Finally launched

Finally got time to make a set of oars and launch the boat.  The oars turned out nice.  They're 9ft, with a nice taper, and they work well.

Wish I could say I'm as happy with the boat itself.  It's VERY tender.  I took the wife and daughter on the maiden voyage.  We rowed around for 15 minutes or so, then quit.  Besides being extremely tippy (to my eyes anyway), the oar blocks are too low for comfortable rowing.  I can't sit with my knees up and still row.  Have to stretch my legs straight out from the bench to be able to row, and that's a pain (literally...it hurts).  Either need to build a taller oar lock block, or may use an extended oar lock.  That's if I decide I can tolerate the tenderness, and right now, I'd have to say that's unlikely.



I still like the boat and am happy how it turned out, but being realistic, I don't think I'll be using it much, unless I can figure a way to deal with the feeling of instability.  Definitely tough to use as a family boat, even if I do get used to it myself. 

So, it may be going up for sale soon......



Finis

Boat is now done!

No pictures because they would be indistinguishable from the last ones. 

I will get some pics of the launch day when it happens.  Thinking about doing it on Earth Day, since the boat is about 75% recycled materials anyway, but not sure I can get enough time with the family to do it then, and I want to do a family launching. 

Now I have to think of a name....something with 'deck' in it would be appropriate given that the timber is largely reused decking.  Maybe Poop Deck or something....


More to come on launch day!!!!

Nearly done

Lots of stuff since the last update.  I've been terrible about pictures on it though. 

Boat has been flipped, seams taped and glassed, sanded several times, coated with white polyurethane.  False stems and keel strip were varnished and attached.  Boat was righted again, and varnished on the interior.  Still a couple coats to go.

Davis oarlocks are on order and should be here Wednesday.  After they get here, I'll finish the oarlock pads and install the oarlocks.  Then a bit of cleaning up on the trailer and this boat is DONE.  Feels good to be so close now.

Looks like the trailer is going to work fine!

On to sanding, filling, sanding, sanding, fiberglassing, sanding, sanding, and painting.

Been hard to get much done lately.  THis is one of the rainiest months we've had here in a long time, and work's been a b&^*$ to boot.  Frustrating to have work interfere with your one major form of stress relief from work.....anyway....

Gunwale trim is in, and I've started applying an interior finish.  The first coats are a mix of BLO, spar varnish, turpentine, and a little tung oil, along with some japan drier to set it off.  Looks pretty good.  My plan is to cover the oil base with straight satin varnish, and gloss varnish for the seats and rails.  Outside will be all white paint.

 

 

The gunwales turned out OK.  This shot shows the cover strips I put in my last post.  The are now glued in and smoothed into the outwales.  

Next up is moving into the garage to begin finishing off the exterior.  I plan to go over all the seams with fiberglass tape.  Then I'll move to paint.  Then the bottom rub strips willl go on.  Then some oarlock pads, and finally, the last coats of varnish will have it finished. 

Thwarts are in.

Weather has been crappy, so tough to get much done.  I did manage to get the 4 seats in place.  After putting the risers in, I realized there was an unfair spot at the ends.  So I loosened up the risers, put the outwales on, and reset the risers.  That faired it right back up.  Turns out the risers were strong enough to pull the sides in a bit, pulling a couple of spots out of line.  Anyway, here are the pics with the seats and outwales installed.  I also have some breasthooks cut to cover the ends of the stems, but they will go on at a later time.

I'm not planning to put inwales on the boat, but I am going to cover up this plywood edge...

 ...with a piece of trim wood.  This will go right along the tops of the outwales, essentially turning them into a rabbeted outwale, to cover the ply edges. 

Next I need to round off the frame tops, fit the breasthooks into place, and do some glue clean up.  After that, I'll be ready to move the boat indoors where I can flip it and apply some polyurethane paint to the bottom!!! 

seat risers

Seat risers are in

Slightly tricky trying to clamp them in.  The wood is pretty stiff, so it needed some clamping pressure.  How to clamp them though?  Could try to wedge them in with a stick against the other side, or I could use these handle little 3-way clamps.  But, how do you get the clamping pressure over the frame?

Mark I: scrap of wood to bridge the gap.  Works OK, but if you have to crank up the pressure too much, the angle of the block makes the riser wood want to squirt out. 

 Mark II: Modify scrap.  This little offset foot should help spread the pressure and get things flattened out.  The cutout matches the thickness of the riser board.

Mark II in action.  Worked great.  These shots are for reference, and were taken after all the installation was done.  But you get the idea.  Note: if using such clamps, make sure you don't put the clamp pads too close to the riser wood before you cinch them down.  Otherwise, it's somewhat possible that maybe you might just not have enough room on the throw of the clamp levers to untighten enough to remove the clamp.....Not that it happened to me, mind you, but I can see how it would be possible....ya know, hypothetically....

Just got done planing some boards to glue together for the thwarts.  Would be easier to go buy a 10" board, but I still have LOTs of cool mahogany 3" boards, so why not....?  Should have enough of them glued up to install some seats by next weekend or so (clamp and space limited).