VG23 New Build

[mhd]

Ah, two posts in one day - long one.

I just test-fitted the port berth top - looks good. Won't be long before it is in. Would be sooner if the paint dried a bit quicker.

I also cut tape for the starboard cockpit seat - that will be the main job tomorrow.

And just to prove that all progress isn't forward, I forgot to glue in attachment points to the bottom of one of the starboard cabin lockers before I primed it. These are so I can strap down the water tank securely. Oh well, That is what the sander is for. Won't take long to sand off some primer and get them in. Originally I was going to access the tank via a hatch, like those in the port berth, but I want to be able to remove it completely for repair/replacement and that would severely limit the size. So instead I've reluctantly decided to simply screw that section of the berth seat on, so it is completely removeable. I was going to build a matching tank on the port side, but have realised it is simply lighter/easier to use jerry-cans for the rest of the water and top up the single tank from those. The single tank will have a volume of around 8 gallons. I already have four 22 litre (~5 gallon) jerry-cans that we've used before when camping and they worked well so we will stick with those initially. To date I've been using them full as weights when gluing parts together...

Time for a cup of tea and then bed...back on the horse again tomorrow.

MIck

[pee wee]

Your photos do a good job of depicting just how many parts there are to a boat like yours, and they're coming together!

[mhd]

Some more progress...testing out seat-back fittings in the cockpit and cabin. Some painting too. Preparing the starboard cabin berth seat. Also cut off the edge of the starboard cockpit seat - I'll do the other side tomorrow and round over prior to taping.

Under the sole there is a storage for oars, etc. Also a box storage area for wine to the right of the photo - four bottles fit in nicely. I've oiled a piece of leather that will fit over the bottles to secure them and will attach it when it has dried. With a bit of luck we'll still have something to drink, even if the boat capsizes

The white bits in the taped joint aren't air bubbles. They are 1/4" chopped fibreglass strands - I've added these to most joints on the boat with the intention to strengthen them: cf. straw added to clay for building a primitive house. Who knows whether it helps or not. My intuition says that in moderation, it can't hurt. I've looked through dozens of engineering journal articles and spent/wasted too much time trying to find definitive answers - more than necessary. Even a few structural engineering textbooks. I have found no agreed-upon "correct" mix with regard to wood-flour, epoxy, silica ratios, etc. to maximise either bond-strength, or flexibility, or impact hardness, or various other parameters. There are a *lot* of papers where mechanical properties are found for a series of test mixes, but the tests aren't standardised (and hence pretty much scientifically meaningless). Also enough papers disagree on the results that I've come to the conclusion that there are no agreed-upon standards in existence (in contrast to say, stainless steel bolt strength for a given diameter/size).

Oh-hum. Since there are no definitive standards, we can all argue about "correct' ratios to our heart's content.

Mick

[OrangeQuest]

Everything is looking incredibly good.

A good cordless collection is a must in boat building. Saves on the cords everywhere and easy to grab and go. BTW, I am a big fan of Ryobi. The 18V, 5-gallon canister wet/dry vac does the job of keeping boat debris under control. 4 amp battery lasts a good while.

[mhd]

Everything is looking incredibly good.

A good cordless collection is a must in boat building. Saves on the cords everywhere and easy to grab and go. BTW, I am a big fan of Ryobi. The 18V, 5-gallon canister wet/dry vac does the job of keeping boat debris under control. 4 amp battery lasts a good while.

Thanks OQ! I'm happy things are progressing too! I thought long and hard about starting the boat, as I didn't want to be stuck with a shell that wasn't ever finished (seems a few builds end up that way), or that was a completely unenjoyable chore. It is easy to burn cash on boats, and I wanted to be sure I ended up with something in the water at the end. Or otherwise I might as well have just bought a boat second-hand. Cheaper and easier. But it would never be exactly what I wanted. Seems like I'm more or less on track but still a long way to go. I hope I can last the course. I've been mixing up the build with finishing off work projects, and the Westlawn stuff, and also work/personal travel so things have never got too repetative. Hard work for a few months, then a pause for something else. It has been a good mix up to now and should be the same for the rest of the year. I don't regret starting the build - well not yet at any rate

Yep, Ryobi for cordless and Makita for corded. I've been happy with both.

Today I worked on the berth locker lids. They are mostly done now and will just need primer/paint, once they are fitted. I'm looking forward to that being done so me and the missus can spend a night in the garage, in the boat, testing the berths out for comfort...

Thanks for your interest! Please comment if you see me screwing anything up, or if you think of a better way to do things. I'm still learning and reading and doing what I can to make sure I don't mess something major up.

Mick

[rick berrey]

When you camp out in the garage make sure you have the grill mounted , thick rib eyes , and big bottle of good wine in your rack to help get a high comfort score from your missus .

[mhd]

When you camp out in the garage make sure you have the grill mounted , thick rib eyes , and big bottle of good wine in your rack to help get a high comfort score from your missus .

Will do!

[Jeff]

Nice work Mick!!! Jeff

[mhd]

Thanks Jeff,

I glued in both cockpit seats now - rounded over and taped in, they look good. Looks a lot more finished. And at least I have more space to put all the tools One thing that Jaysen mentioned a while ago, is that the cockpit sides as shown, are high. Too high. I left them high when originally cut so I had the option to choose how high they should be, and I think this must happen now. I'm not too worried about the windage, as the entire boat doesn't have huge freeboard, but the cockpit volume looks too much like a bucket. This is in contrast to Jacques original design for an open transom, and even the "offshore" design with transom moved inboard. The angle of the photo actually makes it look much worse than it is, but still, a wave breaking in there would be dangerous, no matter how big the transom drains are. So I've marked on dashed lines as the locations where I'm considering cutting down the cockpit seat backs. This will be a first step and gets back closer to Jacques original design in appearance. I'll see how it looks and can always decrease the size still further if needed. Easy to cut off. Harder to cut back on again...

I'll also take a photo from the side next time, to show that things aren't quite as extreme as they appear.

There will also be a large chunk cut out of the transom (rough marking in green), where the tiller will go, plus some other drains lower down. Plans call for two three inch drains and I'll exceed this substantially.

I also glued in both berth tops. Port is rounded over and taped in. I'll finish starboard tomorrow. Next job after that is roughly sanding out the anchor locker, fitting the shelf inside, and painting. I've also started making an ice box. I never got the Peltier cooling working to my satisfaction, so it will just be a very well insulated box that will provide 3/4 ft^3 of chilled storage space.

Mick

[mhd]

Lines show the planned cut in the cockpit seatbacks and hull sides from outside/inside the boat. I think the main reason the seatbacks look so high from inside the boat is that the seats themselves are so low (~13 inches). The plan is to cut the seat-backs (to ~16 inches in vertical height) to reduce cockpit volume somewhat. As you can see, making this cut will make little difference to windage, (less than 3 ft^2 removed on each side) but that part of the boat has the potential to retain a fair amount of water.

I've also included a photo of progress as of one hour ago. Today I taped in the starboard berth, apart from the portion that will contain the water-tank. Also started on making the port berth locker framing. Tomorrow I'm aiming to start putting 6oz cloth on the cockpit seats. Berth seats will have 4oz cloth. I've decided to cover any horizontal surfaces in the cabin with 4oz cloth and just epoxy the rest.

MIck