JoeBoat Alana

Another progress report.

I now have the outside of the bow transom glassed to the bottom.
After completing this, I went ahead and painted the bottom panels, on the outside, painting the below waterline portion of them dark brown, while painting the above waterline portions tan.

I then righted the hull and try fitted the seat rails.

I had to notch them to fit in over the first bottom butt joint. I did a reasonably good job, not intending that part of them to touch the bottom. I was quite happy to see that they had a relatively good fit against the bottom, considering that I cut them months before springing in the chines. For this, the lofting worked quite well. Now, they are painted and ready to go in permenantly. But this will have to wait until I have installed the mast partners and the mast step.

Before that, I had to "justify" the deck. That means plane and sand it until it ended at the sides. This took a lot of work, because the sides were not perfectly straight (new growth lumber).

After completing that task, I added almost 200 bamboo pegs, made by cutting up siskabob skewers I bought at a grocery store. These are what I call my sheer prevention pegs.

I have since glassed in the inside of the bow transom to the bottom. It came out somewhat messy, but I think it is strong. It seems that the resen was too runny, and I was constently pushing it back up hill to fill the weave of the fiberglass.

My next task is to install the mast partners and the mast step. This is a job I have been dreading, because I need a really good fit for the mast going through them. The step fastens to the bottom panel directly, so it needs accurately cut bearers to hold it to the bottom and parallel to the deck.

Attached below is a photo of the seat rails sitting in place, with the seat sitting on them in its most likely position. The mast partners are sitting on the deck at their approximate location.
Also attached is the drawing for the mast partners and mast step assembly.

 

Progress Report.

I have now finished installing the mast step and mast partners.

This wasn't as difficult as I had feared.

The problems were:

1.) How do I cut holes in the mast step plate and the mast partner plate that accurately fit the mast. This would seem like a simple task, as the mast is simply cut with a two-dimension taper. It should have a simple retangular shape. I should only have to get the width and length measurments at the partner region and the step region and simply cut them out on the given plates. Buit the mast section is not a perfect rectangle. No. Not even close. The saber saw, I used to cut it out with, was too small, and its blade was not stiff enough. So, instead of cuting dead vertical, It tended to follow the grain of the wood and tucked under, to cut at an angle.

2.) The mast step plate is to attach directly to the bottom sheet, by use of three bearers (I added a fourth one). Thease bearers had to match the curve of the bottom and support the mast partner plate, as to keep its top parallel to the deck.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to solve these two problems. I guess this is the lot of novice boat builders such as myself. More time is spent thinking than actually building. I had to come up with a way to use what I had, and to work around the problems I had created.

To solve the first problem, I decided to make cardboard templates for the partner plate and the step plate. First, I cladded both regions wit thin cardboard from a cereal box. This was to allow for the wood swelling if it got wet. Next I cut four strips of the same cardboard to make picture frames around the step region and the partner region. Tese four strips were taped together so the fit closely, but could slide reltively easily. I then placed these picture frame templates on the respective plates and traced the mast section shape from them onto the plates. I then crudely cut the holes with my saber saw. I also had to cut such a hole into the starboard side deck. I then used the blade from my hack saw to cut a slit from the edges of the holes to the traced line. After that, I made a sanding block that could fit in the holes and further expand them as need be. After about an hour or two of work, I was able to slip both plates onto the mast. I then lined the partner plate up with the hole in the side deck and held it there wit two sheet rock screws. I then "justified" the hole in the deck with the hole in the partner plate, so the hole had nice vertical sides. I used two layers of 0.25 inch plywood for both the partner plate and the step plate. So the hole for the partner plate was 0.75 inch deep, and the hole fore the step plate was just 0.50 inch deep.
I tipped the boat over onto its starboard side (after turning it around), I was quite pleased when the mast slid into the partner hole, but with a relatively snug fit.

