Preview: The Goat Island Skiff, a Fast Boat for Sail & Oar Beach Cruising

35 Responses So Far to “The Goat Island Skiff, a Fast Boat for Sail & Oar Beach Cruising”

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  Rob Feeney says:

  Is it viable to set up the goat to sleep in? Or is all camping on shore?

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  Norman Johnson says:

  So…always wanted a peapod, looking at the CLC Peapod but the kit isn’t inexpensive and I am more interested in the rowing and sailing than building. I have been intrigued with the Goat because it is relatively cheap and quick. I would like a center board and kit up rudder but I guess I could live with the dagger board. Also, I am living in Greece, on an Aegean island and they have some serious daily wind here. Not a lot of smooth water sailing. I am worried a bit about the Goat pounding away and wearing me out. I know the peapod will be more forgiving. I plan to row and sail for an hour or two most days Spring and Summer but would also like to get out on some blustery Fall or early winter days. Any thoughts on the Goat in these conditions? I like the mizzen set up which is also an option on the CLC peapod. I guess I’m most worried about a flat bottom boat here. The traditional boats are all double enders and transom with lapstrake.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Hi Noah ~ You’re instinct is spot on. The GIS is a wonderful boat, but serious wind and chop may not be the best environment for the GIS as it is, as Clint says, sporty and not nearly as forgiving as other designs. If you’re an excellent sailor and want something that is on the edge a lot in tougher conditions, and you don’t mind capsizing, then the GIS might be right for you, but it sounds like you might want something more stable and able to handle high winds and chop. Since your heart like a Peapod, check out Doug Hylan’s 15′ Beach Pea as another option, if only to see the differences. You might even be able to get a kit for it out of the UK, notwithstanding any current snafus with Brexit/taxes/shipping. http://www.dhylanboats.com/design/plans/beachpea_plans/

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    David Saxon says:

    Hi Norman: It sounds like we have very similar thinking. I have a place in Hydra. Want a sail and row small boat but conditions in the med can change quickly. Plywood is easy, light to move around. But in cross-waves and heavy wind, thinking a heavy boat might be better. Like a small catboat. But I also like the beach pea and like to lift the boat onto the beach. I rowed a Downeast Peapod a way back and rowing it it was like flying through the water. Nothing like a dinghy on a charter boat. Did you end of doing anything? I’m wondering if there is someone in Greece who wants to build me a boat……

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  Andrew Rotch says:

  I love what you say, Clint, about learning a lot about sailing from the Goat because of its performance potential. I built Michael Storer’s Beth canoe and I’ve been saying the same thing to myself ever since I learned to keep it right side up! These designs of Mr. Storer’s are just the right balance of wild and forgiving and they really do seem to have a way of ‘teaching’ that I really believe is attributable to the genius of the designer. Also, I think the points you make about the mizzen are great ones too I don’t know how easily I could go back to small craft boating without one. My only regret about choosing Beth is I divide my time between Maine and SE Massachusetts, and a Goat looks much better suited to Casco Bay with all that freeboard. Still, I hope I run into you up there some midsummer afternoon! I’ll be looking out. Thanks for the great video.

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    Clint Chase says:

    Andrew, if you are ever interested in getting together, I’d love to try the Beth.

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  Carlos Solanilla says:

  I wonder if there is a way to make it lighter, and/or to make it to nest on itself as a dinghy for a sailboat. I understand the appeal of wood, it looks nice, but if using Aluminum mast and sprit will make this lighter. I know pvc or other light alternatives are more expensive, but how much weight saving can be achieved?
  On nesting, any thoughts? Trying not to relly on outboards

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    Clint Chase says:

    The GIS doesn’t get much lighter unless you go with carbon fiber. If you a referring to making masts lighter, the birdsmouth mast s under 20#. You can go aluminum if you have too, but it is not typical. Carbon fiber mast is lightest of all.

    Nesting the boat will make it heavier overall because of the added structure that would be needed. Typically, nesting dinghies are already quite small, under 12′.

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  Frank Larkin says:

  Never sailed a day in my life! Ready to build my first sail/oar boat, finally , at 52! I live near Kentucky Lake here in Humphreys County, TN. I fish a lot (from the bank) so a row boat will help me quite a bit. I’ve been on the water before, had a small Jon boat a few years ago , really trying to go the eco-friendly way this time, (no outboard). I narrowed my search down to the GIS with the Caldonia Yawl and the Vivier Ilur running close behind. The GIS will no doubt be the least expensive and least time consuming to build, but from a safety perspective , will it be the best one for learning to sail?

