Does anyone have a finished sailboat I can use for a couple of weeks?

It’s been a frustrating 24 hours.

I was reviewing Sam Devlin’s Boat Building book for a refresher coarse on converting plans to the stitch and glue method (more on that some other time). I knew I had read somewhere about waiting on epoxy to cure a minimum of one week before priming or painting so while finishing up the chapters I needed I flip to the chapter on painting and confirmed the wait times recommended. The problem is every time I think I’m ready to put on some primer I see something I want to smooth out or sand and then need to recoat with epoxy, so add a week more. Now this morning I start reading up on primers, I see the same wait times for that process as well. Two weeks will be lost on waiting and there’s not much else to work on while this goes on. The ruder will get a little work I suppose but that’s a day at best. The deck panels are all cut out except one and that will be a 30-minute job if I take my time. So to sum it up the project is in limbo waiting on epoxy to cure a couple of more days before we can get the primer on and then we’ll have to wait another week so we can paint.

In short there will be no priming this weekend. This comes just when my motivation was back up to a level close to when we started the project.

This is where you wish you had an endless source of funds, a shop the size of a basketball stadium, a stockpile of materials and 2-3 projects going on at the same time. Oh, and nothing else to distract you.

Time to start looking at that next project. If you don’t here from me in the next 2 weeks now you know why.

Time this segment:
We won't count waiting!
Sanding/Fairing inside hull 6 hours
Total this segment 6 hours
Total Project: 120 hours

Do you still have a boat project? Well yes but...

What’s been going on you must be asking yourself. It’s hard to believe it was mid February the last time I posted any updates. There haven’t been any leaps and bounds made that's for sure.

We picked up the plywood we needed to get the last of the sole finished, traced the panel off, cut and installed it. After the panels are in place filets were made all around the sole at every intersection with bulkheads and sides. Then the sanding began. And then a little touchup of a filet. Now more sanding. All seams are taped with the same 12 oz. biaxial tape as the rest of the hull and the weave filled with epoxy. Everything always takes me longer than I think it will and I must admit I’ve let some other things take priority. Now that spring is here of course I wish I’d have pushed myself to get farther along. The possibility of taking this boat out for a sail should be enough. Every time I do get to working on it and stand back to take a look I see her screaming across the water, but alas it’s just a vision.

I’m going back and forth as to the level of finish the interior should receive. One side say just leave it the way it is and move on while the other says do it up nice and paint it. I think for me it should be at least painted a nice bright white even if the seams are left a little rough. It just seems it would make it easer to keep clean and easer to find anything stowed away when it’s needed. It certainly isn’t a space that much time will be spent in. Well, now you’re up to date and maybe by this weekend I will either paint or move on. I’ll post the results either way. Maybe even less that 2 ½ months from now.

Time this segment:
Cutout mid-section sole panel using templates 1/2 hour
Install mid-sole sole panel 1/2 hours
Filets 2 hours
Sanding Filets 2 hours
Touch up Filets and tape seams 3 hours
Total this segment 10 hours
Total Project: 114 hours

Transom goes in and we got sole, well some

The transom was cut at the same time as the hull parts and has been laying around in the boat, under the boat on a shelf, you get the idea. When the time came to install it we found that a few twist and bends had found there way in. In order to get it straight for installing we simply screwed it to a 3” x ¾” piece of plywood to hold it flat. As you can see from the photos we then clamped it in place aligning the center with the hull center. There was a gap at each side of ¼”, a little larger on the port side. Using a strap we were able to bring both side panels up and in so that the gaps were filled. Then a few fillets and it was in place.


We prepped the hull one last time for installing the transom and sole by coating all the area under the line of the sole with two coats of epoxy and filling any leftover holes from temporary screws. We had decide not to paint this area as it is for the most part never to be seen again.

