A Joli Sketch

It’s time to step back and start sketching a few Joli ideas with dimensions. I need to have something I can refer back to as I start building my virtual frames.

This is also the chance for me to share some of the design ideas I’ve been thinking about for my Joli build.

Here’s a frame drawing from Philip’s Joli plans. You can see that he has simplified the roof structure by eliminating the curved top. This is frame number 2, or the back wall of the cabin looking out towards the back of the boat. You can also see that the Joli has the companionway hatch offset to the right. This allows room for a double bed in the left rear of the boat.

I really want that curved roof. Any Escargot pictures I’ve seen look really good with the curve, so I’m adding it back in. I’m not sure about the double bunk in the rear. I may prefer single bunks on each side of the hatch like they are in the front of the Joli. I’ll be able to try both configurations in my virtual build.

So let’s talk about some general dimensions. I’m using an 8 foot square jig and assembly table. This table has a 2x4 frame around the outside bottom edge of the melamine. I’m using alignment pins to help define the frame locations. The way I have this drawn is a 2x4 vertical pin attached to the inside of the 2x4 frame around the edge of the table. This initial pin holds tight against the outside of the Joli frames; so, the widest my Joli could be is 7 feet, 6 inches. (8 foot table minus 1.5 inches on each side for the 2x4 frame, minus 1.5 inches on each side for the alignment pins.)

I want the sides of the cabin to curve in towards the top, so I’ve drawn this as 6 inches narrower at the top of the side walls.

I intend to have standing headroom in the inside of the center of my Joli. My son is tall, so in our family, this means 6 feet four inches between the top of the floor boards and the bottom of the ceiling beams. My frames will be 2x4 boards on edge plus 2x4 boards lying flat for the floor boards; so the highest point of the frame on the inside will be 6 feet 4 inches plus 7 inches for frames and 1.5 inches for floor boards for a total outside height of 7 feet ½ inch.

The length of the boat seems just fine as designed. 8 frames spaced evenly apart, 3 feet 3 inches on center for a total boat length of 22 feet nine inches.

Here’s my idea of how frame number 2 might look. You can see that I’m a little narrower than the original plans and slightly taller.

My logic for boat dimensions may not be correct, but it’s a starting point. I’m going to continue with these sketches to confirm some ideas before I start building some frames. Even if they are just virtual ;-)