Boatbuilding = Social Distancing

With more time at home due the current health crisis I have been perfecting my social distancing.  Hopefully the increased time will hasten the launch date.  Here is a recap of the past month or so in the workshop:

While I had planned to paint the interior, I was reading an old post in the GIS Facebook group from Michael Storer that swayed me to varnish the interior.  Besides being beautiful, it is not as quick to look dirty, easy to diagnose any problems inside the wood, and easier on the eyes in full sun.  Unfortunately for me, I left the build lines under the epoxy as I planned to cover them with paint.  No problem, just went back and sanded them all off, because time is, for once, what I have a lot of!  This photo shows post sanding and re-coating with epoxy.

I had been putting off shaping the daggerboard since the rudder was such a SLOW process, however I purchased a set of CNC foil templates from Clint Chase of www.chase-small-craft.com that changed the process fro the better.  For a small price they are far more exact than the ones I created and certainly made the daggerboard come into shaper faster.

As always, work was progressing smoothly so I was due a slight tragedy.  In what seems to be a rite of passage for some, while glassing the daggerboard, I dropped it.  Thankfully the ends had already been glassed and the damage was not as bad as I had feared...

Now that it is spring I have regained lost ground from a fall that quickly turned bitter cold, so time to varnish.  As a matter of fact, a good portion of the build has been held up as I waited for good varnishing weather (for example the daggerboard case and the mast step.)  Below is coat 1 of 4 (if my hands don't fall off from sanding).

One helpful discovery is a closed-cell foam "block" leftover from canoe outfitting that I used for sanding varnish between coats.  Made the work easier on my bad canoeing wrists and made the surface more consistent.  220 left gouges visible through the varnish so I opted for 320 for the rest of the layers.

Holes drilled in the front of the boom and yard.  Boom is ready for a "bleater" (as they have come to be known).  Rear holes, I understand, will need to wait for the sail to be put on.

The first 2 layers on all parts thus far has been an unopened can of Interlux Schooner gloss varnish from when I started the build, way back in 2015 (don't worry it hadn't been opened so it was in perfect form).  However the sanding in between layers is what will do me in, so I plan to finish the last 2 layers with a new can of Epifanes Rapidclear I have on hand, as it does not require sanding between every coat.  For the interior of the boat I plan to try a new varnish (for me) that should take me into the summer instead of waiting again for the fall; TotalBoat Gleam 2.0.  Results will be shared, of course!

Has it been a year? Ok, annual update.

Looks as though the blog will be updated annually, apologies.  Here is all that has been going on since November 2018.  Quite slow, but surely progressing.  Most of the work has been foils and spars:

Final shaping on the rudder, endless sanding...

Final shape, ends rounded, prep for fiberglass.

Biaxial glass on one end.

After ends, fiberglass draped and coated on both sides.  After 3 wet-on-wet coats was not able to avoid runs despite my best efforts.

Mast and lug yard, before. Two 2x4x14' Douglas fir.

Despite paying for "CVG" (clear vertical grain) I ended up scarfing the 2 wide faces on the mast to avoid some knots in the lumber.

Glueing solo, I could only manage to glue one face at a time. During a dry run, I realized the weight of the clamps will change the shape of the mast.  

Final face was glued using fewer clamps and more packing tape, as indicated in the plans.  This may be the only way to finish with a straight mast as the clamps are just too heavy.

Lug yard glued and shaped from 4-sided to 8-sided and finally 16-sided, as pictured here.

Got some help with the boom.

Douglas fir sides, WRC infills with Douglas fir infills at each end.  Obviously, planning to rig the sail loose-footed.  Boom design is from the FB group, thanks to Aaron Robarge's diagram and Pedro Carlos da Maia's input/ experience!  Measuring deflection, quite stiff.

Finally we come to this week, fiberglassing the ends of the boom and lug yard.

Updates from Spring/ Summer and the bottom is glued on!

Work has continued despite the lack of blog posts, so here are the updates since January!

Early in the spring the transom was glued on and I was officially 3D (& added to the Goat Island Skiff map)

However a mistake was made, the transom was pushed forward to meet the chine logs instead of even with the aft-most edge of the side panels.  After some input from the GIS community on FB and the designer, Michael Storer, the edges were planed flush and my Goat will be about 1/2" shorter than the plans.  See the error before I planed the side panels flush with the transom:

Over a busy summer the inside of the bottom panel was sanded with a lot of extra help!

Then the chine logs & bulkheads were planed.  Some bulkheads were a few millimeters high so small nails were hammered in to create an "epoxy shim" when the bottom is glued on.

Finally caught up on updates, here is the most recent work that was completed just yesterday, glueing the bottom!

Before commencing the process with my dad, all chine logs, bulkhead faces, & inside/ outside ply edges were masked with packing tape.

Next, I made a marking guide (from Bruce Taylor's blog) that ensures each screw goes into the middle of the chine, using the side on the boat as a guide.  This proved useful not just for marking but also as a drill guide for the angle of the chine log.  Screws were spaced on 200mm centers.

After the boat was straightened with the bottom screwed on, we flipped the boat to check squareness and it was dead-on!

