Woman Dog Boat

Inka Petersen launched her two hatch baidarka yesterday.  One hatch was for her, the other for her dog, Rosie.  The boat was a bit of a challenge to design since its volume was fairly small - total length 15 feet by 22 inches wide.  With low free board, proper trim becomes more important.  So we launched the boat.  I will let the pictures tell the story.

The boat empty. Trim good.

The boat minus Rosie.  Needs ballast.

The boat with Rosie in the dog seat. Trim pretty good.

Actually, part of what contributed to the trim inequity was that none of the seams had been sealed yet and the boat was taking on water fast and heading for the stern.  Still, we all were happy, christened the boat with some Anchor Steam, a local SF brew.  I was hoping for some Alaskan Amber but the supermarket wasnt handling it. Plus I got a swim in. 

Read More..

G9 minus four

Four days until the G9 Boatbuilders Gathering.

Okay, I admit it. I didnt even touch the boat today. 

Too much else to do.

So, Ill post a couple of photos I took at G8...

...and a few from G7:

An old Chris-Craft cruiser

And, heres the view looking off the back of a beautifully-built Glen-L Zip.

Read More..

Eastern Arctic Kayak Construction Ribs

Back to working on the EA kayak after more than a months hiatus.
Today I tried notching and bending a stick for ribs, but there was so little wood connecting the segments that I gave up and decided to just do the ribs in three parts.  At the same time, I started refinishing an old wood and canvas canoe so I didnt finish the ribs but got far enough to work out how it will be.
Pictures follow.

View from the bow.  Set sides of the ribs are sitting in their mortises, ready to be trimmed to proper length.  On the ground, just to the left of the EA is a stitch and glue surf ski that somebody dropped there.  Dont know who.  I will have to call some of my friends to find out who it was.  Soon as I get caught up on building, I will go and try out that surf ski.

The first completed rib.  I just nailed the center section to the sides with bronze ring nails.  Seems to work.  The joint will be backed up with some stringers. Note the battens clamped to the sides of the rib sides to mark them for where they will be trimmed.

Side view of the stringer the top of which marks the elevation at which the rib sides will be trimmed.  Ribs are roughly 5/8 by 1/2 inches.

The view from inside in the direction of the stern.  Those ropes look so nautical.

Another shot down the center of the kayak. The first completed rib is visible.  Tomorrow, I trim the rest and cut and nail the remaining center sections in place.

And the ribs near the bow.  With any luck, this frame will be completed soon.

Read More..

Seats

Got time to put the seat sides on today.  There was a lot of scribing to the curve, but the fit is pretty good for government work.  Hardest part was tracking down where I had put the plywood panels!  

A side note for other builders,  the fit to the bottom does not need to be perfect,  You will be filling with epoxy putty and glassing on both sides, so a little gap will never be seen.  

View looking aft towards aft bulkead.  The plywood panel on top is the forward seating deck.

View from the transom showing the compartment just forward of the transom.  

A better view of the seats with the side panels fit.  Will glue up tomorrow.  

One more shot.  should have cleaned the bilge out first.  It is amazing how on any boat at any stage everything winds up in the bilge.  

Read More..

lhydroptere in Alameda

The French boat lhydroptere is currently in Alameda being overhauled at Nelson Marine before heading to LA where the team will try to beat the world record time for the LA to Honolulu trip.  Apparently, the boat did over 45 knots in San Francisco Bay. If this sort of thing interests you, you can find full details at the lhydroptere website.
If you go to the website, note that everyone is wearing wetsuits.  Because these boats are fast they make for lots of spray.  Sailing these boats is apparently more of an athletic event than a pleasure ride.

Here it is. The boat has a main hull and two outriggers.  The foils extend down from the outriggers.

A closeup of one of the foils, folded up from the outrigger.

And another view of one of the outriggers detached from the wing.  You can also see the steering wheel of which there are two, one on each wing.

Read More..

Masts

I ordered the mast tubes from B+B yacht design.  They come in 8 sections, with the two lower sections being reamed out for a perfect fit.  The upper sections need to be fit with a fiberglass bushing.  This is pretty easy to make from 3" tape cut in half and made 29" long.  After the bushings set up, sanding them down to fit is relatively easy as the masts make dark marks where they are fitting tightly.  Took an hour to sand and fit.

