PeeroSail build

Did a bit more sanding then I installed the inside rail additions...and Screwed it up! I installed the first one on the wrong marks and didn't notice...the second went in OK though. I only noticed after I installed the mast partner and stepped back. Method of repair...cut additonal blocks and install to make things even... tomorrow. I put a coat of primer on the bottom and one side today too.

 

Got the other side done today along with sanding and a second coat on the first side and bottom. Spent most of the day on the other boat.

 

Got started painting yesterday and today. I also made the mast Step. I think it will look OK.



The red is the same (almost exact) as my Blazer...





So the trim is Silver to match.

 

Continued.

Used the excess epoxy from sealing the DB case on Nitasha's boat to soak the edge grain of the plywood sandwiched between the inner and outer wales. This spot has always been where my boats start to rot so this time I am going to do the job right and put at least 3 coats there. Hopefully this will keep Mr. Fungi at bay.



Quick and dirty Mast Step

 

Glued and screwed the step in today, flipped it over and filleted the underside of the inner wales. That is it for today as there are storms moving in and I need some sleep. If I can get off of one job early this evening I have to go in early to the other.

 

Don't hog all the storms for yourself. Send some our way as we need the rain. Watch out for twisters.

 

Have tried not to but it has been difficult. We have had a few gully washers come through...with piddly showers in between. Got some work in today even after oversleeping. I filleted the interior chine edges so only the cross pieces to go and then a coat of epoxy with a touch up for the dry spots. I think that will be it for finishing the interior until after I get back. More rain predicted on and off until I leave which gives no time for any paint to cure properly so I'll leave it bare epoxy. Got the outside done though...hopefully it will harden up some over the next week. I still have the aft short rails/peg rails to install and the holes to drill, plus a little here and there of finishing up. Good thing as of 0700 and 1 second Tuesday morning I am on Vacation...but I won't leave for the first messabout until Friday morning.





I will probably hit that ugly spot in the starboard side later this evening...I think it is a brush mark on partially dried paint.

 

I HATE coatings...don't care what kind!

 

Chocolate on an Almond Joy is a good one.

 

Only one picture but it says volumes. I have been up since 3 PM yesterday and here is what I have accomplished. Yesterday afternoon I got a second coat of epoxy on the entire interior plus another coat on ply edge between the inner and outer wales. Today I installed the peg rails first thing after work this morning, then installed the afterdeck. After letting the glue cure a bit I drilled the holes for the pegs (belaying pins I guess) and made a couple of pins. In the mean time I also gooped and installed the deck plates on the purple thing. I spent almost an hour looking for any two of the correct sized Gudgeons that I know I have and couldn't find. I then had to install different Pintles so I could use the matching Gudgeons to install the rudder. I had to make a plate to match the thickness of the trim so I could mount said Gudgeons because I forgot about the trim piece until I actually got the rudder within a foot of the transom. Of course I had to run to the store because I didn't have the right screws to mount it properly. Back to the ODL... dropping whatever I was doing on the purple thing I started to assemble the sail and rigging in the front yard. I started bending on the sail to the mostly varnished mast with an eye to anchor the Throat. Stretching the luff I spent some time trying to find out just how far from the clew I needed to mount the hook of my hook and eye boom attachment. I settled on an inch and a half below. I had bought a hook but it was too long (I was thinking at the time of the hook going into the end of the boom). I took one of the stainless eyes and opened it up a bit and used that instead. Now I had to make the boom...quick and dirty fir closet pole. I tied the sail on but If you remember I messed up what I was going to use for my sprit so I had to come up with a new one. I ended up taking a chunk of cedar and planing it into a 3/4" x 1 1/4" oval and using that. After getting everything worked out I plunked it into the boat and this is the result:



Someone put little flags at the corner of everyone's yard on the block and I thought mine might be perfect flying off the transom. I will see about collecting the others so I have a supply in case of fly away or other mishap.
I have to put a seat in it. I climbed in and it is too deep to sit on the floor comfortably and steer, plus I need a thwart to stiffen up the after end...there isn't any framing up the sides and they are a bit bendy and pressure on the pegs from the paddle will distort them. I also need to get a longer paddle than the 5 footer that I have...6 would probably be perfect if they make them. The inside will get no paint before I leave...the buggers will not get ground off, the dings in the paint will not get fixed and I will probably still be doing things to get on the water while it is sitting on the beach. Too little time, too much bad weather and too many boats abuilding at one time...along with too many hours spent working two jobs. I'll have to finish things up when I get back. There are still a few spots where there aren't any coatings at all...just raw wood but I think I got all the stuff that really counts.

