Deck on Permanently

I thought I would glue and screw the deck in place on Christmas Eve, but the holiday and especially the weather kept me from it until today.

Waiting for a warm day I hung the rudder and made a pattern for the piece the tiller will fit into. I still need to sand the rudder smooth and probably give it another coat of epoxy before painting it.

I also made "oyster whackers", protective strips of brass screwed to the forefoot (the bottom of the stem), the bottom corner of the centerboard, and the entire skeg. The boat's draft will be about 13" with the board up, and the trailing end of the skeg will be the low point, the first thing to hit bottom. The rudder will not go aground; its lower edge will be an inch or two above the skeg's.  Although many boats are designed with a rudder which touches bottom before the keel; none should be. Running aground means loss of control, at best; at worst, loss of the rudder.

Today was forecast to get above 60 degrees. I don't think it made it, but I went ahead with the deck installation anyway. Over the last few days while I was killing time, I pre-drilled all the screws holes and put in all the screws a couple of turns, so that when I put the deck down, epoxy would not squeeze up through the screw holes. I also masked off the topsides and the inside to protect against drips and runs. So today I simply wet out the sheer and frames, wet out the underside of the deck where it will contact those parts, and spread epoxy adhesive on the sheer and frames. Then I just laid the deck pieces on top and screwed them down. It went smoothly and didn't take too long. It turned out that drips and runs were not a problem, but it was still hard to remove the masking tape from under the deck. I don't promise there aren't any small scraps of blue tape remaining but I do promise that no one will see them.

I had a little time left, so I mixed up some microbaloon filler and filled all the screw holes on the deck. If it were warm, that would save me a whole day, but I doubt the filler will harden until late tomorrow, if then.

The next job on the hull will be to fill the joint between the deck and coaming, then fabric-coat the deck and coaming. After that, the rub rail. And a lot of sanding, filling, and painting.

Time

I read somewhere that a sharpie could be built in a weekend. Hah! Since I started in 2009 and obviously won’t launch until 2011, I thought about how many hours it has taken me to build the boat to this point. Twelve months, minus three when I was out of town. Four weeks in October and November out of town. So say eight months. I work every day for four or five hours, but probably miss one day a week entirely for one reason or another. Add it up: I’m at about 930 hours. That's not counting time spent writing this blog, which is icing on the cake; I enjoy it as much as the boatbuilding, and it gives me a chance to think through what I’ve done and what comes next. Anyway, that’s more than a weekend. I can’t think of a better way to spend time, and I value my time highly, but obviously it isn’t worth much these days in money terms. With that in mind, consider Howard Chapelle’s ideas about the cost of a boatbuilder’s time when he makes a mistake:


It has been often said that the mistakes of the amateur builder are less costly than those of the professional. There is some truth in this- but not much. The amateur’s mistakes may destroy costly material but, more often, [lead] him to try to “patch” rather than start back and correct. …with the result that the completed boat is either a fizzle or a jerry-built abortion.

Reading that, I remembered when I was fitting the side planks to the stem and found that the stem had been cut at too great an angle, forcing the side planks to take an unnatural turn in- after I had already glued and screwed them on. I very nearly pressed ahead with a “patch” which might very well have resulted in a “fizzle”. I backed up and rebuilt the sides and stem. An obvious right decision, but it wasn’t obvious at the time.

Deck Ready to Go On for Good

Yesterday I prepared the rudder for fabric coating of the second side, which I gave a saturation coat of epoxy first thing today and left it to harden.

