I'm The First!

Whilst preparing to assemble the hull and its cradle, I quickly realized that I will be seriously limited on space to build that AND cut remaining sheets later on (fyi, there are 2 cars in the driveway that i'll be too lazy to move every time I want to do some large cutting).  So, I decided to take the time to cut everything now. Next thing I knew, the "boat yard" got a little bigger (imagine that).

I also attempted to cut my transom out of the "half-sheet" of ply, per the plans, and, guess what? You can't cut a 58" transom out of 48" square of ply. Not even diagonally. I brought this to John C.'s attention and he was just as surprised since it seems I'm the first one (out of dozens of PS builders) to attempt this feat. He's makin it right by sending me another transom. What a guy!

What I've been doing these last few weekends. EVERYTHING cut! 

Next: Stitch & glue the hull.

Phase One: Finished!

About 16 squirts of unthickened epoxy to fill holes in Center Board, prep contact areas between keelson & keel, and the rest thickened to attach keelson. I didn't check for gaps and mark for extra adhesive during dry run. Had to pull apart after the fact which was time consuming and messy.

About 100# of lead holding 

down the bow area. 

Viola! Keel done!

Next: Hull Construction

Closing Up The Keel

Did you all remember to put a coin in your keels for good luck? 

Next: Cut out cradle, fiberglass center board, & assemble cradle. 

Final Lead Pour

This was a big area that took a few trips from the smelter.
Next: rear cap and keelson.

120-lbs of scrap lead yielded about 20-lbs of "non-lead" material (mostly clips).

Next: sand down that lead and fiberglass.

Progress!

Centerboard fabricated and ready for lead-pour.

Notes: while rabbeting the ballast, don't forget (as I did) to rabbet the leading and trailing edges before glue-up (not later with table saw; router would be much easier). I will make up for it by double-up with fiberglass overlays (I hope) next. I also drilled out pivet holes and screw holes to be filled in later with epoxy along with the screw holes from the ballast lead backing (you see here).

All prepped and ready to go for smelting.

Notes:
Smelter is actually a turkey baster I bought last Black Friday for only $40.
The lead weights I got (mostly for free) from local Mexican tire shops.
Instead of manually sifting out non-lead pieces, I just threw everything in the smelter and scooped them out with a steel strainer spoon (easy peazy).
Propane tank: borrowed from girlfriend and filled at Shell for a $1 less/gal than every place else (pays to shop around).
Lead buckets can be heavy; cheap furniture dollies from Harbor Freight come in handy.
When filling keel, fill one end, and let cool, before filling the other end. The bow needs to be elevated to level the rear ballast before pouring there (that's what the milk crate is for).

The opening for lead ballast.

Yeah, lots of smoke here. This continued to boil at least 10 more minutes after the pour (I was worried if there would be any wood left; why epoxy inside here when it all gets burned up I don't know, but I'm not the expert).

Notice the stainless strainer I used to scoop out all the non-lead material. All this from just the little bit I just poured into the bow and centerboard (rear keel later).

Mistakes will be made

No matter how hard you try not to, mistakes will be made. Got carried away belt sanding the keel blocking and sanded about 1/4" too much. Thank goodness for epoxy thickeners.

Next: sanding everything fair followed by smelting (lead pour).

Just above the string, you can see the gap.

Just above the string, you can see the gap.

Problem solved.

Boat Names

Now would be a good time to consider boat names for my PS. Some ideas I have are: Caviar (my last name is Roe), Valour (one of the 7 virtues), Nauti1, Bok Choy (it just sounds cool to me). Open for other suggestions. People don't be shy.

Daggerboard trunk & keel dry-run (pre-glue-up)

Added blocking under rear to try to avoid the skewing of the centerline that frequently happens here. Thinking about drilling pilot screws at pivot points to help minimize the time it takes lining everything up during glue-up (of course I'll fill the holes later with epoxy). It's still in the 90's here in Arizona and even slow-cure epoxy dries fast here.

Glueing up the trunk

Finally, hopefully, back on track with my project.

Blocking up the trunk

Not sure exactly why I have to sand this smooth/shiney surface down but I'm not a pro and the pro says "do it".

16' patterns...7 of them!

Glassing the trunk

My first attempt at fiberglassing...not bad.

Previously...

So I’m late starting my blog, but did keep somewhat of a record of the early progress (start at bottom & read up):

1/17: 1-wk cure on planks stress-test: passed! But there are gaps on the outside. Fairing will be needed.

1/16: hole cutter arrived. Cut beautiful/perfect holes in trunk. It’s art compared to the crap I cut the first time.

1/15: ordered cast-iron kettle from Ace: $19. Every place else was around $40. Ace is the place.

1/14: more dagger/trunk prep.  Found/ordered circle cutter from Hole Pro (very expensive, but worth it to me to cut nice holes. This project will have a few).

1/13: cut dagger/trunk. I cut lousy circles. They really look retarded. Need circle cutter.

First scarf cuts.

Final scarf cuts. Next: epoxy bonding.

12/27: cut first scarfs. Cutting scarfs is nerve-racking because the concern is fouling up expensive material and buying more and starting over. But I took my time and it came out pretty good.

