Boatbuilding Blog

I’m really happy to be building the cabin. It’s finally starting to look like the boat I’ve been imagining all these months.  I started assembling it last weekend and should finish by the end of this weekend (not including the roofs of course).  It’s a really interesting exercise in non-square angles and subtle oddities, while trying to keep everything symmetrical and esthetically pleasing. The main change to the plans is that the pilothouse is lengthened by 8 inches (see the mockup entry). To reduce the blank space at the aft end, I’m thinking of making the side windows 1 1/2 inches wider than the plan.  Building the mockup a couple of weeks ago really helped me. I have a fairly clear mental image of what I want it to look like.

It’s all 3/4 inch Oukoume, fastened to the deck structure with 3″ stainless screws on 4″ centers, as well as the full 4-layer glassing and fillet schedule I used on the bulkheads. Corners are fastened with 2 1/2 inch stainless screws 4 inches apart. The corners will be rounded and glassed. All edge joined panels are fastened with biscuits on 6 inch centers.

I’ve left off this one panel so I can climb in and out easily for a while.

I’ll post more pictures at the end of the weekend when there’s more progress.

Meanwhile I’m making a laminating jig for the cabin tops. They will be 3 layers of 1/4 inch ply. I’d really like to completely finish the inside before installing. Finishing overhead just doesn’t seem like it would be much fun.  There’s just some scrap in the jig picture below to see how it bends. I’m concerned about springback. I added 3/4 inch shims to the outsides so the laminated pieces will be curved more than they need to be on the assumption they will flatten out when removed from the mold. If they get flatter than the needed arch, I would have a very hard time getting them bent again. It should be easier to over-curve the pieces and ‘unbend’ them in place if necessary.  It’s going to have to be a trial and error process, with expensive materiel

I’ve been busy the past few weeks,on various projects to get the boat ready to build the cabin.  I’ve faired and coated the inside of the hull and decks. It’s a lot easier now then after the cabin is on. If I use every weekend and all my vacation days, I’ll be able go get in about 30 work days before the end of September. That should be enough to finish the exterior, including paint. I’ll spend the winter wiring and fitting out, for a launch in the spring.

Dry-fitting the rubrails. The hull is shiny from a new coat of epoxy that needs to be sanded before the primer is applied. I fitted the rubrails now so I could patch any incorrect holes without messing up the final coat.
      

I’m thinking of making the cabin tops from 1/4-inch tongue-and-groove boards inside, with 2 layers of 1/4-inch ply laminated on the outside. Here’s a double-sided jig to build the cabin tops.  First, epoxy the boards together on the female side of the mold. After they set up, remove them and flip the mold over. Lay the boards on the male side, finished side down, and laminate the plywood on. Cut the top to fit, finish it completely, and drop it on the cabin, either with epoxy or Sikaflex  and screws.
   

I added the arched piece to finish the aft end of the aft cabin. It’s my first cabin part.  I used my new biscuit joiner. It worked as well as I hoped.  I’m not worried about the strength of this joint - the piece is supported on all sides. 
     

(Edited for clarity and to add link to Woodenboat discussion)

I spent every night this week mocking up the boat cabin, complete with door and seats. I used scrap lumber and an assortment of other cheap material to make a cabin frame for better visualization of placement and spacing. Today I tore it all down so I could get back to building.  I’ve always had a fear that things wouldn’t fit, or that some part of the design was unworkable.  I’m happy to say I’ll be able to do pretty much everything I was hoping to in the boat.  I’m really happy with how it all went together after 2 years of thinking about it.  Now I just need to build the thing!

Aft cabin and pilothouse. I lengthened the pilothouse by 8 inches from Devlin’s plans to allow standing headroom forward  of the bed. I’m concerned about how this will look, but it makes a huge difference in the usability of the aft cabin. I can stand by the bed now (actually with 8-foot headroom).  I may add a small round porthole in that blank space on the side.

Boat plans. The one on the left is as Sam designed. The right picture is what I was going to build - the bed is turned 90 degrees.  What I’m building now has the head (toilet) moved to a small cabin forward of the steering wheel, and the helm seats moved toward the bow to add space to the aft cabin.  The pilothouse is 8 inches longer (toward the stern) than this picture.

From the front. These are my junkyard Honda seats and steering wheel. There’s enough room to lay the seat all the way back.  The seats slide 6 inches aft so you can stand in front of them to steer. The cut out in the front shelf is the entrance to the forward cabin where the head (toilet) is. The pilothouse has a door on either side. Note the door on the right - see the next picture …

The plans call for sliding doors. I prefer swinging doors - easier to lock, and easier to make weathertight. To make it work I notched the bottom of the door to clear the gunnel. Of course, there’s a matching protrusion on the jamb. It doesn’t seem to make going through the door any more difficult.  As usual, when I come up with something unusual, I ask the Woodenboat guys and they shoot it full of holes. I may choose to take my chances and ignore them this time. There are thousands of tugs out there with swinging doors.

Nifty mocked-up dashboard. Instruments should fit behind it without intruding into the head area (too much). Enough room to lay down a chartbook on the shelf.