While the rudder was cooking I sanded the coaming, smoothing over all the filled screw holes and particularly the repaired area where it was broken. Then I gave the coaming and the boat's inside a good vacuuming, since once the deck is on there are many spots I will never see again. That done, I laid the deck side pieces in place for a final fitting. I sanded their edges a bit to give a better fit against the coaming. When all looked right, I screwed the side pieces in place. I marked where the frames lie, since I'll need to apply epoxy to the underside of the deck in those places when I finally glue it down. The remaining job in preparing the deck to be glued and screwed was to fit the bow deck piece. Although it is a small piece, it was a devil's job to make because it takes a sharp bend across the boat. After breaking two previous pieces, I made one with closely spaced fore-and-aft grooves sawn into it. I clamped the piece into four clamps I had made with curves to match the required bend. Then I epoxied strips of fiberglass tape across the underside of the piece between the clamps, and left it alone for the last week. Today, when I unclamped it, it held the bent shape without further encouragement. I trimmed it up to fit around the coaming and to match up with the side pieces, working carefully because I sure didn't want to make a new piece. In the picture below it is lying in place with the right shape with nothing holding it down. If it is warm enough for epoxy tomorrow I will glue and screw the deck in place permanently. The next step there will be to fabric-cover the deck and coaming together.

Going back to the rudder, I found it was semi-hardened to the right degree that I could trim off the excess fabric and apply a second coat of epoxy.

When I glued and screwed the coaming in place yesterday, a happy coincidence was that where the coaming meets the transom, its bottom edge matches up precisely with the width of the top piece of the transom assembly, which shows in the picture above. Back when I made the transom I gave that no thought at all. The width of the piece was dictated by the size of the board it was cut from. Blind luck, but it looks good.

Progress on Three Fronts

I had limited time for boatbuilding the last couple of days. But on the coaming, I did sand excess epoxy from having laminated and sealed the composite pieces, but the most important step was repairing the broken starboard side coaming. I mated the broken pieces with epoxy as an adhesive, wrapped the joint with fiberglass cloth, wrapped the whole business with heavy plastic, and clamped it between two planks for support while the epoxy cured. When I took the assembly apart the repair was solid. It isn't too sloppy, but 'll wait until the coaming is installed before sanding and finishing the repair area.

Today I glued and screwed the coaming permanently in place, cleaned up excess adhesive around the joints, then filled the many screw and nail holes which peppered the coaming pieces from their construction and installation. I had already sealed the end grain of the plywood lamination at the top and bottom edges, but I added another coat of sealer epoxy to the top edge after the coaming was installed. The next step is to sand the coaming ready for finishing. Then I'll be ready to attach the deck.

I took my time to get the coaming installation right, but I had a little time left on the day, so I worked on the rudder. One side and all the edges were previously covered with polyester fabric. I sanded those parts smooth and prepared the other side to be covered with fabric set in epoxy. I stretched the fabric over the uncovered side and secured it in place with package sealing tape on the opposite side. I stopped short of applying epoxy today. Tomorrow or whenever, I'll apply epoxy to the cloth, wait until it is halfway hardened, then cut away the excess at the edges and apply a second coat of epoxy. That's what I did on the first side, and it worked out well. After the second side cures, I can add a finish layer of epoxy if needed, install the hardware, hang the rudder, and strike a waterline for painting. Then I'll make the aft portion of the tiller to fit over the two tabs at the top of the rudder and attach that to the forward part of the tiller which I already have. Note the dizzying pattern the weave of the fabric makes in the picture. 



Finally today, I took the first step in rigging the boat. The masthead is very slender, as the plans call for, but I do not want to compromise its strength by cutting a slot for a halyard sheave or drilling holes to screw or bolt on hardware. Instead, I made a loop of 3/16" nylon line (planning the length carefully), short-spliced the ends together, then wrapped it into a double loop on the mast and tightly seized one part of it into a smaller loop to accommodate the halyard block shackle. If I made it tight enough, and I think I did, it will hold firmly in place when the halyard is brought up tight. The shackle as shown needs to be turned around. The picture was taken after dark and you can see dew already forming on the mast.

Painting the Inside

Today was chilly and damp, but good painting weather for my acrylic paint, which on a fair day dries as fast as I can apply it.  Portions of the bow area are so hard to reach I had to use a mirror to see what I was doing. I'm now qualified to do dentistry or laproscopic surgery.

I got a full coat of paint on the entire inside, including the darker contrasting color on the thwarts.

Next up: glue and screw the coaming and deck. I have decided to wait until that is done before painting additional coats. It will be harder to reach under the deck to paint the sides, but even now the hard places to paint will be out of sight on the finished boat. Attaching the coaming and deck will inevitably leave epoxy drips, and I'll want to clean them up before the final coats of paint.