Then the marathon commenced; mixing SO much epoxy, batch after batch!  The epoxy was thickened with silica and applied using Michael Storer's "ziploc" sandwich bag method, which worked great!  Bow to stern, each batch got about 8 linear feet.

Everything was going smooth, so we were due a mistake.  Near the transom the drywall screws were wandering due to us forgetting to pull the rear into alignment.  We quickly reversed the operation and straightened the boat, however some of the screws came through the chines on the inside of the boat.

We used about 60 screws total, with good squeeze-out all around.   

Some things that helped lessen the pandemonium:

• packing tape to mask squeeze-out
• cleaning during the process as the epoxy goes "leathery"
• peanut butter consistency & non-sagging filler so that the epoxy doesn't run
• marking guide (also used as a drill guide)
• "ziploc" bag method allowed reaching into tight spots
• 1-2 extra people to assist

3D, at long last!

Finished some more prep work on the bulkheads and transom hardware, also a bit more shaping on the leading edge of the rudder.

After cleaning the shop a bit, my father came over to offer an extra set of hands for a 3D dry run.  All went smooth with only small "crack" heard from the bow.  After the dry run, the following night everything was glued in place.

My main helper, installing hardware on the transom.

Using a stainless steel rod from Duckworks, bent a 90° on one end, filed a flat face and drilled a hole for a clevis ring on the other end.  A 24" section of rod was plenty to make 2 of these.

Slow work on the rudder, only on my first edge.

Limber holes cut using Simon Lew's plywood holesaw guide trick, (planingaround.blogspot.com).  Cut limber holes prior to 3D in case of any surprises, also much easier to manage individual bulkheads.

3D BEGINS!!  

Here is the dry run.  We sanded the chinelogs carefully so they would contact one another and not split/ pull away from the ply.  We drilled one side of the stem at a time.  2 people is almost a requirement for 3D.

Also 2 ratchet straps are almost a requirement.

Despite our best efforts, we heard a "crack" ring out from the stem.  We both froze, and cringed...what we were both dreading.  We seemed to fair better than some builders.  The ply split on the right hand side of the photo below.

Finally all together.  Bulkhead 1 is in fact the hardest to put in, both dry run and glueing.  It gets easier from there moving towards the stern.  

Proud Goat owner.

Bulkhead 4 is the only joint I can boast about...the other bevels are not as tight and bulkhead 1 seems to have too much bevel angle on the bottom; will need to plane and epoxy a shim.  Everything else will be filled easily enough with epoxy/ silica.  

Bulkhead 1, moved aft a bit and bevel angle off...close enough.

Glueing begins.  Starting at the stem, one side at a time.  The boat disassembles one part at a time easier than you might expect.  Most movement can be controlled with 2 clamps clamped to opposite chinelogs and pulled together with a ratchet strap; here at the stem, it was not even necessary.

Checking straightness after glueing, only off center by about 2mm.  Clamped gunwales temporarily in place while checking squareness/ straightness and made sure saw horses were level and parallel.  So far, boat is almost dead-on square from multiple diagonal measurements...a very good feeling!

I have been using Raka epoxy and have been very happy, specifically 127 Resin with 606 "Slow" hardener & 610 "Fast" hardener.  The "Fast" hardener works down to 50°.  Outdoor temps have been in the teens and single digits and I can only keep the workshop warm to about 40-45°.  Therefore I have been using SystemThree SilverTip epoxy with a "Fast" hardener, which is rated down to 35°!  So far, so good!

Adventures in drilling, and some progress

Final work to finish bulkheads before 3D.  Cut out inspection ports in Bulkheads 1 and 4.  Installed them on the vertical face of the bulkhead instead of seat tops since the interior will be painted and seat tops will be varnished, hopefully the white will blend in and visually not break up the beauty of the wood.  Down the road if there is a problem I can always install more on the seat tops.  Planning to screw and caulk them in instead of bedding in the epoxy or 3M 5200 in case they discolor or become brittle they will be a bit easier to replace.

Daggerboard and rudder are at final thickness after sanding and planing.  Next I cut out angles at top/ bottom/ trailing edge and started shaping the leading edge of the rudder with the templates.

Finally the bulk of my time has been spent drilling holes in tiller and transom to get all the hardware aligned and mounted.  Unfortunately, despite my previous experience drilling straight and true holes from gunsmithing, I drilled 2 crooked holes.   Even with straight sharp bits, a drill with bubble levels, proper measurement, piece being clamped level and light drilling pressure, still crooked holes.  Best I can surmise is the tiller assembly is not perfectly square to itself...So I filled the holes with epoxy & wood flour and learned some good lessons!

Getting ready to cut out holes

Bulkheads 1 & 4 inspection ports cut out.  Once it gets warmer I will install them with hardware and caulk after painting.

Beautiful offcuts...

Daggerboard

and Tiller

Finally, the drilling saga...First set of holes for the gudgeon in the bottom of the picture went great, however the mistake in drilling the gudgeon in the top of the picture can just barely be seen.  One trick that helped was to use the entire setup assembled to keep everything aligned.

The other essential was a drilling guide since the whole assembly does not fit on the drill press.  This is a small piece of Ash drilled on the drill press then clamped in place as a guide for the drill bit.

 

Installing pintles on the transom.

Successful install...whew!  It is straight, centered and has good clearance.

Trying on the rudder for size.