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    Steve Stone says:

    Right on, Frank. Glad to hear of your inspiration for your first build and learning to row and sail. Others may have different opinions on this, but here’s mine:

    Your assessment is right on target, in my view. The Caledonia Yawl is probably too much boat for a newbie and could be too big of a build project for a first timer wanting to learn. Result = the project fizzles for lack of progress. The ILUR might be the perfect first boat, but again, it’s a bigger build project and bigger to wrestle around while learning. The size and the weight of the boat will be an obstacle until you learn to work with it, and with the elements, rather than against them.

    If you’re having someone else, like Geoff Kerr build it for you, then the ILUR would be hard to beat.

    The Goat Island Skiff is, relatively, a very easy and quick build, but is a very lively boat that requires attention and experience in dicey conditions. It can capsize more easily than some boats in a moment of distraction with wind/waves. That’s not to say it’s easy to capsize, but with dicey conditions and a newbie at the helm, well, any boat can capsize. However, taking the other perspective, the GIS’s liveliness offers one heck of a great boat to learn in because it will respond quickly and significantly to what the skipper does, so the feedback loop is tight and quick… thus the learning is rapid. There’s an old saying that the smaller the boat, the better you learn to sail. People who learn to sail on cruisers often never really learn the feel of how a boat behaves. Just keep safety in mind as you learn, and go out when the water is not cold and you have flotation and safety gear to not cause a problem. After all, when we were kids, capsizing was part of the learning experience and part of the fun. Now let me argue the other side for a moment.

    You say you like to fish from this boat, and the GIS more tippy under that scenario, so initial stability may also be one of your top needs. Two alternate designs for you to consider would be the 9.5′ Nutshell Pram and the 12′ Oonagh design by Doug Hylan because it’s essentially a large Nutshell Pram that can carry an (gasp!) engine. The Nutshell is probably our favorite boat of all, but I’d seriously consider the Oonagh because it’s bigger. Both might provide a more stable fishing platform than the GIS, despite the length difference. Both have a good resale market for when you want to upgrade to a bigger boat (but you’ll never want to sell either!). If you haven’t already, you can check out our Guide to Finding the Best Dinghy for other ideas and options.

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      Frank Larkin says:

      Steve,
      Just wanted to thank you for your time and help in making a decision on my first boat project. I weighed my options , looked at a couple more boats, (first mate and morbic 12), but kept coming back to the Oonagh. I gave it a few days to make sure and then ordered the plans today! Really excited about getting started . Hoping to launch this fall sometime. Again, thanks for the help!

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        Clint Chase says:

        Frank, check out my boats, too, at Chase Small Craft and feel free to give me a call 207-602-9587. I handle Vivier boats, doing complete kits.

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  Eigil Rothe says:

  I watch this video more than any other. I love this boat and will build one some day. I love Clint’s idea to add a.mizzen. Though I would make it a standing lug just for looks.

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  Emil King says:

  I may be mistaken but is everyone taking 150 – 250 hours to complete considered “quick” for a boat like this? While the tremendous amount of details are evident, isn’t this design basically modeled on working skiffs? What about the work boats from the old days, where maybe a couple could be banged out every week. Were these just simpler designs and not made to last more than a couple of seasons? It’s obvious the GIS is designed to be heirloom quality.

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    Clint Chase says:

    150 hours for a real sailing boat like this is pretty good time. That is a scratch building time, the kits generally cut out 20-25% of the building time, particularly in the layout and cutting of all the bits and pieces.

    Michael Storer would be best to comment on the origin of the skiff. It is as rooted in the ultralight sailing dinghies that they were racing in Australia while we were getting in heavy glass boats as it is rooted in the simple sharpie style skiffs common in shallow-water environments. Whether these sharpies were designed to only last a little while, I do not know. I tell my customers who build from my kits and use my methodology (and Storer’s methods), with respect to epoxy coating the plywood and the use of the highest quality wood (Bryunzeel in my kits) that they can expect the boats to last for a century if it is taken care of. I think that is what is very inspiring about boatbuilding: the creation of beautiful, functional objects that can last the ages.

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  David J Braga says:

  A great post! Thank you all for the up close view of a wonderful skiff.
  Perhaps this is the nextbwooden boat to build😳

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  PATRICK LOUGHRAN says:

  Clint,
  You spoke of the graphite paint method for the bottom and dagger board. Did you fiberglass the bottom ? Also, did you seal the plywood with epoxy prior to painting?
  Thanks, Pat

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    Clint Chase says:

    IIRC, I did not fiberglass the bottom, only FG taped the chines. The bottom has a good 3 coats of epoxy, possibly 2 more with the graphite mixed in. The plywood is sealed with a low-viscosity epoxy prior to priming. I recommend this to all my customers and my epoxy kits include enough epoxy to seal the plywood.

