4/19 I stretched a 26 foot piece of galvanized wire along the North wall of the shop 36" off the floor, and marked off the frames. I ripped and scarfed a 3/4" square batten on the band saw and glued it early so I can use it tomorrow. [3,3] (hours worked today, total hours worked)

4/20 I started plotting the sheer elevation but before I was through, I stopped with feelings of emotion as I plotted each point, and stood back, looking at the points on the wall, which define the "character" line of the design. I continued with the stem and keel points, planed the batten down smooth, and ripped 14, 6" long "straps" to hold the batten in position. I tried fairing the sheer using the batten, but the batten wouldn't bend true. I got out a choice piece of #1 Fir and one of mahogany and ripped and scarf them up for two new battens. Gluing is easy using waxed paper and staples on my 31 foot long bench on the South wall. [7,10]

4/21 Planed down the battens and refaired the sheer. [3,13]

4/23 Sunday. Faired the keel, stems, and plotted all the rest of the points. - The points, for me, are for the four parabola lines, which, combined with the sheer and keel lines, completely define the hull. These points are created in the computer, where I match Scotts points, which he establishes by drawing the waterlines and buttock lines, to the parabolas. Scotts frames are nearly perfect parabolas to start with, so it's an easy fit. - (Explanation of parabola technique: My first attempt at fairing was on an 8 footer. I tried it from "the book", using the classical approach, of springing battens over both frames, and the waterline-buttock lines, to come up with a compromise. Since I was not only doing this for the first time, but I was doing the actual development of the design, it was a stubby 8 footer with a 4 foot beam, which is the most difficult to do, and I was using half scale for the length and full scale for the height, which made for an almost impossible task. Being an ex road designer, I was used to pure mathematical curves, circular for horizontal, and parabolic for vertical. Since parabolas are easy to draw with a straight edge, I got the idea to see if I could do it on the computer. It reduced the fairing process to only having to fair the longitudinals, which once done, defined the hull. No more going back and forth. The 8 footer came out to have the most perfect shape I had ever seen in a "round bottomed" boat. So, I became hooked of the process.) [2,15]

4/24 Faired all the other points. Several of the parabola points had to be adjusted by 1/2" near the bow. I reran the computer program with the adjusted points, but they had nil affect on volume calculations. I built a 6.5' x 5' horizontal table for laying out the frame sections, and squared the sides with the power plane. Sanded and painted the top with flat white latex. [8,23]

4/25 Plotted first 5 frames and 6 half frames. Calculated lumber. Considered options for supporting the molds. The strongback method puts the molds too high, but need a way to firmly anchor feet and stems. - Called Scott to get his thoughts on how I was planning to set up. He liked my idea of anchoring planks to the floor and securing the molds directly to the planks. He suggested I not bevel the molds as the bends are very easy and it won't over stress the planks. Also, I should not have to use many fasteners due to the easy lines of the design. He suggested I not laminate the stems in place but build a jig and do my beveling on the bench. He feels the extra effort in calculating the bevels from the lines is not that bad. I mention that I am considering using 2 diagonal veneers instead of one. He reminds me that his boat doesn't have any, so mine should be strong enough with only one diagonal and one straight. [9,32]

4/26 I tested my double spline joint for the molds. Worked good but the saw blades were too dull. Went to Kingston, ordered lumber and bought anchor bolts and three 7 1/4 blades for the 10" table saw, which will now be dedicated to splining for the duration of the mold making. Rearranged the shop and built up first two mold halves. I picked frame 5.5 as it is the widest and probably the hardest. [8,40]

4/27 In the morning I found the molds glued to the floor. Ooops. Cleaned and rearranged the shop for the lumber and the mold trimming operation. The half molds are nearly 8 feet long and in an arc so they need support at the ends and my normal infeed outfeed tables won't work. Also, the band saw is hard to move so I roller mounted it and built up two feed tables. I marked the first half for rough cutting and run it through the setup. It chatters because the infeed side is 1/4" too high. So, I tear it all down and plane off 1/4" off all the feet on the table, reassemble, mark the mold for the final cut and run it through. Works like a charm. [7,47]

4/28 Traced the first half mold onto the second and cut. A perfect pair. I am still not able to totally envision the stems or how to allow for the planking thickness near the stem ends where it's not at right angles. First, I picked all the mold corrections at the sheer. Then, I have to create a diagonal to pick up the angle in the middle for the correction there. Now the hard part, figuring it at the stem. I start plotting stem cross-sections on a piece of drawing paper, only to realize that I've made my first mistake. I didn't allow for the 1" wide band that runs down to just past frame #2. After careful review, and plotting full size, the individual stem sections, I realize that the molds can be shifted forward in frames #2.5 to #3 to insure the planks fit fair with the forward molds, which will have the bottoms pushed out 1/2" at the bottom. This should not be a problem as long as I remember to do it. The aft stem is the same. Mold lumber arrived and is stacked. Cut, splined, and glued both halves of #5. This was much easier than #5.5. Figured out a way to shift mold sawing operation to allow me room to build up a dozen mold halves at once without having to stack them. [9,56]

4/29 Completed #5, cut and glued 1st half of #4.5. (forgot to do 2nd half before gluing, will do after glue dries.) Cut and glued both halves of #4. Rearranged to allow space for more gluing and cut up more splines. [6,62]

4/30 Sunday. Cut and glued 2nd half of #4.5. - The board is bad on both edges. Fortunately there are four edges and only one need be true. I can always fair in a edge surface with epoxy and microbiology later if needed, plus fill in any points where I might have overcut. [1,63]

5/1/95 Trimmed both #4 molds. Cut and glued #3.5, #3, and #2.5. - Ran out of "Premium PL" glue. Tried using epoxy, but it takes so much longer and is so messy, I made special trip to Kingston to get more. I did a trial spline joint in a scrap 2x4 with Excel glue, but didn't want to trust it in a mold until I test an actual joint. It wont be dry until tomorrow. [9,72]

5/2 Trimmed the 6 molds, cut and glued 8 more. - Excel glue test pulled apart after 12 hours. Made a 2x4 lap joint, which is more of a furniture joint. [8,80]

5/3 Trimmed 7 molds.[4,84]

5/4 Trimmed last of 22 molds. Started laying out next 18 on board. - Excel test broke with very little wood breaking. [1,85]

5/5 I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I have to determine the inner stem notches off the wall profile. Then it's a simple matter to cut them for the width of the first lamination. The end of each plank will lie on the inner stem mold so doesn't need to even touch the mold. Side bevels will come from the inner stem also. A fore-aft bevel can be easily be picked up off the stem profiles for the molds they cross. Then it's a simple matter to cut the notch 4" wide if the mold is that wide at that point. - Finished lofting for molds #6 through #10. This completes lofting. [6,91]

5/8 Cut and glued molds for #6, #6.5, & #7. - I tried a "no-spline" technique, seems to glue up okay. Takes a little more lumber but less glue, time & maybe stronger joints. [4,95]

5/9 Trimmed #6-#7, cut #7.5. [4,99]

5/10 Cut #8, glued #7.5 & #8 [3,102]

5/11 Trimmed #7.5 & #8. Cut and glued #9, #9.5 & #10. [4,106]

5/12 Trimmed #9, #9.5 & #10. [3,109]

5/15 Cut and anchored sill boards and centerline board to concrete floor. I put 15# felt under the boards because the concrete still gives off moisture and I don't want the boards to warp. Everything came out solid and true. I rechecked the width and thickness of the keelson. I am able to keep Scotts dimensions even with the deeper keel. Notched #6, put a gusset on, and mounted it on the board. [8,117]

5/16 Took #6 down because it was in the way. Decided I needed to start at bow and work aft to have enough room to work center sections. Cut bow stem molds and notched #0.5-#3 & set up. Everything seems to fit very well. [5,122]

5/17 Finished setting up molds and aft stem mold. I sprung a batten from mid bow around the bilge area to the stern. It fit perfectly except that the stern was too sharp a bend for the 5/8 batten, which means it's too sharp for the planks. Talked to Scott. This will be a good question for him when he stops by. Lots of cleanup needed now, and organizing scrap. One of the sill boards springs up a little, will need an anchor bolt. Also need to figure out why the top joints don't all line up. They should be a straight line, which means the sills aren't level. There is no other reason for this, and I know the floor has some high and low spots. [9,131]

5/18 Cleaned up and sorted scrap wood into areas and piles. - Scott stopped by and saw molds. He asked about the modified lines so I explained about dropping keel 2" in fin area, softening the bilges, deepening the draft to 5', and beefing up the floors to carry the load. We discussed the effect on center of buoyancy, angle on leading edge of fin, deadrise angles and tumblehome angles. I showed him the computer printout which illustrates all these values. He seemed very happy with what I'm doing. Agreed that not increasing sail area was good choice. [4,135]

5/19 Decided to use water level to level base. Marked DWL on each side of each mold using level and jig from sill. Set up water level and marked each mold half with level line. Discovered 7/16" variation. Highest point is at frame #6 on South side. [3,138]

5/20 Checked water level marks using carpenters level and find discrepancies mold to mold. Determined that water level is sensitive to coils in tube. Come to conclusion that water level marks aren't accurate enough. Consider renting level, which is what Scott suggested. Cut and scarfed a 2"x5/8"x29 ft piece from a 16 ft 2x4. [3,141]

5/21 Planed down scarfed plank and tried the bend around bilge area. Plank bends okay but a little stiff, but actually 1/32" over size of thickness, so should be okay. I checked my carpenters level and determined I had accuracy to 1/64" in 7 feet, which is close enough for the boat. Ran a wire from stem to stem to see if I could level from it. It was too awkward but got me to thinking and rerouted 3 1/2" above the base. I found a perfect 1x4, 9 feet long in the garage attic to use as a cross bar for the level. Only problem is that the ends need to go up about 7/16" and the anchor bolts aren't long enough. Got idea to remove washers and use hole saw to deepen hole and chisel out the donut with the bolt in place rather than having to drill in longer bolts. Raised both ends and the North side up to level of South side of #6. Now all I need to do is level the 1/4 points, 1/8 points, shim up in between, and the base should be level within 1/64" relative, and to within 3/16" end to end, which is great. [4,145]

5/22 Finished leveling base by shimming with shingles. Started plumbing and blocking keel and quarter points from bow working aft. [5,150]

5/23-25 Continued plumbing and blocking. [11,161]

5/26 Finished plumbing and blocking keel and quarter points. Discovered that even though the quarter points are plumb with the base points, the sheer points are not always plumb aft of about frame #3. This will require more tweaking, especially aft of frame #7 where the sheer is above the base and is at an angle with the centerline. [3,164]

5/29 The 5/8" x 2" batten bends easily over keel notches but something is wrong in area of #3 to #5. Tried batten in garboard area and discover that the only part of molds on centerline are the leg bottoms. DWL and sheer points aren't centered. Back to layout board to get diagonal and center up molds. [4,168]

5/30 After tweaking #5, I discover it's worse. Decide to feel out a location for the 2" wide plank where it will lie flat all the way from stem to stem. After 5 such lines, I try to duplicate the lines on the other side but they don't seem to fit. Conclude it's because the board has a sideways set. Talk to Scott about board not fitting sheer. He is not surprised, says he had to do all kinds of tapering to get his boards to lie flat. [3,171]

6/1 Repeated board locations on second side. Figured out ways to tweak any mold to get to fall in with the rest. Moving just the bottom of a leg fore, aft, in, or out, or sawing it off a little or shimming it up. Mid points and centers can be tweaked for or aft, center lines can be shimmed or sawed shorter. Looks like I will be spending more time on this. [2,173]

6/2 Set up planner to same height as bandsaw. [2,175]

6/3 Discovered another error. Horizontal of sheer at #0 and #10 is 1/2", not 0". Actually, this might be a blessing as the curve is too tight in the stern and the bow might be even improved by a little flatness near the sheer. Otherwise, tweaking is coming along well. Discovered that it is impossible to follow natural path of 2" wide plank from #10 to aft stem as bend is too tight on that line. I cut a tapered plank and tried running it along natural path until about #9 and then curving it upward, parallel to the water lines to meet stem. A much better fit. [6,181]

6/4 Finished truing molds. Fit new lines to curve upward near stern to allow for tight bend at aft stem. Patched in strips in overcut areas which had been marked when cutting was done on the band saw. [2,183]

6/5 Cut and planed 3/4" x 5/8" batten and refit stern lines. Called Edensaaw. Arthur to call back. [2,185]

6/6 Got prices from Arthur. Good price on Ash and pulled Fir. [1,186]

6/7 Washed pickup to go to Edensaw. Dave brought boat down. [1,187]

6/8 Picked up Ash and one board of Iroko. Pullouts looked pretty picked over. [4,191]

6/9 Ran tests on Ash, Iroko, Fir, Meranti, etc. (eleven types of wood). Ash had highest strength, Fir next with highest strength to weight ratio, Meranti also high. [3,194]

8/11 Repositioned mounting screws on molds to allow for disassembly after planking is done. Discovered new problem. One inch thick ash keelson is too stiff to bend over the molds without the molds deforming. Must reinforce the molds, use a thinner layer of ash, or go to a more bendable wood. Did a trial glue lamination run over aft stem. Joints appear too dry and ash is so stiff that it won't lie flat without clamps. Sigh... [2,196]

8/13 I got 1.5" springback in 30" on my lamination test, which means I can't use my molds for a laminating form unless I make the laminations a whole lot thinner. Considered either have to make keelson up from seven pieces, brace the ends down from the ceiling, mold it seperatly, put a strongback under the molds, or get a more bendable wood. Feel depressed. [1,197]

8/15 Called Scott. Gary says he is gone cruisin' til the end of the month. Calculated dimensions for making keelson up from six 1/2" pieces instead of four 1/2" and one 1" piece. Will need to screw together to glue. Should be easier to cut bevels if done before gluing. Aft stem requires 1/8" lams, bow 1/4". These will get 2" clamps for gluing, cut bevels later. Cut all boards for keelson and stems to length and width. Time to sharpen up a bandsaw blade before I try ripping 6" of ash. [4,201]

8/15-16 Resawed all laminations. Called System Three's Technical services to get their recommendations on gluing up ash laminations. They recommended *not* using their T-88 (1:1) epoxy adhesive. They advised that their laminating epoxy is half the price, is easier to mix, since you can use plunger pumps, and when used with silica thickener, it makes a superior bond, and is easier to apply. I called Scott's partner Bill, who verified that that is how they do it. Sys3 did recommend cleaning the ash with alcohol just prior to gluing. Bill says test it with out cleaning first and forget the alcohol unless it shows some adhesion problems. He said he had never heard of having to clean ash. I tested the springback test piece I glued up last week and there is sure no problem with the glue sticking to ash. Ordered #2 hardener and other stuff. Tried to adjust the planer. Need spring clip pliers. [10,211]

8/17 Finished adjusting planer. Planed down a couple of ash battens. Made the best batten into a jig which allows for thickness of planking at one end. This, combined with a stem template, and made a bevel pattern for each frame on each stem. Now I am ready to do the rough cuts on both stems, and was able to verify the correlation of the frame mold notches and the inner stem molds for each frame. Everything matches perfect but this is the first time in doing it in 3D, the original notches were taken off the lofting boards, which are all 2D. Bought some IPA (Isoprophal alcohol) and tested it on disposable gloves. No problem. [5,216]

8/18 I did a full dry run on the aft stem. Made and installed blocks to screw clamping bars to at each mold plus one at #0+1/4. Will do 8 layers first, cut radius, then lay 1st 1/2" of keelson with scarf over. Next 1/2" of stem will scarf into that, with last 1/2" of stem over that, scarfing into top 1/2" of keelson. Same for bow stem. Made up 1" clamp from ash using chop saw setup and tested it. Worked as good as steel clamp. Realized that I am going to need clamps for 1", 1 1/2", and 2". The 1/8" laminations seem to close okay if clamped every 5" on each side and clamped to the molds with screw bar clamps at each mold. Decided to wait until Sys3 ships me the #2 hardener, which will give me added time to get everything clamped before the epoxy starts setting. I will have 6 stem gluings and 2 keelson gluings, some of which will require half of my 2" clamps, but should be able to do any 2 at one time. 1 keelson edge gluing, which should be done on the bench, will take the long clamps. The six scarf joints will be done with screws and only 4 clamps to each scarf, so they can be done all at the same time. That should take a big dry run to be sure it all really fits perfect. The aft stem laminations distort very easily if they are over clamped at the molds. Will have to be very carful on 1st gluing, and clamp all successive laminations to first 1". [4,220]

8/21 Did dry run on forward stem. My new slow hardener arrived from Sys3, mixed all of it with most of the fast hardener that I had, and tried it out on a series of tests. Since I had enough left over, I made up some strips to represent a 3/8" x 1/2" rib on 1/8" planking for a new tender. When I got ready to use the epoxy, which was only about 5 minutes, it had gone exotherm in the cup, already nearly solid, and very hot. If this happens to me on the big laminations I will have to start over with new boards. [3,223]

8/22 The first test sample broke at the glue joint, my first bond failure. This was after only 17 hours, so decided to wait until evening to break the other samples. Made template for first keelson piece and marked for profiling. Rearragned work bench for gluing up the fore stem. Rearanged air compressor to clean bench and lofting table, which I will use for gluing up aft stem. Rebuilt scarfing tool to provide support for scarfing 1/2" x 6" piece on edge. made several practice runs. It's not easy, but it does work. Made up a scarf test, using laminating epoxy with #2 hardener and staples. Also made up a 1/8" rib section. Broke second sample after 26 hours, same as first. Realized that bond was breaking only on surface planed by Edensaw. Rechecked all previous tests and determined that they were all made on freshly made bandsaw cuts. Made up three new test series all on planed surfaces. One sanded, one cleaned with IPA, and one with no preparation. The last batch was a little thick, and I noticed that I could still cut it with a knife after 28 hours, which indicates it hadn't set up fully, also the thickness of the joint may have actually made a weak joint. Another factor is that the last batch was the one with the #1 & #3 hardener mix. Will let the new (#2 hardener) batch cure until 8/24 AM, check bonding, laminate the stems accordingly. [6,229]

8/23 Cut scarfs on first keelson plank and cut profile. [1,230]

8/24 Broke test samples. No bonding problem, even with unsanded, uncleaned, old planed ash. Broke scarf test. Center broke, where epoxy was 1/16" thick, causing ends to break in compression. Need to put screw in center of scarf joint. This can be done dry, to get hole in perfect position. This will help the alignment as well. Made up same tests for White Oak, using hard clamped, light clamp, no clamp pressure.[2,232]

8/25 Built 18 1/2" high x 3' wide x 16' long scaffold inside molds so I don't have to keep moving the ladder to build up keelson. I can use it on the upper planks, up to a point. Maybe I can use it out side too. Got set up and did the 8 board lamination. It was 30 square feet, and when I calculated the epoxy needed, I came up with 3 oz, which I knew wouldn't be enough, but it wasn't until I was well along that I realized that I had only multiplied by 16 to convert gallons to oz. I was off by a factor of eight! The whole run took about 90 minutes, from the first batch to the last clamp, but all the boards were still sliding, and epoxy was coming out all the edges, so I made it before it got too far. Fortunately, I spread everything out right away, so no heat got a chance to build up. [6,238] Goofs: 1) didn't trim fingernails beforehand, and they cut through disposable gloves, so I got epoxy inside the gloves. 2) ran out of silica in middle of run. 3) forgot to sheath the molds before I started. I had to take both gloves off both times

8/28 Planed down edges of aft lamination, and scarfed on 1" x 4" x 18" extension which will be backing for prop strut. Glued first 1" of bow innerstem. I used every clamp I had! [3,241]

8/29 Finished off first 1" on both stems. Cut tapers and scarfs on first layer of keelson. (four boards) Edge glued center pair. Decided to glue up entire stem-keelson assembly and then cut bevels. Except for aft stem, pieces are too big to handle and power plane takes off wood fast, easy, and accurately. [3,244]

8/30 Planed down center pair on thickness planer. Ooops... only 3/8" left. Will have to splice in another 1/8" thick layer to get 1/2" thickness. Checked and double checked fit of stems to the 4 piece (now 3 piece) keelson first layer. Finally I just started mixing epoxy and figured I'd be able to solve anything unforseen as I went which I did. All through at 1:00 PM, and all pieces cut for next layer. Spent 2 hours making up 66 new clamps for tomorrows run. [6,250]

8/31 Planed down rough edges, got benches covered with waxed paper and did 2nd bow and aft stem runs and finished keelson. Used up all the clamps and had to use screws on the last 2 feet of keelson. Used 1/2 gallon of epoxy, my biggest day so far. [8,258]

9/1 Modified 32 clamps to 2" and redrilled the holes to make them work more easily. Finish planed the keelson edges. Notched a straightedge so I could see if the top center of the keelson was on the same plane as the mold coming into the edge. Checked every frame and wired down where necessary to get the whole thing to lie true and flush with the molds. Everything looks good. [7,265]

9/2 Epoxied and clamped the final laminations, which took about 80 clamps. Drew in the centerline on top of the keelson and started planing bevels with the power plane. I built a jig for cutting bevel depth cuts with the Sawboss. I used it on the center of one side but it wanted to slide sideways as I got near the stems so I switched to using a pull saw which even worked better for the small cuts. It feels good to be cutting wood at last. Cutting on MY BOAT, not just some fixture. I just realized that I will need to undo the wires when I'm through with the bevels so I can raise the keelson once more to put waxed paper in the mold notches again. Formula for gluing laminations: one batch of 1 1/2 oz laminating epoxy covers 4 square feet, (2 square feet on each side of the joint.) a second batch mixed with silica and spread to correct thickness, just covers the same 4 square feet. Total of 3 oz for 2 sq ft joint, or, 85 ft2 per gallon. [8,273]

9/3 (Sunday) Took off clamps and screws and waxed paper, blocked up the stems and planed down the edges. Marked the edges of the bevels on the aft stem. [1,274]

9/4 Marked the rest of the bevels and checked some more. Rough planed the aft stem and about two thirds of the keelson. Using tennis elbow braces running the planer helps, but still can only do about 45 minutes at a time. Scott shows outer stem running through frame #9 but frame is so flat there that the plank is slivering down only about 3/8" thickness to make room for the 1" outer lamination, which becomes 6 1/2" at that point. Maybe I need to talk to Scott on this. May be able to use Sawboss on frame #1.5 forward. Tried cross cutting bevels and splitting with chisel. That turns out to be harder than planing, but the laminations are sure solid. [7,281]

9/5 Stems and keelson are beveled except for final cleanup, so I can start planking tomorrow. Need to make longer spiling dividers. [6,287]

9/6 Finished stems and keelson. Got new pulley at Eagle HW and mounted 1/2 hp delta motor on squirrel cage fan. Blocked filter and opened bathroom window to bring in fresh air. Swept and vacuumed about 40 gallons of chips. Started lining molds with waxed paper for the planking. Tested 1" silicon bronze screws for pull out in ash through a piece of 5/8" fir. The head pulled through the fir, which means 3/8" into ash is sufficient. [4,291]

9/7 Cut, planed and glued parts for spiling dividers. Rechecked dimensions on plank width guide. Tested Meranti for splitting when dry wall screws are driven through without holes being first made. Meranti doesn't split like cedar would. Rearranged lofting side of the shop. Weighed and sorted new batch of lead. Now have 1100# of needed 3000#. Jim H. stopped by. As I explained problem in getting glue on plank and then trying to get it in position, Jim mentioned hanging the ends, which should work quite well, with a screw in each end so it could both turn and swing. I just noticed the plans call out beveling the planks, and adding extra thickness for fairing, neither of which I had planned on doing because I didn't think the turns were that tight. Even at a full 2", the gap seems insignificant, but it could be easly done with a hand plane while I'm fairing the sawed edges and I can calculate needed thickness for the turns. [4,295]

9/8 Drilled holes in spiling dividers. One hole was off center so glued it back solid. Recalculated Meranti. Figured I need 168 boards at 28' x 2" x 3/4" (5/8"+1/16" for kerf + 1/16" for fairing). Went through the stack and calculate that I have only 160. This means I need to use the taper scraps. I doubt that using 2" wide is smart anyway, so cutting diagonals should reduce the scrap enough. Worst case is I have to glue end scraps together to make up short boards. Put more waxed paper sheathing up. [3,298]

9/10 Completed waxed paper. Rearranged Garage so I can get to the Meranti. Redrilled the dividers. [3,301]

9/11 Rearranged shop for ripping and scarfing. Ripped first two boards into twenty 15' x 2" x 11/16" strips, scarfed into ten 29'-9" planks. Clamped the joints together with three clamps across the ten joints. Couldn't get waxed paper under or in between. (6:30PM) Tried to break apart at 9:30PM, still too soft. [9,310]

9/12/95 Got up at 2:30 AM and broke boards off bench and apart from each other. Eights hours is too long to wait to do this, I barely was able to pop them apart. Six hours would be better. Should try to do by 4:00PM next time so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night, or dry fit screws so I don't have to clamp them together. Pulled staples and ran boards through the planer. Even with the planer set for 21/32, (5/8+1/32) which is 17mm on the planer scale, (metric is so much simpler) I am still not getting all the bandsaw marks off the inside surface. Called Scott. He doesn't think I will have a problem being too thin. He could only suggest calling the manufacturer as to why my planer isn't feeding well with Meranti. I screwed braces between the outfeed table and the planer stand so I could feed with both hands without the planer sliding across the floor, and finished the other 9 planks. Spent the rest of the day fitting the first two planks, but didn't finish. The spiling dividers work like a charm, but the rest of this is going incredibly slow. It's a major effort just to manuever a plank from the bench to the far side, and I realize cold wet weather is going to be a real problem as I'm having to use outside space for infeed and outfeed for both planing and tapering. Also, the bandsaw doesn't leave an accurate edge and hand planing each piece is slow and creates mountains of shavings. [8,318]

9/13 In cutting the tapers on the bandsaw, I am having to fight the side curve that some of the pieces develop after cutting them out of the mother board. I am surprised, as I had thought Meranti to be immuned from such behaviour. Tiring work, as it takes full concentration. Switched to power plane for planing bandsawed edges - much faster. Still have to go over with sandpaper to take off the "strings" and places where planer ran against the grain and left "hackels". My second shear board broke at frame #7.5. It wouldn't have except it had a grain runout of about 6:1, it was cut to about 5/8" square, was under bending both ways, (worst bend in the entire hull) I drove a screw through it without drilling a hole, like I do on ends. If it had been a flat head screw or I had blocked it, it might have been ok, but this was one of those "fluted" dry wall screws. I decided to just epoxy the break and go ahead and use it a little further down, where the bend won't be so great. Tried second board on the other side. Problems in getting it to lay tight. I now see why Scott suggested ring nails. [9,327]

9/14 After dry fitting second board to first I conclude that using blocks and screws isn't going to work. Although I dislike putting screws through nearly every plank, it appears that it's either that or narrower planks with ring nails. By using 6-1 drywall screws on a 45 degree angle, I can draw two planks together and it won't show on the inside. Using 6-1 1/4 screws in drilled holes works on frames and 1" sil-bronze screws in drilled holes on the stems. I attached wires to ceiling to support plank ends and center. I made a notched support to hold plank center while applying epoxy. The wires allow the plank to be rolled, epoxy side down without touching anything except the center wire. I can then start attaching from one end and work straight to the other, removing the center wire as I come to it. Also attached a loop of wire from ceiling to support the bow end of a plank while I swing planks to the far side of the boat from the bench. (Prior to this, the aft end was supported by the blackberry bushes outside, while I swung the bow end over the boat.) Glued first two planks together. Lessons learned: 1. Always have a backup roller frame and use it when the one you are using falls apart. 2. Meranti only gets 50 SF per Gallon (7.5 oz for 3 sq ft) vs. 170 SF per gallon with ash. Of course there is more waste in narrow strips. 3. Preparation pays off. The wire system worked great, and I didn't get glue all over everything or scrape it off the plank accidentely. What to do differently next time: 1. Spread epoxy on top piece and start on end of bottom piece until current batch runs out. Then start fastening before mixing any more. Mix more when fastened up to where any more would interfere with spreading glue on bottom piece. 2. Wipe off all wires as they are removed. [7,334]

9/15 Ahhh... a mystery. The planks won't lie fair on frame #8.5. The first five planks all bow out at least 3/8" beyond. I checked the lofting and the frame is exactly per the lofting, and it appears fair on the wall. I glued two more planks, and refit the one that broke. Developed a stepped, notched glue spreader which cuts required epoxy down to 3 3/4 batches from 5 for one plank. (68 SF per gallon) This will save over a gallon on the edge gluing. Doing more than two planks will present problems as a new spreader, easel, and roller cover are needed for each plank. They get sticky. Also, had to clean off driver bits and wires. Formula for edge gluing Meranti planks. 3 sq ft total surface, takes one batch to wet out, 3 batches mixed with silica, spread out with notched spreader. This gives a definite "flow" out of both sides of the entire joint. Cleaning up results in about 0.75 batch collected back into the cup. [7,341]

9/17 (Sunday) Glued two planks and did some clean up. [3,344]