Prepped for Painting

Like most days, this one did not go as planned.

Yesterday's epoxy/fabric sheathing on one side of the rudder is not ready for sanding. High humidity during the night followed by rain this morning left it with a coating of slippery blush. I'll have to leave it to cure for three or four days and then scrub off the blush before moving forward on the rudder project.

After the rain stopped I sponged out the small amount of water which had dripped into the boat, and after that dried I started sanding all the second-round filled holes in the boat's interior. In the process I found two unfilled screw holes which I had overlooked twice despite carefully sticking my nose in every odd corner.I decided to tape over those spots and deal with them later. I vacuumed all the dust and debris out, then did it again for good measure. Then I wiped the entire interior down with a damp sponge. More rain was forecast, so I couldn't paint today, but at least the boat is clean and ready for painting when I get the weather for it.

Since I couldn't paint, I filled those last two screw holes and used my remaining time to hang the centerboard.  I set up a mirror so I could see daylight through the pivot pin hole when the board was in the right place. When I finally got the board aligned right, I slipped in the 1/2" pin, and tapped protective plastic sleeves onto the ends of the pin where it would otherwise rub on the centerboard trunk. I taped the outline of the aluminum plates I'd made to cover the ends of the pin, laid two beads of silicone around the pin hole, and screwed a plate onto each side. The centerboard pivot is above the waterline, so I'm not very worried about a leak there, but this sould provide a durable and watertight support for the pivot pin anyway.

The centerboard is in place, ready to go sailing. Plenty of other things aren't ready, of course.

A Good Day for Boatbuilding, and Gems of Wisdom

Today was the first time all week the temperature was above the "E-line", the 60 degrees necessary for epoxy to set up, and I made the most of it.

I filled what I hope are the last of the holes, gaps, etc. on the boat's interior, and tomorrow I will sand them and paint if weather permits.

The centerboard is now done- ready to hang on its pivot pin. Working indoors I sanded and painted the board over the last few days. The part below the waterline is anti-fouling bottom paint. The upper part is green to match the interior trim. Today I brought it outside and applied the finish coat of green paint, and attached a lanyard to pull it down and back up. I'll hold off on hanging the centerboard for a few days while the paint cures.

I also gave all the sternsheets boards a second coat of paint today. They are ready to put in the boat as soon as the interior is painted.

One side of the rudder got its fabric sheathing, set in epoxy. Having learned a thing or two frm fabric-coating the centerboard, I was able to do a much neater job on the rudder. Tomorrow I can flip it and do the other side, weather again permitting.

Finally, I epoxied fiberglass tape in strips across the underside of the forward deck piece to strengthen and stiffen it.

As for gems of wisdom, this from Howard Chapelle:

"Recently... glowing compliments were given to the presumed skill of the amateur builder. It is my considered opinion that this is slush and that the average home builder is a dub where good boatbuilding is concerned".

and this:

"I think both amateur and professional builders are too often encouraged by designers to attempt boats beyond their skills.  ... I have long believed that the sharpie, with her sides and bottom straight in section... is the utmost the outright beginner should attempt as a home-building project".

Weather Bound, and Learning about Sharpie History

It may be Florida, but weather has put boatbuilding in low gear, if not neutral. Nevertheless, since my past post I have gotten a few things done.

Working indoors, I put the last coat of epoxy on the centerboard. In another day or two I can wash off the epoxy blush and paint it. I'll put antifouling bottom paint on the bottom 6" and the dark shade of interior green on the rest. Also indoors, I filled and sanded all the screw holes in the rudder. It is ready for fabric coating.

Friday was the only recent day warm enough for epoxy outside. I went around the boat and marked every screw hole, nail hole, ding and crack, and followed up with microballoon filler. Yesterday, Saturday, I sanded all those spots. Quality control inspection found about a dozen spots which need redoing, and an equal number which were missed. We are in an unusual cold snap for this time of year, and it may be late next week before we see 60 degrees again. I can do some detail work indoors, but painting the inside of the hull will have to wait.