All the sole pieces are in except the aft both sides. This allows us to tape the transom in with two layers of biaxial 12 oz tape first. The plans show the sole installed in 3 pieces each side, however it is impossible to install the mid-section this way. It simply will not go in because the opening in frame “C” is to small. We made a seam at frame “C” and solved the problem. The only effect for adjusting this on the plans might be in nesting and saving a small amount of plywood but without running a nesting solution program it’s hard to say.

There are a lot of fillets to get finished and then a lot of taping around the hull to sole joints before anything else will take place.


Time this segment:
2 Coats of epoxy below sole line 1 hour
Fill any remaining holes below the sole line ½ hour
Install and fillet Transom:1 hour
Install Forward and mid-section soles 1 ½ hours
Total Project: 107 hours

Template for the sole

In order to make the sole installation as easy as possible we decide to first cut a template using corrugated cardboard. We purchased 4 sheets 4’ x 8’ from a local packaging supply company. This would prove much less expensive to make an error on than the plywood.

The plans clearly show all the required dimension to layout the panels and it is just a matter of transferring them onto the cardboard. Although you could just as easily work on one sheet at a time we tapped tow sheets plus 26” together end to end to give us a little over the required 18’. The dimension sheet shows 12” typical layouts. After getting all the measurements in place we simply bend a batten across the points using small paneling nails and a few clamps to help guide us. The material cuts easily with a razor knife.

It looked as if the aft section had more arch to it than would be required but after double checking all the measurements there was nothing much more to do than try it in the hull. Once the template was cut out we took measurements from the hull stating at the bow and marked the front of all the bulkheads on it. Next a notch is cutout to allow for the thickness of the bulkheads. There was a question as to rather we had frame “c” marked correctly because of the angle so we sliced the template just forward of the frame worked from there. As it turns out we were off by less than assumed. The template fit surprisingly well and made us fell good to know our hull was properly shaped. The aft end once laid in place became abundantly clear as to its odd shape. The sole doesn’t follow the chine in this area but flares into the aft section nicely.

Only minor adjustments will need to be made and then the plywood can be cut from the template. This should all take place in the next couple of days.

Time this segment: 1 ½ hours
Total Project: 103 hours

It took a long time to do nothing!

It’s been to long since I have updated the blog and I apologize to my loyal readers. It’s been tough the last few months. Loads of work one week nothing the next. My moral has been just as unstable. Then it got bad. With all the extra time on hand I should have had the project much further along, but motivation was hard to come by. The economy is officially in the toilet now and I have come to accept things I guess. No work means more time to finish up the boat, although it also means less money to work with.

Because not much has taken place on the build it won’t take long to bring everyone up to speed.

First to correct the keel error we wrapped it with another 5 rounds of 12 oz glass. I noted in the forum that this was the least pleasing part of the build so far. Just as the first 5 layers the glass/epoxy wants to float off if you turn the keel to soon to complete the other side. No solution was found and we just let it cure most of the way and then flipped it. It’s finished now though and my estimate is about 2 hours of actual work but it was spread over about 3 days.

The spinnaker pole tube is also now in place. The hole for this is pre set during the layout process on bulkhead “E”. We carried the line forward through the hull and drilled a small hole to check alignment. After a few adjustments the hole is enlarged to accept the 3” PVC tube. We ran this long so we could be certain it would be lined up and then cut it back after the epoxy had cured. To keep the tube in place while we tacked it we used wedges and as it happened a plastic cup that was setting empty on the work bench. By roughing up the PVC the epoxy held very well. This had be a concern from the start but the designer reassured me it would be fine. The time to complete this I estimate at less that 2 hours spread over 1 or 2 days to allow curing.

As you can see we have the keel box installed. Because it was so cold in the shop we found we could get the fillets smoothed out only after they have been warmed up and to rest for about an hour with the whole cabin area covered and warmed. I don’t run the heat when it gets below 55 in the shop because it never shuts off. By butting a small portable heater and a flood lamp in the cabin and covering I can raise the temperature well into the 80’s very quickly.