The only puzzle is the placement for the nutserts for the mizzen sprit on the purchased spar section.  The mizzen nutserts are sitting almost a foot higher than on the mark indicated on the plans.  I hope to figure out if this is a modification from the plans, or if I need to put Nutserts at the plan lines.

The main mast looks great.  I will add the stop collars to each section tomorrow, and then glue them all up this week after doing careful alignement.

5-25-15

I put the stop collars on yesterday, and confirmed that the snotter placement on the mizzen is correct.  New sheet had error on that line, old sheet was correct.  

June 9 - update,  fiberglass mast track wedges

Each section needs to transition smoothly from diameter to diameter.  I used Alan Stewarts method for making fiberglass wedges for the sail track.  I also applied a little filler over the mast collars and sanded so as to blend in with the ramps.  This was not a difficult job to do.  

• cut 3" fiberglass tape in half to make 1.5" strips
• cut 14" length, then 13", 12", 11", 10.
• place on a piece of plywood covered in packing tape and epoxy up the wedge. 
• apply packing tape to each diameter section of the mast at least 6" longer than the wedge
• move wedge to mast and press in place. 
• After it sets,  remove from mast, clean up, and cut in half to make two wedges from each strip
• Clean up packing tape and masts with a quick wipe of acetone.  
• place in place, epoxy, and fair in place.  

Fiberglass mast track wedge epoxied in place. 

Photo distorts, but it really is a straight line in the transitions.

filler over the collar transitions to the fiberglass ramp.  

June 9, 2015 - rivets

I have decided to join the sail track to the masts with stainless steel 5/32" rivets with stainless mandrels.  To isolate from the aluminum mast, I am applying anti-sieze lubricant, and plan to epoxy  coat the mast and paint it prior to installing the track.  

June 18 - assembly - mast tracks

Attaching the stainless track to the mast is a chore as I do not have a long handled rivet gun.  Setting stainless steel rivets involves strength and determination as well as careful alignment of the tracks.  

I go the rivets from FAstenal,  great selection, price, and service.  I have a pile of 5/32nd stainless rivets with stainless mandrels,  I am using some plastic tubing (wands from shop vac) as handle extensions to get enough leverage to set the rivet.  Every now and then a mandrel falls into the mast, or the mandrel breaks off at the wrong point and rivet removal becomes necessary.  I broke one drill bit already.  Proud to report that both sails move smoothly along the track!  

Just because I could. 

test of track.  The joint needs to be very level to avoid binding.  A few short raps with a hardwood block worked.  The ends did not need to meet exactly at 90 degrees as the plane of the rails had more effect than lateral alignment on smooth operation.

Read More..

Preparing the stem for encapsulation

I should have encapsulated the stem a long time ago, before I ever attached it to the keel. Im not sure why I didnt. Nonetheless, I did not. I wont repeat that mistake on the Zip.

In any case, it needs to be done now before the planking goes on. In preparation for encapsulating the stem, I need to sand away several dried globs of epoxy that have been stuck on it since earlier stages in construction. The worst of these are directly behind the chines, where they are attached to the stem.

I worked on that a little earlier this morning. As this is the middle of the week, and free time is quite limited, Im expecting several more days of small, incremental progress in this task.

Read More..

First coat of primer

Today I did a bit more sanding on the Utilitys hull... then I taped it off and rolled on the first coat of primer. The primer is AquaGard 190. I rolled it on with a foam roller, and it took only a fraction of a quart to cover the bottom. It was a breeze.

The lighter area you see going across the hull is from water that condensed on an overhead air conditioning duct and then fell onto the hull, before rolling off either side. A little frustrating, but it doesnt look like it will cause a problem. Ill remember to towel off the ductwork before applying the second coat. Maybe that will buy me enough time before the next coat dries.

What can I say? I live in the deep South. It gets humid here.

Read More..

The Twelve Foot Yurt

The ten foot yurt has had a few outings in the past few years.  It worked well but I thought it could use a little more floor space in conditions where we wanted to use part of it as a kitchen. So I set to work on the design of a twelve foot version.

A twelve foot diameter, vs. a ten foot diameter would give this yurt 44 percent more floor space.  I decided to keep wall height the same so that I could re-use the existing wall lattice, needing only to add another 6 foot section of wall to bring the circumference up to 37 feet from 31 feet.  

I tried to figure out ways to re-use the existing roof parts, but that was not possible.  Still, re-using the existing wall parts and door cut down considerably on the total amount of work.

