Centerboard, rudder and spars

Since the boat is right side up, I had to lift it off the ground by at least 45 cm (18") to fit the CB and put it in place when it was fully finished. I did it with the help of two people and several bricks (first photo). The CB pivots around a 6 mm (1/4 inch) bolt. The rudder needed a pivot bolt of its own so it can be lifted with a line. Gudgeons and pintles attach it to the transom. The tiller I made from pine lumber, and its jaws from two 12 mm pieces of plywood. There is a pivot bolt attaching the tiller to the rudder top, so the tiller can move up and down as needed, especially with the outboard I plan  to use.

Sandwiching lead shot inside the centerboard without mixing it with glue proved very ill-advised. The shot was small, and the gluing of the plywood layers was not tight enough, so the shot was swishing around inside.  I was force to prize the layers apart, not an easy thing given how strong epoxy is. Then I mixed the lead with latex caulk and reglued the CB. The result was an imperfect lamination that made the CB too thick to fit in the CB trunk without getting stuck. The next inevitable step was to use an electric planer to remove a couple of millimeters from one side of the CB. Not something I would recommend except in extremis. In any case, it was done with a lot of flying shavings and some gouging, but after sanding, a little puttying and more sanding the CB was ready for more work.

The work in question was fitting a block to a corner of the CB for raising and lowering it. It involved cutting a semi-circular piece off the top forward corner and chiseling channels for the two stainless steel straps that are bolted to the CB on one end and the sheave at the free end (photo). Both bolts had to be cut very short to fit inside the 24 mm-wide CB trunk. Another sheave is fitted on the corresponding corner of the CB trunk for the lifting/dropping line. Because of the extra 4.5 kg of ballast and its leverage, the fittings needed to be sturdy. The 2:1 purchase from the blocks helps. The CB was coated with epoxy but no paint or varnish, since it will be invisible and protected from UV rays. Fitting the CB into its trunk and putting in the pivot bolt were tough: imagine being on your back with a lead-weighted CB on your chest, under a boat on bricks that could come tumbling down on you, trying to thread a quarter-inch bolt through three holes that need to be precisely aligned. My wife watched over me just in case. I'm happy to say that the CB and its raising and dropping bock and tackle system were fitted well and work fine (third photo).

Before I finished assembling the CB block system, I made the spars. The mast I made from a 4 m long (13' 1") piece of fir, 75 mm (3 inches) square. As in previous times, I cut the corners off at 45 degrees (this time with a hand-operated rotary saw since I don't have a table saw) to make an octagon. I went surprisingly well. Then I used an electric planer and a palm sander to make the mast round. The sprit I made by laminating two 4 m long boards. I had to extend it to 4.3 m, which I did by gluing a lumber extension between two plywood jaws. The latter form a shallow slot for the snotter, the improbably named line that holds the sprit up and adjusts its tension. Planing and sanding turned the sprit approximately round too. Both spars are visible in the next photo.

Decks, splashguards and spar planning

With winter approaching, I have been winding down the work on the boat (as opposed to spars, oars, centerboard and rudder, which I will make in the basement, and sails, which I will sew in the house), and on Sunday I cleaned up the garage for the season.  I was amazed how many small or narrow, useless scraps of plywood I had left over, but that's what you get with all the curved and irregular pieces.

Meanwhile, the weather in Ohio is holding, and yesterday we had almost 70 degrees (over 20 Celsius).  Not for much longer, that's for sure.  But since it's reasonably mild still, I first put on the side decks and sanded their edges and those of the foredeck smooth.  Then I marked and cut the splash guards.  The forward one is nailed and glued on the main bulkhead, protrudes 1.5 inch over the foredeck, and fits around the upper rail of the forward sliding door.  The side splash guards start forward at 1.5 inches over the side decks and end at about 3/4 inch at the transom.  I glued and nailed them onto the side deck vertical boards.  If you look closely at the picture, the splash guards are a little irregular and will require a little planing/sanding to smooth the curves.  This comes from cutting them free-hand with a circular saw.  I could have invested in a scroll saw but did not see the need beyond this one-off job.  I intend to put on the oak rubrails at the sheer this week.

If my luck with the weather holds I might do some finishing on the decks.  Finishing benches and inside bottom will probably wait for the spring, when I complete the flooring.  I am looking forward to taking a bit of a break from this frantic race with time and climate.  The auxiliary (winter) work will start soon enough.  Speaking of that, some words about what is planned:

Last weekend I bought the lumber for masts, yards and oars.  Good, clear, knot-free lumber is surprisingly expensive, but using stock white pine studs like I did in the past is a real pain, with all the knots and voids, and not very strong.  I designed the masts based on calculations from free software (Mast by Robert Tyrrell).  They will be laminated from three layers of 1X3 clear pine (3/4 by 2.5 inch in actual measurements).  The mainmast will be about 12 ft (3.66 metres) and the mizzen 11 ft 7 in (3.53 metres).  Both will easily fit inside the boat.  The diameter will be 2 1/4 inches (57 mm) at the partners, with some tapering above and below.  With all the scarfing, lamination, trimming, tapering, cutting the corners into octagonal cross-section, final rounding and finishing, the masts will be a lot of work.  Yards, by contrast, will be easy: two layers of 1x2 inch pine (3/4 by 1.5 inch in actual measurements) glued together, and some rounding of the corners.  As for the sprit booms, I already have one from a previous rig, and the second will be the same: a piece of closet rod with an epoxy and varnish finish.  Then of course I will have to get all the beautiful and perplexing chandlery of rigging: blocks, cleats, line, etc. for halyards, snotters, sheets and more.  I am a thrifty guy, and the boat will have traditional, unstayed, sturdy, simple rigging, so high-strength, high-performance, expensive stuff will not be necessary.  I have taught myself splicing, servicing and other marlinspike skills which will come in handy.  There will be plenty of posts about all that, of course.

The oar shafts will be made of two layers of 1X2 poplar stock, and the blades will be clear pine edge-glued to the shaft and its extension in the middle.  There will be quite a bit of rounding and tapering, planing and sanding.  I will also leather the place where the oars meet the bronze oarlocks, and add what is called a button to each oar so it doesn't slide out.  I will talk about the sails another time.

So keep an eye out for more adventures on 176inches.

boatbuilder