9/18 Surprise! This morning I find that the plank that had previously broken, had broken again during the night in a different spot. It's the first plank on the second side so all that was glued were the ends. But, it would mean sawing it out. Dispite the odds, I decided to go for it and glued it up with the next plank, clamping a splint on the outside to make it lie fair. Cut and scarfed up 2 new boards, making 18 strips. One of the planks had quite a bit of runout on one end. I put the runout at the bow where the least bend occurs. Once the planks are all glued, the runout will no longer represent any weakness. [8,352]

9/19 The splice job came out perfect. Glued scarfs on the 9 new planks. This time I put wax paper on every other joint and clamped them all together. Glued planks 8 and 9. Put scotch tape on back side of propeller blocks so I won't be spending time cleaning them. Made up twenty more propeller blocks. Started using bare wood for easels. It's easier to just wipe off excess epoxy when done and use power plane to clean them off the next day. Wiping the notched spreaders works fine. Run through bandsaw next day and occasionally run the planer over them. [8,360]

9/20 Cleaned the glue off the scarf joints, they came out absolutely perfect. The glueline is a uniform 0.005". Also the scotch tape works great on the blocks, as well as the bare wood for easels. Glued plank 10 in place. Cut the next 8 planks for length. [6,366]

9/21 Thoughts: I need 134 more planks and have enough boards to make only 116. I should have enough taper and flat trimmings to make up the 18 planks. The only problem with this is that it will take up the entire bench for a day for just one plank. (two strips) That means I need to start right now so I can work them in so I won't have to stop planking for 18 days to build them up. That means that I also need a place to store all these pieces. I had thought about the top of the molds, but that means a lot of weight. Speaking of weight, the planking will add a lot of weight on the molds and they do flex some under load.. I checked the dimensions from the lofting for frame #5. The beam measurement checked within 1/16 inch. I compared measurements between the baseline and keel and discovered that the keelson was 7/8" shorter than the lofting. It was some time before I realized I had forgotten to deduct 7/8 from my lofting measurement for plank thickness. I installed a verticle brace at #5 and a horizontal brace at frame #3. I made and installed holding brackets for the trim and installed brackets over the bench for holding planks. My spiling dividers don't adjust down to a 3:1 ratio, which is what I needed. I decided to try using a metric ruler and the calculator. It worked great. I cut the tapers on the first plank, ran it through the thickness planer and edge planed it with the power plane. It fit like a glove so I made up 7 more just like it. The bandsawing goes easier with practice. Reorganized the shop back for planking again and cleaned up. The planings and saw dust from making 18 planks nearly fill a 30 gallon trash bag. It's dark at 7:45 PM now and I dread the thought of a power outage while epoxying, so decide to wait until tomorrow to resume planking. I looked over the trimmings that will partly make up the additional 18 planks and realize that these will take two hours each in just gluing time plus another hour or so in planing and spiling. This is for about $90 worth of wood. [8,374]

9/22 Glued on three planks. Ran out of propeller blocks, so made 25 new ones. Refigured potential for making up plank shortage with trimmings. The best trimmings are what I've cut so far, maybe 6 planks. Doubt there would be 6 more in all the rest of the planks. Will have to buy more lumber. [8,382]

9/25 Glued on two planks. Called Edensaw, they had 2100 bd ft of Meranti. Headed to Port Townsend in truck. Stopped to put in hydralic fluid in steering unit and truck wouldn't restart. Walked 3 miles up hill and caught ride home. Caught another ride with jumper cables & got truck home. Got charger back from my son and charged up battery. [3,385]

9/26 Got 60 bd ft more Meranti at Edensaw, put on 2 more planks, measured spiling tapers for next 30 planks, almost an exact match for the scrap I just cut off if I reverse one and glue them back to back. That would make 9 planks, with 3 from cutoffs, and 5 from flat scrap, I'd be only one plank short. Cleaned the house gutters, they were full of fir tree droppings. [4,389]

9/27 It's raining, the first I've had since start of planking. Went to Kingston and got some 6 mil plastic, two 10 foot lengths of 4" PVC drain pipe, and some 2x4's. Built awnings for both doors and set up pipes for infeed and outfeed. Glued plank #18. Measured and figured tapers for next batch of boards. It just turns out that the scrap from two of the last batch will just make up one from the new batch. So, for one glue joint, I get a free plank. I don't have to rip it out of a board, and it's all cut to length and scarfed, and there are enough for 9 planks. The electricity went out, so quit for the day. [6,395 ]

9/28 It's still raining, but the wind didn't bother my awnings and all is dry. Made up sheet metal apron to guide plank from outfeed table to the outfeed pipe. I bandsawed the taper and ran the plank through the planer using the apron and it worked flawlessly. The bad news is that the plank won't lie flat on the previous plank. From the middle to the bow, it fits perfect, but aft it has up to 3/4" gaps, where the thickness won't allow it to be pulled down. This is most discouraging, just when I thought this was going to start going faster, it appears I will have to hand fit at least one board each side. Maybe cutting 9 planks off from one pattern plank isn't good. It appears I got an accumulative error. I ripped up three of the new boards into strips. One board had splits in the ends. I set it aside as I may be able to use it near the keel without having to scarf on for full length. Cut scarfs and glued up the other two boards for seven more planks. [8,403]

9/29 Scarfs came out perfect on the seven new planks. It took four dry fits to get the new planks on each side planed down so it didn't have any gaps. Got the first one (#19) glued down. The resin pump is so stiff from all the crystals that it isn't retracted in the time that I spread one batch. I set it under the heat lamp. Called S3 and ordered 15 gallons of resin and hardener. The lady reminded me that it won't cure below 60 F. I mentioned the pump and she said all it takes is one crystal and more will grow on it even at above 50 F. Need to think about cold weather now and where I am going to store 15 gallons of resin. [8,411]

9/30 Heat lamp melted the crystals in the pump and it works again. Took 4 dry fits and lots of planing to get #20 to fit. Got it glued down and #21 fit like a glove. Shaped #22 and dry fit okay. Picked the straightest of the full (untapered) planks and redrew the next "sweet" line. It changed considerably. I drew the new line from both sides of the plank to get the average. Considerable difference in the line. Will have to make this common practice from now on. The plank broke of it's OWN WEIGHT when I was moving it back to the bench! It appears to have a rotten spot. Another plank to set aside. [7,418]

10/1 Found plank #20 broken on the top side of screw. It didn't go all the way through and it didn't move, so it appeared to be caused by the screw and not bending. This was a plank from the board that was lighter than the rest. I checked to see if the plank that broke last night was from the same board. It wasn't! I felt I needed more information so tried to break the previous plank. It broke with little effort, yet the other end of the plank was scarfed to the a strip from the light board. It broke normally, with lots of effort, creating lots of splinters, whereas the other one was a sharp break. What next? Try to break all the planks? After stewing a bit, I realized that short of sawing all the planks off the stems, there wasn't really much I could do about the planks on the boat, and the weak plank had shown signs all along that I would readily recognize. Decided to just look for any such signs in any new planks and proceed. Measured yesterdays "sweet line" and made up a new plank from the proportions. It dry fit like a glove, so made two more and installed them both. [8,426]

10/2 By measuring and weighing the planks that broke and comparing them to others, I found a range from 38 psf (lbs. per square foot) down to 23 for the plank that broke. Also, on close inspection, the break occured in a spot where there had been fork truck damage and some very local grain runout, about 2:1 at the break. A plank of 26 psf, I could break over my knee with no difficulty. Just to get a comparison, I tried to break a piece of 5/8" x 1 1/2" Red Cedar over my knee and I couldn't break it! Next I started weighing boards from the pile in the garage. They ranged from 28 psf to 34 psf, so I took a 32 psf and a 34 psf and ripped, and scarfed them for tomorrow. Glued #24. Doubt there is enough resin for another plank. [8,434]

10/3 Cleaned up and planed the 8 new planks, marked and tapered 4 and faired them down with the plane. Glued in 2 with the last of the resin. Had to pour the last two cups out of the jugs as the level was too low for the pump. Up to #26 now. [8,442]

10/4 UPS came at 10:30 AM. It took a while to get a new pump set up in the 5 gallon resin jug and not have bubbles. I finally resorted to using the balance for all 4 batches. Set up shelf in the bathroom for the resin so I can keep it from crystalizing. Glued in two planks. [4,446]

10/5 Heat lamp had bathroom at 74 F from overnight. Traced tapers on two more planks, ran them through bandsaw, planed them, glued one on. A perfect fit all around. Up to #29 of 94 total. Resin smells even worse at 70 F than it did yesterday at 62 F. Keeping shop at 70 F with 55 outside with only lights for heat. [4, 450]

10/6 Called System Three about resin smell and talked to Kern Hendricks, the President, co-owner and co-founder. He was aware of no change in anything and could not account for the smell. Apparently no one else has complained. He assured no bad effects from breathing the fumes. Cut tapers, faired and glued three more planks. Up to #32. Wired up heat lamp on thermostat set for about 65 F. [8,458]

10/9 Kern emailed that he "decribes the smell as an methylacrylate odor". Assured that it wouldn't affect anything except the smell. Offered to replace my two 5 gallon jugs. Ripped up 14 new strips. It should have been 16 strips but the sides of the planks are uneven and by the time I square them up, I end up with two undersized strips. Cut and glued the scarfs for 7 new planks. Made up two new strips from 4 undersized strips. It took 10 oz of glue and two hours and I'm not sure how good the joints are since I ran out of clamps. Next time will try planing the joint surfaces and clamp all four strips together, thick ones outside. [7, 465]

10/10 Planed 7 new planks, cut tapers and glued in 3. Up to #35. [8,473]

10/11 Set up scaffold on bandsaw side. Can't get past bandsaw without going over scaffold. Next time I set up a boat, I'll rotate the wood stove 90 deg. which will give me about 18" more room on the other side for the boat. Felt out new sweet lines. The choice is between a sharp taper, (2" down to 1/4" at the ends) which eliminates the rolling tendendancy at mid plank, or gentle taper, which gives the planks a better angle over the aft molds so there isn't such a sharp bend. I opt for the sharp bend but no roll. By cutting planks for both sides as I go, but only planking the bandsaw side, I eliminate moving the scaffolding back and forth but it will slow down my immediate planking progress. Cut 4 planks, glued 2. [9,482]

10/12 Cleaned off bench and lined with plastic. Matched two pieces of early scrap and compared to new plank and determined that two pieces will make one new plank. Did dry fit to see if I could use screws. Using about 10 screws should work but it's hard to keep widths uniform, such a plank would need filler in spots. Measured and counted up remaining planks. May just make it with out using scrap. Decided to find better place to store scrap, maybe on lofting wall. Cleaned up yesterdays planks and started milling up new strips. When I turned on the dust collector, the top bag blew off. I had my back to it when I heard it go. When I turned, all I could see was a cloud of dust. I just turned and went out the door and let it all settle down. Then, after cleaning that up, the blade broke. No planks today. [4,486]

10/13 Sharpened and installed bandsaw blade, finished ripping 17 strips, and trimmed strip made from scrap. Cut and glued scarfs for 9 new planks. Glued in plank #38. Vacuumed up dust. [6,492 ]

10/15 Relocated scrap from stem to hangers I placed in the ceiling. Cut tapers, planed, and glued #21 & 22 of starboard side. (port side is up to #18) Planks are starting to roll, at #22, but this appears to be the tightest part of the curve, so I should begin to see it lessen in the next few planks. [6,498 ]

10/16 Removed first scaffolding and replaced with three tiered scaffold. Relocated center wires, and made new plank bracket to hold plank at variable angle while applying glue. Prepped (cut tapers and planed fair) #23-26 on starboard side and installed #23 & 24 . [7,505]

10/17 Moved staging shelves up, installed #25 & 26, made new master and prepped #27-30. I realized this is as high as I can go with the three tiered scaffolding system. (Eight planks equals 16 inches.) I will need at least two levels up on top to finish up. Laid out 45 degree angle to see what veneers will look like. Can't see any easy way to work on this. May have to build two scaffolds with two tiers at top and two at bottom, and use ladder in between. I had expected to finish by Thanksgiving based on my early October production rate, now I doubt I will finish planking by Jan 1st. Lessons learned: Between planks #19 and 26, I used a single master for eight planks. I started all the planks at the bow, but since each plank has a shorter path, there was not only an inch more to cut off each succeeding plank, but they grew fatter, due to the taper. This caused me to be way fat on the stern. In the upper 2/3rds, I am going to have to resort to more frequent masters. This was a problem down at the sheer also. [7,512]

10/18 Got inside and cleaned up cured epoxy. Moved staging shelves, cleaned up outside and installed #27. This plank took a full 2 hours to install because of all the extra screws, twist in the plank, and obstacles in getting from 32" on the floor to nearly 6 feet in the center, and back down to 36" at the aft end and then inside molds to clean up. It appears this will be typical for the rest of the planks. [4,516]

10/19 Made new brackets and relocated staging shelves. Installed #28S. After about 90 minutes, the epoxy started getting thick so it was hard to spread. This is the 70% #1 with 30% #3 hardener that is supposed to be the same as #2. It set up tack free in 5 hours - a lot sooner than #2, and the temp was about 58 F. The #2 hardener was still workable after two hours at 74 F a couple of weeks ago. I set up the 5 gallon container of #2. The new pump gives a bubble of air in the middle of each 1/2 oz delivery. Never had that problem before. I cut a hole in the vent stub to let it breath. After having pumped 20 deliveries, I decided to let it rest until tomorrow. [3,519]

10/20 hardener pump still had bubbles. Determined that one bubble is 9% under rated delivery on hardener. Called Sys3 again. They could only suggest pumping the air out, which I finally did. Installed #29S. Total of 47 planks. Half done! Barely enough height to see. Will need higher scaffolding for #30S. Switched scaffolding to port side. Sanded down an area on starboard side. Bending a 3/16" thick battin over it shows it to be +/- 1/64" for fair on all areas I sanded. Assuming I fill in 1/3 of the hull surface area 1/64" deep, that would come out to almost exactly one gallon volume. Far better, of course, to fair down than up. I think I should have actually, minimal filling and will still most likely be slightly over the design 7/8" thickness. [5,524]

10/21 Measured for new master on port side at #19. This has more taper than #19 on starboard side, so I will get to see if I can get this side to lay better at #25, where it got so bad on the starboard side. Ripped, scarfed and glued 9 more planks, [7,531]

10/22 Planed the 9 planks. Marked, cut, and planed new master plank. [3,534]

10/23 Marked, cut, and planed 3 copy planks, installed #19P & 20P. Up to 49 total. [7,541]

10/25 Installed #21P. Power out so quit for the day. [3,544]

10/26 Installed #22P. Made new master and 4 copies. [6,550]

10/27 Installed #23P. [2,552]

10/28 Cleaned up. Trued up next two planks by placing them face to face on the work bench and marking the high spots. I had a few gaps that were hard to pull together on the last plank. [2,554]

11/2 Installed #24P. [2,556]

11/3 Refaired 3 planks with power plane after bench checking the taper cuts against the back side of another plank. Installed #25P. The refairing really helped. This was the best fitting plank in quite a while. [4,560]

11/7 Installed #26P. [2,562]

11/8 Installed #27P. [2,564]

11/13 -15 Worked on scaffolding system. [4,568]

11/16/95 Finished scaffolding, set up for three levels on port side. Cut scarfs for plank with full strip in middle, with taper trimmings on both ends. [3,571]

11/20 Decided against using the center plank. It was from a board that had some flaws in the ends, but it is also very light (ie weak) and it had some splitting in the center part also. After laying out a pattern on the table, and fitting the planks various ways, I discovered that I could use the short scraps on one end, long scraps on the other, as long as I had a 15'-4" board. This means that I shouldn't have to use the poor wood or have to edge glue scraps to have enough planks. Got a board and cut a few strips. [2,573]

11/21 Finished cutting the strips and cut and glued all the scarfs for 7 new planks. (14 scarf joints) [3,576]

11/22 Planed the 7 planks. None of the 7 came out with a single straight side , which was disconcerting at first, but I managed to get a straight side on one, by using both bandsaw and planer. That became the master, after I cut the other side, and planed it fair. I was able to mark, cut, and plane 3 copies by working on both sides of each plank. My upper back isn't lasting for more than 4 hours. [4,580]

11/27 I did a dry fit on #28P, had to plane off a small hump, possibly because of the previous board. It glued in perfectly. I measured the remaining gap on both sides. It indicates almost no taper forward of the widest point, which would mean no taper. I'm not sure the planks will bend that much. It would be possible to just rip all the planks in two and forget tapers from here on. On the other hand, it should get a lot easier from now on. Maybe by dry fitting enough to mark a center "match line", I could start gluing in the center, and use a bar clamp on each end to get the needed twist until I can get the screws in. I may have started too late using the taper scraps. [4,584]

11/28 Glued in #29P. Tried to run batten out parallel to widest gap, but it curves down on the ends too much. I appears that the planks will have to continue to bend sideways for a while longer. To take advantage of the trimmings, I will try to fair out a made up plank on the hull, to get best use from the scrap, simular to current planks. [3,587]

11/29 Glued in #30P after planing down two high spots. [3,590]

11/30 Marked out reference lines for next master. Glued in #31P. It fit like a glove. Port side is finally higher than the starboard side. [3,593]

12/1 Measured, cut and planed new master and two copies. Due to my scarfs being slightly cocked, I could not get full size at about frame #8. Rather than redo the whole line, I just faired it out and will just make the two copies. Hopefully, I can get the scarfs perfect on the next plank and get a master and 6 copies. (one board) Glued #32P. [6,599]

12/3 Cleaned up. The hull is really fun just to look at and to invision the complete boat. Tried putting my full weight on port side planking edge. It holds my weight with no apparent deflection. [1,600]

12/4 Installed #33P. Clamping the end of the plank precluded doing any more work. [2,602]

12/5 Olympic Manufacturing called, truck on it's way, so no planking until they are gone. Evaluated remaining planks. Due to the high amount of twist, and the fact that it is getting progressively worse, I looked at the aspects of going to 1" vs. 2" wide planks. They should be easier/faster to make and should be much easier/faster to fasten and glue, and should be stronger as I will have less bevel between planks and less strain on the planks. Another advantage is that I can get by with far fewer new master planks, and focus more on just getting the planks fair. As I approach the keel, there will be less twist again, and I can go back to 2" planks. Ripped up the 16' board, cut the scarfs on the eight strips plus 16 trim pieces, and then ripped two of the strips into 1" planks, along with 8 trim strips. A couple of the trim pieces were soft, and my bandsaw blade developed a crack on the last cut, so I just glued up 3 new 1" planks, which will be more than enough to keep me busy tomorrow. I checked at 8:PM and the temp had dropped down to 55F already. (about 35F outside with a North wind) I set up two lights over the scarf areas to heat them up so they will get to cure overnight. [6,608]

12/6 Started a fire in the wood stove as it was below freezing outside and 52F inside. Dressed up the scarf joints and ran both sides of the three half planks through the planer. Removed the broken bandsaw blade, sharpened and installed one that was dull. Lined out tapers to 1/2" on both ends of each plank and cut on bandsaw. Hand planed both sides of all three planks. Did a dry fit on one half plank and then installed it. It went on almost too easy. I goofed in tapering the plank to 1/2" on the aft end. Also goofed in not cutting all the trim pieces with the smooth side in the same direction and then got them interchanged when gluing them. I had to do some shaping on the aft stem, apparently my beveling batten was too bendy. There is still quite a bit of curve on the forward end, meaning that I need to continue that taper. I had to strip down to my tee shirt while on the scaffolding as it was up to 75F at bench level, and likely 85F near the ceiling. The epoxy was getting almost too stiff to spread. I altered my routine to use the spreader on the entire first batch prior to mixing the second batch, even so, I could notice it stiffing up at about 20 minutes. At 60F, it doesn't do that in an hour. [7,615]

12/7 Tried a dry fit for a plank about 6 planks up from yesterdays half plank. After at least an hour, trying the plank in all different positions, and fitting a 1/2" x 2" batten, I concluded that continuing to use the half planks is still the best course. I found, however, that I couldn't get the aft end to lie flat without wiring a clamp in place, which precluded putting on a second plank. At this rate, it will take another three months to finish the planks. Finished #34P &35P. (two 1" planks) [6,621]

12/8 Surprise! That "pop" I heard last night and thought was a bit loud for the wood stove, was a plank. I cut out the broken ends and cut scarfs for a replacement section and got it all dry fitted. My first chisel fitting job. The rest of the boat building part of my day was spent moving the meranti to the shop and storing it under the hull, and restacking the veneer so we could continue using the garage. [3,624]

12/12 Epoxied in plank repair and Installed #36P. [3,627]

12/13-14 No power. Built fire in stove to keep epoxy from crystalizing. [0,627] 12/15 Still no power. Moved resin to the house next to the wood stove. [0,627] 12/17 Cut scarfs and ripped all 39 parts for thirteen 1" planks. [3,630]

12/18 Sanded, epoxied and clamped the planks and set up heat lamps. [3,633]

12/20 Cleaned up 6 of the planks, ran them through the thickness planer, and made up a new, 1" master plank. [4,637]

12/21 This was the day that, while walking around the bow to get to the other end, I glanced sideways and realized that instead of some molds with planking on them, I have a real boat! I can stand on it, and it has a structural integrity of it's own. It was an emotional experience equal to that I felt when I was drawing the sheer line for the first time full size. Made 5 copy planks and installed #37P. Completed the broken plank patch job. [4,641]

12/22 Installed #38P #39P. Raised center section of scaffolding to the 4 foot level. Shifted the 1 and 2 foot levels and added a 3 foot level on each end. It was twice as wobbly in the center, so added cross bracing. [7,648]

12/27 Installed #40P. [3,651]

12/28 Installed #41P & 42P. [4,655]

12/29 Determined that 1" planks will work better than 2" for the remainder of the hull. Measured up remaining planks and boards. Should have about a 25% surplus of planks, so can do some culling out the light ones. Made a new 1" master plank and 6 copies. [7,662]

12/30 Used the reciprocating saw for triming the ends of the aft planks. Installed #43 & 44P. Discovered new trick of reusing wire loops for pulling planks together where they need it. By putting one screw in first and then by a combination of starting the second screw on an angle and pulling the boards together at the same time, and then using the second screw as a lever as it goes in, the planks snug up real quick. [6,668]

1/2/96 Rebeveled aft stem some more to relieve some of the bend in the plank ends. Checked for any rolling movement in aft stem where the cumulative load from bending all those plank ends must be putting quite a twisting load on the stem. Considered switching sides before finishing the port side, but everything seems solid. Changed sanding disc on the Makita grinder. It cut so well I couldn't resist cutting the aft ends of the planks down flush with the inner stem. I took a chisel to the forward stem where I had to remove a nail that ended up right in the cut line. The glue joints are really solid. Installed #45P. (Starboard side is at #29, so I'm 74/120ths or 62%) It took only 70 minutes, so things are going faster. [3,671]

1/4 Installed #46P, which broke just where the hole was drilled for the stem screw. Patched it together with a lot of extra screws and blocks. Heard another snap from the molds, so decided no more, I'll switch over to the Starboard side and then come back to finish the Port side. [2,673]

1/5 I built scaffolding up to 5 foot level on starboard side. There wasn't room for the four step up levels on the aft end, so built a set of steep stairs out of 6" lumber. It works great, I can walk down frontwards without having to hang on, which will be much better than a ladder would have been. I had to go to the 5 foot level to stay out of the bandsaw space on that side. [5,678]

1/6 Installed #30S. (2" plank) Working from the 5' level allows me to use my foot to hold the plank tight against the mold while I drive in the screw. [3,681]

1/7 Cleaned up and got ready for next plank. [1,682]

1/8 Cut and installed carpet on stair treads and scaffolding layers. Installed #31S & 32S. [5,687]

1/9 Cut board into 9 strips. Sorted and cut 18 pieces of scraps into 1" strips. Ran the 2" strips through the planer and ripped 5 of them into 1" strips. Cut scarfs and glued up nine, 1" planks. [8,695]

1/10 Dressed up all 9 planks, made master and three copies, marked 5 more for cutting, and installed 33S. [9,704]

1/11 Installed 34S, 35S, & 36S. After three planks on 5 foot high scaffolding, I'm too tired to feel safe working at that level. [6,710]

1/12 Installed 37S, & 38S. [6,716]

1/14 Installed #39S. [2,718]

1/15 Installed #40S & 41S and made up 9 more 1" planks. [8,726]

1/16 Cleaned up the 9 new planks, determined that I can just fair and install them without figuring tapers, which speeds things up. Installed #42 &43S, and got 4 more ready. [8,734]

1/17 Installed #44, 45, & 46S. [7,741]

1/18 Installed #47 & 48S. Re-faired #48-50S to compensate for hump which developed 18" aft of bow. Cleaned up. Relocated staging. Sorted scrap and discarded all scraps under 1" width. Calculated I need 40 more Sq Ft of planks. Have 10 Sq Ft in planks already, and approximatly 83 Sq Ft in the 4 boards left. So, I can be choosy from now on what I use. Picked out a 15 foot, 2 x 6 board and cut first four strips. [9,750]

1/19 Cut up other 4 strips and ran all 8 through planer. Installed #49 & 50S. Cut and glued scarfs. Had to build up part of inner stem bevel where it was over cut in two places. [8,758]

1/22 I bent Scott's ear for an hour this morning and got lots of good answers. He seemed pleased at how well I'm getting along and happy to answer all my questions. 1) The rudder post specified is 1.5" nominal size SS, which is really 1.9" OD, and Scott feels plenty strong. The problems with bronze are that it is so much softer that to get the same strength, you add too much weight and expense. Also very hard to find hollow shapes. 2) He liked my idea of feathering out the outer stems vs butt joint as shown on plans. Forward covered by metal stem band, aft under skeg. 3) Laminated CVG fir for bowsprit preferred over solid fir which checks. (I had thought about using a tree from our property but Scott didn't think it would look appropriate on cold-molded boat) Check teak, as price might be comparable to fir. 4) Pour lead keel later, as exact floor spacing will likely follow the bulkheads and they should dictate the keel bolt locations vs the other way around. Don't drill the actual holes until after the lead is poured and shrinkage can be measured. 5) Laminate the frames inside the hull, but not attached. Remove, sand and finish, then glue to hull. 6) Leave as many frames attached as possible until after the bulkheads are in. 7) Use SS aloft and for bowsprit fitting vs. bronze to avoid extra weight required for same strength. 8) Use aluminum for window frames and inside hardware because it is so easily worked. Cut with bandsaw, have Accumar weld up, then grind or sand down smooth. Scott says I wouldn't appreciate the difference until I tried to sand or finish SS or bronze. Installed #51 & 52S. I glued in about 8 shims to fill the gap between the top of the inner stem, the planks, and the outer stem, which will be feathered out. A couple of the shims were to fill in where I overcut the bevel on the inner stem. tsk..tsk..tsk! I suspect I will be running a fillet all along the keelson later on. [8,766]

1/24 Ran next 6 planks through thickness planer as sanding alone leaves the surface so rough it soaks up too much epoxy and it doesn't spread well. Had to power plane about a forth of the edges besides because the board was very stringy and on some planks the strings built up between the fence and the plank and caused about a 1/16" variation in width. Installed #53 & 54S. Got a perfect fit on keelson with these planks. Planks are getting 10" shorter each plank. [7,773]

1/25 Rearranged scaffolding so 4 foot level extends forward. Had to redo it twice until it came out right. I can now walk up to the 5 foot level and back down without having to hang on. Two steel drywall screws broke off. I'll need a screw extractor to get them out. Installed #55 & 56S. Planks are now only 18 feet long. [8,781]

1/26 Installed #57 & 58S. Measured cut and glued up planks #59 - 61S. #62S will reach without scarfing. It was trimmed from one of the earlier planks. [8,789]

1/29 Planed and faired the four new planks. Installed #59 & 60S. Both planks were glued with only two batches of epoxy instead of three. [4,793]

1/30 Went to dentist in AM. Bought screw extractor. Could not get it to work on the drywall screws. Did some cleanup. Tooth bothered too much to plank. [1,794]

1/31 Installed #61, 62, 63 & 64S. Only a 1 3/4" wide x 6' long strip remains on the Starboard side. [7,801]

2/1 Planed and installed #65 & 66S, which finished starboard side. Cut end bevels on aft end, roughed out scarf, trimmed bow ends. [4,805]

2/2 Spent all day redesigning and relocating the scaffolding to the port side. Now have two 10.5' long sections, 5' high aft and 4' high fwd. Stairs at both ends. Got a roll pin from Tom Wilcox. [7,812]

2/3 Installed #47P. [2,814]

2/5 Cut left hand teeth in the roll pin and tried to extract the broken screws. The screw steel is harder than the roll pin and the teeth quickly rounded off after only going about 1/8" down over the screw shank. Tried drilling the pin out to a larger size, but the drill catches in the slot and won't cut evenly. I finally tapped the pin down over the longer screw with the hammer and compressed the roll pin with vise grips and backed it out. The other one was broken off deeper down and I had to drive the pin in further and destroyed it with the vise grips getting the screw out. Hammering on the stem has a very solid feel to it. Installed #48P. Cut 9 new 2" strips. This should be the last full board I'll need to finish. [6,820]

