New Braunfels - PH18 Jet

[SmokyMountain]

I had the same problem and used straps. The top of the sheer will still be a little "wavy" between the bulkheads but will straighten up when you install the sheer clamp. I had the same worries. Also, make sure you don't have any hard point between the bulkheads and the hull. I believe I used dowels or some homemade shims so the bulkheads could float while filleting.

Boat looks great!!! You will love it!!

Andy

[willg]

Dustin, congrats on your progress. Looking good.

I will echo what Andy said about straps and waviness in the sheer. I used several straps at various points to keep the sides against the bulkheads until they were each taped into place. With the straps you can tweak it until it's just right. I have a subtle curving in at the sheer at bulkhead D which I didn't notice until the taping was done, but it's very slight and the amount of curve is similar port/starboard. You'll wind up needing to round off the bulkhead corners at the chine to get spacing from the hull panels, and that will help the sides pull in with the straps.

[Dustinwg]

Andy/Will,

Thanks for the input, the size of the gap had me worried!

Andy, now that you have had yours done for awhile now, what kind of draft are you seeing with yours?

[SmokyMountain]

Andy, now that you have had yours done for awhile now, what kind of draft are you seeing with yours?

I would say with one / two person around 6 inches. (I will measure next time I'm out, which will be a little while because it's cold..) I can get on plane with the trim tabs down and the jack plate up 3"-3.5" in around a 1ft plus of water and stay on plane at around 10-11 mph. If you can swing it, a automatic jack plate is gold... of course yours will be a little different with a tunnel.

[Dustinwg]

Got all the stringers tabbed and glassed over the weekend, but I have a question regarding glassing the inside of the stringer boxes.

The way I am reading it I am supposed to glass the stringers and bulkheads to the hull and each other using 6" tape and then over that with 12 oz cloth to the top of the stringers. Am I reading this correctly (i.e. Do I need to glass over everything with 12 oz cloth in each stringer box to the top of the stringers)?

[jacquesmm]

I almost missed this question.
The standard procedure is to remove all the inside and apply the fiberglass in one shot.
Many builders have done ti one compartment at a time but it is cleaner and stringer to do it in one piece.

If the question is the seam between floor frames and stringers: yes, you tab with at least one layer of tape.
No need to cover the stringers completely or to go over the top of the stringers.

[Dustinwg]

I did glass the entire inside in one shot, and glassed the stingers in with tape on both sides of the stringers.

So based on that all I would need to do is glass the frames in with tape and all below deck glassing would be done, right?

Thanks for you help.

[Dustinwg]

Got some work done over the last few weeks.

Stringers In.


Glassed the interior sheer.


And fitted and tabbed in 4 of the 5 bulkheads.



Hoping to fillet and glass the bulkheads this weekend.

I had a buddy over at the house this weekend that is a home builder in the local area, and we started talking about the foam to fill the under deck areas. He said they have been insulating houses alot now with both open and closed cell foam and his subcontractor could knock this out quickly at a reasonable price.

Does anyone know of any issues with having them spray foam (closed cell) rather than using the foam normally used?

[Cracker Larry]

That's some nice clean work there

On the foam, I would want to know it's weight per cubic foot, and I would get a piece and test how it acts with gasoline, oils and water. I've never seen any house foam I'd use in a boat, but there are things I haven't seen. I'd test it real good before saving a few bucks over doing it right. There is something about that label that says "USCG approved buoyancy foam" that gives me a fuzzier feeling than house insulation foam.

[Dustinwg]

Well progress screeched to a hault during the month of March, as my wife and I had our first baby girl at the end of February. Man, a baby can sure bring the hope of working on a boat down in a ball of flames, but I am very happy to report I have a happy and healthy baby girl and mom! In fact my wife likes to give me a hard time because she made a person faster than I can build a boat!

Anyways, back at it again with a little progress to report:

Got the sheer clamps installed via 2 layers of laminated 1/2" ply and the planed down with a power planer


And filled gaps


Glassed all the bulkheads in with the exception of Bulkhead C (working on the template for the rod holders)


Got the template for bulkhead C and rod holders almost where I want it. Just need to clean up a bit and transfer over and cut from the good plywood.



Hoping to get C glassed in this week and then start working on cleats and epoxy coating the exposed wood on the stringers and bulkheads.

Also been working on getting the jet drive ordered along with all the parts. They build each unit individually once you order, so it takes several months to get once it is ordered.

For the console I am planning on building a pretty custom set up with a pod helm (concealed steering pump and throttle control assembly) similar to that on a large Palm beach style sport fishing boat, with a pop up electronics box. So with that said I have started talking with a local machinist to work out the particulars on all the linkage so I make sure to lay out the chase tubes where they need to go.