August

After vacation I moved the joined halves to the storage area. They sit here with a tarp over them. My wife is looking forward to having the pathway back.

The fourth half proceeded like the others with few changes, other than that I was a little faster and more proficient at getting the shapes correct. I like having the keel in place and shaping the planks to fit. After thermoforming, I marked them for length at the deck edge and cut them before attaching. This was faster and easier then cutting them all together at the end as I had done previously.

I have been deviating from the plans by using 3/4 inch material along the keel. I'm hoping that it makes it easy to shape the keel without sanding through near the transom (plans talk about this risk). It also raises the 'floor' inside which gives a wider surface for taping.

Plank to keel gap.

After joining the firs two halves and experimenting with sanding the exterior of the float I'm convinced that a small gap between the planks is best (at least if using QuickFair like I am). It is very easy to sand (no different than foam) and some of the planks which were pushed together tight and didn't have this squeezed out look 'dry'. I think some will require a little Dremel work and backfilling -- easier to leave a playing-card size gap and skip the potential extra step (Oh, to be VB'ing and have these spaces automatically filled).

'V' with gap.

The gaps above after filling and sanding, ready for fiberglass.

Here is a cross section (at the transom) of the 'V' that the dovetail router bit leaves, filled with QF.

My brother Jeremy came over to help with the fiberglassing of the interior.

After VB'ing the stiffener and fitting, trimming and marking, it was ready to join.

The trimmed keel defines one center line, so bulkheads are trimmed as necessary to allow it to lay together. At the deck I screwed a block at the center of the bulkhead which rested on the form (you can see them mounted, though not yet in use). This assures proper width of the hull -- and most importantly that the alignment holes for the beams are in the correct place. I learned from the first join that I didn't have enough clamps to go along the keel, so I prepared some blocks with two screws to replace the clamps as I moved along.

My daughter helped me place the epoxy and lift in place.

Went without a hitch. I will note that I use two different materials: a System Three premix EZ Fillet material around the bulkheads, and QFair along the keel. The QF is because of concerns about shaping the keel if I used a non-sanding material, and I couldn't convince myself why this joint needed more after overlapping glass above and below. The choice of these materials adds a little angst since the EZF has a twenty minute work time, and the QF only 10 minutes.

Next, the interior.

July

An idea came to me after making the first float half, and it seemed to save considerable time and effort with the next three.

Start by planning what size planks to use, then follow this plan for all four halves. I used two sizes so that I could alternate as necessary -- so as to not have any plank edges over the forms (it's difficult to screw too close to the form from underneath, so this eliminates any concern about holding the edge down). I chose 12-inch and 9-inch planks, because planks larger than 12 inches were difficult to curve and my sheets of foam were easily divided with these measurements without wastage.

So, starting with three 12-inch planks between forms 6 and 7, flank with the 9-inch and proceed in both directions, choosing 12-inch when able, 9-inch if necessary (look more than one plank ahead).

Mark the edge on the battens, then pre-drill from the top. I tended to use one screw near each edge and one in middle. Although I pre-drilled all battens, I skipped putting screws in some if there wasn't much curve to hold. (I would suggest experimenting with two screws placed at thirds -- since the battens are either nearly flat or concave in the fore-aft direction, it's possible that two screws closer to the middle would suck the foam down and the edges would hold themselves. I never tried this for reasons below.)

Partially pre-place the screws from below before fitting the foam. This is easier than starting the screws balanced on the driver with the foam and an extra hand above. Then place foam with counter pressure from above, double checking alignment before it's too late.

Here's the real time-saver:

When you remove the float, only back out the screws halfway! When planking the next float, just follow the same pattern of plank widths and most of the work done stooping and kneeling is already done.

I didn't take many pictures. Here are the forms turned around with the battens replaced. I did it with the screws in place, which worked fine. I was a little concerned about 'memory' of the battens so several were replaced. The foam, including keel pieces, are pre-cut and waiting.

I had a glass-cutting session to get ready for the next two halves and the beam mounting flanges for each float.

I was able to finish the third half and join two together. It all went without a hitch. I'll put up a couple details with pictures next time.

I did take a closer picture of the wrinkles that can be left from the plastic using the PMVB technique. I have experimented with several thicknesses, but the issue of wrinkles left from the packaging folds are always present to some degree. Below is one of the worst examples, but you can see that when the PP is removed, the wrinkle comes with it (*almost* all the time). After smoothing/working with the squeegee, some of the fold in the plastic gradually returns, sucking some resin with it. The glass remains against the foam. A couple of wrinkles have remained under the PP (in much reduced size), where the PP was also slightly pulled into the fold, but in all instances so far the glass is flat -- meaning that the epoxy 'wrinkle' can be lightly sanded flat without hurting the glass. Since the final product looks great 99% of the time and the resin ripples happen infrequently (and they're easier to fix than bubbles, of which I've had none), I plan on continuing with this technique.