2/6 Planed and scarfed up strips for nine 29 foot planks, which should make about a dozen planks, so will still need about 6 or so more. Cut some more on the centerline and made some 6" saw cuts into some holes. I made a template to match the saw blade profile, cutting little half moon biscuits to go into the holes. [5,825]

2/7 Installed #49P. Plugged four holes using the half moon biscuits, then realized they are in the way of #50P, so spent remainder of the day ripping, planing and sanding the 9 new planks. [7,832]

2/8 Installed #50, 51, & 52P. Cutting the double bevels and working forward instead of aft wasn't hard at all. (The double bevel is where the port side planks butt to the starboard planks on about a 10:1 angle, which gets less as I go.) The patch jobs came out super. [7,839]

2/9 Installed #53, 54, & 55P. Planed off aft bevel. I was able to sneak in a walk to the beach. [7,846]

2/10 Installed #56P. Cut #57 & 58, scarfed and glued #59-63. Walked to the beach again. Low tide, sunny and clear. Sound muddy from flooding rivers. [4,850]

2/12 Installed #57, 58, & 59P. Discovered that the keelson had rolled about 3/16" at frame 5.5 and slightly at 5 and 6. It's too stiff to roll back with all the starboard planks attached. If I just ignore it, I'll have a thin spot there after I fair. It's too narrow to get to with the planer now. Tomorrow, after the epoxy is dry, I'll try to trim it down with the Sawboss. Having the planks to level the saw base I may be able to do a much better job than I could have with the planer. Something else to watch for on the next boat. I dismantled the infeed and outfeed tubes and moved them to the woodshed and got rid of the plastic at the front door. [6,856]

2/13 Re-beveled the keelson while screwing it down with blocks. Removed the blocks and ground it flat with sander. Installed #60, 61, & 62P and they pulled the keelson down flush. Cut and planed 6 more planks to finish. [8,864]

2/14 Installed #63 - 68P, which was the last plank! [6,870]

2/15 Rebuilt scaffolding horses again. Faired end bevels and cleaned up. Called Scott. He recommends a 4" x 24" long board with 36 grit. Flexible with handles on each end. Also "Enviresource" as a place to buy teak. No local sources for sandpaper in rolls. [4,874]

2/16 My trial longboard is working perfectly. I started with a piece of 3.5" x22" (89mm x 560mm) fir planed down to 3/16" (4.8mm) I atttached a big handle on each end and stuck #36 grit (very coarse) and started going to it. I can keep it up for about three minutes and I'm out of breath and my heart beat maxes out. So then I hit any really high spots, especially if they have epoxy on them with the disc sander, sweep the floor, and then go at it again. Two one hour sessions of this and I quit for the day. The results are really good though, and I don't think it's going to take forever. I'll need a stiffer version for the flatter areas and the bulwarks are going to be the worst part because I have to bend over. Maybe I'll try knee pads. [4,878]

2/19 I made and installed a plywood enclosure around the fan in the bathroom so I can run the fan and still use the bathroom for a warm room for the epoxy. I did about 20 minutes more longboarding. It's going to take a while to get in shape, so I'll need to blend in some other work for a while. Using a portable light shows up the high and low spots quite well. [4,882]

2/20 Removed scaffolding from port side and started longboarding there. Made second longboard of 1/4", works good. Did some more disc work. [4,886]

2/22 Made up new longboards 4" x 27" Ash, one at 3/16" and one at 1/4". Used spray adhesive and #40 grit shop roll, fabric backed abrasive. Seems to load up more quickly that the garnet paper, but the wider, longer boards are much better. My arms are getting stronger, but I still get out of breath. [6,892]

2/23 I epoxied in 17 half moon spline patches in plank gaps on starboard side. The patches went into saw cuts made with a 6" carbide blade into areas where it looked like I didn't get enough glue to fill the gap. Splines are about 3/32" wide. I'm finally, after a week of longboarding, getting the hang of it. [6,898]

2/24 More longboarding. Patches came out good. Made up 18 more patches. [5,903]

2/26 Longboarding. [4,907]

2/27 Longboarding. Used Clear Coat for initial coat. [5,912]

2/28 Longboarding. Started using planer with longboards, much faster & better. [8,920]

2/29 Finished the first fairing. Hull is now ready to be coated with clear coat and the screw holes filled. After curing, I'll lightly longboard, to mark the high spots, and then fill with micro balloons using grouved spreader. After that cures, I'll then longboard fair, and fill the grouves. After that cures, longboard again and repeat if needed. [7,927]

3/1 My final touch up of the fairing took til 11 AM so had lunch and was well into it by noon. Filling 2300+ screw holes and mixing 56 batches of clear coat took until 4 PM [7,934]

3/4 Tried longboarding the clearcoat but still too soft. Heated shop to 85 F and went to Everett and saw old Catalina 27. [1,935]

3/5 Longboarded the hull and vacuumed. [3,938]

3/6 Longboarded the hull and vacuumed. [1,939]

3/7 Started filling with microballoons. Heated shop to 75 F. [2,941]

3/8 Microballoons sand great. Did about 8 more batches until pump crystalized. Set up 1500 Watt heater on thermostat to try and melt the crystals. [3,944]

3/12 Filling and fairing. [1,945]

3/13 Filling and fairing. [2,947]

3/14 Filling and fairing. [2,949]

3/15 Filling and fairing. Using 6" squeege to fill and fair. It does a great job.[3,952]

3/18 Finished filling. Heated shop to 88 F for about 6 hours to get good cure. [2,954]

3/19 to 3/23 Longboarded. [7,961]

3/25 to 3/29 Longboarded. Port side is 90% done. The ratio of about 3 parts epoxy, 5 parts silica, and 2 parts Microballoons is *way* too hard when cured. [8,969]

4/7 to 4/8 Longboarded. [1,970]

4/9 Longboarded. [1,971]

4/10 Longboarded. [2,973]

4/11 Longboarded. Finally finished second pass on port side. [1,974]

4/12 Started longboarding on starboard side. [2,976]

4/15 Longboarded. [2,978]

4/16 Longboarded. [2,980]

4/17 Longboarded. [2,982]

4/18 Longboarded. Caught power cord in planer. Installed new 15 foot cord. [1,983]

4/19 Longboarded. Finished second pass on starboard side. Made short video of first years efforts.[2,985]

4/25 to 4/26 Vacuumed and spunged hull, dried, set up for filling. Resin had again crystallized, so reset heat to 85F. [1,986]

4/27 to 5/10 Catching up on spring yard work. [0,986]

5/11 Filled with mix of 2 parts epoxy, 3 parts silica, 2 parts microballoons to get "softer" mix. Fired up wood stove to cure. [2,988]

5/13 Longboarded. [3,991]

5/14 Finished longboarding. Blew dust off everything and vacummed. Cleaned hull. [2,993]

5/15 Found some spots that didn't seem quite fair enough, so started planing again. [2,995]

5/16-17 More planing and longboarding. [5,1000]

5/20-21 More planing and longboarding. [4,1004]

6/8 Filled with more mix. [2,1006]

8/27 Longboarded and coated bare parts with epoxy [6,1012]

8/28 Filled low areas with microballoon mix and heated the shop to 80F with wood stove. [3,1015]

8/29 Longboarded and sanded. Carried first veneers to shop and tried one for fit. [5,1020]

8/30 Finished longboarding and sanding! cleaned hull and tried out various clamping methods. [3,1023]

8/31 Discovered *no* gap between two 7" veneers at frame 5.5. Built brackets for storing veneers and moved ten of the 12.5" wide x 9 feet long veneers from storage. It appears that spiling in the middle is only half an inch and the wide veneers lie flat with no problem. Now all I need is the guts to start. [4,1027]

9/1 Calculated how much poly straping I needed for my first three boards, and realized 50 feet isn't going to be near enough. I cut up 33, 18" pieces and 3, 6" pieces to get me started. Should be enough to do 17 square feet, or at 7' long, 28" of strips. using the 12.5" strips, I've got only enough for two! I should get another 200 feet. Marked and trimmed the first piece. Pretty easy, and it fits. Marked the hull and sanded all three pieces. Placed a heater under the resin, as it's still growing crystals. I opened up the new carton of resin, and that jug, which has been in a heated room all this time, has about 2" of crystals in the bottom. Did a dry run on the stapler. It hangs up at 45 psi sometimes. It works at 50 psi, but makes a dent in the veneer. May have to go to a thicker poly, or use two layers. Had to put new drive belts in the mower and mow, so will wait till tomorrow to start epoxiing. [3,1030]

9/3 Tried the Bosch air stapler for fastening the veneers. It was skipping 80% of the time and crushing the wood under the staples, so I quit after one plank. I pulled out staples at 8 hours. I was afraid to pull them any sooner, as the epoxy was still a bit tacky. The staples left dents, but it is solid and I'm sure there are no voids. My pattern is 50 staples to the sq ft. Purchased an Arrow, cord type electric stapler. I stacked up a piece of the hardest scrap Meranti I could find, a piece of fir veneer and a poly strip and popped off a dozen or so staples, and it worked flawlessly, sucking the veneer down tight, without crushing it. No dents! The cord is also a lot lighter than the air hose. The staples are the same as my three manual staplers, so I've got many different sized staple, and they are readily available to buy in any hardware store. Called "Non-Ferrous Metals" in Seattle about pouring the keel. I need to make up an 8" thick reinforced concrete mold. They will do the keel bolts if I give them the bolt pattern I want and the size bolts. They like 316 stainless rather than bronze. I calculated the amount of concrete required for the mold at about one cu yd, or about 3500 lbs. [3,1033]

9/4 Spent the morning pulling staples out of strips and milling up 100, 7" strips from ash. Had to replace bandsaw blade. Epoxied up the second 7" strip and a 12" one. The 7" strip buckled so much I had to pull the staple strips and trim 1/4" off the inside edge at the bottom. It still went in under pressure. I had already trimmed the 12" piece, but was sure it might buckle too, so I split it in half before trying to put it down. The first half buckled worse than the previous one and I had to trim it also. The second one buckled so bad even after trimming it, I had to resort to using 8 screws with blocks, as the staples would not hold it down. The new stapler refused to work when I first turned it on. Almost like it had to warm up first. Went to four hardware stores, none had foam rollers, but got 8750 more 1/2" staples. Will need 20,000 more to finish. Pulled staples after 7.5 hours, and removed the screw blocks. [6,1039]

9/5 It took a full hour just to remove all of yesterdays staples from the strips. The last two boards buckled along their outer edges over night. I cut four, half moon shapes out with the trim saw, and removed the pieces with a chisel. I cleaned out the epoxy down to the meranti and cleaned up the pieces with the sander. Ripped up some of the 12" veneers into 6" wide pieces, and stapled one to the hull with four ash strips for spiling. Removed the piece, cut, trimmed and restapled it to spile a second piece. I epoxied in the four pieces from the buckled areas. Both the 6" pieces epoxied in place with no problem, and a nice, small, continuous bead of epoxy came out all around the edges, apparently a perfect job! This almost surprized me after yesterday. [6,1045]

9/6 Sanded down the patched areas and removed staples from the strips. Went to West Marine and got more rollers, and got 15,000 more staples at Eagles. Spiled up two more veneers, and got them ready for epoxy. [2,1047]

9/9 Spiled up two more veneers, cut up new 50 feet of poly tape, cut up the rest of the 12" veneers, stowed them, and installed four new veneers. Removed all the inner staple tapes and staples. [6,1053]

9/10 Removed the remaining staple tapes. Spiled and put up four more veneers, with the first two butt joints. Each veneer requires a minumum of ten trips up and down the ladder. This doesn't count running out of staples, or doing butt joints, so don't see how I will be able to do more as I get quite tired after doing four veneers. Removed all the staple tapes and staples after 6 hours. [7,1060]

9/11 It took all morning to remove staples from the tapes, and spile up the next four veneer planks. Got them epoxied on and cut off the sheer trim. Marked the keel trim line and made up a shelf to hold staples and tapes while epoxiing. I can see that it takes more time to spile where there is greater curvature, like at the stern. Removed all the staple tapes and staples 5 hours after finishing. The stapler did it's first skip. I thought it was out of staples and when I went to reload, the remaining staples fell out. The stapler continues to be hard to get started when cold, and it refused to fire for half a minute when it was warm for the first time today. [7,1067]

9/12 In strip planking, I had previously learned to quit for the day once the epoxy was done. I suddenly realized this is not a restriction on veneering, as I can usualy work on either end of either side without getting into fresh epoxy. Spiled 10 veneers and epoxied 6. [10,1077]

9/13 Now have half of first veneer layer on starboard side. Ripped up 14 new 12" veneers. Spiled 7 new planks. [7,1084]

9/14 Annamarie helped me pull staples from all the strips. Did the longboarding on the new veneers. [1,1085]

9/16 Got on 6 veneers, finished starboard side from middle to aft end and started port side. Spiled four new planks with two butt joints going forward on the starboard side. Pulled all the staples after 8 hours. [8,1093]

9/17 Four more full sized veneers put on. I enclosed the epoxy warming pad and insulated the inside with R-11. Spiled four more veneers and pulled staples. [9,1102]

9/18 Four more full sized veneers put on. Built second ladder out of 2x4's. Spiled four more veneers and pulled staple strips. [8,1110]

9/19 Pulled staples and cleaned up. Hand sore. Checked on "Corleto". [2,1112]

9/20 Put on four, spiled up four, pulled strips, pulled staples. [5,1117]

9/21 Put on four veneers, spiled four new. Half done with first layer. Pulled strips. Trimmed ends. [7,1124]

9/23 Pulled staples, tried out vacuum bagging the bathroom scales. Was able to get 120 lbs max out of about 126 sq inches, for one psi. Air flow channels are quite important but the perimeter seals quite well if the "flap" has something to seal against. Ordered the west marine vacuum kit with extra stuff for 20 sq ft or so. Talked to Scott about steel for mold. Pulled all the staples and insulated the incubator door. Ran out design calcs for the mold. [4,1128]

9/24 Longboarded and trimmed ends. New ladder went out from under me again! Now I tie the base to a mold. Epoxy storage is now at 90 F. [2,1130]

9/28 Vacuum kit arrived, tried out pump. Set up 8 square foot test area. Could not get vacuum to extend under bag area. Venturi pump registers 18" Hg, shop vac won't even register, neither show much ability to pull the bag down. What is leaking? My compressor is rated at 8 SCFM & 50% duty cycle, or 4 SCFM, GB says their venturi will produce 20" Hg with only 2 SCFM, so that doesn't figure either. Got the tractor fixed and the lawn mowed, and the barbeque burners replaced and more wood moved. [1,1131]

9/30 Removed the test bag and folded the breathing cloth over so it was four layers thick under both the gauge and the suction port. This made a noticable difference in the air transfer rate, but far from what is needed. It is my opinion at this point that I would need a larger, vane type pump, and that I would spend twice as much time setting up before each batch doing a vacuum bag setup than just stapling down. As to quality, by taking a little care, the stapling is completely adequate for a surface which will be painted anyway. Stapled on four more veneers, spiled four new ones, pulled all the staples. Also raked all the lawn, as the grass was quite long when I cut it. [7,1138]

10/01 Epoxied and stapled on four more veneers. Spiled four more, pulled staples. [6,1144]

10/02 Four more veneers. Time breakout for 12 square feet: spiling and veneer setup - two hours wetting out 45 minutes mix thickened epoxy, 10 batches @ 3 minutes = 30 minutes apply thickened epoxy, 10 batches @ 3 minutes = 30 minutes stapling - 40 minutes remove strips - 30 minutes remove staples - 30 minutes setup, organization and cleanup - 35 minutes [6,1150]

10/03 Four more veneers. Trimmed top ends flush for second side. Still crystals in resin, insulated bottom of incubator with R-11. [7,1157]

10 Four more veneers. Still crystals in resin, set resin 14" above 250 Watt heat lamp for two hours - no more crystals! Spiled three, 33" wide. [6,1163]

10& 10/06 Removed strips and staples. (weekend) [1,1164]

10/07 The three 11 inchers epoxied on without any problem. I could have done four, as there is little set that far forward. Spiled four small on the opposite side at 24" width. Pulled strips. [4,1168]

10/08 Installed four, spiled four at 33.5" width. Pulled staples. I have noticed that the veneers lie flatter if I use a thinner mix, less of it, and fewer staples. Now using slightly less than 2 fluid oz. silica per 1.5 oz batch. The mix is stiff enough to run on vertical surface at 3/8" thickness, but not at 3/16" thickness. This takes more time to get on the hull without getting it on the floor, but results in improved fairness. [6,1174]

10/09 Installed four, spiled five at 30". [6,1180]

10/10 Installed five, spiled eight at 46". Pulled staples twice. [8,1188]

10/11 Installed eight, pulled strips. Made new silica measuring cup by cutting off graduated cup at the 50 ml line and filling flush with silica for one batch of epoxy. Works perfect every time, and I had no batches either too thick or too thin. I can't imagine why I didn't try this before. [4,1192]

10/12 Pulled strips and spiled five to complete port bow. [3,1195]

10/14 Pulled staples and installed veneers. Spiled veneers for starboard bow. Pulled strips and staples. Longboarded. [7,1202]

10/15 Installed the last batch of veneers on layer #1. Initial longboarding 75% done. Pulled strips and staples. [7,1209]

10/16 Completed longboarding. Trimmed all the veneer ends. Sanded the entire hull with the DA sander. Selected two boards for the keel mold jig. [6,1215]

10/17 Ran out keel offsets in mm with a 0.6% shrink factor and marked and cut the top jig board. Wow! It sure came out nice. [3,1218]

10/21 Finished building the keel mold jig. Coated hull with clearcoat. It took almost 3 quarts for 300 sq ft. [7,1225]

10/22 Epoxy wet. Fired up wood stove to 85 F all day. Tried shop vacs in series. Got from 1/2 psi to 2 psi? Suspect Gauge reads 1 psi low. Sanded area near stove. [2,1227]

10/23 Finished the sanding. Decided that the sanding did not sufficiently show the high spots, so longboarded the whole hull. Upon starting the filling, I realized that the entire area needs filling as there are 20,000 staple holes. Completed filling 3/4 of one side. Mix is about 1.5 fl oz silica, and 1 fl oz microballoons to a 1.5 oz batch of laminating epoxy. [7,1234]

10/24 Surformed the filled area. Finished filling the rest of the hull. The resin pump finally gave out and I had to swap out the pump from the clearcoat. Built fire and got it up to 85 F. [4,1238]

10/25 Longboarded and sanded the quarter of the hull nearest the wood stove. Marked some areas for additional filling. [3,1241]

10/28 Longboarded and sanded one more quarter of the hull. Marked more areas for filling. Added nose board on keel mold jig. [3,1244]

10/29 Longboarded and sanded the third quarter of the hull. [3,1247]

10/30 Finished longboarding and sanding. Marked and filled low spots. [3,1250]

10/31 Surformed the high spots. Chaulked on a master line. [1,1251]

11/1 Longboarded and cleaned up hull. Tried to make a line between first line and sheer, but it crossed the first line toward each end. Took offsets from inside the hull using the meranti planks and drew a new line. Found that the 4" ash board and the 7" fir board do not lay on the same line. Ripped up a 3" board and started over. It's obvious that I will have to spile each board individually. Also, the 17' boards are not feasable to handle and will have to be cut into smaller lengths. Will have to use the mm tape and the calculator to mark and true up each piece, and there will be over twice as many pieces as layer #1. Will have to be careful with these narrow pieces to insure the staples don't pull the planks out of fair. [5,1256]

11/3 Used the mm tape and calculator to make up a veneer for the sheer. I stapled parallel to the sheer and both ends project right up through the upper line. The only possible way to veneer the first 18" next to the sheer on this hull is going to be to cut them 1" wide, like I had to do on the meranti, so they will bend to fit. [1,1257]

11/4 Made more lines on the hull. It looks like I'll be doing the 6" nearest the sheer in 1 1/2" wide veneers, so they can bend along the sheer. The next 12" will be proportioned to a target line, but still at 1 1/2" width in the middle. The next 36" will have a new target line. I'll try for wider planks and see how it goes, but they will need to be fit one at a time, so it might be faster to make them like the previous section. The last 32" or so, should be the easiest, as there is little curvature in either direction. [3,1260]

11/5 Cut up enough 1 1/2" wide veneers for 4 full 28 foot lengths and epoxied them down. From the first batch of epoxy to the last staple took 3.5 hours, and it was getting pretty stiff. Also ran out of plastic strips. [7,1267]

11/6 Removed strips and staples. Moved 220 sq ft of veneers to shop. 230 sq ft additional in garage. [3,1270]

11/7 Sanded and ripped up 1 1/2" veneers for the port side, marked the line on the hull, and cut up one more roll of plastic into 18" strips. Laid out staples, cut up more roller covers, and got the stapler ready for starting. [2,1272]

11/8 Epoxied on the first four 1 1/2" veneers on the port side. Sanded, marked, and cut the next two for the starboard side. 7 1/2" at bow, 1 5/8" in middle, 3 1/3" at stern. Used the proportional method and calculator to get the plank shapes. Pulled all the strips and surformed. [8,1280]

11/10 Pulled staples. [1,1281]

11/11 Made duplicate pair of veneers for the port side. Getting a good fit required half a dozen marking and surforming cycles for each pair. Marked the hull and rearranged the shop so that I have a wet-out board on the far side of the shop. It's only 21' long, but it's wide enough for the boards to overlap on the narrow ends. Too late to start this big an epoxy run. (20 sq ft) [4,1285]

11/12 Did only first half of epoxy batch. Pulled strips. [3,1288]

11/13 to 11/15 Installed up to batch #6. Now 20% done with layer #2. [12,1300]

11/16 to 11/17 Pulled staples and spiled up batchs #7&8. (22 sq ft.) [5,1305]

11/18 Installed #7&8. 26% done with layer 2. [5,1310]

11/19 Pulled strips and staples. [2,1312] Power out all day.

11/20 Tried to spile the 10" veneer, but that width overlaps too much at the ends. Developed new method for using battens to mark line starting in the middle. Used 10" offset to reference mark the top of the last veneer below. Layed veneer to be used so top is on line, and stapled. Used reference marks to mark cut line on veneers to be used. [2,1314]

11/21 Spiled #9&10. Was able to get a 10 square foot full length out of a single veneer. [2,1316]

11/22 Installed #9&10. 20 square feet, for a total of 33% complete. [5,1321]

11/23 Pulled strips. Found unstapled buckle. Cut out half moon and cleaned out epoxy. Pulled staples from strips. [2,1323]

11/29 Moved the remaining veneers from the garage to the shop. Layed out the next plank and marked it for cutting. [3,1326]

11/30 Cut planks for #11&12. Have 218 sq ft in 17' lengths. Need 178 sq ft more (net) to finish. Only got 10 sq ft net from last 14 sq ft veneer. [2,1328]

12/2 Transferred resin and hardener to one gallon jugs. Pumps seem to work much better. Installed #11&12. Epoxied in half moon. Now 40% complete. [5,1333]

12/3 Pulled strips and staples. Cut and fit #13&14. [5,1338]

12/4 Installed #13. Placed heat lamp over the pumps. Works great! Bought 5,000 more staples at Eagle and got more IPA. [3,1341]

12/5 Pulled strips and staples. Set up scaffolding for #14. [3,1344]

12/6 Installed #14. Set up scaffolding for #15. Cut and fit #15&16 all except final fit on #16. Pulled strips and staples. [7,1351]

12/7 Installed #15. The 1/2" staples weren't strong enough to pull down the buckle on the aft end, which was caused by the wider plank (9 1/16") so had to use a dozen or so screws through blocks to hold it. [3,1354]

12/8 Showed boat to the Asburys. 12/9 Pulled s&s. Installed #16. Had same problem as with #15. Started fitting #17 [7,1361]

12/10 Fit #17&18, pulled s&s, set up scaffolding, installed #17. [8,1369]

12/11 Pulled s&s, set up scaffolding. [2,1371]

12/12 Built 12" step. Installed #18. Built storage supports on lofting wall. Moved remaining veneer to the wall from the tiered horses. Set the horses up on the bandsaw side at 3 foot level. [7,1378]

12/13 Did some longboarding. Pulled strips. Rearranged the sawhourses so I can use a ladder at each end. Fit #19&20. Pulled staples. [7,1385]

12/14 Installed #19. [2,1387]

12/15 Took pictures, pulled strips. [1,1388]

12/16 Fit most of #21, using both 17 and 9 footers. Very little waste, as the ends are 9" and 7" wide, with 11 1/4" in the center. Pulling staples. [4,1392]

12/17 Final fit #21, made rough copy for #22. [1,1393]

12/18 Installed #21. Pulled strips [5,1398]

12/19 Longboarded, relocated scaffolding, created wet out board, final fit #20. Pulled staples. [7,1405]

12/20 Installed #20. Pulled strips, [3,1408]

12/21 Final fit #21, pulled staples. [2,1410]

12/23 Installed #21. [3,1413]

12/24 Pulled strips. [1,1414]

12/25 Pulled staples. [1,1415]

1/6/97 Longboarded. Started fitting last two full sized planks. (24' long) [1,1416]

1/7 to 1/10 Longboarding. [2,1418]

1/13 to 1/18 Longboarding. [6,1424]

1/22 Fitting and longboarding. [3,1427]

1/23 Longboarded, final fit and installed 12 1/4" plank. [4,1431]

1/24 Removed strips and half the staples. [2,1433]

1/27 Pulled staples, fit and installed last plank on starboard side. [4,1437]

1/28 Pulled strips and staples. Faired keel overlap, fit big port plank, longboarded. [3,1440]

1/29 Installed 12 1/4" port plank, longboarded. [5,1445]

1/30 Removed strips, staples for 30 strips, fit the *LAST* veneer, and installed it! Also did some longboarding. [4,1449]

1/31 Pulled the last strips and cleaned up the joints. Called Scott. Realized after talking to him that I can make the aft outer stem in 1/8" fir veneers and use 1/4" ash for the forward stem, which will make it much stronger than the fir. Sorted out the needed veneers and longboarded. Did a veneer patch job on a low spot on the aft stem. [4,1453]

2/1 Faired out the stem patch job and did some longboarding. [1,1454]

2/5 Installed first of eight veneer layers on aft stem. Longboarded. [3,1457]

2/6 Removed staples and faired out aft stem. Longboarded. [2,1459]

2/7 (Varnished sign. Too smelly to work in shop.) [0,1459]

2/10 Installed the new 4 TPI bi-metal resaw blade in the bandsaw. I checked it and it tracks perfect. I realized that I needed an 11' 4" piece of ash for the forward stem lamination, and I could not run it through the bandsaw without in and out feed tables. The tables had all been dismantled for scaffolding and the second laminating table. I decided I didn't need the second laminating table anymore, so rebuilt the in feed table from that and jury rigged an out feed table. I ran a scrap through the saw and found that across the 5.5" width, I was picking up about 1/16" extra thickness. After trying four different thicknesses of shims, I finally got it so it would cut a uniform thickness, so cut the board just a little fat. Bending the lamination over the stem wasn't easy as there isn't anything to clamp to on a finished hull. I finally resorted to installing a block at the floor, which I can wedge in from and cut a prop to brace against the ceiling at the top. It was not bending fair with the stem and I realized that the lamination was not completely even. After three passes through the planer, I had it down to an even thickness, which came out exactly 1/4". Whew! Now, how to clamp it? I decided on dry fitting temporary screws so that I could mark the exact width and cut it to the 2.5" at the bottom instead of having to run 5.5" the full length, which should make it a lot easier to fit. The first screw broke flush with the surface of the inner stem! I tried my trusty roll pin extractor, but the big vise grips are on the boat and the small ones just won't grip it enough to turn it out. (Varnished the sign and quit for the day) [7,1466]

2/11 Went to Kingston to retrieve the vise grips. Drilled holes around the extractor and turned it out. Cut through hole with SawBoss and made insert to plug the hole. Ripped some 5/16" pieces and drilled them for backing blocks. Set the the Makita Powerdriver clutch on #4 and tested with several screws to insure it won't break a #6 screw. Fit lamination and screwed down. Marked from underside, removed and trimmed on the bandsaw and did a dry fit. Made up 1/8" veneer to fit aft stem. Longboarded. (Remounted the sign) [6,1472]

2/12 Installed the two stem pieces. Longboarded. [5,1477]

2/13 Removed screws and staples, faired laminations, longboarded, cut up 36 new washer blocks, and cut and planed next two ash laminations. [5,1482]

2/15 Longboarded. Tried stapeling the 18" straps across the lamination and using a scarf wedge to tighten it. Works better than screws! [1,1483]

2/21 Trimmed and sanded forward lamination. Longboarded and pulled staples. [3,1486]

2/24 Fit and installed two aft stem laminations and one forward using strap and wedge technique. Works great! Did some longboarding also. [3,1489]

2/25 Faired out the bevels and trimed out new laminations. Tried using SawBoss to cut bevels. This cuts down on the power plane's chips and is a lot faster. Pulled staples and longboarded. [4,1493]

2/26 Installed stem laminations fore and aft. Longboarded. [4,1497]

2/27 Faired out the bevels. Pulled staples and longboarded. New 15 gallon Batch of epoxy arrived. Placed new resin in heat closet. [3,1500]