Aft cabin. The bed takes a standard double (aka full size) mattress (54″ x 75″), and runs athwartship. Your feet are in a raised area of the side deck. The open box you see in the first two photos below is the galley.   The pilothouse seats mount on top of it. You sit on the edge of the bed to use the galley.  There will be a sink (with pressure water) on the left and a work surface on the right. A gimbaled Forespar Mini-Galley stove mounts to the side of the cabin to the right of the box (the Starboard side of the boat).  The galley will be used mostly to prepare sandwiches, coffee, tea, and oatmeal.  The Dickinson Newport propane heater is mounted above it on the cabin side so we can watch the flame from the bed.  The heater was the other reason to lengthen the cabin - I just couldn’t find a safe place to mount it anywhere else.  A good cabin heater is an absolute necessity for being able to use the boat year-round in the Pacific Northwest.

January 2007 ==> June 2008

I’ve been thinking a lot about tire fenders for the boat. I went to the local airfield this afternoon and looked at airplane tires, but they’re really small. They might look funny, and wouldn’t cover as much area as I’d like. I picked up the junked car tire below on the way home. It fits pretty well, but is maybe a little oversized. The coverage is nice - about 4 inches above waterline to just below the rub strake, and it’s deep enough to provide a lot of padding.  Maybe a trailer tire would be a better fit. I wonder where I’d find eight of those?  I had assumed I’d put three tires on a side, but now I’m thinking four, and maybe five on a side. If you’re going to have permanent fenders, you might as well go all the way!

Pictures of small tugs with tire fenders are hard to find on the web. Here are two of the better ones.

This is a detail from a tugboat model. I really like the idea of hanging each tire from 2 lines. They’ll be a lot more stable that way, and still be individually removable. Hanging the tires through hawse pipes is really nice, as opposed to running the lines over the gunnels.  I used this picture as a starting point for the mockup below.

Mock-up of Fender Hanger 

This is a bronze through-hole, mounted just below the gunnel rub-strake. Each of the lines would go to one side of a tire.  Tarnished dark against the black hull, it should be pretty subtle, but clean.   This is the view from the outside of the boat.

Inside, looking up to the gunnel. A mocked-up wooden cleat is held on by the through-hull nut. The lines come through the fitting and cleat on. The whole thing fits below the 2 1/4 deep overhang of the gunnel.

I do worry that the tire fenders will just be the final nail in the cuteness ratio of the boat. I don’t want people to say “Oh, how precious!” when they see me coming, but it might be unavoidable. At the same time, the tires are really practical. Never having to set or store fenders will be really nice. Beware to the white plastic boat that rafts up to us though!

I’ve spent the last few weeks working on the gas tank installation and building all the structure under the sole where the tank goes. Basically, I made a big tray, somewhat oversized, for the tank to sit in. (Plastic tanks swell as they fill.) I lined the tray with neoprene for padding and added some nylon webbing to hold the tank into the tray. The whole tray lays on four 1 x 2 stringers to keep the tank level. The stringers are attached to some new partial bulkheads under the sole. There are many vent holes throughout to keep gas fumes from building up. The tank and tray are easily removable to access the hull below. Another weekend of this and I should be ready to prime and paint this area and start working on the inside of the cabin.

The Rain Cat inspects the boat:

The tray before the neoprene or primer. I glued the fabric in with spray adhesive:

Below the tank. That’s the motor well in the lower left:

Tray dropped in place. It will be bolted through each end. The original strap attachments were plated steel, so I discarded them and bought some nice stainless ones:

View showing ventilation holes and Port locker lid.  The space next to the tray will hold a bilge pump and the depth sounder through-hull.  The locker with the lid will hold tools and spare parts for motor maintenance. The tray is level - the sole slants to the stern for water drainage:

Tank strapped into tray:

Trying to decide if it’s a good idea to have the gas fill inside the Starboard locker:

Putting the gas fill inside the locker seem(ed) like a good idea:

• It’s lockable - 25 gallons of gas is becoming a real investment
• The hardware is out of the weather so it should last longer
• One fewer thing on deck to stub your toe on
• The tray will catch any drips so you can dispose of them correctly. There’s not much change of spilling gas into the boat or the water.

I’ve asked about this on the forum. We’ll see what they say…

(Added same day…) The forum really didn’t like that idea. I’ll put the deck fill on the deck. Maybe I’ll live a little longer. Here’s one of the milder comments: “The risks associated with what you are proposing are huge…”

I spent four hours with a longboard yesterday, sanding the gunnels and stern decks yet again.  I’m almost happy with the finish now. Just one more session of coating and sanding  - or at least I hope so. The longboard is a lot of work and makes you move in unusual ways. Four hours of it is about as much as I can do in a day. Here’s the first coat of epoxy after glassing but before sanding. It’s shiny but very wavy. I’ve finished filling and sanding the second coat now and hope to do the third and final one this weekend. Then I can install the gas tank and the locker covers port and starboard, and install the sole over the tank.

