed per the plans.
Here I am in front of the Enterprise NC-1701	Porta-Potti	Inside cabin	Forward cabin storage
Emergency propulsion	Hull registration number	Underway, sort of. No wind. Star jib and badly set Hobie 14 main	Coming out of the harbor under power with crew forward