2/28 Installed 1 stem lamination fwd and 2 aft. Longboarded. Transfered epoxy to one gallon jugs. (10 hrs on Corleto's bunk boards, 2/26 to 28) [2,1502]

3/1 Faired out both stems. Looking very good. No need for more wood. [2,1504]

3/2 Longboarded. [1,1505]

3/3 Longboarded and cleaned up. [5,1510]

3/4 Longboarded. Heated shop to 80¡F. [2,1512]

3/5 Longboarded. Vacuumed and moved staging to the bench side. [4,1516]

3/6 Longboarded. Tried using #36 grit on DA sander. Longboard takes off faster and better. [3,1519]

3/7 Finished longboarding and warmed the shop to 75¡F and put on one coat of Clear Coat. Both stems appear a little crooked. Will have to run a plumb board and wire to figure out just what is out on line. Need to do this for the deadwood and skeg anyway. [6,1525]

3/9 Sanded and checked stem alignments. Need more thought on how best to approach straightening the bow stem, aft stem will be okay if shaft, and skeg are true. [1,1526]

3/10 Talked to Scott. He thinks 3/16" is closer than most, so don't worry about aft stem. Marked the bow stem using a wire as a gauge, and was able to true it in about 3 minutes with the planer and longboard. Sanded hull with DA sander. Applied full layer of quartz sphears filler to hull. (to cover 300 sq feet of hull area takes about 40 batches of 1.5 oz epoxy, 3/4 fluid oz measure of each silica and spheres) [8,1534]

3/11 Built fire in wood stove, heated to 80¡F, took off high spots with surform. [2,1536]

3/12 Made new, stiffer longboard (7/16" thick) Epoxy mix is way too hard to sand. Need to make softer next time. 4 parts epoxy, 1 part silica, 8 parts quartz spheres. Longboarded and DA sanded 1/4 of hull and marked low spots. [5,1541]

3/13 Longboarded and DA'd second quarter. Filled. Got e-mail from Sys3 Tech to add quzrtz first, untill goopy, then a tiny bit of silica, "about 85:1" [5,1546]

3/14 (went sailing) 3/15 Longboarded and DA'd first and third quarters and filled. [4,1550]

3/17 Longboarded and DA'd second and forth quarters and filled. [5,1555]

3/18 Longboarded and DA'd first and third quarters and filled. [4,1559]

3/19 Sore and swollen knee. 3/22 to 3/26 Longboarded. [6,1565]

3/27 & 3/28 Covered hull with fairing compound in ridges. Cut template for keel mold. [7,1572]

3/31 Longboarded. [3,1575]

4/4 Longboarded and sanded. [2,1577]

4/7 to 4/9 Longboarded. Discovered sander was creating depressions. [7,1584]

4/10 Discovered that with a slow warmup period, I can longboard for 4 hours in one day without being excessively sore the next day. Today, was able to do an entire one side after a near simular day before. [4,1588]

4/11 Filled about 1/3rd of the hull. My hand gave out so decided to quit for the day. Tried using a knotched wooden spreader because I figured the squeegee would not lie flush over the ridges, but the wood won't lie flat on a curved surface, and the amount of curve changes all over, so was forced to go back to the notched squeegee. Using the squeegee cramps my right hand, and I'm too slow to do it left handed and the epoxy sets up and plugs the notches. [2,1590]

4/12 Finished filling. Built fire in wood stove. [4,1594]

4/14 Started longboarding again. Built fire in wood stove. [2,1596]

4/15 Finished first half of longboarding. [3,1599]

4/16 Longboarded second half, put filler on first half. [7,1606]

4/17 Finished application of filler. [3,1609]

4/18 Started longboarding. Too green, bad smell. [1,1610]

4/20 Longboarded. [2,1612]

4/21 Longboarded. [4,1616]

4/22 Finished longboarding. [3,1619]

4/23 Applied filler to whole hull. Used 32 oz for 300 SF. [6,1625]

4/26 Tried longboarding. Too soft yet. [0,1625]

4/28 Changed paper in the boards and longboarded. [2,1627]

4/29 Longboarded. [3,1630]

4/30 Longboarded. [3,1633]

5/1 Longboarded. Down to finished pass on about 1/3rd [4,1637]

5/2 Longboarded. [2,1639]

5/7 Tried longboarding but too warm to do much. Doing yard work. [0,1639]

5/8 Longboarded. [2,1641]

5/19 Longboarded. [2,1643]

5/20 Longboarded. [4,1647]

5/27 Longboarded. Fitted new sanding sheets. [4,1651]

5/28 Longboarded. [3,1654]

5/29 Longboarded. [4,1658]

5/30 Longboarded. Filled low spots on starboard side. [4,1662]

5/31 Longboarded. [4,1666]

6/2 Longboarded. Filled low spots on port side. Finished Stbd side. [7,1673]

6/3 Epoxied starboard side. [3,1676]

6/4 Cleanup and heated wood stove. [2,1678]

6/16 Discoverd amine blush. Alcohol removes. Washed and sanded [1,1679]

6/23 Longboarded. [2,1681]

8/7 Discovered alcohol doesn't remove amine blush, water does! Washed it all down and almost finished the longboarding. [2,1683]

8/8 Finished sanding and cleaning and coated the port side using roller and tipping out technique. Looks really great! [4,1687]

8/18 Finished sanding port side. [2,1689]

9/11 Resanded entire hull. [2,1691]

1/5 Shop too cold to epoxy. Built fire. Smell too bad to work in shop. Did small epoxy test. Recalculated steel for keel mold. Measured dry Doug fir in woodshed and determined there should be enough for rudder, skeg and deadwood. Recalculated keelbolt stresses. Need 3" wide ash for floors to support keel bolts. Drawing specifies 2" wide floors. Refigured spacings using three inch floors. Seems okay. [4,1695]

1/6 Sanded hull with DA sander. Epoxy test still tacky so used heat lamp. Worked on self steering unit. Bought sponge to wash hull. [1,1696]

1/7 Washed hull with water. Resanded spots by hand. Cleaned floor and rewashed hull. Marked out line 37" up from sheer and applied tape. Epoxy test cured only with extra heat. 50 F too cold to epoxy. [3,1699]

1/8 42 F in shop at 8:30 AM. Started fire in wood stove, taped on the 38" cloth, (7.5 oz e-glass) and epoxied the two wind vanes and the index vernier to the oar using Saran Wrap. 82 F at 11:30 AM. 72 F 1 PM. Mixed 72 oz of epoxy using plunger pumps and pouring onto cloth and spreading with squeegee. Much of the epoxy ended up on the floor and in scraping the excess, it foams, which I hope is not a problem. Will try roller on the upper section. Finished at 2:30 PM, still 70 F in shop. Cut the tape seam at 8:30, still a bit tacky but okay. [6,1705]

1/9 The same drill for the upper section of the first side as yesterday except that I waited 6.5 hours to cut the tape and I had a problem with the epoxy getting under the tape and it sticking to the hull. Used 78 oz of epoxy but no drips using the roller first then the squeege to finish up each section as I went. Working from the middle out and down works quite well. [5,1710]

1/12 Masked off areas glassed and coated with 120 oz of epoxy. (160 sq ft per gallon rate.) Much thicker coat up on top than vertical sides, which still dripped afterward. Bubbles occured in some areas away from wood stove. This was a snowy day, so cold may affect. [4,1714]

1/13 Overflowed the one gallon hardener jug when refilling from 5 gallon jug. What a mess! Epoxied up the rest of the 38" cloth. Still too wet to cut seams at 10PM. [4,1718]

1/14 Cut seams. Too tacky to mask over for last section. Area rolled has bubbles and runs. I had forgotton about bubbles! Needed to have tipped out. Used surform on bubbles and on runs. Coated self steering parts with Clearcoat. It too bubbled! Darn. Put gravel on driveway and checked on Corleto. [3,1721]

1/15 Placed last section of glass and covered with 81 oz of epoxy. Tried using DA sander. Still too gummy and sanding pad broke off backing plate. [4,1725]

1/16 It took 2.5 hours to cut seams and remove tape. Used surform on seams. Used 51 oz epoxy thickened to peanut butter consistancy with silica to cover newly glassed side using squeegee. A small amount was left over and I squeegeed it over the area where I had sanded off some drips yesterday. It went on looking very good. Used some more epoxy to finish up the SS locking pin knob and to reattach the sander pad. [5,1730]

1/17 Surformed and washed blush off. (Sailed on HC 43) [1,1731]

1/20 Washed port side again. Sanded with DA sander. Pad tore loose after short time so tried to hand sand for an hour. Could see that this would take a week so drilled six air holes in one of the other pads and used it. Noticed slight gumming on the port side from amine blush, but none on starboard side. (Which was four days old.) Too late to start epoxy session. Washed out poly roller tray. [6,1737]

1/21 Used 7" wide roller in tray and split 7" roller cover on stick for tipping out. Took seven, 15 oz batches to cover 297 sq ft, or 360 sq ft per gallon. This equates to a 0.004" thickness. [4,1741]

1/22 Surformed what appeared to be roller fuzz on last batch. Not sure if from worn out roller cover (used same one for 3 hours) or from lapping into tacky epoxy over keel. Did 3 oz touch up run, mostly on stem areas. Spare 5 gallon resin jug developed leak, which left 6 oz or so resin on and under heating pad. Transfered resin to old jugs, and cleaned up. [3,1744]

1/23 Washed off amine blush. Rolled on another seven, 15 oz batches for a total of 705 oz or 5.5 gallons. Thickness should be 0.030". [4,1748]

1/26 Washed off amine blush and sanded with DA sander, starting with 36 grit and finising with 60 grit. Covered less than half of the hull. [5,1753]

1/27 Continued sanding. Cleaning vacuum filter every 30 minutes makes the sandpaper last longer as it doesn't clog as fast. Finished all but 10 sq ft. Some thin spots around the keel and sheer will need another coat. [6,1759]

1/28 Finished sanding. [3,1762]

1/31 Coated sheer and spots. Marked part of the waterline and bootstripe. [3,1765]

2/3 Finished marking waterline. Tried sanding, still too wet. [2,1767]

2/4 Marked areas for additional coating. Discovered waterline dimension says 3.5" vs 4" by scale. Remarked waterline. [3,1770]

2/5 Coated areas needing more filling [2,1772]

2/9 Tried sanding, but still too gummy. Dug up Dahlias. [1,1773]

2/10 Finished sanding and wiped down. Still some areas need fill. [2,1775]

2/11 Scott has worked up a quote for the metal parts of the rudder/skeg assembly, including the steering quadrant for the wheel steering, which requires machining the rudder post, welded and machined ends, cast bronze tiller cap, straps for the rudder, and bolts and machining the skeg shoe. The total bill is more than the design was, but it's not a place I want to cut any corners. The skeg shoe is custom, so I will make the pattern and have the piece cast in bronze. Filled with three batches of thickened epoxy. [2,1777]

2/12 Made up offset tables for the rudder and skeg. Confirmed 7.5% foil and skeg with Paul Kamen. Pipe plus straps comes out to 2.28" instead of 2" wide and post is at 40% point from leading edge. [3,1780]

2/13 Discussed with Scott, who says wider would be better both in terms of stall angle and is strength, but feels the rudder hinge is more critical, where the OD of the rudder stock (1.900") is about all wider you can go and get a good seal that doesn't cause drag. The next size up is 2" ID, which would be okay except that increases the size of the quadrant and tiller head and availability. I recalculated the offsets for 2" width and shortened the rudder chord by 1 1/2" also, as I don't like the rounded corner on the bottom of the trailing edge. Scott suggested iron wood or "iron bark" from Enviresource in Seattle for the deadwood and maybe the rudder and skeg. [2,1782]

2/17/98 Sanded, rearranged shop, and completed pattern for skeg shoe in ash. [3,1785]

2/18 Finished sanding hull, marked and filled areas below waterline and filled. Used wood filler on pattern to fill grain. [2,1787]

2/19 Ballard Bronze will do skeg shoe for $100. Talked to Scott about Port Townsend Foundry. He says need 1 degree draft in pattern. Called PTF and Pete advised that he needs 3 degrees draft. Will do piece for about $70. Recut side bevels to 3 degrees, sanded, refilled, dried and resanded. Called Navy City Metals. Plate comes in 4' x 8' sheets. [2,1789]

2/20 Checked out bevels in the house and decided there was a slight reverse bevel at the very top. Set up sanding drum in drill press and used 3 degree beveled block to get bevels cut true, resanded, and filled with epoxy and microballons. Set under heat lamp to cure. [1,1790]

2/24 Sanded hull and re-epoxied a batch of spots w/1:1 silica. [2,1792]

2/25 Took skeg shoe pattern to Port Townsend Foundry and got tour. [2,1794]

3/16/98 Picked up skeg shoe at P.T. It was $67.89. Went to Edensaw. Mahogany to be in next week. It's $5.60, fir is $11+. Called Scott about what size hole to drill for rudder shaft. 2" dia is what he said and he needs actual angle. [3,1797]

3/17 Picked up 1.5 sheets of 1/8" plate and 20' of 1.5x1.5x1/8 angle at Gorst for the keel mold. Cut 9" of plate with 7.25" metal cutting blade in 15 min with much effort. With no "set" like with cutting with teeth, the blade binds or tries to skip sideways on surface. [5,1802]

3/18 Bought cutting torch at Eagle Hardware. Only bottles available in Poulsbo are small bottles, won't fit regulators. Dropped skeg shoe off at ACCUMAR. Scott showed me rudder parts. [3,1805]

3/19 Returned cutting torch. [2,1807]

3/20 Layed out both sheets, marked all cuts. [1,1808]

3/23 Figured bottom bevels on end stiffeners and marked them for cutting. Drilled pilot hole in aft stem for rudder shaft. Too wet to work outside, too much fire hazard to cut inside. [2,1810]

3/25 Drilled 2" hole for rudder. Stem looks really solid. [2,1812]

4/14/98 Rented cutting torch and started cutting steel. Ran out of oxygen after about 30 min of cutting. Finished only about 1/4 of work. Called about larger tank but they said none avaiable. [2,1814]

4/16/98 Rented torch with large oxygen tank. Could not get to cut as flame spread out when trying to cut. Called and returned tip. Checked out okay so returned and ran out of acetylene next, after about another 1/4 of job and 30 minutes. I later read the book on how to adjust flame for cutting and saw what I was doing wrong. [3,1817]

4/20/98 Rented torch with two oxygen and two acetylene tanks. Nearly finished the cuttin with the first two tanks despite taking nearly three hours. Finally ran out of first tank of oxygen so put on second tank. Cut up some extra 1" flat bar from scrap. [5,1822]

4/22/98 Separated all the cut pieces of steel. Set up vise on main work bench. Cleaned soot off hull from torch lighting. [3,1825]

4/23 Using Makita grinder, started cleaning the slag off the metal parts. Many of the triangular stiffener pieces warped in the cutting process. I straightened a few with the hammer on the floor, so it's doable. [2,1827]

5/22 Ground steel. Started bending one of the side sheets. It's doable. [1,1828]

6/23 Set up new 5" vise on sloping board and continued bending side sheets. [1,1829]

6/24 Made template for inside of side sheet and continued bending. [1,1830]

8/10 Bent more steel using hammer. Side plates weigh 54 lbs each. [1,1831]

8/24 Made two new templates and finished bending one side. [1,1832]

8/25 Finished bending on second side. Looks neat! [2,1834]

8/28 Picked up rudder shaft assembly from ACCUMAR. [1,1835]

8/30 Positioned shaft to the waterline. There is 2 3/4" clearance between top of pipe and where top of upper delrin bearing will be. Bearing is thicker and there is an added 1 1/2" shank on top pipe fitting which will raise the top of the tiller cap about 2" higher than the drawing, so will talk to Scott about cutting 2" off the pipe before welding it on. Keel mold sides are ready to start welding. Need to buy a 24" long spacer piece to go between the two sides at the aft end, order hoists, so I can pick it up and figure out all the other sequences I'll need to complete the mold. [2,1837]

9/2 Remeasured the rudder stock and came up with a 5 5/8" cut so took the pipe and upper cap to Scott for cuting and welding. Did some more grinding on the mold. Calculated all offsets for rudder and skeg and printed out. [4,1841]

9/15 Scott called and the final cut and weld has been done on my rudder post. I have not yet figured out how I'm going to move the steel project yet. The five basic pieces will be welded together to form a 200 lb piece. This will take half a dozen or more days and will require numerous rotations of the whole thing to insure it doesn't warp in the process, and to position each weld so I can get to it. To that, I'll be adding about 20 side and top stiffeners, all which will need to be cut and shaped to fit and welded in place. Through the course of completing this, I anticipate having to move the unit outside for welding and back in the shop at night so it doesn't rust. Rusted steel is much harder to weld, and I don't want to chance burning the shop down, welding inside. 9/24 Scott suggested using 3M-5200 to laminate skeg and rudder pieces together, and using structural grade lumber. Another thought on welding is to do it inside and hang curtains. Perhaps an 8' high booth. 8 x 4 would take 4 sheets of plywood. 9/29 Bought steel angle and rod, grinding discs, hacksaw blades, hoist and strap. Decided to just start welding, plumbing and squaring as I go and see what I run into for problems lifting. Perhaps I can do all welding on the door side, so sparks go outside instead of inside. [2,1843]

9/30 Started Welding! The 1/8" 7018 rods seem to work well on the 1/8" steel. Had to roll the two sides over three times already and still havn't welded aft end yet, but is going well. [4,1847]

10/1/98 Tack welded aft end with 1/8" angle sandwitched in. Still getting the hang of welding with 1/8" rod. [2,1849]

10/2 Finished welding both ends. Aft had bow from top to bottom, so hammered out. This caused fore/aft bow. Installed jig and it fits okay. May have to weld up with jig in place. [4,1853]

10/4 Ground base sheet edges, traced lower foil outline from jig and leveled up on supporting timbers. Sides were slightly out of plumb, so marked high spots and reground to true. Again discovered aft edge still bowed. Recalculated all stresses again. All sections have factor of safety between 7.5 and 8.5. [4,1857]

10/5 Marked and ground edge sheets for plumb. Then marked and ground for high spots and set up on level stand. Marked and ground more to fit leveled base. [3,1860]

10/6 Started welding sides to base. Could not get weld to span gap. Switched to type 6011 rod, which is hotter and opened up blow hole. Quit early. [2,1862]

10/7 Broke side off base and cleaned up. Marked bottom of sides to flat plate and ground more. Finally got all gaps out and got 1/3rd welded. [5,1867]

10/8 Finished welding all but one small spot. [5,1872]

10/9 Welded last spot and tested it for leaks by pouring a cup of alcohol and tilting it fore and aft and marking the wet spots. It turns out that by only welding short welds, some slag is at each end in the bevel that doesn't get chipped out and each weeped alcohol. I marked all the spots, but don't think I'll bother trying to fix them. I'll have about 10 square inches total weld holding each side in sheer, and the total sheer load is only 5,000 lbs,so that's something like 500 psi, where the welds will hold 20,000 to 30,000 psi in sheer. When I turn it upside down, there is a ridge all around the underside, so I know I got good penetration to the welds. Talked to Scott. He doesn't think lead will leak through. [1,1873]

10/12 Figured spacings on keel bolts from plans. [2,1875]

10/13 Marked bolt spacings on steel. Decided to reweld all around the bottom of the mold. Finished all but about 2 feet. [3,1878]

10/14 Finished welding the shell. The side panels are warped out in a convex shape all around. Welding the base, caused the sides to warp out at the bottom. As I weld the ribs on, it will want to warp in the other direction, but since it's already fixed at the bottom, I doubt that will bend back. I had planned to weld the ribs on starting at the bottom, but that may lock in the outward angle. I plan to start at the forward end, where the warpage is less and feel my way along on this. [5,1883]

10/15 I hammered at the base of the sides all around with little effect on the bulges, managing to make some new dents in the mold. Fitted and tacked on 14 (one side) stiffener ribs on the mold and got them 2/3rds welded. [6,1889]

10/18 Welded more on the ribs, using C-clamp on ends. The warpage has flatened nicely. [2,1891]

10/21 Finished welding all the ribs. [5,1896]

10/22 Welded on upper flange. Had to weld two cross supports to stabilize the shell as the flange had warped and had to force it all the way. Measured error from upper template in 8 places, 6 exact, 1 1/8" over & 1 1/16" over, in different places. (Need to check for symetry.) [5,1901]

10/26 Welded on the angle around the upper flange, so that's all 41 pieces. Still some hole patching to do and a few more fill in welds. [5,1906]

10/27 Did more fill in welding. [2,1908]

10/28 Finished fill in welding and marked keel bolt rows. [3,1911]

10/29 Welded some more straps. Bought more rod to weld bottoms of ribs. [2,1913]

10/31 Refigured all rod and flatbar. Realized keel will shrink vertically as well as horizontally and bolts will want to float in the lead. [2,1915]

11/1 Welded bottoms of ribs and inside of front weld. [2,1917]

11/4 Tried four places for 3/4 s-b nuts with no luck. Atlas seems best for the rod and flatbar. [1,1918]

11/11 Bought Mahogany at Edensaw. [3,1921]

11/12 Ordered Bronze from Atlas, nuts from Doc Freeman's. [1,1922]

11/13 Bought router and table. [2,1924]

11/16 Ordered router bits from Grizzly and screws from Jamestown. [1,1925]

11/17 Made up dummy keel bolts at ACCUMAR. [3,1928]

11/18 Bought fir timber for skeg and rudder. Tried out new router bits. [3,1931]

11/19/98 Mapped out and cut up five rudder pieces and five skeg pieces. Sure could use a jointer here. Using the power plane still leaves humps and valleys. The Grizzly flute bits really bog down and the 1/2" one is too long, so the shallowest cut I can make is about 1". I had wanted to use 1/2" square splines, not 1/2" x 2". Am using the 3/8" flute instead. Managed to cut the radius in the wrong side of the first piece of the skeg....sigh. [7,1938]

11/20/98 Realized in the middle of the night that I had allowed an extra inch all around, so the bad radius cut was no problem and I just cut out. Bought 1/4" straight sided flute at Kingston Lumber and cut the grooves for the small rudder spline and finished up the 3/8" ones in the skeg pieces. Made all the splines and made the 2" radius cut in the right spot this time. The moisture test on the 4 x 8 fir beam I bought at Kingston Lumber has tested 25% so far. [4,1942]

11/21 Refigured skeg bolts for 10 bolts instead of 5. If the bolts are bonded to the floors so that they carry compression, it more than doubles the side load capacity of the skeg. The additional holes will fit in the shoe and no additional floors are needed. [1,1943]

11/23 Scott didn't have any real objections to the idea of increasing the number of skeg bolts, but he hinted that it seemed like a lot of metal. The maximum helm angle is 45 degrees because the tiller won't clear the traveller. Two of the skeg timbers are warped and the splines won't mate with the grooves. Have clamped them straight to see if that helps. [1,1944]

11/24 Discovered that the two boards aren't warped, I cut them crooked. Had to recut the splines. Made up a dummy skeg to get the fore/aft profile. Goofed again by not first plumbing the rudder shaft. Transfered the profile to the real skeg and discovered it is barely wide enough at the hull end. [5,1949]

11/25 Drilled piece of ash and epoxied in a 3" length of 3/4" bronze rod. This is to test bonding strength. [1,1950]

11/28 Epoxy soft on bronze but hard on wood area. Posted on r.b.b. Drilled pieces of scrap with new 12" long drills for 3 and 4" bronze screws. [2,1952]

11/30 Joined the 5 skeg pieces with screws, planed off the ends, plotted the foils and started planing. Set up s-b bonding test with Clear Coat. [6,1958]

12/1 Finished planing the skeg. Plumbed the rudder shaft and secured. Clear Coat bonding tested very well. [7,1965]

12/2 Rough cut mating surface in skeg to fit stem. This is going to be a difficult fit. S-B nuts arrived. Look too small. May have to use as doubles in the keel and get heavy ones for on top the floors. Returned finger router bit to Grizzley. Skeg looks great! [4,1969]

12/3 Finished skeg fit as much as I could. Sits plumb but slightly off to one side. Assembled rudder parts. Had to make driver bit for #14 screws. Started planing the rudder. [6,1975]

12/4 Finished fairing rudder and cut pockets for straps. The two crooked straps bind in the pockets, so will need more work. Scott thinks the nuts are okay. Recommended leaving the rudder fatter than the drawing on the trailing edge. Also recommended welding the nut plates, vs trying to thread the bronze. [7,1982]

12/7 Recut pockets four times but finally got good fit. Hit two of the ten #14 screws with strap bolts but can just set them deeper to clear. Got quote for connector nuts, so looks like that will work. [6,1988]

12/10 Determined that 1/4-20 machine screws will work on rudder straps. Made up checklist for rollover. Did cleanup. [2,1990]

12/11 Did more cleanup. Took rudder apart. [2,1992]

12/14 Ordered taps, wrench, step drill for 3/4" tap, and screws and connector nuts for rudder. Moved compressor back to shop. [1,1993]

12/15 Dissasembled skeg. Figured size for coupler nuts and drilled the two holes which interfere with the assembly bolts. Redrilled the assembly bolts to clear. Bought 3/4" Forstner bit and cut jig to hold at correct angle in drill press for one of the rod nuts. Worked great except drill only reaches 2 1/2". [5,1998]

12/16 Built jig to drill fwd skeg piece. Used router to shape a channel to hold the nose in drill press. Marked vertical line on side of the two skeg pieces to intersect the center of the 3/4" rod nut holes. Used long 1/4" bit for pilot hole and then drilled with 1/2" bit in the big 1/2" drill by hand. [3,2001]

12/17 Packed a lunch to go sailing but the nice weather turned to a gale, so I decided not to. Bought a new wood auger since I couldn't find an extension for the 3/4" Forstner bit. Experimented with the new bit. Neither the makita or the Skill Drill had enough torque, so mounted it in the 1/2" drill. It went all the way through a 3" piece just on momentum, which is what I figured might happen. With gentle use of the trigger, I finished out the two 3" deep holes in the skeg boards. Sanded all the skeg and rudder boards and splines and coated them all with Clear Coat. [5,2006]

12/27 Sanded splines and grooves to remove excess Clear Coat so they would fit. [2,2008]

1/4/99 Bought two 1/2" bolts, cut, drilled and tapped another rod nut and redrilled holes to make fit. [4,2012]

1/5 Finished planing and sanding grooves and splines. [2,2014]

1/6 Reassembled skeg and rudder using 3M-5200 adhesive. (8 oz reqd)[6,2020]

1/7 Faired cracks in rudder and skeg using 5200. [1,2021]

1/9 Determined that I'll need all the time available between now and leaving for around Vancouver Island to prepare, so cleaned up until August. [1,2022]

2/9 Sanded rudder and skeg. There is either some warpage or the joints didn't match quite the same as when initially faired. Ordered jointer. [1,2023]

2/12 New jointer arrived. Got set up and adjusted. [1,2024]

3/1 Washed hull, skeg and rudder with water. [1,2025]

9/16 Cut 7 pieces of fir, 15" x 4" x 6". These will be drilled for the dummy bolts and positioned in the keel pour. Difficult to drill holes true, and I'd like to have the holes true so the keel bolts could be removed without taking the keel off. It may not be all that necessary, but with a few extra pains, it shouldn't be too hard. Riveted dust collector hood to jointer and moved close to the dust collector. Jointer shute clogs otherwise. Got pickup back from being repaired. Runs worse, exhaust leak is worse, horn still doesn't work but the lights are fixed. Not sure I want to haul keel in it. [6,2031]

9/20 I spent most of the morning trying to invent a way to drill 3/4" holes through those pieces of 4" thick fir and have the holes perpendicular. I've got a Forstner bit which only goes 2" deep but will fit in the drill press. I can start the holes that way but unless I drill a small pilot hole all the way through, I doubt I could drill through from the other side and have a straight hole. My only other two 3/4" bits are the hole saw, which has even less depth than the Forstner bit and a 10" auger bit. The auger is too long to get the 4" thick wood under the drill press, so I've been trying with no success to drill it the rest of the way through by hand with my big 1/2" drill. Despite my best efforts at keeping it square to the surface, all the practice holes have been off too much to be acceptable. I may have to resort to borrowing a bigger drill press. The only bit I have for drilling a pilot hole is a 12" bit, so that wouldn't fit in the drill press either, but I might be able to keep it truer by hand or build a guide. [2,2033]

9/23 Drilled the blocks using the forstner bit on one side, through drilled by hand with 1/8" x 12" bit, and then the Forstner bit on the other side to finish the holes. [3,2036]

9/25 Cut pattern piece for bronze washer piece for first row of bolts. Holes are too crooked. Tried to redrill with forstner bit. Still doesn't fit right and now bolt is too loose. May have to shim straight. [1,2037]

12/16/99 Washed hull with warm water. [1,2038]

1/3/00 Ordered 1/2" and 3/4" dies from Grizzly. Made schedule for rollover. [1,2039]

