Guam MM21

[chicagoross]

Two days of baby-steps and all six frames, plus my round-transom mold were up:

Like I said, I only promise myself a baby step a day. I pretty much only disapoint myself on those rare days that I can' at least spend an hour and accomplish a baby step. As you get older, you appreciate how important momentum is So the next baby step was to throw the bottom panels up on top of the jig:

Went well and only took a few minutes, so I stitched them loosely, aclled my wife back, and we hung the side panels:

Went inside, had some ice tea, and asked Rose to help me with the transom panel. 18' long, wobbly as hell, scared to death that we'd crack it. Scared to death of nearly folding it in half to fit it down the 10" of clearance on each side of the build. But no problems:

[chicagoross]

Today I spliced the transom panel to the side panels, in place, worked like a charm. Then I needed to rehang the side panels about 3/4" further forward, to make the panels lay better, and relieve the last 18" of the bottom panels joint with a saw, to make the transom panels fit better (this will all be cut out and thrown away when we cut the motorwell but I'm happier with the panels fitting better). Still are areas I'm not thrilled with the fit on, but keep working them out. You make a change, it fits better or it doesn't.

The bad news is I think I'm going to have to filet inside the hull (over my head) before I can tape the outside chines and keel joints, didn't have to on the HMD but only have 1/4" PLY on the sides here, don't think I can trust spot welds between the joints when I go to sand a nice radius on 1/4 ply, think I'm going to need to filet inside.

So building on a jiog, no problem so far, and joining the hull side panels on the sides of the boat, instead of center of the transom, seemed to work well - trying to join them at the transom while they tried to form a "V" would have been rough, but joining on the sides which are relatively flat was pretty easy.

[topwater]

Nice work Ross This will be fun watching this one come togeather.

[Daddy]

Nice work Ross, great decision on the transom joint, very clever. Nice to have the extra pair of hands when you need them too.
Daddy

[FloatingTurtle]

Nice going! Every picture is a delight to see What are your first impressions about the size of the hull?

The bad news is I think I'm going to have to filet inside the hull (over my head) before I can tape the outside chines and keel joints, didn't have to on the HMD but only have 1/4" PLY on the sides here, don't think I can trust spot welds between the joints when I go to sand a nice radius on 1/4 ply, think I'm going to need to filet inside.

I see that the seam between the bottom panels and the rear panels are "inside" the transom mould - how do you intend to fillet this seam?

So building on a jiog, no problem so far, and joining the hull side panels on the sides of the boat, instead of center of the transom, seemed to work well - trying to join them at the transom while they tried to form a "V" would have been rough, but joining on the sides which are relatively flat was pretty easy.

With your newly acquired experience, if you had to do it again, would you still go the jig way or would you try the basket mould but with just "half" frames? Some side panels being quite high, I don't think that the filleting inside would be more accessible.

Keep going, keep going! And many thanks for sharing

[Dougster]

Fantastic! I am amazed at how strong that fiberglass splice is. I might have needed more than ice tea to bend that thing in half The forces must be pretty strong on the panels. The Nina has 1/4" side and bottom panels too and I only spot welded. I don't remember having any problems with 'em when I cut the zip ties and sanded the radius before taping, though it was a sigh of relief when I got the tape on.

Says good on you Dougster

[Cracker Larry]

Dang I'm impressed as much with the amount of bend, as with the set of twins that it took to try it Sweet!

[Larry B]

Looking Good Ross, Man I don't know how you build in that heat with humidity????

[chicagoross]

I see that the seam between the bottom panels and the rear panels are "inside" the transom mould - how do you intend to fillet this seam?

-- The seat will drop out if I lossen about 6-8 drywall screws.

if you had to do it again, would you still go the jig way

-- 4 more inches on either side and even the skinny folks won't be able to get to the front door til the build's over.

Some side panels being quite high, I don't think that the filleting inside would be more accessible.

-- those side panels are 4' wide. Building in a cradle, you'd have to be inside to get to them, unless your arms are a whole lot longer than mine. Walking around the inside before it's stitched would be scary!

What are your first impressions about the size of the hull?

-- All boats are too big during the build and when trailering; then too small when on the ocean. This is as big as I can physically make at home, and as big as I consider "trailerable" unless you have a 1 ton dually. This one's still no problem for my Tacoma. Except for trailering, I'd love to build a Maia 24". But the mini does have a few more creature comforts over the HMD that the family approve of.

[chicagoross]

it was a sigh of relief when I got the tape on. Says good on you Dougster

-- Thanks, Dougster, I'm looking forward to that point too. The good news is I found the problem with the panel alignment, the bad news is I have to snake frame A out from underneath and modify it. Having found the problem, and ground off the ends of the splice tapes, I can say I "worked" on the boat today and leave that chore for tomorrow.

CL - yeah, bending that panel had me holding my breath in anticipation, waiting for that sickening crack . Just trying to handle a 2' x 18' quarter inch ply panel, it feels like it wants to break if you even look at it hard. Worked without a hitch though!

I don't know how you build in that heat with humidity????

-- Seriously? 3 - 6 ounces at a time! Even with slow hardener, any more than that and the epoxy cup melts through! Guam starts every day at about 75 degrees and works up to 85 - 89 in a few hours, rarely over 90. RH is usually about 80 - 85%. Rains every day, the rain, like the ocean, is 84 degrees - rain gear is flip flops and a ball cap to keep the drops off my glasses. Got to do lots of little cups of epoxy, but beats the hell out of plugging your car in to an extension cord to keep the block from freezin at night! I was born and raised in Chicago. There's a reason I now live on a tropical island!