 

Your boats looks great. It was too wet here yesterday to accomplish much(thanks for sharing the wet weather). We were parched.

 

Steve Lewis - - - - Mad Boat Builder.

I stole your quote from the Eider Duck build thread. I'm eager to hear how the boat that used to be named Peero performs. She's looking good. The chine runners are an interesting concept so it's to see someone experimenting with them.

 

Well...I'm back with the report.

Construction wise:
The mast is a tad too thin. It bends too much when you sheet in in a stronger wind.
The seat could have been 6" further back and 1" or 2" lower. I will continue to use it as-is to see if I can get used to it but I just might hack it out and do another one if I can't.

Performance:
What is windward...?

To be honest it will go somewhat to windward in light winds, 3-10 mph, but over that it just slides sideways as much or more than it goes forward. I do think that it points higher than one without the chine runner but only by 6-8 degrees or so, depending on the winds. It is definitely a shallow water boat because you want to be able to walk away from a capsize... or at least only need to swim/drag the carcass a few yards before you can use your feet. You absolutely have to get the boat to heel 20-30 degrees in order to get a bite on the water. This puts the rail within inches of the water...with your weight right there at the bleeding edge along with. A wrong twitch and you will ship some water...or all of it.

*Caveat... My boat is a few inches narrower than the original which will affect stability quite a bit at the widths we are talking about here so take what I say about mine as applying only to mine and it might be somewhat less applicable to an "as designed" boat.

The more you heel it the more weather helm it has...and the faster it goes at any given heel angle (other than flat) the more weather helm it has. It doesn't appear to tow worth a darn but it might be OK with an eye in the bow at the chine and all other weight very aft. Try to hold a line and get towed and it hunts like a hound. This is probably due to the chine runners wanting to dive the boat so if the bow were lifted and the stern angled down I expect the runners to provide lift rather than act as diving planes.

To improve windward ability and lessen the amount of heel needed (although not eliminate it) my thoughts are to cut a slot in the chine runner on each side and use a small/short leeboard that just drops through the slot and hooks over the gunnel. This will add some lateral resistance and also not require me to try and ride the rail at the very edge of submersion. I will feel safer in the deeper waters that are available to me to sail it in (5+ ft of depth for the most part).

Conclusion:

I like it pretty much... and I will continue to massage it until I screw it up or get bored with it. It is pretty good for what it was designed for...thin, shallow water sailing where you won't be getting much of anything else in there. If you need something that can slip through a couple of inches of water and carries a sail then this is definitely better than a canoe with a downwind only sail. I would say you have sailing to about 51-52 degrees to either side of the wind ( maybe 48 with the chine runners) in lighter airs. It moves with only the slightest of breezes...barely enough to stir the flag at the stern was enough to move the boat with a visible disturbance of the water at the stern.

Was the effort to add chine runners worth it? Probably not...I only gained a few degrees to windward (a guesstimate and perhaps not accurate) and gained up to 4 inches of draft or more when you count the chine logs and runners combined. I may also have not have designed the runners properly...perhaps a narrower but longer and squarer version would be better...by a degree or so...I don't know. I expect the exercise was simply that... Stick with the original or go with a Teal...they are surprisingly similar...depending on the depth of the waters you wish to sail.

For wider and slightly deeper waters... a Teal or a even better...a stretched (to 14') Teal would accomplish all that this does with around the same amount of effort and the same or perhaps only a few square feet of extra materials. It would be significantly more stable and point quite a bit higher without hanging your butt on/over the lee chine and feeling like it would go over in every little gust.

 

In this pic I needed to peak the sprit more...which was done later in a calm spot.



Same here.

 

Having decided to do a little modifying, I started today. I am going to add a small leeboard for use in deeper water along with a rudder with a push-pull tiller. I am also trimming the chine runners down a bit to see if I can tame the weather helm it gets when it gets up in speed... the faster it goes and the more it heels the fiercer the weather helm gets. I cut the runners straight across, a little bit inboard of the gunnels so there will be a few degrees of camber on the leeboard, which will rest against the chine runner. There will only be one Leeboard but it will be able to go on either side so it can be either shifted for long tacks or put on the predominant side during shorter tacks or on a constant tack.

Here is another pic of it on the water last summer... Really light wind there.



and the trim job it got today...