1/5/00 Installed new bearing in the bandsaw. Aligned dummey keel bolts. Fabricared patterns backing plates to the keel dummy bolts. Cut, drilled, tapped and installed the first three bronze plates. Discovered the skeg has shrunk about 1/16" across the shoe face. This will cause stress on the bolts when it swells back up later, but can't figure how to allow for it except to cut bolt grooves oversize and fill with caulk or 5200. [7,2046]

1/6/00 Used PC reciprocating saw to cut three more bronze plates. Need new blades. Threaded first double plate and installed it in block with no problem. Figured out location of floors and aft cockpit bulkhead and marked skeg. Set up board on saw horses to simulate cutting grooves in skeg for bolts. Worked fine. Had to make 41" x 1 5/8" x 5/16" wedge for trimmer router to ride on. A section of bronze rod fit nicely in the groove. [7,2053]

1/7/00 Cut all four grooves in the skeg. I cut the holes to allow for the wood to swell some. Marked and drilled the 6 skeg holes in the aft stem. Made the holes 11/16" so I'll have plenty room for epoxy. The dies came from Grizzly so I cleaned up the threads on the two dummy keel bolts with bad threads. [7,2060]

1/8/00 Trip to Lumberyard got me a new drill, new blades, nuts and bolts, a new fisheye level, and dowels all of which I used. All keel nut backing plates are complete, one cross brace is done, and the new level works great for getting the tap to start square with the surface. The dowels were set up as the six skeg bolts and it all fit perfectly, snug with no adjustments needed. [6,2066]

1/10 Finished bolting keel mold cross braces. Installed blocks and bolts for fore/aft alignment of dummy keel bolts. Installed centerline alignment blocks. Keel mold is ready except for coating with sodium silicate and building the hoist. Took first frame data off inside hull for skeg floor next to cockpit bulkhead. Data doesn't look right and tick board wasn't plumb. Need to invent better way of mounting the tick board. [6,2072]

1/12 Made scaled mockup of rollover. Looks feasible with two chain hoists. Made new setup for getting frame data using tick stick. Still too crude. Rearranged shop to get to lofting of stern area to pick off angles at floor locations. [6,2078]

1/13 Rexamined the plans and decided that using only one floor for the skeg and the other three just leveling blocks per the plans seems adequate. Picked off angles and cut the three leveling blocks. Angles were all off and not enough material in blocks to salvage, so estimated correct angles and recut. Same result second time but closer. Still had to cut three new blocks. Clamped first layer of floor to temp block screwed to stem and drew offset line on rough floor. After four sessions of marking and sanding down with angle grinder, it finally fit. The the next two layers, including the two limber holes went easily. Managed to step back off ladder, thinking I was two steps closer to the floor. Got to remember to be careful when tired. [8,2086]

1/14 Epoxied the three leveling blocks in but got no squeeze out from the floor pieces even after sinking large screws through both, so cleaned them up to make better fit after cured. Restowed material back in lofting area. Ordered lumber for hoist, bought bolts, and figured out what I need to buy chain. [6,2092]

1/15 Cleaned up floor and refit and epoxied in place. Lumber arrived for hoist. Got cut to length and stowed inside. [5,2097]

1/16 Drilled the floors and the leveling blocks and epoxied inside using rag on a wire. Had to get under the hull and back out six times before the epoxy kicked, but it worked fine. Drilled the beams and posts for the first hoist frame section and installed the four bolts. I got it raised up to eye level but could not figure any safe way to go further. The frame is so stiff that one corner can only be raised 4" higher than the other without the high corner's leg lifting off the floor and that makes it very unstable. I calculated that the beams are 35 lbs each and the legs are 50 lbs each. [4,2101]

1/17 I was able to walk the supports along while sliding the frame feet until the beam rested on the hull. Then, sliding it along the hull, I lifted it vertical while standing on the hull and attached it to the door frame. Epoxy coated the skeg holes again using a segmant of foam roller wired to dowel. Threaded #1 and #6 keel bolts to attach chain for lifting the poured keel. AM bought sodium silicate for me at a drug store in Poulsbo. [4,2105]

1/18 Bought chain, hooks, nuts and washers for lifting the keel and assembled the pieces. [1,2106]

1/19 The chain hoist didn't come, so I oiled up the old comealong and used it in place of the hoist. The frame and the chains seems to function well. Cleaned the keel mold, the dummy bolts and bronze washers and coated the mold seams and the dummy bolts with sodium silicate. Tried to true up the rudder post to cast the fiberglass skeg/hull bedding. I discovered the post is warped. Called Scott, but he was out. [6,2112]

1/20 Set up a bench jig and determined that the post has a 0.060" hump opposite the lower welds. Called Scott. He offered to try to bend it, but suggested I make a mockup with the actual bearings and see if there is enough play to absorb it. I mounted the top and middle bearings on an 4x8 so the skeg shoe could be mounted to the end. Turning it 90 degrees resulted in an obvious 1/8" or more movement of the skeg shoe. I then bolted the shoe down, and amazingly, the post was very little harder to turn until it got beyond the 45 degree point. I was able to determine that the 4x8 was actually flexing 0.040". I decided this is not going to be a problem and made the epoxy/glass skeg/hull bedding. Made up the cover splines for the skeg bolts. [8,2120]

1/21 The bedding came out good. Trimmed it and cut the bronze rod to length for the skeg bolts. [3,2123]

1/23 Recut one of the bolts with crooked thread and finished threading the rest of the skeg bolts. Bent bolts to lie plumb on hull end and bolted on skeg shoe. The assembly is too heavy and ackward for one person to set in hull. Will need to use the strap hoist. [3,2126]

1/24 Called and got price on pouring the keel. Installed rollers on hoist frame and moved to aft end of hull. Mounted strap hoist on frame and set skeg in place.[8,2134]

1/26 Hauled keel mold to foundry in Seattle and arranged to pour on 28th. Marked skeg bolts and removed skeg using hoist. Rebent rods for better fit and reinstalled. [8,2142]

1/27 Cut and drilled bronze washer plates. One bolt is too short. No material to make new one so will have to reduce height of floor. Chain hoist arrived. [3,2145]

1/28 Went to foundry with Jim and watched the keel pour. The wooden blocks all burned during the torching, which was done for over an hour after the pour to level the top as it cooled and shrank. Cleared area in front of the shop. [8,2153]

1/29 Bought 3M-5200 and Boatlife caulk and ordered the lumber. Removed skeg and assembled on bench with 5200 and clamped. Moved hoist frame to door and drilled holes for the braces. Studied underside and realized I'll need to retain molds in aft area until bulkheads are installed to retain shape. Rollover is possible by Feb 10th if all continues to go well. [8,2161]

1/31 Jim picked me up and we got the keel in a pickup he borrowed from his neighbor. Weight came out at 2770 lbs, 5 lbs over design. I'll remove about that much in fairing, so it was perfect. We moved the hoist frame outside and lifted the keel up with the new chain hoist. One of the 2x10 beams split, so had to reinforce it with two 4x6's mounted on top. Dropped it down to the pipe rollers and rolled it inside. We replaced both the 2x10's before moving the frame into the shop, but managed to split both the new ones in the bolting process. [11,2172]

2/2 Jim helped today. Got two new 4x10's for beams and made one up with 2" gussets. Raising it was difficult as the lumber is quite wet. Keel came out easily and the dummy bolts came out clean. Even the trailing edge came out very close to perfect. Planed down top and it's looking great. Measured hole spacing. I had allowed for 0.9% but it shrunk 1.8%. Appears that it is not a problem. [8,2180]

2/3 Did final assembly of rudder. Relocated lumber and keel. Lowered 2x10 hoist frame using new frame and floor jack and took apart. Scott recommends keeping as many molds intact as possible to keep shape. Seems that easiest way is to roll over with all the frames intact and only remove after the hull is adequately supported from the outside and as necessary to install bulkheads. [8,2188]

2/4 Built second hoist frame and raised it using first frame. Ran offsets for deadwood and cut boards to length. Width of keel is 0.010" too wide. Made up hole index boards. Marked first 4" board and ran through bandsaw. Leveled up top board and measured max cut at slightly over 1 1/2". Figured 146 feet of 2x4's needed to brace the molds, have 155 on hand. Need forty 2" lag screws to anchor hull to molds. [8,2196]

2/6 Made up second deadwood board. Set rollover date for Feb 16th. [2,2198]

2/7 Made up top board. 1/2" drilled died halfway through bottom board. Bought air wrench and used to install 3" lag screws through hull to molds. Cleaned out under the hull. Ordered 3 more come-alongs and 2 straps. [7,2205]

2/8 Bought new 1/2" drill. Having reverse and slower speed works much better with an auger bit than the old drill. Drilled all but last three holes. Bottom board fits keel. There is about 1/8" overcut for 6" on the bottom board where the bandsaw table slipped while I was cutting. [1,2206]

2/9 Finished holes, bolted deadwood together, faired, fit to keel and fit to hull. [10,2216]

2/10 Drilled Keelbolt holes in hull, routed out radiuses and also did skeg holes and then epoxied them all. Swept out under the hull. Cut and lag screwed in cross braces. Lagged hull to molds at sheer. Set up heat lamp on keelbolt holes. [8,2224]

2/11 Washed hull with water twice. Used alcohol on oil spots. Marked outline of top plank and used 4 oz of 5200 on plank. It didn't squeeze out like epoxy. Looks like not enough 5200. Used all I had. Weighted it in hopes it will creep overnight. Marked out boot top line and taped waterline. (plus 3.5" per dwgs) Did major shop cleaning overall in preparation for painting. [8,2232]

2/12 I awoke at 2 am and realized why the 5200 isn't squeezing out. The deadrise angle increases in the fwd foot or so and I hadn't beveled enough and it's high centered on the fwd end. That meant scraping it all off and reshaping it. Fortunatly, I had written the deadrise angles right on the plank so it wasn't too hard to get the right angles like I should have done right off. Also most of the 5200 stayed on the hull so with an additional 12 oz I had plenty. So much the plank wanted to swim around for the first few hours. Moved the first hoist frame and set up the first come-along. Mixed the bottom paint and applied half a gallon. Set heater under hull for overnight. [8,2240]

2/13 Built fire in wood stove. Bolted cross boards to plank through hull. Got squeezeout in area of bolts. Let sit to squeeze out as much as possible. Installed diagonals between sheer and far side of mold at both lift points. Removed all anchor bolt nuts and screws holding molds to base plates. Tried to lift hull with small strap. Heard crack. Tried to lower and come-along doesn't release correctly. May need additional lag screws. Removed cross boards and planed top board level and flat. Made up 2x10 bedding board to go under top plank with side restrainers and flush bolts to anchor it to hull. Used the entire gallon of bottom paint on the second coat. Keel, skeg and rudder still need paint. Built second fire in wood stove to help cure paint. [8,2248]

2/14 Mounted base board on top deadwood plank and bolted down tight from inside. Mounted roller feet on legs of second hoist frame and moved to position. Plumed and braced the two frames. Raised foward end of hull with floor jack and blocked up. Discovered entire aft section was supported on aft stem mold. Raised aft end with strap and cut off all the mold legs. Cut baseboards up and removed anchor bolts. Lowered aft end to blocks and cleaned up. Straps haven't apparently been shipped. Will have to buy some in Poulsbo or Silverdale if they don't come. [9,2257]

2/15 Grizzly shipped only one strap so had to go to Poulsbo to get second strap. They have no detectable stretch and are the right length. Moved keel to gain some extra room. I'm sure we'll run into something tomorrow, but I can't think of what it will be. [2,2259]

2/16 Did the rollover. Larry and Stan worked the upside come-alongs, Scott and I the down side ones. Dave and Jim kept tension of two preventer lines which I tied to cross braces, down under the down side of the hull, up over the beam and down to cleats on the hoist verticals. We had to set each end down only once as the up sides ran out of cable. I tried to level her after everyone left, but the floor isn't flat enough to know. [6,2265]

2/17 Leveled hull and braced at 6 points. Decided to move hull towards the West and north walls to make more room on bench and sink sides of the shop. Moved hoist frame one leg at a time with hammer making at least a dozen rounds then picked up hull with hoist and leveled and reblocked. This wasn't enough so sawed off corners of hoist frame to clear ceiling side slope and moved some more and releveled and reblocked. Checked the keelbolt holes against the plans and marked out the bulkheads. Everything is looking great and the hull is level, solid and firm. [8,2273]

2/18 Installed ladder in inside. Set up level plank blocks at about fr#2 and #8 to insure no twist. Had to use shingles under port side to get perfectly level. Floor must slope. Marked, dissassembled hoist braces and moved all sections to end wall and secured. Tried out trim router on sheer edge. Very messy. Decided to try to cut bulkheads from lofting. Need layout board, 4' x 7'. Can restow materials on lofting wall to under hull temporarly. [8,2281]

2/21 Investigated roof rack for Camry. Old one fits okay. Restowed materials, cleaned up, and did rough sketches of bulkheads. [3,2284]

2/23 Bought one sheet of 3/4" AC plywood and brought home on roof rack. Had to keep speed under 40 MPH as it wants to bend up in front. Cleared lofting wall, set up board and lofted out aft bulkhead. Realized that building up single sheet of plywood by hand would entail making up 45 strips of wood 8' x 1/4" x 3 1/4", each requiring 6 passes through jointer, 1 through bandsaw, and 2 through planer. Along with laying up, this would take 12+ hours and tie up the table for a whole day. Calculated 7 sheets of 3/4", 4 sheets 1/2", and 12 sheets of 1/4". [7,2291]

2/24 Got prices from Edensaw on meranti plywood. E-mailed Stan and called Scott. Dave thinks the prices are good and liked the meranti. Made up offset tables for deck and house roof. Cleaned more in lofting area. Measured bolt holes in keelson and plotted top of aft bulkhead. Contemplated installing deck clamp. [7,2298]

2/25 Bought 7 sheets 18mm, 4 sheets 12mm, and 6 sheets 6mm meranti BS 1088 plywood from Edensaw and stowed in the shop. [4,2302]

2/26 Nursing cold in house. Still contemplating how to do the deck clamp. [2,2304]

2/28 Have the flu but figured out how to do floors, frames and deck clamp. Made schedule and sketches for the sequences. [2,2306]

3/2 Laid out frames, floors and bulkheads at 3"=1'-0" scale. Got quote of $4.08 for 2" VG Fir from Kingston Lumber. [2,2308]

3/3 Craig at Fred Tebb and Sons in Tacoma quotes $2.75 on "C" grade spruce, $3.50 on spar grade. They cut to orders so should be ready in two weeks. He will call me. Got quote on teak at $10. [1,2309]

3/8 Determined order of bulkhead installation. Six can be done with no mold removal. Plan to do remaining ones by replacing mold with bulkhead, one at a time. Then only remaining molds where no bulkheads exist will be cut down and reinstalled. Deck clamps will follow. [2,2311]

3/12 Cut out bulkhead at frame 9.4 and sat it in place. Visulaizing how the deck will sweep over it well below the bulwarks gave a whole new dimension for me and I felt quite excited to see it for the first time. [2,2313]

3/13 Trimmed bulkhead for better fit. Installed cleats on molds in aft end for access. Recut the skeg floor so short bolt will fit. This and rudder packing gland mount will be hard to reach after bulkhead is in place. Gland needs lag bolts I will have to order. [3,2316]

3/15 Discovered bulkhead was skewed due to indexing off twisted mold. Installed wire between stems to square off bulkhead. Packing gland is plumb. [3,2319]

3/16 Moved bulkhead aft, fit spacer piece, cut limber holes and crown in top, marked sheer clamp notches. Trimmed sheer with router. [4,2323]

3/17 Cleaned up trimmings and most of the wax paper under the molds. Marked centerline on cross pieces. Removed ladder from inside and replaced with rungs on molds. Tebbs called and spruce order is ready for pickup. [3,2326]

3/18 Finished taking offsets for the floor stations. Discovered my offsets weren't wide enough and not precise enough either for plotting floors. Resorted to using tick stick method on 4.1, the foremost floor. It worked very well and I selected three pieces of fir to make the first of three layers. The bottom two layer are 1 1/2" fir with a top layer 1" ash. This splits up what would be a 4:1 end grain join with the hull and makes it 6:1 on the single bolt floors and 8:1 for the double bolt floors. Removed mold at station 4. It will make a good tick stick for the frame sections. Drilled the limber holes in both ends of the middle 3" wide floor section from both sides with hole saw. Got it done but it took half an hour. On the side sections, I used a round head router bit. It's supposed to be 3/4" radius but it cuts a perfect 1 1/4" diameter, which is perfect for the limber holes. Used the tick stick to get the radius for the side pieces and it all fits near perfect. [6,2332]

3/23 Picked up 109 bd ft of sitka spruce at Fred Tebbs in Tocama. [3,2335]

4/19 Cut center section of floor 4.1. Caught my ring finger in the jointer, nearly taking the end off. [1,2336]

4/28 Worked more on floor. Having difficulty getting it to fit. [2,2338]

5/1 Decided to cut beveled shims to make floor pieces fit. Discovered that bandsaw was badly out of square which caused the fit problem with the floor pieces. Readjusted the table stop to square with blade, made the shims and epoxied in place. Removed mold at frame 6. [3,2341]

5/2 Floor 4.1 pieces fit much better. Measured for and roughed out pieces for floor 6.0. [2,2343]

5/8 Cut limber holes in floor 6.0 using bandsaw, and cut the curves and bevels. Remade the center piece from scratch. This work is depressingly slow. [4,2347]

5/9/00 Cut top boards for all 7 floors. Fit 4.1 and 6.0, ready for epoxy. [4,2351]

5/11 Decided to try using an adjacent pair of molds to form the frames at 9.5. 1/4" is way too thick to bend. In fact, I did some quick checking and 3/16" will be the thickest even for the frames in the middle. I have enough 1/8" veneer to do about half of the frames, so will use it on the ones in the ends where there is more bend. Used straps and wedges on the epoxy job. Did 6.0 and one half of the center portion of the frame. I used a piece of plastic in the center of the frame layup as I'll need some spring back. The center portion is 7 veneers, and they are full width. There will be another 6 on each side, with less than full width, forming a trapozoid, so 19 veneers on each side. Near the center of the hull, I should get by with 8 or 9 piecess on each side as it will be a rectangle and with thicker pieces. [8,2359]

5/12 The frame laminations came out perfect. The floor, however, had places where the epoxy didn't fill the gaps. The pieces shift around with the wedges, so I need to take greater care. I was able to cut 1 1/2" deep into three of the gaps with the 6" sawboss and the carbide blade. This is less than 1/8", so too tight for veneer splines, but I had some too thin reject ash that I used. The remaining four gaps were cut 1 1/2" deep using two standard thin kerf blades together and the 1/8" veneer fits just right in that. So, I was able to plug all the gaps and the floor should be able to carry full load and now has no voids that I can see. I'm not unhappy with the end result and it appears I have a very good fit with the hull. [4,2363]

5/16 Cleaned up floor 6.0 and the laminated frame in the jointer. Sanded hull at aft frame and cleaned up layout table. [3,2366]

5/19/00 Floor 6.0 needs shims near limbers, but is ready for final epoxiing. Ran 9.5 frame laminations through jointer and marked bulkhead for curve to fit hull plus drew in 2" offset curve for bevel laminations. Total laminations required is 21. This is quite discouraging as it will take many steps to make the laminations, then to fit to the curve with bevel angle varying and into the deck clamp. [4,2370]

9/4 Made an inventory of all the laminations that would be required to for the bulkhead cleats. 1,050 feet of laminations required. Considering the time to make and fit them, I'm guessing it would add a year of work compared to using taped fillets. Devlin, Gougeon Bros, Nicolson, and Reuel Parker are all in agreement that it's the best way, both for time spent and final strength. The deck and sheer joints are too large for fillets, so will require clamps, but those will be much easier to make. [1,2371]

9/6 Reviewed plans again. Frames are structural and can't be replaced with fillets except where the bulkheads cross over. Still need short frame sections to cross over bottom at 3.8, & 6.4. On frames 4.4, 4.8, 5.0, 5.4, & 5.8, a 5' frame to tie floor to alternate side should be adequate. Frames 7.0, & 8.0 will need full frames. [2,2373]

9/7 Sketched out frame 3.8. This works well and answers many questions. Cleaned up in shop, looking for level, which I found. Fitted frame at 6.0 some more. [4,2377]

9/9 More sketches. Decided to stay with full frames rather than taped fillets. Using bevel blocks between laminations and hull will go much faster and probably be stronger because of better fit. Developed schedule for doing floors, frames, bulkheads, and deck clamps by April next year. [2,2379]

9/11 Did more fitting on floors. Epoxied 6.0 floor to hull, epoxied 4.1 floor pieces together. [4,2383]

9/12 Patched floor 4.1. Had to draw more sections to know where best to work next. I'd like to get in as many frames as I can before removing more molds. [4,2387]

9/13 Patched other side of 4.1. Developed sequence for the bulkheads. Took ticks off 3.8 and figured how to cut both sides out of one sheet. [3,2390]

9/14/00 Layed out cuts on plywood and redid ticks to aft face of bulkhead. It appears that the plywood will be 1/2" too short. I had some fudge factors in there but it's probably too close to chance. [1,2391]

9/16/00 I did a full sized mockup on 3.8 to get the overall dimensions. Discovered the side decks get narrower as they go forward. It took much head scratching, but after much refiguring and remarking, I was able to cut one half out of a half sheet of plywood. It fits like a glove, so the effort was worth it and I'm confident in my system finally. [6,2397]

9/17 Did fine fitting and made finished top cuts on 3.8 stb side. Developed jig for cutting bulkheads on the bandsaw. Made some practice bevel blocks. Came to realize I have more than enough good Meranti cut in 2" widths for all the blocking. Should be able to staple them in place. [4,2401]

9/18 Cut and fit 3.8 port side. Fit floor 4.1, ready to epoxy. [6,2407]

9/19 Ordered ss lag bolts from Kingston Marine Supply. Plotted out profile of frame 3.8 across keelson. Drew up bilge members. Looks good except need bevels. Frame requires nine, 3/16" laminations. [4,2411]

9/20 Finished and beveled bilge members. Figured number of 2x6's required for frame laminations. Decided on how to build up frames and clamps after talking to Scott. Cut 2" frame bevel pieces out of left over meranti planking and set in place. Bought enough lumber for half the frames, but it's fairly wet. [7,2418]

9/21 Rearranged the shop and milled up the first batch of 2"x3/16"x 12' laminations. Started moisture test in oven. Got the bulkhead and all the frame bevel blocks ready for epoxy. Set up the mold for laminating the frame segments and cut new radius in it so the frame will clear the limber holes. [8,2426]

9/22 Kingston not able to get lag bolts. Milled up the remaining portion of the first 2x8 and sanded all the pieces. Made up straps, blocks, wedges and screws and did trial run on the first set of three laminations. Epoxied, screwed and stapled the bilge/limber blocks to the hull and epoxied and stapled the frame bevel blocks to the hull on the starboard side. Rich Wendt stopped by for a look. Moisture test shows 14%. [8,2434]

9/24 Frame 3.8: Removed staples and screws and cleaned up wedges on starboard side, made up, fit and epoxied in wedges on port side, epoxied up the first set of three laminations. Frame 5.8: took ticks, marked up bulkhead for cutting. Want to recheck everything tomorrow before cutting it. [9,2443]

9/25 Cleaned up 3.8, tried frame segment for fit. Needs shims in two spots. Redid segment mold with straps on 4" centers vs 6". [6,2449]

9/26 Rechecked figures on 5.8 and cut. Fitting to hull reveals overcut on bottom. Made up straps and laminations to add 0 to 13/16" to bottom cut. [6,2455]

9/28 Epoxied floor to hull at 4.1, Epoxied in bevel block shims at 3.8, epoxied second segment for 3.8, epoxied buildup overcut laminations on 5.8. [7,2462]

9/29 Remove all straps and cleaned up some. Epoxy too hard already to use surform. Will have to clean up with powerplane. [1,2463]

9/30 Cleaned up new frame segment for 3.8 and faired up the shims. Cleaned up bulkhead 5.8, retraced curve from tick mold, and then made initial fit in hull. Cleaned up mating part of hull. Discovered that fitting with either angle grinder or power plane requires warmup period, more with plane. Then I can only concentrate for about 20 minutes at a session and have to quit. This means I need to sequence fitting work in with other work to get in a full day. [6,2469]

10/1 Final fit bulkhead 5.8. Took ticks off 5.8 for floor. [6,2475]

10/2 Made and fit limber blocks for floor at 5.8. Epoxied top laminate layer on upper segment of frame 3.8. Only seven layers needed, so will have only two segments. [6,2481]

10/3 Broke down frame mold for 3.8 and built up one for 5.8. Cut holes and epoxied in the limber blocks at 5.8 using screws and staples. Cleaned up the two frame sections at 3.8 and filled gaps on one side. [6,2487]

10/4 Ripped up twelve 8 foot laminations for 5.8, sanded, and epoxied up first segment. Cleaned up segments for 3.8, flipped and filled other side. Cut trial wedge blocks for 9.5, figured quantities, and made up blocks. Determined that hatch in 9.5 is 16" square, top 4" below deck at center. [9,2496]

10/6 Cleaned up both segemnts for 3.8 and epoxied the first segment in using 2" screws with washer blocks. Cleaned up the first segment of 5.8 and laminated up the second segment. [6,2502]

10/7 Cleaned up 5.8 segment, removed straps and dry screwed segment to hull. Discovered gaps in two areas, so cut shims to build up. Dry fit bulkhead to clamped in frame and marked end cuts on segment and bolt hole. Made cuts and drilled segment and notched bulkhead. Removed screws and washer blocks on 3.8 and did cleanup. Did trial fit of bulkheads against frame segment and did initial dry fit of second segment. Cut and sanded 5 degree side bevels on bevel blocks at 9.5 so there won't be gaps between blocks at hull. Cut step bevels in bevel blocks at join between frame and skeg floor. Set up mold for additional segments. [7,2509]

10/9/00 Fit 2nd segment of frame at 4.1 and epoxied in place. Epoxied edge gaps on both segments of 5.8 and epoxied in shims. Drilled, dry fit, numbered and epoxied in the bevel blocks at 9.5 and epoxied up one more frame segment. Marked deck clamp notches, removed bulkhead, and epoxied in the spacer block between the bulkhead and the skeg. floor. [8,2517]

10/10 Removed screws and cleaned up epoxy work. Removed mold and cleaned up for 4.8. Took ticks and layed out curve. Ripped up laminations for remaining segments on 9.5. Epoxied edge gaps on 5.8. [6,2523]

10/11 Plotted out deck and deckhouse curves on 4.8 and cut out. Took ticks off bilge area and plotted out. Not satisfied with curves I had on last two frames, so made up offsets for 40", 50", 60", and 71" radius curves. Cut the latter two out of scrap veneer for templates. Removed mold in front of 3.8 so I can screw the bulkhead into the frame. Made up a Matrix sheet of the 28 steps vs the 14 floor/bulkheads and x'd in what has been done. It looks encouraging. [6,2529]

10/12 Started to fair bevel blocks at 9.5 but discovered will need to build up one area. Finish cut deck clamp notches at 3.8, trimed frames to notch, drilled bulkhead and screw fit to frame. Marked, cut, and fit bilge blocks at 4.8. Faired first segment at 5.8. [8,2537]

10/13 Set up mold for 4.8. Cut bilge radius. Tested a 1/4" lamination against hull and was too thick so milled up a 2x8 to 3/16". [2,2539]

10/14 Sanded the new laminations, attached straps, epoxied up a four piece segment and epoxied down bilge blocks at 4.8. Epoxied the first segment at 5.8 and epoxied in shims at 9.5. [7,2546]

10/15 Cleaned up yesterdays epoxy runs. Cleaned hull and built bilge blocks for 5.0. Epoxied segments for 5.8 and 9.5. [7,2553]

10/16 Fit bilge blocks at 5.0. Cleaned up segments for 4.8 and drilled first one. Made up new 1/2" thick washer blocks for using 2" screws with segments. [4,2557]

10/17 Epoxied starboard half of bulkhead in 3.8. Made up bevel blocks to fit first frame segment at 4.8 and epoxied in place. Refit segment, redrilling the holes on the correct side and making plugs for the other holes. Epoxied the bilge blocks at 5.0. Worked on dry fit of 5.8. [6,2563]

10/18 Epoxied port bulkhead at 3.8. Made new segment for 5.0. Trimmed ends of 2nd segment at 5.8 and epoxied in place. Fit 1st segment on port side at 9.5 and epoxied in place and made up 5th segment. [7,2570]

10/19 Cleaned up new segments. Fit 2nd segment at 4.8 and epoxied in place. Fit 1st segment on starboard side at 9.5 and epoxied in place. Tried 1st segment for fit at 5.0 and marked bolt holes for drilling. Made up 2nd segment for 5.0. [7,2577]

10/20 Made and fit side and floor pieces at 5.8. Had to use chisel to take frame down flush to allow floor top piece to fit flush to hull. Modified sequence chart to do side floor piece before installing 1st frame segment. Also, side floor piece is more easily done after bilge blocks are in place and frame is not yet installed. Drilled 2nd segment to install as first at 5.0 because 1st segment was too short by 3/8". 1st segment will work fine as 2nd segment now. [4,2581]

