The Boat Project

[Brake Weight [Veteran Member]]

Busy busy. Looking good though.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

I really needed an interesting project to get me active again since the two year ordeal with my eyes. I was out of commission for so long that I am still struggling to get back to an active lifestyle.
With a project like this, I have the option of pacing myself. I still have a couple years of yard work and home maintenance to catch up on, but I'm not physically ready for much of that yet. The boat project is getting me to a point where I can eventually do some of that more physical work.

This is a good time of year to work on it since I'm not into hunting or watching football. I should be pretty far along by the time the Chillin' Out Ride comes around.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

The stringers went back in for the final time. They were "glued" and gaps filled with thickened resin known as peanut butter, named for its consistency. It is made with resin, chopped fiberglass, and microballons. Microballoons is a super fine powder of microscopic hollow glass spheres.
More peanut butter was used to create small fillets along the joints.

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[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

The stringers are completely tabbed-in.

Gas tank is in. It rests on pvc 1x2 that I glued to the tank.
Ready to map out the floor panels next.
I set a piece of plywood in place to work off of. It allowed me to stand up at floor height in my boat for the very first time.
The ski locker frame needs a bit of tweaking...

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[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

Today I cut all of my floor (sole) panels.






I used the "ticking stick" method and it worked like a charm. I even had a little time to glass the bottom of the two small pieces that surround the bilge.
Tomorrow, I will continue glassing the bottoms and edges. I also need to cut joiners because I have several unsupported seams. I figure I will attach them to one side of each joint, and apply peanut butter to them and the edges as I add the next sheet.
There will be a support above the tank, and one where the plywood stops just before the tank fittings to stiffen that floating edge.




Here is the stick that I made to plot the points onto a piece of cardboard.



A saw mark serves as my distance mark.




Touch it to a point along the edge, pull it back 1/16" and mark along the edge of the stick, mark at the distance cut, and make one more line to show the direction the stick was pointing.
Start at the corner and work your way around. Do not let the cardboard shift, and do not flip the stick over. Consistency is the key.





You will end up with a map that looks something like this.



Next, move the cardboard to the plywood and use the stick on the marks to make sure the pattern will all fit on the sheet, and clamp it down.



Move from line to line and make a tick mark at the tip. Later, connect the ticks with a straight edge or a flexible curve.



The floor dropped right in without trimming. Here is the fit:






It got a little weird in the bow, but I plotted each feature and the panels dropped in with very little gap.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

It was a warm day and there was time enough after church to glue the floor in place with some peanut butter. I only used a few screws. Mainly at the joiners where the floor was unsupported.
The pieces laid down nice and flat and squished into place as planned except for this last piece in the bow. It needed some dead weight, so here I am until the resin kicks off.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

I felt like God was throwing me a bone with the weather and my energy level, so I kept going.
With the floor glued in, I made more peanut butter and filled the gaps and made fillets and transitions.







The pb was bumpy in the bow where the transitions were wide. Not wanting to do any sanding, I started tabbing as a way to smooth it out by going wet on wet.
That worked out great. That took care of the bow. Further back was not a problem. It had been easy to form smooth fillets because the gaps were small.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

I'm so blessed to have fiberglassing weather every weekend. Not letting it go to waste, either.
I rebuilt the flotation boxes that run along both sides.
With these completed, I can move on to pouring two-part liquid flotation foam under the deck, in the flotation boxes, and behind the transom. Another process that works best in hot weather.
I also made the ski locker door.

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[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

It was perfect weather for pouring flotation foam in the boat, so that's what I did.
It was stressful and fun at the same time.
Used almost an entire four gallon kit of 2lb per square foot urethane. ($200 worth)



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[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

This weekend, in spite of the rain, I managed to do all of the finish-up items in preparation for glassing the floor.
I plugged the holes that I poured the foam through, finish the opening for the stern drive, and a few other things.
Hoping to glass the floor on New Years Day.





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