Lining up the box was fun. No less than 3 levels used at a time, wish I would have had some pictures. I was concerned that it would be out of square and plumb and the boat would just sail in circles. What I ended up doing was installing the three sections separately and allowing that to cure before setting the next in place. Checking for square and plumb each time. Took longer but I’m confident that the keel will run true.

You will notice the “extra” timber in the box. We had to add this to compensate for the error in sizing earlier. We could have cut the box down to fit but felt this would be fine. We decreased the size of the forward most support to maintain the center as designed.

The box it’s self contains a foam wedge for collision protect.




The time for all steps of the keel box construction and installation is 6 hours.

Next a layer of biaxial tape over all the fillets and unless we have overlooked something the sole can go in. I look for that to happen over the weekend.

Time: Additional 5 layers on keel including sanding 2 hours
Install Spinnaker Tube 2 Hours
Build and install Keel Box 6 Hours
Total this segment 10 hours Total Project 101 ½ hours

Wrap it up…no really, wrap it up

If you follow any of the threads on the Bateau forum you may have seen we ran into a discrepancy on the keel plans. It appears we received a set of plans that when being plotted at the printer the page may have been reduced to fit instead of full size. No big deal if you are just reading measurements and notations on a set of plans but there is a full size template on them that we copied and used to shape our keel. This only became obvious when we started working on the keel box and the fit was going to be sloppy at best. The guys at Bateau, Jacques and Evan, went right to work with us on the problem and decided we could wrap the existing keel in 5 more rounds of the 12 oz biaxial fabric and bring the strength up to the requirement. The shape will be only slightly different than designed and if you understand foils then note we now have a NACA 0013 instead of a 0012 (if you don’t understand foils you will need to do your own research as I certainly am not the one to explain it).This will have no effect on the keels efficiency I am told so this is the course of action we will take.

The material should arrive early next week and as this is one of those items that is not available locally no work on the keel box can move forward without a finished keel and without the keel box we can’t install the center section of the sole and so on. What I can do is get a few small things done such as fitting the spinnaker pole frame and support along with cutting the holes where the pole will slide in and out.

Although we are taking a small step back on the keel our biggest reason for being behind schedule is not related to the project itself but due more to involvement or distractions from other things. I have accepted that it may very well be the first of the year before the boat is ready now. The local drought has left our lakes at record lows anyway and even if the project were completed today we wouldn’t be able to splash the boat without traveling quite some distance.

There is no additional time on the actual build to add at this time but I suspect before the weekend is over I’ll have a few new pictures and some progress to report.

Wrap it up please:

The plans call for the keel to be wrapped with 1 continued layer of 12 oz biaxial fabric clamping at the trailing edge. You do this 5 times to complet the layup. I found this method to be very annoying, trying to keep one side tight while working on the other. What I ended up doing was to wrap one edge around the trailing edge and to the line of the 5 layers of tape applied earlier. This allows the fabric to be kept taught and does not effect the foil shape as the entire keel will be faired before painting. The other side is brought back to the trailing edge and left wet to hang by it’s own weight and will be trimmed once the epoxy begins to harden enough to prevent moving the fabric (about 1 ½ hours with the Marinepoxy medium hardener). The scantlings call for the trailing edge to be ground to a 30 degree angle as the final shaping/fairing is done so again the clamping at the trailing edge does not make a difference.

On my previous post there was no update for the time spent on the project. To get us back up to speed here are the new totals. This is as of today’s work including the last post.

Time: Glue up stock ½ hour
Square and plane stock to size 1 hour
Layout lines and cut kerfs ½ hour
Rough plane to shape 1 hour
Sand to final shape before fiberglass strips are added 1 hour
Lay in 5 layers biaxial tape as called (each side) ½ hour
Fairing – 2 layers (each side) ½ hour (does not include time for epoxy to dry before sanding)
Lay biaxial fabric 1 hour
Total this segment 7 hours Total Project 91 ½ hours