New plywood more chine fixes

With G7 over, it was time to get back to work on the boat. 

In early October, I placed my order for 5 sheets of 1/4” BS 1088 Meranti Hydtrotek with Homestead Hardwoods in Ohio. I received my well-packaged crate of plywood just a few days later. Right off, I was more impressed with the Hydrotek than the Douglas Fir marine plywood I’d been using up to this point. The Meranti has a more attractive appearance, and a much smoother surface. It is also a 5-ply structure, rather than 3-ply like the Fir, so the outer and center plies are considerably thinner. I’m looking forward to using it to plank the boat, although I’ve read that Meranti splinters considerably when it is cut... we’ll see.

 

My crate of Meranti Hydrotek, fresh off the truck.

 

BS 1088 Meranti Hydrotek

Before I can plank the boat, though, I still have to finish fairing the framework. That means I have to deal with another problem along the chines.

Originally, I had cut 1” deep notches in the frames to receive the chine logs. However, the “1-inch” board I bought for the chines was in reality only 3/4” thick. This turned out to not be a problem, everywhere except frame #1. At frame #1, the chines ended up being recessed too deeply into the frame notches, leaving 1/4” of the frame extending past the chines on the sides of the boat.

1/4" of frame #1 extends past chine log.

1/4" of frame #1 extends past chine log.

Originally, my plan was to simply fair the frames inward to meet the chines. I changed my mind, however, and decided to laminate on a little extra material to this section of the chines, much like I did up forward. 

I cut two strips of 1-3/4” x 4’ Southern Yellow Pine from the most vertical-grained board I could find at Lowes. I planed these by hand down to roughly 3/8” thickness, and attached them with thickened epoxy , centering them with the 2’ mark in the middle of the frame. The next step is to fair these strips down to shape so that they form a fair curve along the length of the chine. Hopefully I can begin to plank the boat not long after that.

Dry fitting the 1-3/4" x 4 strips into place.

The port side strip clamped on while the epoxy cures.

Next step is to fair it down.

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New Year New Promise New hope Ill get this thing in the water this year

Progress is coming along steadily, if slowly on the Utility. The fiberglassing work continues. Its fortunately not difficult. It just takes time... working in sections, feathering edges, sanding, etc.

You know.... "boat building."

At this point, Ive got all of the bottom fiberglassed on the Utility, and Ive begun encapsulating frame # 5-1/2 on the Zip.

Here are a couple of progress photos. Happy New Year to you!

Zip frame #5-1/2, "glued and screwed," and awaiting encapsulation with marine epoxy.

Here are the Zip (L)  and the Utility (R), side-by-side. As you can see, theyre at very different stages of completion.

Zip frame #5-1/2, partially encapsulated.

Hull bottom is fully fiberglassed, but needs to be sanded.

Starboard bottom, forward at the chine transition joint.

Sanding / Feathering the fiberglass cloth at port aft.

Overlapping the fiberglass cloth at the bow.

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The Utility New motor First bottom panel cut

This first half of April has seen some progress on the Utility project, although not much that is visible on the actual boat itself. I ordered a new Nissan 8hp motor from onlineoutboards.com. The motor arrived very promptly... and I promptly realized I’d never operated a tiller-controlled boat before.

New 8hp Nissan Marine outboard

So, the kids and I fixed that by taking a weekend getaway at a nearby lake. I rented a 14 ft Jon boat fitted with a 9.9 hp Yamaha, and we ventured out on the water. There really is a lot to be said for the simple Jon boat. They may not be the prettiest things on the water, but it’s hard to imagine a more versatile boat in that size.

In any case, our little aluminum Jon boat was by no means a rocket on the water, but it did what it was supposed to. The Utility will have a shorter, and more streamlined hull, although somewhat heavier. I imagine performance with its 8hp motor will be similar to the 14’ Jon boat with the 9.9 Yamaha. Time will tell.

Over Easter weekend, I began the break-in period for the Nissan motor. The first two phases were to let it run at idle for 10 minutes, then to run at <50% throttle for two hours. That’s done. The next phase is to let it run at <75% throttle.

On the boat framework, I have faired down the side planking on the starboard side. I have not yet tried to fill in any of the low spots, or “hollows”, along the chine. Instead, I decided to go ahead and cut the panels for the bottom planking by cutting one sheet of Meranti in half lengthwise.

My plan is to begin dry-fitting the bottom panel into place, and to use that as a gauge to determine just how much I’ll need to fill in along the chine. It is possible that any gaps will be minor enough that thickened epoxy will do the job adequately.

Rough placement of the first bottom panel

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The Utility More progress reveals new trouble spots

More fairing. This time, it has been a matter of fairing the overhanging edges of the side planking down to meet the chines.

For the most part, I have been doing this with a power sander and with a sanding block, along with occasional help from a hand plane. I also bought a “multi-tool” oscillating saw to trim the planking up forward, where accurate fitting along the mid-width of the chine is required.

A large portion of this work is done. However, as I look down the length of the chine to check for “fairness” of line, I’m seeing some new trouble spots. It appears I’ve got a couple of low spots in the chine, particularly on the port side... the dreaded “humps and hollows” mentioned in Boatbuilding With Plywood. 

Once I get some remaining areas fully sanded, I’ll be able to assess the problem more accurately. However, it’s already looking like I will have to add some more strips of wood to fill these areas. That means more fairing. (Yaaay!) Oh well, it will be for the best if so.

The dreaded "humps and hollows" are plainly visible along the port chine.

To a lesser degree, the same issues are visible along the starboard chine.

Fairing progress at the transom. I still need to sand away those Raptor staples.

Still need to encapsulate the limbers before planking the bottom of the boat.

Also need to encapsulate the sole supports before planking the bottom.

Test-run of the transition joint. Ill probably move this forward an inch or so.

Test-run of the transition joint. Ill probably move this forward an inch or so.

Here is the cut I made along the forward curve of the chine, using an oscillating "multi-tool" saw.

So far, Ive been very happy with the Porter Cable multi-tool I bought. It is very easy to use.

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Flat Bottomed Kayaks of the Eastern Arctic

I am about to launch off on construction of a flat bottomed kayak of the Eastern Arctic type.  Since I know nothing about these kayaks, I dont know what to expect.  Supposedly they are reasonably fast in spite of their flat bottoms.  The big plus of these kayaks would be their stability.  Well see.

Eugene Arima has an article on this boat type HERE from which the illustration above was excerpted. The U of Alaska Press also has a book out on the kayaks of the Eastern Arctic. 
I also just paid ten bucks to get a manual from David Zimmerly on this type of kayak.
Zimmerly also has a reprint of his article in Sea Kayaker Magazine available.
And Harvey Golden has created a replica of the type of boat.
More to come.

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