10/22 Epoxied 2nd segment at 4.8, bevel blocks at 5.0, and side floor spacer piece at 5.8. Cut scarf to lenghten segment at 9.5. Need to install bulkhead concurrent with last segments due to tumblehome and frame being on fat side. [5,2586]

10/23 Cleaned up yesterday's epoxy work and fit bh and cut deck clamp notches at 9.5. Also marked cut for access panel and cleaned mounting block for rudder packing tube. [2,2588]

10/24 Cut access panel and notches at 9.5. Trimmed top of frame at 4.8 and tried to use circular saw to square up frame to fit bh. Managed to make fit even worse, so made up tapered shims for joint. [3,2591]

10/25 Fit top filler piece at 5.8. Fit 1st segment at 5.0. Fit bh at 9.5. Removed mold at 7.0. [2,2593]

10/26 Bought 2 doug fir 2x10's and a 2x8 for frames. Epoxied 1st segment at 5.0, top filler plate at 5.8, bulkhead at 9.5, and backing plate for rudder packing tube. [4,2597]

10/27 Made and fit top floor plate at 5.8. Rough cut side filler plate at 4.8. [3,2600]

10/31/00 Fit side filler plate and made top filler plate at 4.8. [2,2602]

11/1/00 Milled up and sanded laminations for 4.4 and 5.4. Fit segments for 9.5. Made up bilge blocks for 5.4. Cleaned up hull at 5.4 and 7.0. [6,2608]

11/3 Fit and installed bilge blocks and made first frame segment for 5.4. Epoxied side filler plate at 4.8. Epoxied top floor plate at 5.8. [5,2613]

11/4 Fit and epoxied top filler piece at 4.8. Fit and epoxied 2nd frame segment at 5.0, and epoxied 3rd and 4th of five segments at 9.5. [4,2617]

11/5 Cleaned up. Moved ladder for access to 4.4. Fit 1st frame segment at 5.4. [2,2619]

11/6 Cleaned hull, marked frame line and started bilge pieces for 4.4, cut and fit top board for 4.8, made and fit side filler piece for 5.0, fit 1st segment at 5.4. [5,2624]

11/9 Finished bilge pieces for 4.4, epoxied top board at 4.8, side filler piece at 5.0, 1st segment at 5.4 and laminated 2nd segment for 5.4. [5,2629]

11/10 Drilled and fit bilge pieces for 4.4, drilled and fit top filler piece at 5.0. [3,2632]

11/12 Added braces across hull at 4.0 and 5.0 and removed mold at 4.5. Set up mold for laminating 4.4 frame segments. Fit 2nd segment at 5.4 and 5th at 9.5. [4,2636]

11/14 Cleaned hull at 7.0 and layed out bilge blocks. Relocated cross brace from 5 to 4.5, epoxied bilge blocks at 4.4, top filler piece at 5.0, 2nd segment at 5.4, and made up 1st segment for 4.4. [6,2642]

11/15 Cut out and fit bilge blocks 7.0. [3,2645]

11/17 Started cutting top of 5.0 down as it's 3/8" too high. There wouldn't be room for the keel nuts. Epoxied in bilge blocks at 7.0 and made up 2nd seg for 4.4. [4,2649]

11/18 Removed top of 5.0 down to within 1/16" of level with 4.8. [1,2650]

11/20 Used planer and grinder to get 5.0 level with 4.8. [1,2651]

11/21 Fit top of floor at 5.0. [2,2653]

11/22 Sanded 4.4 bilge blocks to fit segment. Drilled 1st segment [2,2655]

11/25 Redrilled 1st segment 4.4 to correct side. Set up mold for 7.0. [3,2658]

11/27 Measured gaps in both sides of 1st segment at 4.4. Realized that using 5/32" drill doesn't provide enough clearance to allow #7 screws to turn in hole, which was producing the gaps. Redrilled the holes and gaps mostly went away. [2,2660]

11/30/00 Trimed 1st segment, selected, cut and sanded bevel blocks and shims for 4.4. [2,2662]

12/4/00 Measured springback on lamination and compared to S=A/n^2 and it checks out perfectly. [0,2662]

10/27/01 Ran 7.0's laminations through planer. [1,2663]

10/28 Epoxied in bevel blocks 4.4, laminated first segment 7.0. [2,2665]

10/29 Cleaned up lamination, pulled staples, fit frame 9.5. [1,2666]

10/31 Laminated 2nd segment 7.0. [2,2668]

11/5 Fit 1st segment 4.4, filled segments 7.0. [2,2670]

12/28 Epoxied 1st seg 4.4, 2nd seg 9.5, filled segs 7.0. [3,2673]

12/30 Removed screw blocks and cleaned up segs 7.0. [2,2675]

12/31 Final fit/epoxied top board 5.0, filled gaps at 4.4+9.5. [2,2677]

1/2/02 Drilled and fit 2nd seg 4.4. [2,2679]

1/3 Fabricated side plate for 5.4 and fit. [4,2683]

1/4 Epoxied 2nd seg 4.4 and side plate 5.4, roughed out top plate and did initial fitting on 1st seg 7.0. [4,2687]

1/7 Final fitting top plate 5.4, rough side plate 4.4. [3,2690]

1/8 Epoxied top filler plate 5.4 & side plate 4.4. Rough fit seg 7.0A. [3,2693]

1/9 More fitting on seg 7.0A. [2,2695]

1/10 Fit top board 5.4, top filler plate 4.4, & started bevel blocks 7.0A [5,2700]

1/11 Epoxied top board 5.4, top filler plate 4.4, cut and installed bevel blocks 7.0A, removed 8.0. (Replaced bandsaw blade and reset tilt index.) [6,2706]

1/14 Made and fit top board 4.4, fit bevel blocks 7.0B, cut frame form and bilge blocks 8.0. [5,2711]

1/15 Epoxied top board 4.4 and bevel blocks 7.0B. Figured and cut bevels on bilge blocks 8.0. [4,2715]

1/16 Tuned up bandsaw and ripped lams for 8.0. [2,2717]

1/17 Ripped 18 lams total and ran through the planer. Cut scarf patches for knots which ripped out and screwed straps to mold. [3,2720]

1/18 Laminated seg, fit and epoxied bilge blocks 8.0, epoxied seg 7.0A. Scarfed patches in 2 lams. [7,2727]

1/25 Preped seg and lams 8.0. [2,2729]

1/26 Faired bilge blocks, made up and epoxied in bevel blocks 8.0, epoxied 2nd seg 7.0. [8,2737]

1/28 Cleaned up 2nd seg and started fairing bevel blocks 8.0, cleaned hull, made frame mold and rough bilge blocks 6.4. [8,2745]

1/29 Faired bevel blocks 8.0, fit bilge blocks 6.4, removed molds and cleaned hull 1.2 and 2.4. [6,2751]

1/31 Cleaned up, removed mold at 6.0. Scarfed laminations 6.4. [5,2756]

2/1 Epoxied bilge blocks and first frame lam 6.4. Epoxied 1st frame seg 8.0. [6,2762]

2/2 Cleaned up seg 6.4. Worked on mold/form for 1.2. [2,2764]

2/8 Fit frame, made up bevel blocks 6.4. Drew bilge block 1.2. [5,2769]

2/9 Epoxied bevel blocks, lam 2nd seg 6.4, installed 2nd seg 8.0. [5,2774]

2/11 Built 12 foot bench into north wall. Set up frame molds and rough cut bilge block 1.2. Cleaned seg 6.4. [4,2778]

2/12 Fit bilge block 1.2. Fit seg 6.4. Cleaned hull fwd of 1.2. [4,2782]

2/13 Epoxied bilge blocks 1.2 & 2.4. Epoxied 1st seg 6.4. Laminated 1st segs 1.2. [5,2787]

2/14 Set up molds and laminated 1st segs 2.4. Tidied up. [4,2791]

2/15 Layed out segs on 1.2 and determined bevel blocks. [3,2794]

2/16 Made and fit bevel blocks 1.2. Fit 2nd seg 6.4. [3,2797]

2/18 Epoxied bevel blocks 1.2, 2nd seg 6.4, 2nd lams 1.2 & 2.4. [5,2802]

2/19 Worked on squaring up frames for picking bevel blocks 2.4. [2,2804]

2/20 Decided to make up the bulkheads for 1.2 & 2.4 first so that I can make sure the frames will lie in a flat plane. Cut out 1.2. [4,2808]

2/21 Did cleanup in bow. Fit bulkhead, cut access panel and worked on fitting frames 1.2. [4,2812]

2/22 Measured flare at deck clamp for all stations. Final fit 1st seg & bulkhead 1.2. Cut & final fit bulkhead and figured bevel blocks 2.4. [5,2817]

2/23 Made up bevel blocks 2.4. [2,2819]

2/25 Installed bevel blocks 2.4 and 1st segs frame 1.2. [4,2823]

2/26 Removed molds 9.0 % 8.5 and cleaned hull. Snapped chalk line on the floors to figure next bulkhead. [3,2826]

3/1/02 Scott dropped by. Discussed using 3" beam under companionway at 7.0. 9/19/02 Cleaned up, reviewed rationale on clamp sequence, planed down frame segment edge on 1.1. Decided that I need to level and fair the sheer after completing frames at 1.1 and 2.2. Only then I can properly locate the deck clamp. [1,2827]

9/20 Sanded on 1.1. I just realized that locating the deck clamp needs to be done before I install the bulkhead at 1.1 and I need to do that before installing the second segments of the frame. [1,2828]

9/21 Measured beam widths and compared to the lofting lines on the wall. The hull is 5/8" too wide at frame 8 and 3.5 and 1 1/8 too wide at 5. Removed all the cross bracing and building molds and remeasured, finding that it had only spread by 1/8". Loosened the stem supports with no effect on beam widths. A 200 lb force narrows the sheer by 1/2". Cleaned up squeeze out under the removed molds. [3,2831]

9/25 Picked 2x4's to attempt pull sides in using come-a-longs at the top. Marked floor for anchor bolts. [1,2832]

9/26 Installed side braces. Sides are out only 3/16" at frame 5.5. less at 5 and 6. [5,2837]

9/27 Reblocked the stems, which were under load since braces installed. Sides are now right on. Installed new bandsaw blade. Started leveling and fairing the sheer. [4,2841]

9/28 Leveled and faired the sheer. Measured the flair at the edge of deck at all stations and half stations and figured the clamp support block angles. Planed off both stems. [4,2845]

9/30 Sanded inside the hull bulwarks and down below the clamp area. Fabricated the clamp support blocks and installed a few. [5,2850]

10/1 Cut plastic shielding for the blocks and finished installing them. Milled up a 1 1/4"H x 11/16"W strip from spruce and tried it in the aft end. It appears that it will bend okay. [5,2855]

10/2 Trued up blocks and frame tops. Figured board cuts and made first of those. [3,2858]

10/3 Milled up another 14 pieces, cut scarfs on 5 of them, made up 45 washer blocks and fit the first three pieces. [6,2864]

10/4 Fit the remaining three pieces and epoxied/screwed the first deck clamp segment in place. [6,2870]

10/7 Tried to fit first piece of 2/6 deck clamp segment, but could not get to lie flat. [2,2872]

10/8 Added screws to piece and fit four pieces. Set up epoxy station with heat lamp on starboard side. [3,2875]

10/9 Fit second half of second segment of clamp. Discovered segment was 1/8" to 5/16" too high so marked, removed and cut down. [4,2879]

10/10 Refit first half, marked wetout lines, set up silica station, set pieces up for wetout. [2,2881]

10/11 Refilled resin and hardener jugs and added paper towel and roller supports to the epoxy station. Epoxied in segment 2/6 of the deck clamp. [5,2886]

10/13 Removed screw clamps and blocks. Faired and cleaned up. [1,2887]

10/15 Fit port side of deck clamp segment 3/6. [3,2890]

10/16 Finished fitting and installed deck clamp segment 3/6. [5,2895]

10/18 Milled more planks, fit first 4 planks of seg 4/6. Marked planks to trim tops down to deck slope. [4,2899]

11/14 Fit last 2 planks. Marked to trim tops and removed. [2,2901]

11/21 Trimmed tops and epoxied in place. [4,2905]

11/22 Chiseled top of clamp down to grade at the bow, but discovered that all the rest of the clamp except a few feet in the stern is 1/16" to 1/4" TOO LOW! [3,2908]

11/25 Marked clamp for shims and squared up stock and sanded. [2,2910]

11/26 Epoxied shims on 3/6 port clamp. [3,2913]

11/27 Removed staples and tried to clean up squeezout. Slow. [1,2914]

11/30 Finished chiseling out squeezeout. [2,2916]

12/9 Chiseled more on 1/6 port clamp shim. [1,2917]

12/10 Ordered 7.5 gallons of epoxy. [0,2917]

12/11 Rebuilt deck leveling jig. [1,2918]

12/12 Rebuilt sheer/deck height gage. Stowed new epoxy jugs. [1,2919]

12/13 Refilled hardener jug. Fit shims over 4/6 clamp on port side, [3,2922]

12/19 Epoxied shims 4/6 port and 2/6 starboard. [4,2926]

12/20 Removed staples and faired. [2,2928]

12/22 Chiseled squeezeout. [1,2929]

12/28 Chiseled on clamp. [1,2930]

12/30/02 Chiseled on clamp. [2,2932]

1/8/03 Chiseled on clamp. Discovered that the angle of clamp depth jig can make a difference of up to 1/4". [2,2934]

1/9 Made good progress chiseling. [4,2938]

1/10 Finished index cutting every 1/4 frame all around deck clamp. Epoxied last of deck clamp shims. [5,2943]

1/11 Removed staples and rough faired. Index cut new parts. [2,2945]

1/13 Chiseled and used router to fair clamp. [3,2948]

1/14 Chiseled. Milled and planed new planks. Re-cut notches. Fit segment 5/6P. Old cordless drill burned up - Bought new DeWalt. [6,2954]

1/16 Chiseled, fit and epoxied clamp segment 5/6P. [5,2959]

1/17 Cleaned 5/6P. Fit and epoxied clamp segment 5/6S. [5,2964] It is interesting to note that I have installed 30 deck clamp pieces and it's taken me 119 hours, or 4 hours per piece. Counting the 30 positioning blocks, it comes out to two hours per piece.

1/19 Fit last clamp segment 6/6P&S. [4,2968]

1/20 Milled and scarfed meranti for sheer clamps. Epoxied last clamp segments. [6,2974]

1/21 Broke three clamping screws removing. Used trim router bit, chisel, jack plane and power plane in fairing clamps. [5,2979]

1/22 Finished fairing the deck clamps. Sanded sheer and organized the clamping blocks for the sheer clamp. [6,2985]

1/23 Fit 1/2P sheer clamp and bought dowel to plug holes. [1,2986]

1/24 Fit 1/2S, made new clamp blocks, epoxied clamp & doweled holes. [6,2992]

1/26 Faired sheer, fit 2/2P. [4,2996]

1/27 Fit 2/2S. [1,2997]

1/28 Epoxied last pieces of sheer clamp. [4,3001]

1/29 Finish faired and leveled the sheer with a hand plane. [3,3004]

1/30 Cleaned inside. Rough notched bulkhead 1.1 to fit clamps. [3,3007]

1/31 Fitting bulkhead 1.1 [3,3010]

2/1 Made mold for deck beams, allowing for springback. Milled up all the deck beam lamination pieces and organized the clamps. [7,3017]

2/2 Mounted clamps with new straps. Laminated first beam. [4,3021]

2/3 Raised wet out table to 36", stapled strips in bed. Cut pieces for internal bow breasthook. [4,3025]

2/4 Ran beam through jointer. Epoxied beam #2 and bow breasthook. [3,3028]

2/5 Ran beam #2 through jointer. Faired breasthook. Epoxied beam #3 and a plywood breasthook test. [3,3031]

2/6 Beam #3 finished, faired breasthook, made finger-joint-breasthook test and epoxied beam #4. [4,3035]

2/7 Beam #4 finished, fitted bow breasthook, epoxied shim on bow BHk, cut boards for aft BHk, epoxied layer 1/3 of aft BHk and beam #5. [5,3040]

2/8 Beam #5 finished, fit bow BHk, fit 1/3 aft BHk, epoxied layer 2/3 of aft BHk and beam #6. Tested joints - all good, including plywood. [5,3045]

2/10 Beam #6 finished, cut centerplank. Worked on dinghy. [1,3046]

2/12 Notched bow breasthook and installed clamping blocks. Epoxied layer 3/3 of aft BHk and deck beam #7. Worked on dinghy. [3,3049]

2/14 Cut centerplank notch in bow breasthook and epoxied in place and faired deck beam #7. [1,3050]

3/5 Faired deck beams. [1,3051]

3/6 Faired deck beams, rough fit beam 2.0, cut finger joints for aft breasthook. [3,3054]

3/7 Epoxied aft breasthook finger joints. [0,3054]

3/9 Faired aft breasthook parts and started fitting. [1,3055]

9/3 Finished fitting aft inner breasthook.(AIBH) Puzzled over what next. Decided to install sole risers first. This will allow easy marking of the intersection of the sole with the hull once the risers are installed. [2,3057]

9/6 Marked centerline for hatch. Measured for sole risers and cut shims to mark sole lines on hull. [2,3059]

9/7 Roughed out the 14 risers. They should take little to be ready to epoxy in place. [6,3065]

9/9 Made two passes at fitting the risers. More to do. [3,3068]

9/10 Final fit the risers and started drilling clamp holes. [4,3072]

9/11 Drilled more clamp holes. Drilled the AIBH. [2,3074]

9/12 Finished clamps, epoxied AIBH and risers. [5,3079]

9/13 Cleaned up, marked toe space boards, figured sole cleats, table support access, and mast bulkhead opening. Made sketches. [4,3083]

9/15 Leveled risers, fit new riser at 6.5. [2,3085]

9/16 Leveled risers, fit new riser at 3.8. Discovered that opening in 3.8 bulkheads is too narrow by 1" since the hull sides were pulled in to correct width. Rechecked hull widths and are still good. This will allow me to reshape the opening into the vee berth area to a smooth curve instead of the knuckle on the plans. [2,3087]

9/17 Fit new riser at 3.0, epoxied all three risers. [4,3091]

9/18 Roughed out 30 sole cleats and fit the first six. [4,3095]

9/19 Fit the remaining cleats and marked epoxy lines. [4,3099]

9/21 Epoxied cleats. [2,3101]

9/23 Broke 7 screws in removing the cleat clamps. Had to chisel 2 of them out. They were all the black coated screws. None of the cadmium coated screws broke. Emailed Joe DeMers on Beta BZ482 Engine and got price. Made profile of aft end and it appears I have room for up to 16" prop if I wanted. Also, I can cut way down on the size of the "box" in the cockpit, which I like. [2,3103]

9/25 Drilled holes for dowel in beam and deck clamp at 2.2. Fit bulkhead and notched beam at 1.1. BZ482 Engine comes with 2:1 gearbox standard and cruising RPM range is 3000 to 3600 max, so according to Gerr, that combined with a 13hp engine takes a 13" prop. Offsetting the engine 1.25" will allow shaft to be removed without removing skeg. [3,3106]

9/28 Cleaned up sole cleats in vee berth area and marked sole. [1,3107]

9/29 Took ticks for sole in vee berth area. [1,3108]

9/30 Cut out forward sole piece and fit in place. Cut top bevels on first two deck beams and notched for center plank. Fit center plank. [4,3112]

10/1 Final fit bulkheads and frames at 1.1 and 2.2. Marked both bulkheads, the frames and beam at 1.1 for epoxy and dry clamped with screws. [3,3115]

10/2 Fit deck beam 9.5 and epoxied in place along with beam, bulkhead and top frame segments 1.1, bulkhead and bottom frame segments 2.2, and epoxied keys into beam 2.0. [5,3120]

10/3 Cleaned up epoxy areas. Fit deck beam 2.0 and center plank. [3,3123]

10/4 Measured for and sawed out hole in bow for bowsprit. [3,3126]

10/6 Fit frame segments at 2.2. Cut bilge hatch boards. Reviewed quantities of plywood. Will need more sheets 1/4" and 1/2". [4,3130]

10/7 Recessed screws in 2.0, measured arch in mast step bulkhead. [2,3132]

10/9 Marked and cut recessed arches in mast step bulkhead. [2,3134]

10/10 Made and fit sub sole pieces P/S at 3.0 and added a thin floor under them to reduce spring. [5,3139]

10/11 Screw fit new floor and made dummy stiffener for size at the mast step bulkhead. [1,3140]

10/12 Cut hatch for table segment in sole and made up and fit cleats for the hatch. Trimmed archway square. [2,3142]

10/14 Milled mahogany for Mast Bulkhead Coaming (MBC). Epoxied floor at 3, beam at 2, and lips on table sole pieces. [4,3146]

10/15 Epoxied last 2 frame segments and first four sub floor segments. Talked to Scott, who recommended no coating in bilge. [4,3150]

10/16 Epoxied first MBC laminations, clamping to bulkheads with screws. [3,3153]

10/17 Made up forty 3/4" clamps for MBC and epoxied four pairs of side strips. [6,3159]

10/20 Modified clamps to 1.5", scotch taped ends, ran strips through planer, dry clamped, and harvested new wood dust from collector.[4,3163]

10/21 Mocked up seating in vee berth - 39" of headroom at lowest point. [1,3164]

10/22 Final epoxy session on MBC and center plank. [4,3168]

10/23 Cleaned up coaming and started fitting logs for the vee berth well. Recalculated the offsets for the main arch beam. Will need two 2x10's for the form, but can use them for forming the cabin and pilothouse roofs. Decided to use meranti below the waterline inside, and spruce above. Had to re-stow veneer. [5,3173]

10/24 Bought 12ft 2x10 for the cabin beam mold and four 8ft 2x12's. 10/25 Marked arc on 6ft piece, cut, planed, and traced to other half. [1,3174]

10/26 Cut second mold piece and faired. Finished fitting logs. Checked height of mast beam arc to sole at 4' 6". [2,3176]

10/27 Made up cleat blocks from scrap from mold. [1,3177]

10/28 Cut fwd cabin ply. Trimmed coaming. Marked cleat bevels. [3,3180]

10/29 Cut cleats and fit most. Milled up for fwd beam in spruce and set up mold. [4,3184]

10/30 Fit remaining cleats. Milled mahogany for mast beam. [4,3188]

10/31 Epoxied berth cleats, fwd cabin bulkhead and upper beam. [3,3191]

11/1 Blocked mold for 9" beam and planed the laminates. Block split on dry clamping run and mahogany doesn't lie true so will need to double all the clamps and make bigger blocks. [4,3195]

11/2 Made up longer mold clamps, twice as many, and longer side blocks. Dry fit with laminates and laid out for epoxy. Cleaned up and swapped burned out overhead florescent tubes so only two are out now. [3,3198]

11/3 Final fit vee berth well logs, epoxied lower logs and 1st segment of mast beam. [5,3203]

11/4 Cleaned up beam and sat in place. [1,3204]

11/5 Rounded over logs with 3/4" bit in place. Could only get within 3" of corners. Did vertical logs on table. [1,3205]

11/6 Installed new florescent tubes. Remounted router, rounded upper logs, epoxied upper and vertical logs and 2nd segment of mast beam. Rough cut cross logs. [6,3211]

11/7 Cleaned up beam and upper logs. [1,3212]

11/8 Fit and rounded cross logs and epoxied. [3,3215]

11/9 Leveled beam segments. [1,3216]

11/12 Cut, fit and epoxied in the two sides of the vee berth well. [3,3219]

11/13 Cut and fit table top. Marked fwd berth top panel. [3,3222]

11/14 Cut and fit all three berth top pieces. [4,3226]

11/16 Made pedestal for table and took self portrait for web page. [1,3227]

11/17 Finish leveled the main cabin sole cleats and floor tops. Fit steering station bulkhead and marked for toe space. Cut and fit block to support toe space board from under sole. Can't see why locker needs toe space on aisle side, quarter berth doesn't. [4,3231]

11/19 Discovered s.s. bulkhead cabin cut was too fat and deck cut was too low. Checked camber in deck beams and found that okay. Reassembled bulwark height jig/gauge and determined that deck clamp is actually too high by nearly 1/4" at steering station. So discouraged I quit for the day. [1,3232]

12/9 Sharpened new gouge chisel and worked on deck clamp. It's much more difficult to measure with the bulwark longitudinal in place and with the final lamination on the deck clamp, I can't use my current trim bit to any advantage. [2,3234]

12/12 Used power plane and chiseled on deck clamp. [2,3236]

1/16 Chiseled on deck clamp and marked cuts on steering station bulkhead. Figured offset on cabin arc using spreadsheet. [2,3238]

1/19 Made corrected cuts on steering station. Pondered cabin construction. [2,3240]

1/20 Figured scheme to build cabin using cross and side molds. Roof clamp and sides go in before deck carlins, deck goes on last. Marked toe board cuts on SS bulkhead and discovered that the forward cabin bulkhead was cut 2" short at the top. Sawed it out and cut a new one. [5,3245]

1/21 Made toe cut on SS bulkhead. Discovered that the new FC bulkhead was short at the bottom! Had to cut out a third bulkhead. [4,3249]

1/22 Made up and epoxied in sole cleats around the frames, and epoxied in the bearing block for the steering station toe board and the new bulkhead. [5,3254]

1/23 Sanded out limber holes. [2,3256]

1/26 Sanded limber holes and clear coated bilge area between chain locker and engine beds. [2,3258]

1/27 Cleaned shop. Marked first cabin sole piece. [3,3261]

1/28 Cut out first sole piece including the bevels. [3,3264]

1/29 Cleaned up shop, bought ten new fluorescent lights, and installed burned out ones. Final fit the sole piece. [5,3269]

1/30 Marked, cut and final fit second sole piece and marked third one. I'm on my last piece of 1/2" plywood. [4,3273]

2/1 Cut and final fit third sole piece. [1,3274]

6/15 Bought more 1/2" ply and teak for the sole at Port Townsend. [3,3277]

12/26 Restowed, cleaned up, made new to do list, packed gasket on stove. [1,3278]

12/27 Fired up stove. Fit bulkhead 5.8P (fwd head) It needs to go in before the sole. Too weak from flu to work more. PYI says 13", 3 blade Max-Prop w/1" shaft is best. [2,3280]

12/28 Epoxied sub sole piece under the steering station. Restowed teak. Double checked battery box. Room for two Grp 31, 12v batteries at 105Ah each. 12V fridge uses 30Ah/day, LectraSan uses 0.5Ah/flush. [2,3282]

12/29 Fit fwd galley subsole and fwd head bulkhead. [1,3283]

1/2 Epoxied fwd galley subsole and fwd head bulkhead. [2,3285]

1/3 Epoxied aft galley subsole and steering bulkhead. [3,3288]

1/4 Finished sole. Installed blocks for head and battery box bhds. [6,3294]

1/7 Cut and fit cabin toeboards. [4,3298]

1/9 Epoxied toeboards. Discovered that my engine template had the right horizontal scale but the vertical was off, making the engine appear 5" taller than it is from the dimensions on the drawing. This should make the BETA BZ482 installation very nice as I won't have the big box in the cockpit. [3,3301]

1/10 Relocated boarding steps on inside and modified outside ladder to clear galley area. Cut out sink/fridge bhd from new plywood. [4,3305]

1/11 Bought jigsaw and 2nd deWalt powerdriver. Finished bhd with jigsaw and cut top for toeboard. Realized that I had cut both 1 1/2" short. Cut new toeboard top and fit with bronze screws. Set up router to make 1" lap joint in 1/2" plywood for bhd. [4,3309]

1/12 Made second galley bhd and epoxied both in with toeboard tops P/S and bhd joint. [6,3315]

1/13 Sent check to Sound Marine for engine. Marked cockpit longitudinal cleats. Made drawing of engine and shaft. [4,3319]

1/14 Marked and cut notches in galley bhds for deck cleats. Figured and marked engine log placement. Made new engine drawing. Made gear list and sent to Joe. [4,3323]

1/15 Mailed check to Joe for parts. Bought fir 4x12 and roughed out logs. Figured shaft angle and entry point. [6,3329]

1/16 Was not happy with logs so redid them from scratch. Researched tank options, Welded polyethylene seems a good choice for water, welded aluminum for diesel. [5,3334]

1/17 Fit the logs and sanded them. Mounted the 1/2" drill to ride on the beds for line in drilling the shaft hole. [5,3339]

1/18 Set up grade board starting at the point just above where the prop will be closest to the hull. The prop dia is 6.5", clearance is 1.5" and hull is 3 3/8" thick. Adjusted other end to clear frame by 11 3/8 plus 5.5" for engine, and located center of pilot hole at 11 3/8 below the board. Epoxied the logs. Drilled the shaft pilot hole. It came out perfect! [5,3344]

1/19 Made paper mockup of prop, skeg and strut tape to 1/4" steel rod in pilot hole. The prop came out too low by several inches. Drilled new hole which was better but still too low. Need to build up beds and change slope. Joe says to build my own stern tube. Need glass. [4,3348]

