More topside work

I cut, fitted and laid down strips of 6 mm plywood to reinforce the bottom where we will be stepping. It proved harder than I expected. I made mistakes, and ripping long narrow pieces with a handheld jigsaw was tough. Then gluing the strips down was hard: I couldn't use nails or screws which would poke through the bottom, so I had to work with many stones to weigh the strips down. Fortunately there's no shortage of stone in our village and property. Photo number two shows the last stone on the tip on one strip which needed extra gluing.

I then set nails, puttied, sanded and gave the insides the first coat of epoxy. The wood looks beautiful, but as before I have to use paint: varnished epoxy would not do well in the harsh Mediterranean sun. Photos one and two show the result.

The next step was the carlins that frame the side decks. I had four meter boards that fit the length with only two inches (5 cm) to spare. I made shallow saw cuts to help the bending, cut one end at the appropriate compound angle, fit the carlin with clamps and the marked the end and cut it at another compound angle. After a fair bit of rasping it all fit together. Repeat for other side. I drilled recessed pilot holes, glued and screwed the carlins on, then filled the screw holes and the saw cuts (second photo).

The side decks are two pieces each, marked, cut and butt-joined underneath. Before laying them on I glued wood blocks to the sides to accept thole pins: per local practice I intend to use them with loops of line on the oars that I will make later on.

The last two photos show the side decks and foredeck in place with epoxy compound and nails. There will be more nail setting, puttying, sanding and finishing, but the carpentry on the boat is done. Centerboard and rudder are already cut and need laminating. Mast and oars remain. Hopefully all will be done before the end of summer.

Back to building, bottom almost done

Back in Greece! I've been here a couple of weeks. It took me a few days to settle in before I started back on the boat. Before I jumped into the filleting, sanding, epoxy coating and painting, I tried to design the pivoting rudder. I wasted a little time trying to figure it out until I thought, I should look at this blog to see what I did last time (duh!). It was easy after that, and here are the three pieces, top, pivoting bottom and pivot cheek. There are more layers to glue together but that can wait. I also cut one layer out of three of the centerboard, fitted it and drilled the pivot bolt hole. I tried it and it works fine for now. Both CB and rudder bottom will have holes cut into them, to be filled with molten lead for ballast and to stay submerged. Later.

Now it was time to plane and start filleting the seams, including the ends of the strakes at the stem, with epoxy compound. It is smelly and messy work, and I had to mix small batches to avoid a runaway reaction. Fortunately the weather has been pretty cool. I noticed sloppy epoxy work from putting the strakes together, and I added more with the fillets.

Then I sanded the imperfect scarf joints of the strakes, which I leveled with more epoxy, sanded and smoothed with wood putty. Then I set the nails as best I could (at the laps it is hard to sink them), puttied, sanded, sanded again. Sanding hardened epoxy is tough and I used the hardest sanding pads I could find.  In the end, and because I didn't want to damage the plywood, I had to accept that there would be plenty of bumps and imperfections, since I am not fond of sanding, and I figured my boat does not have to look as if it came off a boatyard, fresh from fiberglass molding.

There are two photos of the boat after the first coat of epoxy. It brought out the beauty of the wood, but that was short lived.  After a second coat and more sanding, I started on the painting. Once again I opted for standard exterior oil-based enamel for ease and economy. I don't expect to keep the boat in the water unless I'm out sailing or fishing, so no anti-fouling paint is needed. The epoxy took the paint like a charm, and the last photo shows the boat after the first coat. I wonder if it will even need a third coat of paint.

The next step is to screw and glue on strips of tropical hardwood  called iroko along the keel. Two narrower strips will go on the bottom of the centerboard trunk. Since I don't have a table saw her, I asked a carpenter friend to cut them for me. Then I will flip the boat to work on benches and decking. I am almost done bulding a two-piece cradle for it to sit on. 

