And So it Begins . . . Knottybuoyz' New Project

[knottybuoyz]

Thanks for the tips Mark.

The epoxy brand is "AeroMarine". A slightly lower viscosity epoxy which will help wetting out the 33 oz. Vectorply. I'm not familiar with any of the West system products other than I have their manuals.

Both surfaces of the hull will be pre-coated prior to lamination. I plan on doing the entire surface of the outer hull in one continious process. Once the pre-coats and two layers of glass are on I'll use peel ply to aid in secondary bonding of any fairing materials that'll come later. This will save quite a bit of sanding.

The inside of the hull is also covered in glass, slightly ligher glass, so it'll get the same treatment. Here you can see the peel ply being removed from the inner hull.



Thanks again for looking in.

[knottybuoyz]

The Beaver sh!t yesterday (Gov't PayDay) so there was no boat buildin' goin' on. Instead I had to drag the ole' woman through a horrendous storm to get to a coffee sale at Giant Tiger store, getting my windshield smashed in the process! Well it wasn't that bad, a big stone chip is more like it!

Tonight I glued up my first bulkhead.



That's it. I know it's not exciting as some threads. It'll get better, I promise. Same thing tomorrow then I'll be able to do a few of the smaller frames.

[Charlie]

HI Rick:

Haven't had much to say on your project but I have been following it for a couple years now (maybe more). I'm impressed by how far you have come along it'll be nice when the progress is to the point where other people can see it instead of just us yachties.

I have plans for a nesting dinghy that I am sitting on. It is only 3 meters long but I am still just acquiring the materials to get it going. Watching you and Anjou build boats makes me want to give it a shot. I'll have to wait till I come back from my trip this summer.

Great job and thanks for the updates I am finding it very interesting.

[Capt Phil]

Hey Knottybuoyz... you might not think it is not too exciting to look at and follow your progress but some of us less handy and lacking your dedication find the whole project very enjoyable watching the project come to life... good luck... Capt Phil

[knottybuoyz]

Thanks Charlie & Phil. Your comments are extremely appreciated and help keep up the moral a lot.

It should start looking like a boat soon so don't change that channel!

[Mark Johnson]

Your project looks great and I can see that you really know what you're doing! You probably have all these details sussed out by now, but just in case...

A quick thought about your boat building structure, that may be useful... I made a similar but smaller version, and found that in winter, it dripped condensation from the cover, all over my work. By extending the cover to the ground, folding it in a foot, covering the ground with 6 mill poly, and duct taping the side cover to the ground plastic... I was able to stop 100% of this condensation. ALL of that moisture came from the ground. In summer, I'd open back up the bottom 5' of the cover for more air.

For cooling in summer, I framed in box fans in each end at the top, both "out". This evacuated the hot air at the top, and brought in cooler air from below the skirt. As I'm sure you know, the green house effect gets intense! On this "sanding day" (photo), the temp in central SC was 105 degrees F, and probably 115 in the building!

To keep the project going in the winter, (we spent 5 years working under this structure), I first bought a VERY rusty old propane furnace from a mobile home, for $150. It was about 2' square and 5' tall, and I just set it on concrete blocks under the eaves of a horse barn 40' away. Then I got a 50' length of 18" ID, double walled insulated Mylar heat ducting, and ducted the furnace to a framed in opening in the bottom skirt of the building, with the large shiny ducting just laying on the ground. We ran this all night & day in winter, and I figured that this arrangement protected the boat from a possible fire, because the furnace was not near the structure.

After hooking up the thermostat in the building, and a even more remote 100 gallon LP tank, it was ready to go.

Over the 5 years, this "tent" building ended up being 4 plastic layers thick on the top 3/4. It actually had a bit of insulation value, and we could keep it near 70 F inside, even with the outside temps in the 20s and the furnace ducting nestled 6" in the snow! We never had to stop, and for the first three years, didn't take a single day off.

This would not be up to a harsh Canadian winter, but would help in the "in between months". Also, If you combine the furnace heat, with copious "broom whacking" of the cover from underneath, you can keep a heavy snow load from crushing the structure.

Hope this is of use. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

M.

[DeepFrz]

Heck, I'm excited...

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Heck, I'm excited...

Easy there big fella!

[knottybuoyz]

Thanks for the info on sheds Mark. I've done my homework, I hope, on that. The shed is double lined with Tyvek which will keep the condensation at bay, I hope. I'll be covering the entire floor of the shed with Poly when the strongback gets assembled. I also put a box fan in the peak.



I don't know exactly how much I'll be doing on the boat in the dead of winter. Likely not much. I like to hibernate and wait for more moderate weather. Winter is usually "savin' up money" season for us. If I get really ambitious I might buy a bigger propane heater. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks anyways, I appreciate it.

[knottybuoyz]

Saturday morning in the boat shed was pretty productive. I got two of the main frames laid up and glued.



The one in the foreground is Frame C which forms the bulkhead between the v-berth and the head. The second one back is Frame F which is just behind the helm seating positions.



And waaaaaaaaaaaay down at the end is Frame E which forms the main cabin bulkhead forward just below the wind screens. E will be the biggest and hardest to handle. I have to do it in two parts and when finished it'll stretch from the bottom of the keel to the top of the cabin roof. This is Frame E. Not glued yet.



Back out to the shed this afternoon to see what else I can do.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Everything is shaping up quite well. It's nice to see everything come together.

Good Job!

[Mark Johnson]

Very impressive operation all around!!!

M.

[knottybuoyz]

Thanks Fella's. It's getting there slowly.

Saturday afternoon in the boat shed was sorta productive too. Some nice shiny bits showed up! I like shiny bits!



I have to say Mr. Yanmar makes a butt ugly control panel. I know I can do better. (that's the smartass in me coming out, cocky lil' pecker that I am!)



So after an hour of measurin' and figurin' and some more measurin' and then some drawin' I think I got it now.



I suppose I could have just put the measurements directly into the CAD program but what the heck, got out the ole' drawin' things and went old school on it. Now I can draw it in CAD and feel confident I got it right (I hope). Standby....

[knottybuoyz]

Sorry, forgot to add I'm going to have a new panel cut to match my elec. dist. panel I built last winter.


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[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

I have to say Mr. Yanmar makes a butt ugly control panel. I know I can do better. (that's the smartass in me coming out, cocky lil' pecker that I am!)

Yeah! I sold mine and kept my nice after-market gauges.