12/26: bought 2 oil-filled radiator heaters for Boat Yard. Getting cold up in here in Arizona-town.

12/20: exchanged bad shop light and bought ply for cradle.

12/19: added shop lights

Got wood? 15 sheets of marine grade plywood finally here. White piece on top will be the transom.

12/14: Delivered but a couple pcs have splits (not real bad) and blemishes that look like either mold or rot. I hope not.

12/13: appt made to drop off tomorrow 2-6pm. We'll see.

12/7: Noah's finally sent out another batch of plywood. Tracking info says: 12/13.

12/1: Lost plywood ordered finally found in Pennsylvania and sent back here. When it arrived, it was pretty dinged up. I could’ve cut off the edges and worked with it but I paid a lot of money for quality stuff and this wasn’t quality. So I sent it back and told Noah ‘s to pack it right this time (love my attitude).

11/23: Ordered f/glass from Noah's ($295) and epoxy (as I go) from West Marine (here in Tempe). More expensive, but I need to get this project started. Time is valuable to me and I WILL pay for it (isn't that one of the 7 deadly sins? I hope not). That little comment inspired me to look that up which, in turn, lead me to the Seven Heavenly Virtues and my possible boat name: Valour (pursuit of knowledge). Pretty cool but I have long list of name ideas. More on that later.

11/20: Called again to FUP. Told me to call Noah's. Noah's said they'll look into it and get another shipment out to me right away. Great attitude! We'll see. Also bought first lot (1 of 10) of epoxy today…ouch! $150 for 1-gal of resin and 1-qt of hardener.

Ordered fiberglass from Noah's and tape from CLC.

11/19: Called UPS. "wtf Chuck?" They have no idea.

11/17: After waiting 5 hours, UPS Freight never showed up!

11/16: Plywood due in. Damn that was fast (N.E. coast to Az)!

11/13: Found some free lead (for smelting into the keel) at Mexican tire store (no politics there). Will use lead-shot for hull ballast now.

11/11: Bought lead shot for keel & dagger board. On sale at Cabela's, $40.50/25-lb bag, pretty good. Too much government control at Corp tire stores.

11/6: Marine-grade plywood is impossible to find unless you look in the upper northwest or east coast. So I found the best price and reputation just north of Niagra Falls and ordered plywood from Noah's. $1k cheaper than CLC.

10/25: Received plans and patterns. Called Kinkos for a copy quote. I'd like to keep my masters prestine. Found out it's cheaper to buy another set if needed. Also, cleaned out garage and converted to “Ye Ol' Boat Yard”.

10/19: Ordered plans. Asked ACE for plywood quote. They used to carry marine grade, not any more. Wo is me.

10/16: Ordered instruction manual. Read cover to cover and looks very do-able.

10/12: Decision to build the PocketShip was made. A compromise between the CH21 and SV - I think. Sacrifices will have to be made to get this done in a timely manner: like drastically reduced frivolous spending and virtually no leisure travelling (hard to do since I work for the airlines).

PocketShip

PS Inside Cabin

CLC POCKET SHIP (begin; read up)

10/1: Decision to build the CH21 instead of SV was made. Costs, weight, are a little more, but a much nicer traditional boat.

CH-21 moored.

CH-21 Inside

CAPE HENRY 21 (begin; read up)

9/26: Learned Ace has ACX plywood. HD (Home Depot) does not (they have BC).

9/25: Bought workbench, some tools, and garage organizing stuff.

9/14 Received plans.

9/6 Ordered plans/DVD.

9/5 Measure my half of garage: (10x22) Driveway: 8x24

Stevenson Vacationer

STEVENSON VACATIONER (begin; read up)

About Me

My name is John. I was born in northern California and raised mostly in the San Diego area. I spent 8-years serving in the U.S. Air Force, then about 10-years as a Field Engineer in the semiconductor industry working for 2 different Swiss companies back to back. I have traveled all over this country and world and now I work for the airlines as a Planner (more travel - yay). I now have lived in the Phoenix Metro Valley since 1995 and love it here.

My boatbuilding journey actually began when I was kid when I had a subscription to Popular Mechanics and I took woodshop all through Jr High and High School. I never could afford to build medium- or large-sized projects, so I resolved to build small ones.  In one of those subscriptions, there was a project for a small sailing dingy called “Sea Scout”. It took me 30 years before I’d actually attempt that project. Unfortunately, like with some projects, and a series of unfortunate events, it never got finished. The good part of that project was I did learn a few things about boatbuilding which gave me more confidence when I decided to start another, bigger, one.

During the summer of 2012, I researched many wooden boat building projects before ultimately deciding on the PocketShip.  I almost decided on the Stevenson Vacationer. Which is also a small, 19-foot, gaff-rigged, pocket cruiser. I liked it because it can be built to look like a pirate ship (I like pirate stuff). I later discovered, because of its flat bottomed hull, it was limited to closed waters. Then I discovered the Cape Henry. It is a beautiful, classic, design but a little too big to build in one side of a garage, too heavy to pull with my little 3-series BMWer, and little expensive to build overall.