Here are the stern decks. I really like the way the whole stern area is turning out. Being able to walk right to the stern and around the back of the motor will be a real joy. I can see spending time back here at anchor - barbecuing or just lounging on the decks.  The round holes in the soles on either side of the motor well are for screw-out access plates to inspect the dead space below the decks. I don’t trust areas I can’t see, or areas filled with foam. Soggy foam creating rot in a hidden space sounds like a real nightmare. I have an interesting idea of filling the space with empty 1 quart water bottles. They’ll add a great deal of flotation if the area gets swamped, but can be removed easily and still allow some air movement in the space.  I don’t remember if I invented this idea, or read it somewhere.

Propane tank locker, with the Starboard locker roughed in just forward of the stern deck. The locker will hold the fuel tank fill  and all the hoses and wiring connecting the stern with the rest of the boat. It’s about 7 inches lower than the side deck so it’s an easy step down. Two more 7 inch risers take you down to the cockpit sole. This will make a nice seat back here also. There will be a vent under the side deck for locker ventilation.

After work tonight I picked up some 2mm neoprene from Seattle Fabrics to add as padding under the gas tank. This was suggested by a thread on the WoodenBoat Forum, which I’ve become addicted to and find I must read daily now. Oh, Sam Devlin has just added a link to this blog to his newly-redone web site. I’m honored! 

I’m installing all the stuff in the Lazarettes now because I know it will be impossible to do well after the tops go on. The Starboard side has all the hoses, gas lines and fuel filter, and the Propane tank.  I need everything to be accessible yet out of the weather. The Propane assembly has a pressure gauge, a regulator, and an electric shutoff solenoid. This whole thing was assembled for me by a cool guy at Fisheries Supply for a minimal cost.  The fuel-water separator has a clear container with a petcock to drain the water without having to remove the filter.  I think I’ll mount a little light next to it.
 

The Port side has the starter battery and the 6-gallon spare gas tank.  A plastic battery box drops in the frame to protect the battery from the elements.

I’ve cut the stem piece and have started fairing the chain locker top. Once I have the lazarettes done I can add their tops, and then glass and fair the gunnels. At that point I can start finishing the inside of the hull in preparation for assembling the cabin. I’m planning on priming everything except where the cabin parts attach to the boat before building the cabin. It’ll be a lot easier to spray primer while I can still walk around inside.

I’ve got the parts fitted for the chain locker in the bow. Next weekend should see it installed and glassed. I like the kick space below, like a kitchen counter. It lets you stand right up to the locker. There are two large scuppers so I can throw a bucket of water in the locker to wash it out.  The wide panel on the side of the cutout will hold the shore power socket. I assume I’ll moor bow-in most of the time so this will be the least annoying place to run shore power from. I’ve seen too many boats where the power cord is in the way all the time.

I tried various layouts of cleats and bollard locations. I like this layout best so far.  Note the plywood cap on the gunnels - it really makes the boat look more finished.  I need to do some more longboarding before glassing the caps.  I’ve got a bit of a dilemma with the bollard - I found a very pretty bronze one that would look great there. I have to decide if I want to return this one. Hamilton Marine sells bronze cleats too.

I’m trying to decide where to cut the stem. It’s going to be time to finish the whole bow area soon.

Non-boating note: I spend a lot of time on the West Marine site. It’s a good store, but the web site itself is a mess. It’s one of the least-optimized web sites I’ve run across. They break at least ten of the of the 14 rules.  For all of last week they had a missing CSS file too. It’s annoyingly slow to browse around on.  I bet they could speed up their pages by 50% with just a few weeks of work.

I’m working on the rubrail/gunnels of the boat. This involves designing the stern deck and the breasthook, and their attached parts.

Here’s a mockup of the structures in the bow, with the breasthook (which will be 1/2 inch ply with filler below) over the bollard mount, which in turn is the lid of the chain locker:

I really like this design because it allows you to stand in the very bow of the boat, to drop the anchor over or to grab the dock with the boat hook, or just to watch the water go by.

The whole gunnel will be capped by 1/2 inch plywood, radiused and glassed. Here’s the stern rubrail, laminated of thin strips to be the same cross-section as the side rubrail. The stern decks will go on top, creating an open-sided lazarette on either side of the motor well. The lazarettes will hold the starting battery and the propane tank, along with the sundry stuff that needs to be stored.

Along with the thickened epoxy, there are a couple dozen stainless screws and hundreds of Monel staples embedded. These strips really didn’t want to be tortured into this shape!

Here’s the motor well so far. The motor mount is three layers of 3/4 inch ply above the sole, and four layers below. The sides are doubled 3/4 inch ply.

The 25-gallon gas tank goes under the sole just forward of the motor, with the fill and vents below the starboard deck, which will be made as a hatch.  All the steering cables, electrical wires, and the propane tube will be through there also.  The space will be vented below the lazarette covers, well above waterline in case the stern gets flooded.

The plan is to finish the hull and decks and everything else I can do before starting the cabin. As soon as the walls start going in I’ll lose my work space inside the boat. By then it will be summer and I can cut parts outside. By the time the rains come in the Fall I’ll be doing finish work in the cabin.