So on to some pictures.

Heres the sewing studio for the roof. I tried sewing the roof on the floor of the living room at first, but the large hunk of canvas kept colliding with various furniture.  Having the large flat area of our driveway to rassle the canvas was a big plus. The other thing I learned from the ten foot yurt was to soak the canvas in water and let it dry to shrink it before cutting and sewing it.  Shrinkage was mostly along the length of the canvas with very little across the width so trying to get a good fit without pre-shrinking the canvas would have been a challenge.

 This photo is of the trial assembly of the yurt in back of the shop. Looks good enough.

 What you are looking at here is the extension of the wall canvas joined to the existing wall canvas from the ten foot yurt.

 I also decided to add a skirt to the interior of the yurt to minimize the amount of sand blowing into the yurt in windy weather.

 And this is the tono or roof ring.  I made the roof poles a little over long so minor changes in length wouldnt have them pulling out of their sockets.

 Heres the twelve foot yurt pitched in front of the original 16 foot yurt.  Note the difference in roof pitch.  I wanted to experiment with a lower pitch on the twelve footer to keep interior volume down for easier heating.  The new pitch was 30 degrees vs. about 39 degrees for the 16 footer.  A lower roof also makes for easier setup of the roof.

 I also decided to make a door frame for the door cover, an upgrade from a simple flap that hung over the door but was a nuisance to go in and out of.  The assembly of the parts is tongue and groove for reasonable stability combined with ease of disassembly.

 Once I was done, I dragged all the yurt parts outside to weigh them.  Total weight about 198 pounds.  Not suitable for backpacking but OK for car camping.

And here, the yurt deployed in the Mojave National preserve.  We wanted an open roof for star viewing at night but rigged a table cloth for shade during the day.  

Read More..

Coaming

June 18, 2015
Attaching the coaming has become an obsession of sorts.  I want the coaming to go all around the cockpit and provide an aestheticly pleasing line as well as a functional drip control.

The method was to steam the 1/4" plywood and then bend.  I broke the first few pieces necessitating a trip to get more plywood $$.  Then, decided to soak the wood, wrap it in a towel and then bend one piece at a time.  When I tried to do two corners at once, things got dicey as the wood did not want to bend and took on a reverse curve inwards towards the boat.

Recipe - soak overnight, wrap in towel, steam for 40 minutes, bend VERY QUICKLY. It loses pliability within 5 minutes of being removed from the steam.  SUCCESS!

Pie

Overlap at centerline will be trimmed to flush and a decorative trim piece placed over it.  Coaming will get shaped and then molded to 3" wide in general (except 2.25 where the coaming is flush with the deck.

ces will be trimmed to shape this weekend.  With the trim going flush where the skipper sits, then rising again across the stern deck with enough clearance for the tiller.  Steam box set up could use more steam, but I got it done with patience (and a little perserverance).

The wires only served to make black stains of the wood,  use small blocks of wood to hold the work up off the bottom.  I did find the wires helpful to hold the door shut and make the box smaller or larger as needed.

Nice!  forty minutes of steaming and work fast!  Later on I placed a block of wood at the end on the right and bent it into place quickly.  This would be better with a helping hand!

Sheet rock screws work, but later on I put the screws into a plywood pad first, which creates a much smaller hole in the work. 

Work in progress. 

This works, but is a little anemic.  A larger pot, and larger hose would help a lot.  The box does retain the heat and steam with the wooden doors and towels placed over each end.  Dont use the wires to hold the work up, it stains the wood.  a few blocks of fir accomplish the same thing.

6-22-15
Coaming has been fitted and can be glued up tomorrow.  What a struggle as I miscut several pieces, cracked a few, and then put the scarphs on the wrong side of one plank.  But, it looks nice.  I still have not cut down the areas where I know I will need to hike out as it looks real nice at this point in time.  I dont have the heart to cut it where I know it will cut into my butt while sitting on the rail.  perhaps a seat cushion will do!  Thinking that I might use the boat, then make decisions for modifications.

6-26-15

It came out nice.  The only issue I had was where some paint lifted off the deck.  Primer is stuck well, but the top coat lifted from the primer where I had put down packing tape.  I am thinking that the tape sticks too well in the warmer weather, or perhaps I have used tape that was too good.  Gotta fill screw holes and sand, sand, sand.

Read More..