BUILD

TINKERBELLE II, left, is a closecopy of original, above, in whichRobert Manry crossed the Atlantic.

Mechanix Illustrated

TINKERBELLE II By Viktor Harasty

IN THE SUMMER OF 1965, RobertManry, a 48-year-old Cleveland,

Ohio newspaperman, made a single-handed, 78-day, 3,200-mile crossing ofthe Atlantic Ocean in a 13-1/2-ft. center-board sailboat named Tinkerbelle.

Manry's miniature ocean cruiser—one of the smallest to ever accomplishthat feat—was actually a convertedstock sailboat called the Whitecap man-ufactured by the Old Town Canoe Co. ofOld Town, Maine.

The design of the new Tinkerbelle isan adaptation and, in some respects, Ifeel, an improvement on the original.The general dimensions are the same,but the. lines are a little easier makingher faster, the centers are more prop-erly located and the sail area is in-creased.

Most importantly, while the originalis clinker-built, the new boat is of dou-ble-chine, plywood construction tomake her more suitable for the homebuilder.

She can sleep two average-size peoplebelow decks, carry a goodly amount ofgear, and the large locker aft of thecockpit will take all kinds of cruisinggear.

As in the original, foam flotationblocks can be carried in the stowageareas or glued to the underside of thedeck.

The mast is of the folding kind,hinged in a tabernacle and is easily low-ered away with the jib halyard shackledto the stemhead fitting. Like her name-sake, she also has a heavy centerboard—albeit in a more conventional ar-rangement.

Two rudders are shown. For shoalwaters, the hinged blade is an advan-tage. The solid, all-wood rudder, can ofcourse, be lifted out, and is as much ofan option as a spar stepped directly onthe deck or the open cockpit shown in adaysailer version which is availablefrom the author. In either version, shewill be fairly fast, stiff and seakindlyand a lot of fun to build and to own.

Tinkerbelle II is readily trailerableand can be built in the single-car ga-rage. It is recommended that all theouter plywood surfaces be covered with10-oz. fiberglass cloth or the lighter andeasier-to-handle polypropylene (Vec-tra) cloth. Double-up the fabric on thechines, keel and deck edges for extrastrength and water tightness.

August, 1967 113

TINKERBELLE II

A close study of the plans willshow all the needed materialsand the sizes of same. With theexception of the offsets, it is OKto use a scale ruler. Minor di-vergences from the sizes of thematerials shown, are not toocritical. An outline of the build-ing procedure might be of helpto those who are building asmall boat for the first time.

The first step in building Tin-kerbelle II is to make a full-sizedrawing of the frames (or crosssections) using the dimensionsshown in the table of offsets.This is all there is to the myste-rious and frightening loftingjob. Use white-faced beaver-board or draw directly on asheet of plywood—which youcan later cut up and use forother components.

Draw the frames in full, bothsides, fore and aft and then as-semble the frames right onthese lines with floors and gus-sets in place and the notches forthe keel, chines and sheerstringers as well as a centerlinescribed on. Be sure to deductthe planking and deck thicknessfrom the frames. Use WeldwoodRecorcinol glue liberally on alladjoining wood-to-wood sur-faces.

Build the hull upside down,on a temporary grid of 2-in. by2-in. pieces nailed to the floor.The frames are set up and tem-porarily fastened to these gridstrips. Next, the sheer-stringers,chines, and keel are notched in.Fasten the stem and transom to

FRAMES ARE BUILT on a flat surface then set upon grid of 2-by-2-in. strips nailed or positionedon floor, above. Below, boat now right-sideup, deck beams installed, ready for planking.

August , 1967

TINKERBELLE IIthe keel by means of knees.Make sure all frames are squareto the center line, on the rightstations, and that all stringersform a fair curve withoutbumps or hollows.

You have now completed theframe structure of the boat. Fairup and plane the edges of theframes and stringers to receivethe plywood planking. Fit andput the plywood on the sidesfirst. Before putting on the bot-tom, make up the centerboardbase and fit and fasten intoplace. Use Resorcinol glue liber-ally.

Now glue and fasten thebottom planking into place.Galvanized screws (three timesthe length of your plywoodthickness), or annular nails willdo—particularly if you plan tocover the hull with polypropy-lene (instead of fiberglass).

Now the boat is lifted fromthe grid, turned over, and thedeck beams and the decking in-stalled. Cover the deck andcockpit with Vectra or fiber-glass cloth also, and set theframes for the hatches in epoxyglue.

SAILS & HARDWAREDacron sails with T2 insig-nia, rigging, blocks, screws,bolts all available as a kitor individual orders fromAlan-Clarke Marine Sup-plies, 75 Chambers St.,New York, N.Y.

%" INNER KEEL | k

V OUTER KEEL

116

The sharply-curved trunkcabin top is best made of 5/8-in.by 1-1/2-in. mahogany stripsedge-glued and nailed and alsowell covered with Vectra.

The boom gooseneck (Merri-man catalog fig. #518P) can beconverted to roller reefing bymaking a new removable toggle-bolt which permits the sail tobe rolled up by hand. The main-sheet traveller can be a lengthof flexible stainless steel wiresecured at both sides of the aftdeck. It should have enoughslack to enable it to rise about afoot.

A small winch and 1/4-in. flex-ible stainless steel wire pennantwill be helpful for raising andlowering the centerboard sinceit is a pretty heavy item. Mountthe winch on or near the top ofCB trunk and lead the wire tothe board through a small roller.

The spar is shown as a hollowbuilt-up mast. A solid spar oraluminum mast could be sub-stituted.

Finally, if you do not plan toleave the boat in the water forlengthy periods, do not paintthe bottom with anti-foulingpaints. Use a hard and glossyenamel such as Sav-Cote. •

117