1/20 Made plywood mockup of skeg for better accuracy. Determined that I need to raise the front of the shaft hole by a full 1.5" to get the prop up where it needs to be to keep the strut as short as possible. This is good to keep vibration down. Made new bed tops to raise the aft end of beds for the flatter angle. Will have to plane down the forward ends to keep the engine low to the cross frame and below the cockpit. Decided to not install flooring over the sub sole in hidden spaces. Adds weight with no benefit. None of these spaces are self draining anyway. [3,3351]

1/21 Fit and epoxied the bed tops plus an additional cabin beam. [6,3357]

1/22 Cleaned up epoxy and clamps. [1,3358]

1/24 Planed beds to new angle and drilled new hole. Finally got it right. Cut laminations and epoxied the tiller. [6,3364]

1/25 Cleaned up #7 cabin beam and checked camber which was perfect. Milled strips for hatch beam and set up mold. Bought 1 3/4" hole saw, pipe for mandrel, and glass. Set up table to laminate stern tube. Drilled stern tube hole in hull. Missed two pilot holes which will have to be filled. [7,3371]

1/26 Updated to do list, figured cuts on bowsprit. [1,3372]

1/27 Cleaned up tiller and marked for bandsaw cuts. Moved milled wood, stickered, painted ends and covered. [1,3373]

1/28 Cut tiller profile. Made mockup tiller handle. [2,3375]

1/30 Routed mockup. Rounded edges on tiller and shaped knob. [4,3379]

1/31 Made new tiller routing template. Cleaned up the mouse nest I've been smelling for the past few months. [2,3381]

2/1 Cleaned up some more. Made more accurate mockup of skeg and prop shaft and determined that the hole is 3/4" too high and will need to be redrilled!! Wrapped 72" of 6 oz cloth on a mandrel for the stern tube but it didn't look like enough. Measured diameter after dinner and it's exactly 1.75". Laminated one more cabin beam. [5,3386]

2/2 Measured for fresh water tank, made sketch and sent to get quote. Cleaned up ends of tube and sides of new beam. Made mock tiller at 1.5" wide. It looks better than the the routed one. Figured lumber for temp cabin molds. [5,3391]

2/3 Bought two 10 foot 4x8s and ripped to 2 11/16" x 3 3/16" for bowsprit. Bought four 12 foot 2x4s for the cabin molds. [3,3394]

2/4 Researched steering systems on web. Expensive! [3,3397]

2/5 Cleaned shop and reorganized. [3,3400]

2/6 Messabout tour of shop. [1,3401]

2/7 Researched A/Ps, planned for metal work, mocked up quadrant. [4,3405]

2/8 Wil Hamm at WH Autopilot says to use hydraulics instead of cables. He suggests I install a used AP and not use Edson wheel to save money. Made plug for the hole to redrill. [2,3407]

2/9 Met Wil at his office and got info on cylinder and pumps. Mocked up parts on hull. Looks good. [5,3412]

2/10 Dismantled the old wood stove and got out of the shop. Set up router guide on tiller but not right. Ordered bandsaw blades, caliper, & socket driver from Grizzly. Wil called and said wheel I picked costs too much. Ordered one from India for $35. [4,3416]

2/11 Routed grooves in tiller. Found a diesel galley stove which fits my space. Discovered I had cut the bowsprit opening too small. [3,3419]

2/13 Trued up bottom of bowsprit hole and marked the top to cut. [1,3420]

2/14 Email from Joe that diesel will ship this week. Got calipers from Grizzly. Measured rudder stock at 1.920" +/- .003" (Vol. at BPA.) [1,3421]

2/18 Got quote for steering. Increased bowsprit opening to 2.5" [2,3423]

2/19 Figured springback on fwd cabin window cleat and calculated that using two lams on one piece and three on a second, will average just right for the bias across the cabin roofs. [1,3424]

2/20 Cut 2" thick spruce board to 6 foot length and started to rip three 1 5/8" strips for the fwd cabin window cleat laminations. Bandsaw jammed 2/3rds of the way through first cut so had to cut the blade out. (This was the 5th blade in as many weeks) Installing the new blade, I discovered the lower thrust bearing was out of position. Cause was the adjustment rod's retainer bolt had come undone and the rod was floating. Fixed that but then discovered the bearing was frozen and would not turn. Removed the table and the lower guide casting to get at the bearing. Could not get it off the shaft but tried some oil in the bearing race and after working it a little, it seem to spin just fine. Put it all back together, finished milled up the strips. The saw now works as good as new. Tried bending 0.42" thick strip over mold and it is fine. [3,3427]

2/21 Ran the strips through the planer and epoxied all ten on the same mold together, the 2 lam ones blocked to be level with the 3 lam ones. [4,3431]

2/22 Took bandsaw apart and removed bearing and oiled it again. Wil found rudder arm. [1,3432]

2/23 Replaced bearing in bandsaw. Removed beams from mold. [1,3433]

2/25 Thinking about building water tank from ply/epoxy/glass. Access to chainplates, make epoxy nuts for deck stanchions? 03/2Picked up steering system, hydraulic pump and motor and sorted out. [6,3439]

3/3 Picked up engine, uncrated and got on dolly. Scott's machinist made a sleeve for the rudder arm. Moved beam to engine logs area. Not enough room to pick up and move sideways in one lift. [7,3446]

3/4 Rigged up the chain hoist and lifted the engine above the bulwark. I then tied six loops of heavy mooring line around the beam and the chain on the engine and moved the chain hoist to above the beds. By inching each loop one at a time, I moved the engine over to the hoist and picked it back up, untied the line, and lowered it down after installing the engine mounts. All the dimensions on the drawing check out and the top of the engine comes out at 20" above the water line, just as planned, and the pan and coupling clear on the bottom by over an inch. The limiting thing on how far aft the engine can go is the stuffing box hose and having enough clearance to get the packing in. Made a new plug of mahogany for the old hole I want to plug. Agonized more over where to drill the next hole and how to get it right. Drilled a hole in the rudder arm sleeve for the pin bolt. [7,3453]

3/5 Stowed the chain hoist, moved the beam back to the big door end of the shop and secured it. (it could do a lot of damage if it tipped over which it almost did a couple of times) did the final fitting on the mahogany plug for the stern tube hole and epoxied it and the first pilot hole. Vacuumed the engine and boat to clean up from the chain hoist. Figured the friction on the rudder arm. If my assumptions are right, it would slip at about 800 lbs thrust from the cylinder. Trying to figure a test of bronze to steel in that configuration to check my assumptions. [6,3459]

3/6 Installed helm pump. Cleared mechanical bench to stow all the accumulated engine and steering parts. More research on tank building after getting a sheet of 1/4" plywood down. Want to look at the possibilities of welding polyethylene. [7,3466]

3/7 Picked up India wheel at Post Office. Spokes are too small and hub is 7/8" straight, not 3/4" tapered as they said. Drilled new pilot hole which came out high, almost exactly in the center of the plug I just put in. Tried drilling midway between this hole and the one that was 3" too low and it came out even higher. This made no sense at all. Finally figured that the previous hole must have followed the grain and that one of the other holes had intersected another hole and that had deflected the pilot bit which is bendy. I used up the last of my 1/4" dowels and plugged all the remaining pilot holes and tried again. It was good for height but off slightly to port. I had no more plugs and decided to just go for it and correct the horizontal problem after it was drilled full size. Spent the rest of the day drilling and chipping but it seems to be where I want it at least vertically. Wrote email to Wil about arm concerns and wheel, and Joe to send packing and receipt. [7,3473]

3/8 Got wheel from Wil. It's great looking but too deep for the 15" space I have to stand in. Enlarged the shaft hole and positioned the engine and that looks good. Wil says the shaft and arm will hold 1000 psi just fine with a single 3/8" bolt through both sides. Also got the lock valve. Wil says I will need physical rudder stops. Spent time with drawings and sketching the companionway to figure out where to start next. [4,3477]

3/9 Milled up some 2x2 stock in fir for cleats. Fit both quarter berth cleats. Mocked up the cylinder/arm with the shaft to see where the stops go and that looks good. Will need to cut 1.5" off end of arm to clear hull. Fit side of quarter berth and one bulkhead to form base of stb side of companionway. Cut up six old hull molds and epoxied them to make three cabin roof molds. [9,3486]

3/10 Marked and cut cabin molds. Installed temporary cross brace at aft cabin. Cleaned up. [3,3489]

3/11 Clamped pilothouse roof mold beams fore and aft to 1x4's on side lines for 6' 2" headroom. Fwd head bulkhead came out about 1.5" short, will have to scarf on to it in place. Trued up bandsaw. It was cutting 4 degrees out of square. [3,3492]

3/12 Recut quarter berth cleats, cut corner post for companionway and epoxied with adjoining bulkheads. Wrote out sequence to assemble cabin. Sides first, deck cleats, deck and roof after sides. Lower roof first. [6,3498]

3/13 Cut and fit end cleats for the starboard side engine room bulkhead and rough cut the bulkhead. [5,3503]

3/14 Marked bulkhead for final contour on bottom. Realized that I had forgotten to allow for aft frame and over cut the piece about 1.5". Made jig to measure for lap joint and tested. Cut the bulkhead flat and also the fwd head bulkhead which was also short, routed steps for laps in two bulkheads and and the add on pieces and epoxied together and installed the cleats. Drilled limber hole in starboard engine bed. [5,3508]

3/15 Made finished bottom cuts plus the top cuts and fit the bulkhead and five hull cleats. Drilled limber hole in port engine bed. [7,3515]

3/16 Cut and fit aft quarter berth bulkhead. Epoxied it and the engine bulkhead in place. Drilled the limber hole in the wrong cleat so will have to redo that part over but the bulkhead is in. [7,3522]

3/17 Redid cleats and epoxied in place. Borrowed a piece of pipe from Scott to set up rudder arm. Marked quarter berth and measured space for fuel tank and autopilot. Drew up variations of hydraulic pump and motor. [6,3528]

3/18 Mocked up rudder arm and cut end off to give clearance to hull. Used the cut off piece to see if I could drill a 5/8" hole with any accuracy in bronze. Inventoried all the pipe fittings and made a list and went to Bainbridge and got more fittings and got many questions answered. Also boought $20+ worth of stainless nuts and bolts for installing the pump and cylinder. Cut hole in the aft bulkhead for cylinder and worked on shelf for cylinder. [8,3536]

3/19 Nearly finished the shelf. Did a full size drawing to figure the rudder angle transmitter (RAT) mounting and the rudder mechanical stops. Drilled and tapped a hole in the scrap bronze to see if I could do that with the rudder arm and it works great. Was able to just barely get a 2x6 into the stem compartment as the aft shelf bottom. It will support the rudder stops. [8,3544]

3/21 Drilled the holes in the rudder arm for the cylinder, the RAT and one side of the arm for the pin bolt. Tapped the RAT hole. Repositioned the arm to make the cylinder level and checked to see if it clears the hull. Remade the cylinder mounting piece. Made two pieces to mount the RAT. Pulled one of the plugs in the lock valve and one from the pump and replaced with brass fittings. The pump ports are two sizes larger. [6,3550]

3/22 Plumbed the lock valve to the autopilot pump. This was a challenge to keep the package small but all the fittings accessible. One of the lines has four 90 degree bends. Made up lines to first tees. Package is 20.5"w x10"d x9"h. [3,3553]

3/23 Got a piece of aluminum from neighbor Steve at Kinetic Research. Fit it to the bypass valve and mounted in piece of plywood to recess in cockpit. Marked out motor/pump shelf. [8,3561]

3/24 Tried three elbows in the helm pump and got three that fit so I should be in good shape for fittings. Rough cut the motor shelf. Showed the boat to Larry and Pam. [1,3562]

3/25 Cut and fit aft stbd cabin bulkhead. Decided to extend motor shelf from end of quarter berth to end of cabin. [4,3566]

3/26 Epoxied cylinder shelf, RAT mounts, and starboard aft cabin bulkhead in place. [5,3571]

3/27 Drilled out epoxy from cylinder holes and checked fit. [1,3572]

3/28 Cut, fit and epoxied in deck beam, shelf end at 7.0 and fill in piece on cylinder pad. [7,3579]

3/29 Cut and fit the shelf and cleats. Discovered that the fittings won't fit the way I had them planned. Switch burned up on the dust collector. [6,3585]

3/30 Rewired the dust collector switch using remaining two poles and new wire. Figured a way to do make the piping fit, I think. [4,3589]

3/31 Made up the two piping connectors to join the main lines to the lock and bypass valves. Cut and fit deck beams at 8 and 5, vertical at 8, and backing plate for helm. Modified bypass valve backing plate to allow radiused roundovers and cut the hole in the cockpit for that. [7,3596]

4/1 Epoxied corner post at 8.0, deck beam, shelf and cleats, bypass valve backing plate, helm backing plates and deck beam at steering station. [4,3600]

4/11 Bought ss bolts and a 1/2" pipe coupling. Arriving back at the shop, only 2 of the 12 bolts will work and the coupling is too small. Used router to clean up helm and bp valve laminations. Epoxied bp valve mounting plate to cockpit bulkhead. Greased bandsaw bearing to seal it. [4,3604]

4/12 Bought more bolts. The #10s were fine but the 5/16" cap screws were NF instead of NC thread. Decided to use the carriage bolts for the cylinder since I have nuts for them. I will have to make an offset end wrench to turn the nut on one of the bolts. I might need it even if I used the cap screws. Remounted the bp valve and the helm and got three of the four bolts tight on the cylinder. [3,3607]

4/13 Fit and screwed a cleat under the shelf. Installed the elbows in the helm pump. Installed the pump and motor on the shelf and connected the three lines from the helm, hoses to the cylinder and the two connecting lines. Had to cut a clearance hole for the stb hose and made and installed copper straps for the hoses. [8,3615]

4/14 Finished plumbing and set up the helm with spigot and started filling and bleeding. 15 to 20 leaks showed up as I bled main and bypass lines and put some pressure in the lines. The pump lines also leaked although I didn't run the pump. Got most of the leaks stopped but decided to quit for the day. Wrote to Wil asking for help. [5,3620]

4/19 Wil suggested using elect pump to pump fluid out drain lines. Hooked up charger to old tractor battery, then battery to pump motor. Positive to red, negative to black produces starboard rudder action. [2,3622]

4/20 Drained most of the oil out and started re-flaring. The redone flares didn't look much different so stopped after one piece. Went to Kingston and bought new cutter. Flares look much better with new cutter. Removed two longest pieces. Cut new long piece from new stock, other one will come from the old long piece. Should have enough to finish if I can unbend the 90 degree turns. Otherwise, will have to buy new pipe. Tipped the catch bucket over twice, so that's discouraging. It is very messy work. [4,3626]

4/21 Decided to buy a better flaring tool. Also bought a deburring tool, a replacement wheel for the old cutter, which I like better and 20 feet of new tubing. The cutter works good but the new flare came out unsquare. It may have been because the tube had a bend in it. It appears that the flare nut may allow a little angle as the new flares seem to fit very well in a nut. The deburring process leaves a lot of shavings, which stick in the residual oil in the old lines. I will have to either figure out a way to clean it out or use only new, dry tubing. [4,3630]

4/22 Bought caps to plug the ends of two pieces and tested with the helm pump using flares from new tools and no alignment restrictions. Both leaked, so tried again with dry tubing with same result. Tried a third pair using less force in forming the flare with the theory that I might be work hardening the copper and keeping it from seating. That, plus a bit more torque almost stopped the leaking. The flares were a little small so bigger might do the trick. Wrote to Wil for help. Searched web for methods. Tried deburring with knife. Tried less projection in tool but late so did not test. [6,3636]

4/23 Went to Seattle with Annamarie. Browsed in used books store that had a big selection of plumbing books. From the pictures and explanations given, I have been flaring too much. A small flare has less surface area to compress and seal. Sounded logical to me so tried it and my first four test flares didn't leak. SUCCESS!!! [2,3638]

4/24 Lots of oil drained out and through limber holes to bilge. Drained and cut up old tubes to get flare nuts out. Made up new tubes from pump to lock valve. Made inboard one too long so made a second one. Still too long but was able to re-bend. Kicked open bottle of oil over. Made up new drain line. Forgot to put on flare nut but it was still long enough. [5,3643]

4/25 Installed drain line. [1,3644]

4/26 Discovered I had cut the short leg of the long port line 23" instead of 32". Had to use coupling and add a piece of tubing to avoid having to use the old tubing or buy more new. Rearranged lines to lock valve and bypass valve to make the fittings more accessible and to allow the lines to stay just under the deck so they are better protected. Pleased with the way it came out. [5,3649]

4/27 Finished cutting and fitting all the tubes. Have not yet tightened. [4,3653]

4/28 Checked and oiled each flange fitting and then tightened each one snug then 1/4 turn. Tried oxalic acid on sub sole. [3,3656]

4/29 Hard to believe but there are no leaks. There were a few damp joints but they dried up with half a 12th turn or so. Oxalic acid took up some of the oil. [3,3659]

4/30 Rechecked for leaks and found none. Stowed the tools and cleaned up. Made new do list. Still air in system. [2,3661]

5/1 Reduced free play from one spoke to about 1" at spokes. [1,3662]

5/5 Bled more air, 4" in tube. [1,3663]

5/9 Stowed the replaced copper lines, got a sheet of 3/4" ply for bhd #7P ready to cut. [2,3665]

5/11 Set up for ticking bhd #7P. [1,3666]

5/12 Cut and fit bhd #7P. [5,3671]

5/16 More fitting of bhd. Rough cut port engine room side. [4,3675]

5/17 Fitting bhds and corner cleats. Getting tired easily from fitting the big pieces. Taking breaks before making mistakes. [4,3679]

5/18 Decided to move the engine out of the way putting in the engine room bhd. In cutting cleats, I realized the outfeed on the jointer was too high and had to adjust that. Then, I realized that casters would be much better so made frame on casters and got the engine moved to the vee berth. In dry fitting bhd, I stripped the threads on two of the first four screws, so spent time grinding one of the countersinks. Ultimately, I decided I need to buy new ones. The only real work accomplished today was cutting a piece of fir for cleats, which is discouraging, but it's better than making mistakes and having to redo stuff. [4,3683]

5/19 Epoxied #7P with cleats on end plus cleat for engine room side (ERS). Cut and fit 5 cleats for ERS and cut limber holes and final fit. [6,3689]

5/20 Epoxied the ERS with cleats. [4,3693]

5/24 Trued up form at steering station port side. Finish cut top of bhd #5.8P. Tested bend for deck carlins. Will have to make in four pieces, 13 feet long each side. Broke test joint. Oil didn't weaken the bond. [4,3697]

5/28 Found cabin ridge line was too high. Cut down fwd cabin bulkhead. Will have to use piece cut off to build up steering station bulkhead. Refigured all steps and milling to finish cabin sides, deck, and roofs. [4,3701]

12/20 Started fire in wood stove, cleaned cobwebs, disassembled and stowed molds from kayak, figured new approach to mounting table in vee berth. Fluid level has dropped in hydraulic system. Fitting was wet at helm pump. [2,3703]

1/8 Started scupper project. Marked out locations. Replaced strap cross ties with beams. [4,3707]

1/9 Built fixture to mark the line for the rub rail and marked off centers for each scupper. Scott verified the scupper shape by email. Made and tested the template and cut the first scupper. I could see that it was going to take too much time arranging the blocks to get the deck angle just right, so I drilled and tapped the top of the template and installed adjuster bolts which worked perfectly. The bit got away from me when doing a plunge cut start and gouged the template. I did a repair using the hot glue gun which worked. On the third scupper the bit came loose and gouged the bottom of the hole. I then remembered the trick to getting the collet tight. I was able to reinstall the bit and finished the hole. After cutting the forth hole, I discovered the the heat of the bit had melted my hot glue and it was now on the bearing, not the pattern, so that hole needs repair along with 1 and 3. I placed an epoxy patch in the pattern and placed it in the warm box for the night. [8,3715]

1/10 The pattern trued up with a sanding drum but on #5 the collet came loose again gouging the hole and ruining the bit shank. I could not find a replacement bit in Silverdale so tried several places in Bremerton with no luck. I did find one in the new Home Depot in Poulsbo, so I got two. I discovered the stop ring set screw had come loose and wiped out much of the pattern. Rather than repair the pattern, I installed a second bearing on the shank of one of the new bits. That worked good in finishing #5. On #6 I drilled 3 holes with an auger bit in my 1/2" drill and that seemed to help. On #7, I increased the number of holes to five but got the angle wrong and three of the holes went below the pattern line on the inside so that will also need patching. The 8th hole and the eight on the other side were without event. So, I have five holes that need patching. [7,3722]

1/11 Tried using 1/4" round over bit on practice scupper. I stopped short of the bottom and tried to round it with a piece of fabric sand paper that I used for the longboards. Results were not pretty. I searched for an alternate router base that would fit into restricted areas and found that Porter Cable makes an offset version of my laminate trimmer. I ordered one and should be delivered Jan 23rd to 29th. I can do the outside of the holes with the standard base so I can revert back to the strap ties and not have to wait for delivery of the new trimmer. Selected and rough cut fir pieces for the bowsprit and ran them through the jointer. Warmed shop to 75 degrees and filled gouged scupper areas with thickened epoxy. [4,3726]

1/12 I set up a gallon jug of epoxy resin over a heat lamp to melt the crystals that had formed in the bottom. It took four hours and then I had to melt the crystals in the pump to clean it out. I did the same with a gallon of Clear Coat. I did the final joint planing on the bowsprit and epoxied the pieces together, setting the heater and heat lamp to help it cure. I re-routed the five repaired scupper holes and tried the round over bit on one of the holes, taking it clear to the bottom on both sides. Both the repair and the rounding look great. [6,3732]

1/13 Using the round over bit on the scupper holes puts a lot of fiberglass in the air. So I screwed a dust collector fitting through a 4" hole in a piece of plywood and clamped it on the back side of each hole as I did the rounding. It worked perfectly and will also work for rounding the inside edges of the scuppers when I get the new offset trimmer. I planed the bowsprit down to dimensions, put a 1" radius round edge on the back edges using the router table and started sanding. [6,3738]

1/14 Routed 1" radius on aft upper edges of bowsprit, holding router by hand. Put 3/4" radius up to tip with 1/4" radius on tip and bottom side. Sanded and filled holes with wood putty. [4,3742]

1/15 Finish sanded the bowsprit and put four coats of Varathane on the bottom and one side, sanding after the first coat. Reinstalled the strap cross ties and removed 2x4 cross ties. [5,3747]

1/16 Put five coats of Varathane on the top, ends and other side of the bowsprit. Marked shelf line on hull and bulkhead in forepeak. [5,3752]

1/17 Cleaned up. Fit forepeak cleats. [4,3756]

1/18 Cut and fit forepeak shelf with access port. [4,3760]

1/19 Epoxied the cleats in the forepeak. The new offset router arrived and I rounded half of the inside scupper edges with it. [4,3764]

1/21 Took the new router apart as it had heated up rounding those edges. Couldn't see anything wrong and it turned freely. When I ran it without cutting, it didn't heat up. So, concluded that I had been putting too much side pressure on it. Rigged up the dust collector hose for the far side of the hull and rounded the remaining 8 holes, taking care not to put too much pressure on it and it was fine. Leveled the tops of the forepeak cleats and dry fit the shelf with bronze screws. Calculated the angle for the chain tube and made a lower socket from a piece of scrap mahogany. Screwed the chain locker access port and a backing plate together and drilled a hole in them for the chain to pass. Rounded the lower edge of the pair to a 1" radius. Epoxied and screwed the shelf to the cleats, the backing plate to the access port and the lower socket to the top side. [8,3772]

1/28 Made a gravity toggle lock for the forepeak access door and shaped three cleats, two for the sides of the opening, and one for the bottom. Sketched the shapes of the access panels on the vee berths that will be used for storage and cut them out with large radiuses. Cut steps in the bottoms of the sides of one access panel and top. Will set in lips so their bottoms will be flush with the bottom of the top. It all came out looking nice. [5,3777]

1/29 Routed recesses in bottom of other vee berth top and panel and made lips for both. Rounded over three sides on lips and epoxied all the lips and cleats. [5,3782]

1/30 Cut finger holes and sanded vee berth tops and covers and set in place. Contemplated how I want to vent these spaces since it will be easier to do before the tops get epoxied. Panel to forepeak fits and works very well. Cut and fit bed pieces for the water tank. These will support the tank and allow air to circulate around it. [6,3788]

1/31 Cut and fit the bottom and hull side water tank bed blocks. Cut limber holes in the bottom blocks and drilled a hole from the center of the water tank compartment to the bilge. The end and amidship blocks will be fit to the actual tank. [3,3791]

2/1 Ordered Wallas 85DU diesel stove/heater at the Seattle Boat Show. [0,3791]

2/5 Measured galley spaces to decide how to arrange stove and refrigerator. Epoxied water tank bottom and side support blocks to the hull. [2,3793]

2/8 Built a model of the water tank using 3/8" square strips of fir and the hot glue gun. By adding diagonals, it's very light, stiff and will be easy to roll around on the plastic sheet to mark out the panels. I think it will also come in handy to clamp the panels to when I weld them to get the angles right. [2,3795]

2/9 Fit and epoxied shims to the hull side water tank beds using the model as a guide. This is much easier than fitting the shims to the actual tank. This will provide support in 15 points under the tank and allow air to circulate to the hull. [2,3797]

2/10 Marked locations of chain plates so that I can insure access in galley. Looked at fridge options on internet. Measured hull slopes in fuel tank area. laid out battery box to decide which side of the bulkhead to put quarter-berth cross support on. Turns out I can go either side. Checked engine to see where battery cables will have to go. Alternator is on opposite side. Could not find lugs. Could not find fuel connection either. Could not remove transmission dip stick. Read manual cover to cover and that didn't help. Figured out how to use router to make 1" rounded corners on bulkheads. [3,3800]

2/12 Found lugs on solenoid to connect to battery cables. Located fuel inlet. Looked at where main battery switch can go. Battery cables and wiring harness will both have to cross over under companionway. Fuel and water are each on same side. Located some meranti for fuel tank access/berth top cleats. Figured how to gain 1.4 gallons in tank by adding a beveled corner. This makes one additional side to weld but I need that extra volume. [2,3802]

2/13 Cut bevel into cleat on inboard corner of fuel tank area which gains some space for the tank. Cut and fit the cleats for the fuel tank. [3,3805]

2/14 Made model for fuel tank. Will need at least 4x6 foot sheet of material. Will need slot in back of quarter berth for fill pipe to get tank in or out. Measurements from model allowing for 1/4" material thickness comes out to 17.9 gallons. The plans show 18 gallons so I am right on. [4,3809]

2/15 Price of sheet of 1/4" 5012 aluminum is $504, so wrote Scott an email for suggestions. Cut out backing blocks for lower chain plates, radiused and finish sanded them. [3,3812]

2/16 Scott says 3/16" series 5000 or 6000 aluminum for tank and gave me name of tig welder he knows. Sized and located the vent, fill suction pipes and fuel gage cutout. Seems I need to run the vent up to the cabin top, which I can do. Drew panels to scale and will need sheet 4' by 4'-4". Window frames need to be 1/4". Will need 4' by 27" for that. Tried to research the regulations on vents. Not obvious what is required for a home built boat this size. [4,3816]

2/17 Trimmed the splines on the skeg. The wood has shrunk some so the metal is standing proud a little. I won't do anything with it now until the first haul out. Sanded the hull down in the vee berth so that I can epoxy the chain plate backing blocks in place. Made my first pass at the electrical plan. I identified 37 items on my first pass. Searched for 2 gallon hot water tank with no luck. Looked at fuel gages. No room for gage on the panel. [5,3821]

2/18 Drew sketch of electrical wiring. Number of items has grown to 48. Made sketch of heat exchanger using 3" PVC spiral jacket over 1/2" copper coil. Ten 6 1/2" lengths makes two full gallons of hot water. This allows room for 4" of foam all around using standard hardware. [2,3823]

2/19 Figured how to build heat exchanger using CPVC and copper pipe and standard fittings. Finally realized that the tank has to be lower than the fill point on the engine heat exchanger. This would put the tank directly under the galley sink which is where I want to have the trash bin. So, I decided to forgo it. Made two filler blocks between chain plate backing blocks and the hull. [3,3826]

2/20 Ordered HDPE and welder for water tank. Fit chain plate filler blocks. Made a mock up of bulkhead in companionway where engine panel and controls must be to reach from both inside helm and cockpit tiller. It did not become obvious until I did a mockup of the cockpit sole and actually stood on it that the panel needs to go as high up on the bulkhead as possible with the shift/throttle just below. I then mocked up the cockpit seat to see what it will be like when the cabin and cockpit are complete. The location of aft port lights become obvious and need to be able to see through the companionway and out the front of the pilothouse windows. [4,3830]

2/21 Picked up 4x8 foot sheet of 1/4" HDPE in Tacoma, marked and cut out all the tank parts. Set up bevel tool in router and beveled edges on scrap pieces to practice my welding. Looked at galley foot pump at WM. Will have to increase toe space by two inches to use it. Bought two hose barb to threaded fittings. Looked at four hardware places for a 3/4" NPT tap with no luck. Found set on line at Harbor Freight when I got home. [6,3836]