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      David Paul says:

      When you say “graphite mixed in” to the epoxy, what form does the graphite take.

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        Tom Conlogue says:

        The graphite is a powder. You just mix it into the epoxy like you would wood flour.

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    Christophe Matson says:

    There is no glass on the bottom, just the chines. The boat is epoxy coated throughout with very detailed instructions in the plans. I ended up just glassing the far forward section with light 4oz cloth for resistance against rocky Maine coast beaches. There is a propensity in the USA to glass every single surface on a boat, while the Australians and Kiwis are much more frugal with glassing. Mik Storer has certainly opened my eyes to how strong relatively thin plywood can be when it is correctly supported and stressed over internal box-structures. My boat is 7 years old and still going strong with her second owner.

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  Michael Storer says:

  The video brought a small tear to the corner of my eye.

  Very touching to see the boat enjoyed and the level of the sailors enjoying it.

  Thanks to Clint, Paul Hayslett (black boat) Christophe Matson (tacking Paul’s boat out by the rocky islet in the video) and many others – not to mention Off Centre Harbour – brought just a small tear to my eye to see my friends moving right along in their goats in a very nicely produced video.

  There are quite a large number of GIS blogs – one of the best known is Christophe’s GIS amateur style with a backlog of building, sailing and camping around Maine and other parts.

  There’s also a thriving Goat Island Skiff Community on Facebook where you can talk to many “Goatees” including Clint, Paul and many others. Just type “Goat Island Skiff” into the facebook search bar.

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  Dave S says:

  The Goat Island Skiff caught my eye immediately. But for my young teenage granddaughters to learn to sail in, would you say it is too much to handle. The word “capsize” comes to mind.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Lots of options, and just as many questions to consider Bill. It depends on so many factors. My teens still love sailing their large nutshells and shellbacks more than anything because they are simple and they each have their own boat — a key factor in the teens. One capsized the shellback last week (the first time ever) in almost no wind (laying athwartship head to windward in a jibe) fooling around in the harbor so the conditions were right and it was fun for all. Biggest lesson is that we don’t like the new auto inflate pfd’s and they serve only as a noose if not buckled up when they auto inflate.

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    Clint Chase says:

    In wind over 10knots, people have to be on their game to sail the GIS. But reefed down with one reef, the boats is vary nice to sail.

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    Christophe Matson says:

    I would certainly say that “capsize” should be a maneuver that is included in the “normal” category– practiced and mastered so that it is a non-event. When I was a kid (6th grade) we capsized routinely both for practice and by “accident” and it was by far the most exciting bit and a great way to cool off. Learning to capsize and recover at a young age is the best skill to have as one gets older… for so many reasons from prevention to recovery.

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  William McCaffrey says:

  I love boats like this.. light, easy to build, row and sail. I wonder how this would compare to some of the row/sail Dory designs out there? I’m ready to build another boat and have plans for one of the Dory designs, but not married to it.

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    Clint Chase says:

    A dory will probably please you more for rowing. I have often thought that my Deblois Street Dory (DSD) would be a great partner boat with the GIS, which I plan to keep as part of my fleet. I will have a go-fast sailing skiff and, eventually, a DSD for times when I think I will be rowing more.

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  Christophe Matson says:

  Phew- this brings a tear to my eye! One of the best performing flat-bottomed skiffs I’ve ever had the honor to sail. She brought me there and back again for so many years, as a most faithful companion. Fast, fun, and mission-flexible, the Goat is a boat that you grow into, and she grows into you. She asks for perfection and will reward the canny sailor with speed and excitement. Whatta boat! Genius design!

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  Paul Atkins says:

  Lovely to see Michael’s work on the water, he’s an old friend and talented designer. Great video.

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  Peter Brackenbury says:

  Very cool! The simplicity is appealing and it is nice to see it get some much deserved respect here!

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  Patrick Daniels says:

  Nice to see GIS IAZ,P in here. I inherited her from Christophe. Great boat for cruising the NYC estuary. Thanks OCH!

  • 

    Kevin Ross, Video Editor says:

    Like this?

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      Patrick Daniels says:

      Yeah that’s me crewing for Dave LaFontaine in GIS Chivita! Super fun by Lady Liberty!

      Here’s IAZ,P and I in Jamaica Bay:

      https://goo.gl/C6ZhpQ

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  Nigel Lawrence says:

  great boat; I know of a few of these that have been built.

  I was lucky enough to work alongside Michael at a course some years ago, with a GIS being put together right beside me. An enormous amount of forethought had gone into the design, and the boat came together incredibly quickly – very gratifying for the first-time builders.