One year along

I started this boat one year ago today on my birthday. The hull is done and a good part of the interior framing. I still have more of that and then install the cockpit sole, seats and build a cabin plus the masts and on & on it seems. Well it won't be done this year but I am very hopeful about next. I didn't do anything on the boat today except clean it up and take it outside for some photos. My wife Debi and her sister took me out for birthday breakfast this morning and then I went to work. Well there's always tomorrow.

View from a stepladder behind.
The camera angle makes the transom look a lot wider than it is.

Here I am getting ready to install the deck carlins and
have it clamped on in place to check it's fit

This is one of my favorite times of year when all the grass is green, it won't be long till everything is brown around here.

I'm just about done with the floor framing and will soon ad the cockpit and cabin soles.

You need a lot of clamps to make a boat.

I bought a plank of wood the other day that I thought I could get both carlins from but it was only large enough for one so I'll get another piece tomorrow.
I do like this view though, don't you?

Deck & floor framing

Today I installed the short deck beams that go along side the cockpit and cabin. Tomorrow I will go and get the material for the carlins that surround those areas.

Short deck beams installed and one long one at the front of the cabin area.

I also added some beef to the floors so the cockpit and cabin sole will have something to attach to.

I also enlarged my limber holes in the floor. I had just cut a triangle in each next to the keelson but decided they needed to be a little bigger. I still need to clean up and seal the holes now.

Progress slow and hopefully steady. Soon I will be able to seal and paint those areas that will be hidden from view.

Cockpit seat mockup

This week I have been doing some mockups to decide how to frame the cockpit area and the seats along the sides. Also the cross member that supports the aft wall of the cabin and trying to visualize how all these things fit together. Not many parts f=of a boat are square but they do need to align with each other and intersect at times so I think doing mockups before glueing is a good thing. I have t go to the lumber store and buy some 3/4" marine play as well since the cockpit sole, the rear cockpit bulkhead and the cabin aft wall will be from that.

Cockpit seat framing mockup.

Centerboard ballast

Last weekend, my son and his kids came up to help me attach the ballast shoe (Keel) to the bottom of my boat. I had turned it upside down the week before. We hoisted it up and drilled the bolt holes then set it aside and sealed the surface with Henry's wet patch. A layer of Irish felt then more wet patch and set the keel on again. We bolted it down then trimed the felt and the cleaned up the squeeze then turned her back over. This week I am pouring about 25 lbs of lead into the centerboard so it will sink when I lower it.

I am using my ShopBot CNC to make a pocket for the lead. This CNC is too small for most of the stuff I am doing on the boat but it was the easiest way to do this.

Here the pocket is cut and I made spikes of 3/16 brass rod that I had lying about which should help holding the lead in place. There will be a plywood cover over the lead and the whole thing will get a glass and epoxy sheath after
the board has been shaped into a foil of some kind.

Melting the lead, unfortunately I don't have any pics of the lead after it was poured.

Some plywood gussets being added in anticipation of framing the deck and cockpit.

Ain't she purdy?

Updated sailplan and profile

Not a lot going on with the boat or maybe more exact, not much picture taking going on with the boat. I have been working on the centerboard. It needs some ballast so that it will sink when I want to lower it and it needs a track for the pendant to ride in when I want to bring it back up. Also I have to shape it into some sort of foil so it has less resistance while moving forward. I will add pics of this work soon I promise. My son Matthew and my Grandson Nolan are coming up this weekend to help me install the lead ballast shoe on the bottom of the boat and then flip it back upright so I can continue with the construction.

In the meantime, I have been fooling around with the sailplan
so here is the latest version I am considering.

Keeping on

I sure am getting tired of epoxy but I got a long way ta go. Here the centerboard case got a doubler and a cap. The cap will house the lifting tackle for the centerboard. Also I laminated the first of the deck beams as I need to figure out where they go in order to build up to that spot. I'll be working on the v-birth area next as well as the cockpit framing.

The centerboard case got a doubler to stiffen it up in the area
where the centerboard pivots down

Inside the centerboard cap, a 4 to 1 block and tackle will ease
the raising of the ballasted centerboard and bring the line back
to the cockpit where it will be lashed.

Forward from the stern.

Aft from the bow.

Nice figure huh!!!

Laminating a deck beam Actually it will be sawn in half down
the middle to make two beams.

Installing the centerboard case

This is kind of a big deal as I am filling the hole in the bottom of the boat and I don't want it to leak, now or ever if I can help it. There are a couple of ways to attach the case. Some bolt it to the keelson, sealing it with something or other. That is how I did the last boat and it has not leaked yet. This time though, the boat is much bigger and the bilge will be closed off from view most of the time and I want to make sure it is water tight. I am sinking the case all the way through the keelson to the lead keel. the hole is oversized and widened at the top. the centerboard is propped in the hole and slightly thickened epoxy is squeezed around the case until the hole is filled and then allowed to harden. Now there will not be any end grain showing as the case bottom will be covered by the lead keel after being sealed with epoxy. Then there are a couple of case logs that go on after the case is glued in and the lead keel bolts through them

Here the case has just been glued in.

Now the case logs are in and sealed around the centerboard bushings.

This is the case top and I will show how it works later. Just a note that it is removable and will house the lifting tackle to raise and lower the centerboard from the cockpit of the boat.