The most important thing to ensure the success of a proper glass/resin ratio and smooth surface seems to be to put adequate resin on top of the plastic so that you can squeegee without any resistance against it.

The end of July and first part of August was our family vacation. This year we took a three week sailing trip in the San Juan and southern Canadian Gulf Islands. I have always been fortunate to be able to use my father's trimaran, 'TRICE', which he built and launched in 1967. It has been well cared for and updated over the years, making a perfect family cruising platform for over 40 years. Since both my parents were teachers, we spent my childhood summers sailing, and being able to share that with my family has been extra special.

Heading north from La Conner, WA, the 'Gateway to the San Juan Islands.'

Most of the San Juans are dry because of the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Farther north this shadow disappears, making the hikes a little more green.

One of our favorite anchorages in British Columbia, Canada. Stern line ashore on the north side of Portland Island, all of which is a marine park.

Kayaking allows phenomenal sights.

A couple of pointers before setting the girls off solo.

There are several resident pods of Orca whales.

The end to a slow, relaxing vacation. Just what the family needs. Looking forward to splashing F22!

June

There was a momentous event in June (wish I could say it included finishing the pond). My oldest daughter graduated from high school! Hard to imagine that time could pass so quickly. She will be leaving for college in California this fall. When the celebrating was done, I got back to building.

To cut out the bulkheads I used the same trick as with the forms: flat on a piece of styrofoam. I rough cut, then finished with a sanding station.

To remove foam for filling exposed edges, I use a Dremel 'steel brush' attachment. It could go through the laminate, but with a little care, only removes the foam. (The hose is from my dust collector.)

The full size templates make fitting very easy. I made each slightly small so that I would have a bed of fillet material under the edge.

Since no clamping pressure is necessary, the placement gig only needs to hold the BH in proper orientation until cured. Originally, I had thought that the BH would be cut to size and fit in its correct location, but making them marginally smaller made me rethink things. A 1/4 inch MDF screwed at the centerline of the BH and placed across the form made the vertical placement easy; a small piece of BH material acting as a spacer between the MDF and the edge of the form took care of fore-aft placement; and a small level took care of the third critical element.

After testing and marking, I placed some fillet material on the hull, put the BH into position, and finished the fillet on each side with a plastic bag and a putty knife rounded to the size of an American quarter. I found this left a smooth finish and allowed me to pick up the excess material and return it to the bag, making for very little waste.

With the proper timing, the tape can be placed before the fillet cures completely. Since I use the PMVB technique on the tape, the cure must be solid enough to withstand pushing with the squeegee. If the fillet material will cure first, some PP will make sure no sanding has to be done before the taping.

During my first experience of PMVB on a fillet, I used small pieces of plastic to account for the curves of the hull, stiffener, keel, etc. This seemed too slow, so I started using one long, narrow piece. This allowed for working out the air and excess resin, but did not allow for a complete 'seal' like the technique does for flatter surfaces. In the end this didn't seem to matter, as you can differentiate a bubble that appears later under the plastic vs. one that appears under the glass. Wetting the plastic and cutting a small dart in it as you are proceeding can decrease any problems. In any event, it seemed superior to working the glass alone or with just PP. Extra layers of laminate are placed at the same time and I put small pieces of PP in areas that will have future layers, like near the keel, where it will eventually be taped together.

The chainplate is placed in its proper orientation on each of the left (for starboard) and right (for port) float halves (don't forget future deck thickness) and receives its extra glass.

I had constructed the deck flange mold such that it could be removed for fitting the chainplate while the hull was still in place on the forms/battens.

Then the big moment -- lifting out the float half! Pop the keel side and out she comes.

Lots of screw holes to fill, but the foam joins and fairness look pretty good.

Off to storage.

Starting another half.

May

Still working on the pond, but also made some progress on the boat.

Beginning to plank the first float half was an exciting step. I reread the plans, reviewed several other builder blogs and developed a plan. (Note: in checking the battens for 'fairness' I found a very flexible metal ruler, placed perpendicular, could show you if there was a batten that was an out layer).

As seems to be the tendency, I planned to place the foam and then fill between with bog. I decided to place the keel first, then scribe the planks to fit. A 'two footed' device helped with this. The deck flange would be last.

Starting in the middle helps get things going as the angles and bending get more severe near the ends. I would cut to shape with a utility knife.

I quickly learned that I developed the best shape by thermoforming each plank. No stress or tension became my motto. Maybe because of the flexibility of my battens, forcing a plank of 500 weight CoreCell would deform them slightly, which then 'flattened' the shape of the hull. It's easy to shape the foam by using a heat gun while flexing it by hand. Constant motion equals no scorching and no sharp angles. The foam expands with heating, so start on the 'outside' to begin forming the curve, then inside, then outside a second time. At three minutes you have to be careful not to flex too hard as it starts to give. Hold in place quickly to get near perfect fit.