The main thing I have been doing is reading about sharpie designs and construction techniques.

Through the generosity of Capt. James Watson, the technical guru at Gougeon Brothers, I obtained copies of a series of articles Howard I. Chapelle wrote in 1956 titled The American Sharpie Yacht. Chapelle promotes the sharpie as the ideal type for amateur boatbuilders who want the cheapest, easiest-to-build, proven type of boat practical for family sailing and cruising. He makes the case convincingly, and illustrates it with many of his own designs, adapted from old boats and traditional types. I thought the sharpie skiff I'm building was included in the articles. It isn't, but the articles make for great reading: Chapelle was both knowledgeable and opinionated. Some of his ideas are contrary to conventional wisdom, both then and especially now. I'll quote some of his remarks as space permits.

If there is one iconic sharpie in history, it was the 29' double-ender Egret, built in New York to the design of Commodore Ralph Munroe in Coconut Grove, Florida in 1886, and used by him for many years along the coast between Miami and Palm Beach in they years before there was any road or railroad connecting them. Chapelle knew Munroe well, and made several designs based on Egret's surviving half model. Three of those versions are illustrated in the American Sharpie Yacht articles. Capt. James Watson built a beautiful Egret type from one of those plans last year, and the boat is described in the Spring, 2010 issue of the online publication Epoxyworks. Munroe was influential in spreading the popularity of sharpies throughout Florida, especially in the Keys and the Gulf coast.

In the summers of my college years I taught sailing at Coconut Grove. Each day I would lead a fleet of fledgling Optimist Pram sailers through the anchorage to the open water offshore from the Barnacle, Commodore Munroe's family home. It's now a state park, but the Commodore's son Wirth Munroe, a prolific and successful boat designer himself, lived there then. I met Wirth Munroe several times, but didn't know anything of the family's history until years later. There was a big old-fashioned catboat moored at the house, but no sharpies. Still, my new boat can claim a connection, through only a couple degrees of separation, to boats of its type in Florida waters going back over a hundred years.

Despite Chapelle's evangelism in the 1950's, there are no sharpies being built professionally now. The reason is not any fault in the design type, but material obsolescence. Sharpies have hard chines and straight sides and bottom in section. Just about all manufactured small boats are now fiberglass of course, a material which is strong on compound curved surfaces, but weaker at corners and flat surfaces. Sharpies need to be built of wood, so there will never be many of them. I just hope my boat lives up to its heritage. I can hardly wait to find out.

After a Delay, Starting the Finish Work

Chilly weather, other obligations, and a cold have kept me from doing much the last few days, but now I'm back on track. Before I can paint the inside of the boat it needs to be thoroughly sanded and all the screw holes and dings are to be filled and sanded.  I cleaned out the boat and vacuumed it yesterday, and today I started the sanding. Some areas like the forepeak will never be seen once the boat is done, so the sanding is just to provide a good surface for protective paint. But most of the inside will be what I and my crew see all the time, so it will get more care. Preparation for the finish is not the time to be impatient.

One thing which has given me a headache is the forward deck piece. It is sharply crowned, which tests the ability of the plywood to bend without breaking. The first version broke, so I made a new one with outer grain running across the boat instead of fore and aft. I also cut grooves fore and aft on the underside, to allow it to bend more easily. My boatbuilding bible says to cut such grooves close together and not over 1/3 the thickness of the plywood. With the foolish thought that more is better, I cut the grooves deeper, and sure enough it broke along a groove line when I tried to bend it to fit. Sadder but wiser, I made another piece and cut sallower grooves. But it was still so stiff I doubted it would take the bend required. Soaking it in hot water and leaving it overnight with 50# of barbell weights pushing a bend into it didn't help. So I fashioned a clamp to press it into an even bend. That seems to work, and I'll leave it like that until I'm ready to attach it permanently. Then as I install it I'll smear epoxy putty into the underside grooves to give it strength and a good seal. After I took the picture below I added two more similar clamps to bend the piece throughout its length.

Next up: more sanding.