Next came the dreaded mast step bearer problem. I had a choice. I could get the offsets for the step plate bearers from the lofting (which I still have). Or I could take them directly off the region of the bottom sheeting they were to attach to. Because the bottom gave me a bit of a fight going on, I assumed its local curvature in that region was not fair (I was right). So I decided on the second option. But I had never done such a task before. The first thing I did was to cut a cardboart strip that was the exact height as the timber I was using (it is 1 x 2 nom. It's supposed to be 0.75 inch by 1.50 inch. It is not). This strip was the length of the bearer plus room to add a perpendicular strip. This strip was to be the exact height of the bearer at its tallest end. I then drew five vertical station lines onto this strip. I then cut another strip and marked it with a single line which was as far from its end as the bearer was high (at its tallest end). I "C" clamped a piece of plywood that was reasonably straight to a nearby frame, to use as a referrence point. I then had a crude instrument to take the local offsets with. As I held its one leg to the bottom, keeping this stip as parallel to the referrence point as I could. I used the other strip to put a mark onto four of the five stations.Those marks would be my offsets. I then took my bearer timbers and drew station lines on them to match those on the cardboard strip. with yet another strip of cardboard, I transfered the offset marks, from the cardboard strip they were on, to the station lines on the bearer timbers themselves. I then freehand sketched the curve on the timbers and cut them to that curve (it was nowhere near fair). Next, I screwed the bearer timbers to the step plate wit two sheet rock screws each. After some sanding, I was able to get all four bearers to fit against the bottom sheeting. I then screwed this assembly to the bottom, with the screws running in from the outside. I used only two.

Then, came the dreaded test. Would the mast fit into to both holes. To my absolute delight, it did!

I ended up using 12 screws to hold the mast step assembly to the bottom. I installed them all, even though I was going to take the whole thing appart. I would need that many to insure I got a tight glue joint. These are only to be used until the glue is nearly set. They will be replaced, after the glue fully cures, with 0.25 inch pegs (which I have made from dowel stock) I will need a total of 36 of them to complete the job.

Attached below are pictures of the mast in place, with the dry fit, and with both plates finally glued into place.

Thios is the last trully structural job on this boat. The rest will be fitting it out then painting it.

 

Final progress report.

I have now passed my first test. Would I be able to get the hull off the project table with no outside help. I found that the hull weighs about 80 lbs by weighing it while it was on the project table.

It turned out that, yes, I was able to get it safely off the project table an onto the floor.

My next task was to make the rudder lift line (the rudder pull down line was already made). After that, I had to figure out where the home made oar locks were going to go.

I did this by sitting in the boat (which acted like a ridiculously long rocking chaire) and adjusting the seat until the boat was more or less level. Then, using a piece of pvc pipe I had laying around, I mimicked the sweep positions for a typical stroke. Once the forward facing one was found, I installed a n oar lock there.

I then considered installing one on the opposite side, for forward facing rowing. Then, I could make an identical short sweep, and use the pair as really short oars. But then I thought of trying to move the seat so I could face aft instead of forward. I found that I didn't need to move it anywhere near as far forward as I thought I would. This gave me an interesting Idea: Why not place the second oar lock aft for aft facing rowing? This is what I did.

If need be, I can always build another pair of oarlocks if the short-sweep experiment doesn't work. Or I can move one of the ones I have forward or aft.

(see attachment below)

While the boat was still on the project table, I tried out the lee board hook, which is nothing but a wooden "L" with a eye screw in it. I found that, even though it doesn't hook under the deck flange, that it holds quit firmly, but will quickly release if the lee board pivots forward or aft. This is what I was after. I am delighted.

The boat is now finished. I need only to build the short-sweep, which I have just finished designing, and it will be ready for its first outing. But I have to figure out how I am going to carry it on top of my car.

I will not be making any more posts on this thread until the boat gets its first taste of water. This may have to wait until next year.

 

Oops!
One more progress report. This one is the final one, I promise.

Because it started getting chilly outside sooner than I expected, I decided to put the boat away for the winter.

It now sits in my hallway, on its side (just as I planned).

See attachment.

The sails, spars, and appendages are all stowed inside, and I can still get down my hallway with reasonable ease.

While putting th boat away, I also put away the tools. But before I did that, I put them all on top of the project table and photographed them.

See 2nd attachment.

There are:
five 3 inch "C" clamps,
a pair of scissers,
a pair of pliers,
a hammer,
a 4 in 1 screwdriver,
a hand drill,
2 spline weights,
a surform plane,
a 1/2 inch chizel,
a box of nitrile gloves,
a keyhole saw,
3 home made sanding blocks,
a ruler/square,
a 12 foot tape measure,
a hack saw,
a 25 foot extension cord,
a Nikita saber saw,
a 3/8 inch reveersable drill (plug in),
a box of 1 1/2 inch sheet rock screws, and
a 36 inch stainles steel yardstick.

I also used two 2 x 4 foot project tables of my own design.