Getting close to the finish

 In the past week I first carved the letters of the boat's name on the rubrails near the bow, in English (starboard) and Greek (port).  I used a borrowed gouge and sharpening strop and my own rubber mallet to do so, and it was tricky but ended up being good enough (first photo).  I then nailed and glued the decorative top on the centerboard trunk.  I sanded all tops and insides again and put on a first coat of epoxy on those plus locker doors, oars and masts.  Then I filleted the keelson-to-garboard joints on the inside bottom and cut out a scoop on the transom to fit an oar to use as a scull.  I had to stain the transom reinforcements (which are aspen and very pale) to match the plywood, and used epoxy tinted dark with Minwax stain.   Finally, I drilled the holes for the oarlock sockets with a 7/8 inch spade bit, glued on some reinforcements for the oarlock boards from under the side decks and drove a couple of screws through from below on each one for good measure.

I then sanded the first coat of epoxy and laid on a second one.  The weather has been quite cold, so to encourage curing I kept  the garage door closed and gave the garage the occasional blast from a space heater; the combination made the fumes pretty bad, and I was very glad to be wearing the respirator.  The boat is looking beautiful already!  [second photo]  When the decking is painted and the insides varnished it will look even better.  After that I am going to highlight the carved lettering with gold paint (nail polish actually).

Then I drove to Marblehead on Lake Erie and bought a new trailer from Islander Marine.  The winch strap hook needs something to attach to.  I planned to reinforce the bow from the inside and put a long welded eyebolt through the bow, and the inspection port hole makes that possible, one more reason I'm happy I cut it.  Unfortunately he winch hook is too thick for the eyebolt I bought, so I exchanged the eyebolt for a U-bolt.  I need to drill two holes but should be even stronger.

In the coming week I plan to varnish the unpainted surfaces, paint the decking white, install the inspection ports, put in the ballast and assemble and coat the flooring.  So hopefully the boat (except the rigging) will be ready, almost to the day, a year after I started.

Then it will be time to set up the rigging, with blocks, cleats, wooden eyepads, metal eyestraps, bullseyes, snaphooks, a minimum of 64 screws, four kinds of line (sail lacing, halyards, sheets, snotters, tack downhauls, painter, anchor cable, miscellaneous loops, etc., etc.), and other fun stuff like knots and eyesplices.  I already bought all the screws I need (it was tricky and I may have forgot something) and a piece of closet rod for the mizzen sprit (I already have one ready for the main) which needs epoxy and varnish.  Also I will put leathers and rope buttons on the oars.  At the very end I will also make a boarding ladder from rope and oak boards.  I think I will tie the top end in a single loop to hang from an eyebolt or cleat.  So actual sailing may not happen for a while, but I hope soon at least to launch the boat, row and scull it, check for stability etc.

boatbuilder

Epoxy and paint

 The past week has been devoted to filling, puttying,  sanding and coating with epoxy.  As I've already confessed, sanding is my least favorite activity, so a purist would be able to look around and find many small flaws.  I don't care.  After many passes of setting nails, filling with filleting compound, sanding, more filling, more sanding, etc., then some final spot touching up with wood putty, then more sanding, came the time to call a halt to it and coat with epoxy.

Word to the wise: working with filleting compound (epoxy mixed with wood flour) is a pain.  It starts getting stiff very soon, and requires a lot of sanding afterwords.  If it is allowed to cure for more than 48 hours, it's very hard to sand level to the wood.  On the other hand, it's extremely strong and adds to the structural integrity of the boat.  The scarfed joints of the strakes, 8 in total, benefited a lot from filleting compound, since they were far from perfect to begin with.  With a bit of wood putty at the end they will be completely hidden once the paint goes on.

So here is the boat after the second and final coat of epoxy, which has brought out the beauty of the wood and gleams blindingly.  Too bad it will be covered with paint, but it gives an idea of what the inside parts (benches, lockers, thwart, floor, splash guards, CB case), which will be left natural, will look like.

This coming week I will give the hull two coats of paint, after some light sanding.  Then I will flip the boat right-side-up onto its trailer (which I hope will be big enough) so I can work on the inside.  The flipping will be done with a few friends and neighbors, perhaps with the aid of a canoe hoist that I attached to the ceiling of the garage years ago.  I promised to pay them in beer.

So check 176inches in a week or so for more pictures and stuff.

boatbuilder