Mooring

[Jim MacDonald]

Any issues related to keeping a Scamp in the water at a local marina with the tank full?

[Scuppers]

There's a few things to consider when keeping any boat in the water and adding a centreboard to the equation creates another curly ball. You might know all this anyway...

1. depending on how long you'll need to consider having the hull antifouled. This means also up in the centreboard case.
2. you will need to ensure that rain water doesn't fill up your cockpit, so a cover will be needed...and/or you might install an electric bilge pump.
3. you need to know that your hull is sound and that water won't slowly creep into the ply. This will also answer your question regarding keeping the tank full. There's no reason why you can't keep it full if it's a well made boat (I keep mine full all the time, but it's a fibreglass GH SCAMP and I am confident water won't ingress into the hull)

Hope this helps.

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks for the reply I'm looking at getting a fibreglass Scamp and then keeping it at the Marina nearby. I would keep it there on an intermittent basis probably a few weeks at a time during the season.
How long did you wait to get your Scamp they're pretty busy and wait time is 4-5 months right now. Do you use yours mostly solo or take a passenger or two.

[Scuppers]

Hi Jim,
We're in Tasmania, Australia and purchased ours 6 months ago from the bloke that imported her 2 years ago. We are lucky to own perhaps the only GRP SCAMP in Australia.
We're also lucky to own a few different boats and have a choice each weekend. I use the SCAMP mostly solo for my crazy little adventures that my wife and kids aren't keen to join in on. I like sailing small boats in big seas.
However, my wife and I are taking her away this weekend and sleeping onboard in a custom tent we had made. It's cosy but a huge amount of fun!
Don't think twice about purchasing or building a SCAMP...they are an incredible little ship.

[Scuppers]

...couple more thoughts about keeping your GH SCAMP in the water...

1. the self draining cockpit will keep the rain water out - just remember to keep the bungs out...

2. you will need to keep an eye on bottom growth...especially in the centreboard case...but it depends on the water in your marina...some marinas are worse than others...we have growth on non-antifouled boats within 4 weeks here and it seriously slows your boat speed...not to mention a real PITA to clean...

3. we keep fresh water permanently in the ballast tank...it saves time during launch and could be used as fresh drinking water if needed...

[dsimonson]

I've kept my plywood Scamp in a slip seven months a year for the last three years in Vancouver, BC (cold water, but very prolific, divers love it up here).

I've experimented with different antifouling each year and Micron CSC seems to be much better than my two previous tries (as maybe it should be, at almost twice the price). I coat the inside of the centreboard case as far up as I can with my paint brush, I think the lack of light in there is why all antifouling I have tried worked fine in there. No growth.

I don't use antifouling on the centreboard itself, and have to scrape a few barnacles off the top of the leading edge at the end of the season. Not too bad. I like a clean foils... one of the main attributes of the Scamp design, and the CNC foil kits if you're building one, is the incredible manoeuvrability and instant power from those foils... so I don't put antifouling on them. It's hard enough getting a 12' boat upwind through crappy big waves, I want those foils in top shape.

I generally keep the ballast tank full. Because I also trailer her for cruising far afield, when the wind is light I launch back into the harbour with the plug in, but usually within a day or two I have to fill the tank. Always seawater, because it's always there. After a good spell, there's a bit of slime on the walls of the tank, but it easily wipes off.

I have a cover for rain, no through hulls for drainage as I've put in a footwell, it's below the waterline.

The boat is now in it's ninth season of sailing, and has done thousands of miles. She received three coats of epoxy inside and out, as per John Welsford's instructions, I've repaired any breaches to this coating every winter, and she could carry on like this indefinitely, I'd think.

However, the required repairs are significantly more often and more severe since having her in the water, compared to her life in a warm cozy garage. Usually, it's other idiots hitting your boat while they park by touch, or big storms displacing a fender and smacking your boat again the dock for a night, or other unplanned events. The tradeoffs have been favourable, easy to catch a quick afternoon sail when the wind is up... but I'm using a bit more epoxy these days. Perhaps a glass scamp is better suited to living in the water, but then again, gelcoat is a lot harder to repair than marine enamel.

Cheers,
Dale