I rechecked the keel fit and beveled the join with a small palm micro-planer. Especially near the ends where a compound or twisting action develops, the plank-to-plank join can be adjusted top or bottom with a couple of swipes with the hand planer. Instead of making a groove for the bog after attaching the foam, I ran it though a table router with a dove-tail bit. The curve never presented a problem with several feather boards to hold it in place.

In the end I stopped using my long clamping bars. The clamps are flat -- there is very little of the hull that is flat. As you get towards the ends, the foam twists with changing angles, and bending fore-aft and athwart ships.

It's the fore-aft bending that argues for narrower planks, especially with the decreased holding power of the screws with the thinner 3/8 foam. Once satisfied with the shaping, I pre-drilled holes in the battens from the top and pre-placed screw from the underside. A light-weight lithium-ion driver with clutch is the tool to get. Push from the top, drill from the bottom. A 'spinner' has no holding power in the foam, so set the clutch low to start.

I learned to run my hand along to check for smooth transitions.

A very pleasing shape. I cut the deck side to length and slipped the deck flange mold in place.

I placed the foam filler along the deck edge with bog and screws through the deck flange mold (the deck is not 90 degrees to the side of the hull as it bows out slightly). This keeps the deck flange oriented correctly, and the gap bellow will need to be filled with bog and given a smooth radius to ease glassing later.

I spent some time deciding what to use to fill the grooves. Using premixed fillet and fairing materials was something I had already decided. The instructions are: "use low density, it only needs to be stronger than the foam." System Three replied about QuickFair: "You can use QF for this but you must SAND before coating with itself or anything else."

The grooves were filled with System Three Quickfair in a zip-lock bag. This was easy, quick, and made for no voids.

Being efficient with glass usage can be difficult. It seems that the farther you can look ahead, the better you can plan. I am not cutting my own tape, so long thin sections are difficult to use. For this situation it seemed that I could save by going across, parallel with the foam.

I used the 'poor man's vacuum' technique, working from bow to stern, one section at a time.

Order of events:

Pre-wet ahead one section of tape at deck flange. My tape has a thin matte backing, which makes it easy to work with as it holds its shape/size, but it takes longer to wet (and will also add weight).

Wet foam. No point in having a dry interface where it is a mechanical bond. Concerns about the glass floating or excess resin are minimized by the VB technique. (I would like to look at the foam under a microscope after thermoforming. The surface is made up of little open cells and filling these with resin would seem to significantly increase the surface area of the bond with the glass [obviously happens maximally with VB'ing]. I wonder if heating the surface with a heat gun smoothes or reduces this interface in any significant way? You can see subtle changes as you do it.)

Lay out tape, then piece of glass, and second layers where called for. Subsequent sections require overlap. Wet, moving excess resin towards next area.

I placed peel ply as a final layer.

(I wore a simple paper mask as I found that when mixing the resin, occasionally small bubbles would float in the air -- don't want to breath those! The resin has low volatility, so with adequate airflow I haven't worried about the fumes.)

Begin placing plastic, width dependent on curves. I found 2-3 per 50 inch section. The plastic should be covered with some extra resin so that there is no resistance to the flexible squeegee. Position with light dragging strokes to remove air bubbles.

The plastic I used had many creases from packaging folds that initially concerned me. It seemed that they could be removed, only to reappear. This later proved to not be a problem (see below).

To remove the excess resin and 'micro' bubbles, using more force and pulling towards yourself with the squeegee's edge seemed effective.

I worked from the center towards the deck flange and keel, placing excess resin on the plastic. Since the resin has to be removed, not having the plastic too long is helpful. This resin usually had some micro bubbles so I did not move it forward onto the next section of glass.

Making sure that you have resin to remove answers the question, 'is it too dry?' Interestingly, after a little experience you can tell too little, too much, or just right by listening to the sound of the squeegee.

One key was making sure that the plastic sections had a minimum 3 inch overlap that had enough resin between them to act as a seal.

The keel was a little more challenging than the deck edge. Don't let the excess resin just glob up on the foam edge. Remove it, using paper towel if necessary. The plywood deck flange mold acts as an extension to seal the edge, but you don't have this on the keel side. I went back several times as the resin gelled to make sure it hadn't lifted off along the keel. This prevented any problems.

I cut the excess cloth and plastic off the keel easily with a knife while still green. Then removed the plastic after cure. The plastic leaves a shiny finish and some imprinted creases as well.

I removed the PP in the area of the future BH's and strengthening stringer, leaving some to allow easy, clean removal of the VB tape.

I'll take a close-up next time, but what I discovered is that the crease imprints were excess resin that was pulled on top of the PP (by the "poor man's" vacuum effect as the plastic fought to regain its fold), so they pulled off when the PP was removed (before this I had been wondering if I would repeat this technique or search for expensive, creaseless plastic like my rolled VB material . . . not a worry, it seems.)

I VB'd the stringer and extra scheduled glass layers. (Note: initially I measured from the deck flange, not the form -- look close before placing.)

No final picture, I guess. I next cut out the BH's, backfilled the access opening, and worked on a gig to ensure proper placement.