Buccaneer 24 Builders Forum

This thread is for all the builders and sailors of the Lock Crowther designed Buccaneer 24 Sailing Trimaran.
The idea is that builders/sailors can ask questions and swap ideas to help each other in their task.
Lets hear from you guys.

 

That's a great idea, thanks oldsailor...

 

Great idea

Thanks for starting this forum OS I'm anxiously waiting for my plans, cleaning my shop up and having my saw blades sharpened. Tell me; are there any sites on the web that deal with the building of the little Buccaneer? If not, I may try to keep a close photo record of the build for that purpose.
Mike

 

Mike, there are no build sites that I know of, but if you are willing to do that I am sure it would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers. OP7

 

I'll definitely be following this thread since I'm debating picking up a set of plans and building a modified Buc24...

... Out of Aluminum!

edit: this post isn't meant to turn this thread into a aluminum debate thread... I should probably post in the other thread about it.

Noodle

 

Well Mr. Noodle, welcome to the thread, I already have a name suggestion for your boat. Since it takes roughly 30 sheets of something to build the boat, and since the built weight should be about1000 lbs, your going to have to limit yourself to .050 5052 aluminum. Aside from the difficulty in welding without distortion you would have to avoid any docking errors religiously. I'd call the craft "Beercan". More seriously, if you are impressed with the boat enough to build the thing you'll be much more pleased with it if you follow the advise of the guy who designed it. I think you would be happier if you found plans for something in the material of your choice. Even a small jon boat is made of .090 material. I've been a welding engineer for 35 years and would be happy to discuss this with you on another thread but for any multihull under 35 feet, I'll stick with plywood and epoxy.
Mike

 

Construction sequence?

I received my plans yesterday,and read and reviewed the Drawings, instructions and Bote-Cote epoxy booklet. I've never built a boat before, so I want to be sure I'm doing it right...
The way I understand the order of construction is; 1. you first cut out the frames and hull sides, edging, gunwales and stringers. 2. put a thin layer of epoxy over all material (encapsulation,according to the epoxy booklet) . 3. Glue and nail edging on frames, and glue and nail the chines, gunwales and stringers onto hull sides.
Question, Don't they usually put the frames up first , then nail and glue the chines, stringers and gunwales to the frames??

Dan

 

You need 3 coats of epoxy to encapsulate and waterproof wood. Much of it can be done before you place frames, etc. on the jig where you lay up the strigers and install plywood.

 

Dan,
I haven't received the plans yet but I've built several boats and I believe that the buc's method is much the same as stitch and glue. The boat's sides controls the shape when it is attached to the frames. You must then level and square the boat before attaching the rest of the planking. A very simple method once you get your head around the general technique.
Mike

 

DAN mentioned Bote-Cote Epoxy in his last post.
Everyone pleased be advised that Bote-Cote is not available in North America, only in Australia.
If you want to find a suitable epoxy in your area just Google "Boatbuilding Epoxies", and you will find a wealth of information.

A word of warning. Do not use "Epoxy thinners" which are evaporative solvents. During the epoxy cure the "Thinner" evaporates leaving microscopic holes which allow the ingress of water vapour, defeating the whole theory of the method. If you have a difficulty in determining whether a thinner is OK, look for the words "100% solids", or a dead giveaway, like in the International Paints brochure, which states that their solvent is good for cleaning fibreglass and metal surfaces , OR FOR THINNING EPOXY.

 

You are right as rain again OS. There are many 100% solids epoxies available in north america, but I have wondered for quite some time now if total encapsulation is the panacea that it touts to be. even if you can achieve complete coverage in the beginning, contact with docks and the inevitable grounding at 10 knots can develop cracks and scratches that will allow water in. I've had good results using borate salts in warm water applied to the enclosed area of my wooden boats and a outer surface of 2 oz cloth set in epoxy for a wear surface. With good ventilation, plywood boats have lasted many years. There is even evidence that applying the borate solution before the epoxy, in other words; under the epoxy, won't affect adhesion as long as the surface is dried first. And it is much lighter and less expensive than the epoxy.
Mike

 

I just read something today about using borax and or eythylene glycol on wood to prevent rot, fungus, organisms etc from eating up your wood.
Here is the page http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/davecarnell/rot.html

And do any of you guys know where to buy the best/safest EPOXY to use in the USA, at a fair price?? I found MAS resin at Noah's marine for $69.00 a gallon, and the hardener for $59.00 per 1/2 gallon. West and System Three are all more expensive and I read where West is more toxic. Also At Aeromarine products they have there own brand manufactured by the same chemical companies for $79.00 for a 2 gallon kit (1 gal. resin, 1 gal. hardener).

Dan

 

Buccaneer 24 Build

Dan
Buccaneers are built slightly different than normal hard chine construction. Start with one float , cut out the sides to given dimensions glue stringers chine log and gunwhale to sides leaving the chine and gunwhale slightly proud of the ply (so it can be trimmed back later about 6mm) add butt blocks between stringers and chine/gunwhale .
Cut frames from ply, glue edging timber to frames,trim edging back to ply , stand both sides up on a level floor temporarily screw transom in place (or clamp) clamp stems together , now the fun part ,using the midsection frame slide it into place and twist it to spread the sides apart , do this with all the frames and when satisfied all is level and there is no twist (use your eye sighting down the length of the hull )mark the position of the notches for the stringers chines and gunwhale.
I should have mentioned the edging timber goes to the front on all frames forward of the middle frame and to the rear on all frames back ,dont forget to mark the bevel on the edging timber , this can be done with some stringer offcut. Now you can pull it all apart and encapsulate before the final assembly
Sorry if this post is a little long
Al Cooper

 

Thanks Al, now I understand the instructions more clearly...your info will help a lot.
Dan

 

Bucc 24

Dan
Glad to help, although a little rusty 30 yrs since I built mine ,best boat I have ever owned .


Ps You might consider the purchase of a staple gun it leaves one hand free
It may even work out cheaper cause you can sell when finished