2/22 Ordered taps and 59/64" reduced shank drill for 3/4" NPT tap. Realized later that since it is plastic, a 7/8" spade bit would probably work at a tenth of the cost. Talked to Tom Brock, who will weld the fuel tank for me. Sent list of materials to Scott to verify and see if they have any of the items on hand. [3,3839]

2/23 Measured the uppers, lowers and stays on the Catalina as 3/16". All the pins are 5/16". With the pilothouse being a lighter boat with less sail area, the 1/2" pins are overkill. The 3/8" pin size chainplates are only 10" long, which by the time I go through the deck and past the deck clamp, I only have 6" to place the bolts through the wood. So, I decided to use 3/8" pins with 7/32" 1/19 wire with the large chainplates with bushings in the 1/2" holes. Also checked to see how drawers gravity lock on the Catalina. Measured the PH sink area. Foot pump will work fine and there is room for a loop in the bilge pump discharge line aft of the sink. [3,3842]

2/24 Made another plan for a hot water system using welded HDPE and foot pump with mixing valve. This will be a low cost system that I can test before committing to. Tested tapping 1/2" NPT threads in HDPE using standard 21/32" drill and 5/8" spade bit on a different hole. Could tell no difference in the torque required or in the end result. [1,3843]

2/26 Bought fittings and made first solder joints on the heat exchanger coil. Also got two ball valves to see if I can link them to provide a way of selecting my mix of hot and cold water from the foot pump. [4,3847]

2/27 Finished the solder joints except for the threaded adapters. I want to mark where these fittings bottom out in the end plate so that I can be assured of a tight fit when I assemble the end plates to the coil. I plan to weld the sides to the end plates, completing the heat exchanger box. I tested the coil with 5 feet of head and no leaks. The ball valves are too stiff to work as I had hoped to do so will need a different plan for that. My HF plastics welder arrived and I spent a couple of hours making welds that I could break by hand. I have to experiment with air pressure, rod size, speed, and practice I think. It looks promising. [5,3852]

2/28 Read several descriptions of plastics welding HDPE. I sanded all surfaces, including the rod and tried it with air pressure reduced, putting pressure on the rod and fanning the torch to melt the rod into the puddle. My first pass caused a very slight yellowing of the plastic, so I increased my compressor pressure and that went away. After two passes on both sides of a butt corner joint, I couldn't break the weld even in a vise where I bent the two sides nearly together. Structurally, I have over 100% strength with two passes on both sides. Additional attempts using different techniques didn't work. Suspect I had too much heat. [4,3856]

3/1 Made an unsuccessful attempt at a cut drawing so the aluminum panels can be cut on a shear instead of having to saw them in my shop. Organized my do and order lists so I can resume this after our trip. First item is to order round HDPE rods. [3,3859]

4/6 Made three single pass test welds using the new 1/8" and 5/32" welding rods. The new rods flow on very nice and look good, easy to control. But, I was able to break them with hand pressure, probably 5% full strength. I increased my compressor regulator from 50 to 65 psi which cools the air down. [2,3861]

4/7 Test broke at about 10% full strength. Weld material peeled off without much bonding with the parent material. Increased pressure to 75 psi, more air on joint, less on rod, slowed way down. Using a single pass on both sides, I got about a 15% strength joint. Tried three passes both sides and got only a slightly stronger joint. The rod material separated from the parent material. The only strength I got was from the rod pushing the parent material together. A review of my order shows that I was shipped polypropylene, not HDPE. Will have to reorder. Made up panels for a test box with a threaded hole to connect a tube to test with 5 foot head of water. [3,3864]

4/17 Welding tests with new 5/32" and 3/16" HDPE welding rod on HDPE worked very well. Welds had good strength. [1,3865]

4/18 Welded test box with one pass of 3/16" rod all around. At least four leaks after first try, at least three leaks after second try. [4,3869]

4/19 Cut into leaking areas and welded a third time, testing with soapy water and using the air hose inside. Five of the corners leaked, and one edge seam. Set up router to cut a deep groove in leaking areas and welded a forth time with 5/32" rod, attempting to get better penetration. [3,3872]

4/20 Some of the areas I went over actually stopped leaking, but where I started or ended a pass, there are still leaks. [2,3874]

4/21 Decided to start over on the test box and cut and beveled new pieces. I made the bevels deeper so that there is more material to push against on the outside weld. Also, if there is a leak, the entire outside weld can be cut out with the router and redone. Figured a way to clamp all the pieces together rather than two at a time and figured a way to do the whole box in four passes without starting or stopping on a seam. Used hot glue to attach the clamps so that the piece can be rotated for the start, a top seam, a side seam, a bottom seam, and past the corner to finish off seam and rotating all the way while having solid support. Saved the welding until tomorrow. [3,3877]

4/22 Welding the new test box went very well. None of the 12 side seams leak but 6 of the 8 corners did. After three attempts at patching the 6 corners, all 6 still leak. Cleaned down the corners flush with the sides. [4,3881]

4/27 My theory is that the reason the corners leak and not the sides is that the welds run over sharp or uneven surface in the corners. Built fixture to route smooth radius groove around the corners. Cut the grooves and ready to weld again. [3,3884]

4/28 I welded the grooves and it appears that in every case, I reduced the area of the leak to at least one side, so that is good. I still have six leaking corners and two leaking sides, however. The problem that I see now is that I can see where the leaks are when they have soapy water on them and air pressure inside, but when I go to cut the grooves and weld, I can't see or remember exactly where the leaks are. I have been using marker pens at this point, which do not work on wet surfaces, so I have been making notes which aren't easy to follow. [2,3886]

4/29 Using my angle driver and a small diameter bit, I drilled holes in the plastic where I could see bubbles in the soapy water I brushed on the box corners. I set up my cove bit high in the router table and was able to hand feed the box into the bit with no problem, cutting grooves and trimming the rough edges. I then checked again with the soap and made a few adjustments. The results after welding got me from 8 leaks down to 4 and they are more localized. I repeated the process up through the welding but have not yet checked for bubbles. But this should do the trick I think. [3,3889]

4/30 After welding again I still ended up with three leaks but more localized. Welding down the center of a 1/4" cove, tends to leak on one side. A smaller coving tool would help, but this might still be okay. [1,3890]

5/1 Four sessions of welding, marking the leaks, coving the leaks and welding again got me from three leaks down to only two leaks. I was having adhesion problems this evening as I was able to peel several of the welds off with a pair of pliers. Possibly, I had not waited long enough for it to fully harden, but I may have rushed the weld too much. Practice, practice. [2,3892]

5/2 Three sessions of coving, re-welding, and finding the leaks and I still have two leaks. This obviously isn't working. [1,3893]

5/3 Tried mounting a 3/16" round nose bit in a Dremel Tool with a router attachment. This enabled me to cut a narrower groove at the places where the two leaks presented themselves. Checking again with soapy water after welding once again, I now have two leaks at each of the spots instead of one. [1,3894]

5/4 Used the power plane to smooth out the two problem corners and laid beads of weld over the leaking areas. Hand guided the round nose Dremel tool into the new leaking areas and after half a dozen repetitions, I got all the leaks. [3,3897]

12/27 My new Steinel HL 2010E heat gun came today and I practiced welds with it using the new "speed tip." The literature recommends 550 to 650 F for HDPE. I tried 550, 600 and 650, having the best weld at 650. [1,3898]

12/29 Cut pieces for test box #3 and welded together with a single bead of 5/32 rod on each side. Five of the eight corners leaked after the first pass. I also discovered that the tip gets hotter as I weld and had to reduce temp from 630 F down to 560 F after ten minutes of use. Apparently I did not get a good bond when starting a weld. Since I started fresh on each of the twelve sides, there were lots of possibilities. [3,3901]

12/30 Used router and 3/16" cove dremmel tool to remove the leaking joints and re-welded, being careful to start weld on top of previous weld. Had to make a second pass as I didn't get rid of all the cold joints the first time but no leaks after that. Success! [2,3903]

12/31 Cut last legs of heat exchanger coil and soldered the final pieces together. Trimmed the six water tank panels and smoothed welding surfaces with jointer. Marked fill, vent and draw holes in the aft end panel. [5,3908]

1/2 Bought fittings and hooked heat exchanger coil to 65 psi water pressure. It leaks where the copper threads into the HDPE couplings so that will have to be trimmed down so it can be tightened more. [3,3916]

1/3 Cut a full 1/2" off both ends of both couplings. This is enough to get the fittings to seal and no apparent leaks in the soldering, but now the end legs on the coil are too short by 1/2". Ways to correct problem 1) unsolder eight joints, cut two new legs, and re-solder eight joints, 2) cut legs in two and solder in coupling, or 3) move the coupling. Meanwhile, when the hose blew off the end of the coil when I loosened the clamp, it somehow created a leak in my hot water line where it joins to the faucet. Spent much of the day making a tool to tighten the nut behind the sink. Wind storm here so didn't want to do any welding with hot air in case of power outage, so cut panels for hot water tank. Tested moving a corner of the last test box to see how difficult it might be to move the coupling. Got it to work but decided against it because it looks messy. Adding a copper coupling should be easy and won't show. [7,3923]

1/4 Soldered couplings to lengthen the end legs and retested. No leaks after an hour with 65 psi pressure. Cut plastic backing pads for fittings in the hot water and large tanks and welded the larger of those in place. No leaks with 65 psi for 3 hours so cut sides for exchanger. [3,3926]

1/5 Welded heat exchanger tank around coil and tested using water pressure with new air gauge. At least two corners leaked. [3,3929]

1/6 Repaired all leaks, reconfigured air gauge to use air from portable pressure tank, cleaned shop. Tack welded first two sides of hot water tank. [4,3933]

1/7 Completed first welding pass on hot water tank. Verified that it leaks. [3,3936]

1/8 Made two attempts to repair leaks with no luck so made mock up of tabernacle and mast lowering scheme using boom with guys. My trial verified that the guys to the boom are indeed necessary but the load on them should be minimal. [3,3939]

1/9 Used Dremel tool to reeve out three leaking joints and re-welded. All three welds leaked in slightly different places. [1,3940]

1/11 Repeated reeving out and re-welding which stopped two of the leaks. When applying 6 psi, I could hear three definite cracking sounds and discovered three new leaks that weren't there before. So, now I have four spots to redo. Fixed three of the marked leaks but found two new ones so have three left now. [2,3942]

1/12 Reeved out and successfully re-welded the three marked leaks, found three more, fixed those. Could find no more leaks using soapy water on brush but air was still slowly bleeding out. Immersed the tank in water in the sink and found bubbles coming from one spot and fixed it. [2,3944]

1/15 Attached the test box made last May to the end of my air hose behind a barrier and increased the pressure to 40 psi at which point it blew up. Since the welds were only 1/16" in most places it's a good indication that it would have held much more if I had filled in the joint with 1/4" of weld. But, the dimensions on my hot water tank are double the test tank so it makes me believe I need some way to relieve pressure over 20 psi. [1,3945]

1/18 Repeated the test with the most recent text box made with additional weld passes. It went to 100 psi before blowing up. [1,3946]

1/20 Welded in an extra layer of HDPE on the ends to provide greater thickness for the lines from the hot water tank. [1,3947]

1/21 Dressed up primary welds on both tanks for final welding. [1,3948]

1/27-1/28 Finish welding on heat exchanger tank. [3,3951]

1/29 Made two passes on the hot water tank. With the finish welds, there is more material to heat up and to pull heat away from the welding rod than with the initial welds where I am welding rod against two edges. Using the same temp and speed as the initial welds leaves gaps on one or both sides of what I had hoped would be the final welds. Slowing down causes the rod to melt too much. [2,3953]

1/30 Made passes 4,5,6,and 7 on the hot water tank. Still have about 6" of gaps in a total of 24" of joints. Still hard to see and control where the weld goes. It often slides sideways. [3,3956]

1/31 Finished hot water tank. Cut backing plate for vent in main tank. [2,3958]

2/12 Ordered 1 1/2" HDPE half coupling and two more pounds of welding rod. [1,3959]

2/15 Matched edges of the main tank panels and trimmed two of them to fit better. Decided I need to wait until the tank is at least tack welded before drilling hole for the draw fitting so that it will fit between frame and bulkhead stiffener. [2,3961]

2/16 Welded backing plates for vent and draw holes. [1,3962]

2/17 Tack welded first four sides of main tank. [2,3964]

2/18 Hot glued the aft panel into the other sides and bottom and placed the tank in its bed. The fit is fine and I built up the baffle to go in the middle. After seeing it in place, I decided I want two clean out ports. I don't expect to have to get into them very often if ever, so will just make covers out of HDPE. [2,3966]

2/19 The half coupling and rod arrived by UPS. Measured the coupling and drilled a pilot hole in the aft panel at the right height to insure the fitting would fit in the top most part of the tank. I also drilled a pilot hole for the vent line. I returned it to its bed and drilled a hole from the galley side of the bulkhead for the draw line to insure it would miss the frames. I drilled a 2 1/2" hole in the panel for the coupling, clamped and finish welded it both sides. Tack welded the panel to the others and bottom. [4,3970]

2/20 Had to move the vent and draw holes slightly after cutting the holes in the bulkhead. Also had to make a new baffle as the angles weren't right and welded it into place. Cut access holes and cover plates. [5,3975]

2/21 Drilled and tapped holes for the water tank access covers. Apparently the box warped during welding the baffle as the cover was short half an inch on one corner. The warpage didn't hurt the fit in the boat so I welded on a sliver of additional material to the cover and recut the other sides. [4,3979]

2/22 Cut a slot in the top to allow welding top to the baffle. Trimmed the top to fit, tack welded it in place and made a final fit in the hull. It is very snug but was able to get it back out for the final welding. [3,3982]

2/23 Welded baffle and one pass on all seams of main tank. [2,3984]

2/24 Bought plugs and screws and sealed up the tank and tried to pressure test. Several large leaks prevented any pressure readings. Sealed largest leaks by welding. Plugs leak and pressure tank fill valve is now leaking. [4,3988]

2/25 Lubricated valve which stopped that leak. Worked around the tank, welding up leaks one seam at a time until I could find no more. Cleared off workbench next to sink, built a frame and lined it with plastic for a test tub so I can submerge the and better test for leaks. [5,3993]

2/26 Found and repaired about a dozen very small leaks. The tank now holds pressure. [3,3996]

1/5 Did some rearranging of the shop and measured the span for the side decks at the nine bulkheads that are currently in place. Two are reasonably close, all the rest need to be trimmed. That may actually be good as it gives me a chance to true up the cabin side slopes. [2,4000]

1/6 More cleanup and built racks for the bronze behind the wood stove. [0,4000]

1/7 Tested hydraulic system for leaks. Found none but the helm wheel has 1/10th turn play and I am told that it should be less if the air is out. Puzzled over how exactly to bleed air from the system. [3,4003]

1/8 Determined from the steering system manual that the cylinder has a fluid volume of 7 cubic inches, which equates to 25" of copper line. One turn of the wheel moves 2.5 cubic inches. With that, I set up a funnel and clear feed line and a catch bottle and started bleeding. I first bled the autopilot pump using my garden tractor battery for power. Then the bye-pass loop. Both those were drained into the main lines. Then I bled each of the main lines to the cylinder. It reduced the free play down to 1/4 spoke, which is 18 degrees. I think that will have to do. [4,4007]

1/9 Strapped down the longer lengths of copper tubing. Studied the drawings and took stock of how many beams I had made up for deck and roof. [3,4010]

1/10 Verified cuts on existing cabin bulkheads and molds. Found three over cuts, which will have to be shimmed and patched. Good that I plan to paint the inside. [4,4014]

1/11 Built up missing molds to define cabin side dimensions and adjusted to true up surfaces. I had originally planned to laminate skins for sides and roof in place and then fit carlins to the skins. I am now rethinking to laminate roofs separately and fasten over pre fitted carlins. [5,4019]

1/12 The molds have been trimmed and I sprung pieces over the curves and determined that 1/2" plywood is fine for the cabin sides but I will need to laminate the carlins. [6,4025]

1/13 Milled up the pieces for two lower carlins only to realize they were 4" too short. Also most of the pieces had weak spots from knots so will need to mill more. I'll use scarf joints to insure a fair bend on at least the inside carlins since the spans are fairly long. A lumber bracket I had installed last week pulled out of the wall and I realized I had put a whole row of them on the wrong line, missing the stud by 3". So, all the lumber had to be moved while I corrected that. [5,4030]

1/14 I made a sketch this morning to try to make sense of how the cabin needed to go together. This is a milestone in my thinking as it clearly shows me the forward roof has to be done first before the cabin sides. Otherwise I would have to be fitting supports inside a curved surface later on, which if I learned anything doing that with the hull, it's not the best way to do it. I spent the rest of the day picking lumber and detailing out the steps involved, including designing the roof mold and fabrication plan. [4,4034]

1/15 Redesigned the roof mold. The forward cabin is longer and also wider. Since the pilothouse roof has the same camber, I can use the mold for both. By reducing the size, I have room to set it up and do the molding in the shop. I increase the camber by 25% to allow for two layers spring back, according to the formula sb = S/n^2. I also used a spreadsheet to create the offsets for the mold arcs using y=(x^2)*c/(S/2)^2 where S is the span, c the rise. I plotted and cut out the two end arcs. [5,4039]

1/16 Woke at 4 am and changed my mind about using the mold. Wrote to Scott Sprague and he said he does his skin laminations right on the boat. I made horizontal molds for the carlins. With out it, the carlins will not curve in the last 18" or so, which will cause the front 18" of the cabin to be straight instead of curved like the sheer. I can shift the same mold down to the middle of the cabin side when that goes on. I discovered that the two sides were different. The reason was the cross mold was not square, so that got squared up. To laminate on the boat will require scaffolding on both sides of the hull. I can use the layout table on the port side and the two out feed horses on the other side. [5,4044]

1/17 Finally got started on cutting notches and cut mast bulkhead down. Moved the engine back on its beds. It snowed here most of the day. [4,4048]

1/18 Cut remaining carlin notches plus in the mast bulkhead by mistake. I hate it when I make stupid mistakes. Cut the first carlin lamination from clear spruce. (1/2" x 2") I think I can bend vertically without laminating in that direction. I installed an additional cross piece to take the load. More snow. [4,4052]

1/19 Fit and installed horizontal molds for fronts of middle carlins. Added clamping blocks to helm bulkhead mold. More snow today. [2,4054]

1/20 I had one of those waking at 4 am moments this morning and realized I need some way to true up the seam I will have to have in the the first layer of cabin roof plywood. I recut the two discarded mold pieces to finish camber and anchored them just forward of the mast bulkhead. This falls exactly on the 4 foot seam from the bow end and also on the forward edge of the mast arch so it will help in aligning that. When I screw down the second layer of roof ply, I will be able to screw through both sides of the bottom seam from above and into solid wood. I had laminated the mast arch in two layers, thinking I might want to tweak the shape on final installation. However, the layers were laid up slightly warped. I'll need to sand them true on the inside surfaces. I cut clamps for both sides, port and starboard out of 1" ash. These will provide the needed anchorage between the mast bulkhead and arch. I also milled up the rest of the carlin pieces. I'm still snowed in but I didn't loose power like many others in this storm. [5,4059]

1/21 Spent the day fitting clamps, arch and mold pieces. [4,4063]

1/22 Revised the to do list to break out all seven epoxy sessions needed to install forward cabin roof. Epoxied the mast arch/bulkhead cleats. [4,4067] (this is the first epoxy work on the boat in almost five years.)

1/23 Cracked the screws early this morning, but still soft. Put heat lamps over both clamps and got shop temp up to 80F for most of the day. Was able to clean up some with hand tools. (I never use power tools on day old epoxy for fear of becoming sensitized to it.) [2,4069]

1/24 Cleaned up and leveled the clamps and epoxied the first arch segment in place. [4,4073]

1/25 Removed clamping screws and turned off heat lamps. [0,4073]

2/21 After nearly a month delay, I fit and epoxied the upper segment in place. [4,4077]

3/13 In springing a batten over the ends of the arch beam to trim it for the deck carlin, I discovered the bend was much steeper on the starboard side. Although I had previously fussed with the mid cabin mold many times before, it was definitely a half inch too wide. After a huge amount of fiddling, I finally got it trued up. Also made a jig to guide my circular saw in cutting the curve, which is done on the cabin side slope off the deck camber. [3,4080]

3/14 I made three practice cuts on the port side of the arch beam, taking a thin slice each time so I could true up the angle. The second side went more quickly. [2,4082]

3/19 Cleaned up ends on arch. Vacuumed out hull and floor. [1,4083]

3/20 Re-mounted joint mold and trimmed ends flush with the arch. Ran three carlin laminations through the planer and cut the front bevels on the ends. After making the aft cut on one lamination and screwing it down, I can see that with no horizontal mold, the aft end flattens out. I have to fix that somehow or I'll have a hard spot on the cabin side later. [3,4086]

3/21 Cut and installed horizontal molds for aft ends of carlins. [2,4088]

3/22 Dry fit the first two carlin laminations. They are ready for epoxy now. Removed the splice mold as by shifting the 48" forward sheet aft 1 1/2" and creating a second seam, both seams will fall on the permanent beams. [2,4090]

3/23 Epoxied the laminations to the arch and forward bulkhead. [2,4092]

3/27 Faired the tops of the laminations, milled and dry fit the second two. [3,4095]

3/28 The carlins had too much vertical bend for 2" vertical laminations. Also, by the time the bevels are cut top and bottom, the finished carlin would be too small vertically. So I carefully measured the bevel angle needed fore and aft. It varies from 8 to 20 degrees. I marked the angles directly on the laminations and split them on those angles in the band saw. The resulting pieces dry fit perfectly (with the bevels top and bottom and square cuts in the center) with no stress and full dimensions, so I epoxied them in place. [4,4099]

3/30 Thinking ahead to laminating the roof, I built scaffolding for the starboard side. I checked the carlins against the lines and had to adjust one side 1/8" and lower one end of the helm mold also to take a sag out of the centerline. Cut bevels on the last four laminations and sanded them, making end cuts. [4,4103]

3/31 The remaining carlin laminations are sanded and dry fit. I sprung a batten around both sides to make sure the finished carlin is fair with the after cabin. [2,4105]

4/1 I screwed planks around forward cabin to deck clamp and beams. I can now walk around the cabin for the first time without having to walk around the whole boat. [1,4106]

4/2 Epoxied the final carlin lams, all from outside the hull, which worked well. [3,4109]

4/13 Carlins trued up, and first layer of plywood laid in place. [4,4113]

4/16 I tested the clamping pressure available by not screwing all the way through the bottom layer of plywood. It seems reasonable and should allow me to epoxy each plywood piece to the boat separately without having to patch up all the screw holes in the ceiling later on. In my small shop, working by myself, I couldn't visualize how I was going to move and flip the whole forward cabin roof, (which will be over 7 feet long and 5 feet wide) or find room to work on it off the boat. I also tested how easy it might be to use my new Festool sander with #24 grit to true up 1/4" ply edges. It didn't work well at all, which is one more reason to fit the roof sheets separately. It will be easier to pre-fit each piece, including the edge bevels, which are more easily done off the boat. I fit and epoxied a cleat to the helm bulkhead top and the starboard carlin end to the bulkhead and the cleat. The forward roof extends over the helm locker, so this needs to be in place when I epoxy the first piece of plywood. [3,4116]

4/17 Clamped first layer of plywood over the helm area and marked the edge cuts, where it overlaps the carlins. I set up to make those cuts in the bandsaw, including the bevels. Indexed the sheet on the centerline and made a handle so I could set it down over the arch and carlins. I had to put my short ladder inside the vee berth so I had a place to stand. [3,4119]

4/18 Epoxied my first curved plywood piece. I had anticipated that putting screws on 6" centers would be close enough, but I found some quilting effect. I waited, hoping it would flow under the sheet, but it didn't. So, I added more screws and blocks in a few places. I did get good squeeze out all around, however. [4,4123]

4/20 Vacuumed inside hull, cleaned up epoxy, stowed gear, marked and cut bevels on sides of 1st ply for forward cabin, marked hatch opening and mounted handle, marked epoxy lines, did dry run. Ordered four new bandsaw blades and 10 band saw bearings. Found one broken screw in last ply. [2,4125]

4/21 Drilled guide holes on centerline for new plywood sheet. I discovered in process that the beam for the forward bulkhead had never been epoxied to the bulkhead. Meanwhile I had just epoxied the carlins to both at the ends. So, I had to saw the beam out so I can epoxy it to the bulkhead along with the carlins this time. I picked up new roll pins and removed the two new broken screws with my drive in with the hammer and turn out with vise grips technique. I tried both my wood planes in truing up the plywood edges with the carlins. Neither one was cutting very well so I spent some time getting an edge back on the larger one. Planing sideways while reaching out in front of me is how I think I messed my back up in January, so I quit that as soon as it started to hurt this time. I might do better when I have all the plywood on and have a place to sit while I plane.[3,4128]

4/22 I rigged up my offset router to cut the bevels off the plywood and it worked well and much faster than any other method, but messy. After a couple of dry runs, I epoxied the beam and the two pieces of plywood, completing the first layer of lower cabin roof. [4,4132]

4/27 Put new blade and lower bearing in bandsaw. The offset router is bulky and awkward to handle so I modified the base plate on the standard trim router to allow flush trimming. It worked well to clean up the hard epoxy squeeze out plus trim the plywood sheets. I rough cut the last layer of ply. [3,4135]

5/4 I made a second pass with the router on the bevels with the level and did the final trimming on the first layer, indexed, marked and cut the first sheet of the second layer. Then I marked out the clamping screw holes on 5 inch centers. I tested using 1" drywall screws through 9/16" blocks at a setting of 7 on my power driver. This setting with that thickness, if the first sheet is predrilled provided just enough clamping pressure without going through the second sheet. I marked all the holes for pre drilling, ran the 72 blocks for the 1" screws through the bandsaw for consistency and filled a box with 45 larger blocks for 1 1/4" screws that will go into the carlins and cross beams. [4,4139]

5/5 Drilled the holes in the plywood and attached the handle that I planed to use to lift, turn and position the plywood sheet after the epoxy has been spread on the joining surfaces. Some of the screws stripped out, the others hit full torque without tightening down. Neither is acceptable for joining the two plywood layers which is the exact same joint. I had used my old screws, which don't have enough thread on the tip 3/16" which is critical to hold, and the hole diameters were too tight. I had new screws, which tested perfectly, but only in larger holes. So I had to drill all 244 holes to a larger size and send the new tear out. My second discovery was that I can't turn and position a 48" x 68" sheet from anywhere except on top of the single layer of ply where the hatch will go. I don't want to risk breaking that, but I can cut the sheet down the long way and two 24" wide sheets will handle much more easily. That will mean an added seam, which will fall just aft of the mast beam, but I don't think that will be critical. The other option is to epoxy the forward sheet first, which would give me something to stand on for the big sheet. I'll decide tomorrow with fresh eyes. [4,4143]

5/6 Sunday. Cut the sheet at the 26" point, which fell between two rows of holes, and marked the new index lines and epoxy line on the under sheet. I'm all set to epoxy but needed to work on the mower and lawn while the sun was shining. [1,4144]

5/7 Used 6 batches of epoxy to wet out the surfaces with the roller, and 5 more with thickened epoxy spread with a notched spreader and 70 screws with blocks. Cracked the screws before turning in tonight. [2,4146]

5/8 Removed the screw blocks and indexed the next sheet. [1,4147]

5/21 Epoxied another second layer ply to forward cabin. [2,4149]

5/22 Fit and epoxied the last layer of ply to forward cabin. Despite my efforts, some screws striped out while others broke through the lower layer, but it's done and I'll have minimal patching on the underside. [4,4153]

5/23 Removed screw blocks and determined angles and dimensions for the cabin posts, carlins and cross clamps. Puzzled over framing of front windows in pilothouse. [4,4157]

5/25 Puzzled more over the sequence. I'm favoring doing the ice box (Fridge box?) first, then galley counter top, then cabin sides. After finishing the box, and installing the condenser and evaporator, which are joined with fluid lines through the box, I might also install the sink. The stove is under the corner post, so I'll be using that area of the counter to fasten the temporary cabin mold. I'll fasten to the part that will be cut out for the drop in stove. So, I can't do the stove until the cabin sides, roof and forward window frame are in place. [1,4158]

10/12 Decided to pursue finding a buyer for this project. In trying to organize it to show, I realized the edges of the top roof layer had not been trimmed. Set up angle bubble for 1:12 slope and marked and trimmed the roof. Also looked again at fridge and decided it's doable to build under the galley counter later. [3,4161]

10/14 Remeasured for fuel tank. Space is ample for 18 gallon tank. Made and fit end templates from hot glue and 1/8" veneer scraps. [2,4163]

I emailed Scott Sprague and told him I was intent on selling the project. He responded that it would be very difficult to find a buyer, but he would see if he could find anyone.

**************** 2013 ***********

In August I told Scott I was willing to make a very good deal to the right builder and one who would see the project through. Within a short time he got back to me with Gary and Linda who wanted to see the boat. We met, their response has been very positive and Annamarie I think this is the perfect match to carry the project on.

October 26th. After a short celebratory gathering and photos here, the hull was moved to it's new home about ten miles from here on Bainbridge Island. The keel and the other parts and materials will soon follow.

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