The Opposite of Congress

Old joke, I know, but relevant. I'm making slow progress on the build and can actually see a very small, very dim light at the end of the 'glassing tunnel. Slowly, I'm pulling out the wires as I go, the very wires that I took so much care installing not that long ago. I'm working aft-forward, one bay at a time, and each bay is taking about a day. Even though the upcoming bays are smaller, they're not necessarily easier, as they have tricky corners and need a full fatty fillet before they can be 'glassed.

To make things easier, I cut away part of the craziness that is bulkhead 7 to apply the fillet, then cut the rest of it away once that fillet cured. This fillet, by the way, is highly visible in the cabin, and is the one I'll literally be resting my head against, so I wanted it to be as perfect as I could make it. Once that fillet cured, I cut the rest of bulkhead 7 away. Otherwise, there wasn't going to be an easy way to 'glass between bulkheads 7 and 8. I then measured out and cut the 'glass for this area. It turns out to be about 40x36.

Cutting away part of bulkhead 7 to make room for the side / bilge panel fillet.

Bulkhead 7 fully cut away and port 'glass gets sized up. Note the overlap on the keel and between floors 7 and 6 (forward).

Starboard side goes down after a couple hours break. It was still tacky to touch so went on nicely. Once again, overlapped the keelson and a few inches forward. I also threw down a strip of extra 'glass on the keelson for good measure for 3 layers on the keelson.

While the 'glass here went on without much of a problem, I found two problems at this stage of the build. The first is the cleats that were installed on the workbench a couple months ago are now completely in the way of a proper 'glassing job. Fiberglass needs to come up off the bilge panel (the lowest panel of the hull) and up a couple inches along the face of the floor board for strength. But with the cleat in the way, this isn't really possible. Chris mentioned this to me way back when but I didn't really fully appreciate the problem until my arms and legs were dangling in the hull trying to get that last half inch of 'glass to stick to the floor board side under the cleat.
 

'glass riding up the aft face of floor 7.

After epoxy at bulkhead 7. There's actually almost two full layers of 'glass here so while there's some bubbles, it should be pretty strong.

The second issue is that the floor boards themselves block easy access to the keelson/centerboard trunk joint. The manual doesn't call for the keelson to be epoxy'd, but this is in fact the base of the bilge. Meaning, it's going to be one of the wettest spots on the boat as water will collect down there. Another wet scenario is me spilling a can of coke or glass of wine. Or a beer, or maybe some scotch. I prefer McCallan 12; that's a good draw. Not a lot of peat and just the right amount of smoke... where was I... oh yeah, PocketShip doesn't have a bilge drain so water gets out of there either through evaporation, a bilge pump, or,  in the case of scotch, a straw. I'm not sure why the manual doesn't call for epoxy here but it sure could've used it.

Un-epoxied, un-filletted area between centerboard trunk and keelson. This could be bad news!

So, instead of applying and sanding epoxy to the keelson on a nice flat surface like a garage floor, I need to apply epoxy with my fingertips just to be sure water gremlins don't sneak between the keelson and the centerboard trunk. I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other blogs so I'm guessing I did something wrong.

Epoxy'd the area above. Will add a second layer after this cures a bit, then a small fillet on top.

For new builders out there, here's what I'd recommend: First, apply two coats of epoxy to the keelson before screwing it down onto the centerboard trunk. Sand this smooth like always. After screwing the keelson down, apply thin tack welds at the centerboard trunk/keelson joint. What you've done here is waterproof the keelson and the joint ahead of time vs. trying to do it once everything's already installed. Once that's cured, go ahead and wire as normal. I have to admit I'm a little concerned about the water down there so I plan to epoxy the whole keelson before continuing with the 'glass in the bays.

If one is feeling particularly industrious, apply the cleats after the floors get installed and 'glassed. It will take some measuring and beveling but it will save a lot of fiberglass headache later. More importantly, it will make a stronger joint. An easy way to make it, well, easier, would be to craft cardboard patterns from the actual floors so you can build the cleats to spec on the workbench for later installation. The larger bulkheads don't need full patterns, just the bottom 1/3 or so to make the cleat. Top side cleats like those found on bulkheads 1 and 2 can go on as instructed in the manual. It's really the cleats that serve as the support for the cabin sole that are trouble.

Once my grumbling was over, the 'glass here turned out OK. I'm a little worried about the way it's interacting with bulkhead 7 but not much I can do. Some of the issue is due to the limber holes that need to be drilled back out, so that will be fixed. Otherwise, I'm hoping that since the 'glass basically rides up the entire face twice, it'll retain some strength, but I'm aware of the bubbles at the base of it. The keelson itself and aft to bulkhead 8 are good, as is the rise up the side panels. It'll be plenty strong, just not perfect, and that's what I'm aiming for. It is cool, though, to see the keelson puzzle joint shine through here. I glued the keelson together at my front door and then it sat in the sun room for a couple weeks waiting for the right moment. It's now a permanent part of the boat.

Finished bay #2 (between bulkheads 7 and 8). Needs second coat, though.

So, two bays down and what feels like a million to go.

PocketShip for Sale

Now that my travels are done, at least until next week, I got back on the horse (helm?) and worked on the boat. In between bouts of sanding, I began thinking about Dave, the Father of the PocketShip blog. Dave built the first private PocketShip, So True, in a few months in 2009 and launched in the fall of that year. He had John C. Harris, CEO of CLC, as a reader and was an inspiration to dozens of builders and thousands of dreamers.

Skipper Dave and So True

Many of us who have built or are building PocketShip have read his blog end to end and over and around again. He's directly responsible for at least a dozen kit orders, I'm sure, though I doubt if CLC ever tossed him any royalties. His influential statement that, paraphrasing, you can't say you built a boat if you didn't cut the wood yourself sent the stock of plywood stock up and up. (Devil's Advocate: Where does such a corollary stop? If a kit doesn't count, do plans? Power tools? A slippery slope, that is.)

I recently learned that Dave is selling his PocketShip and that disturbs me on many levels. I've only just begun but I can appreciate the work that goes into building such a boat. My knuckles hurt from sanding epoxy and my spare bedroom is nearly full with standby materials. But it's the emotional journey that has affected me most. It's a thing in the garage that I tend to, care for, nurture, nuance, and coddle. So the idea of finishing a year or so from now and selling it made me all sorts of sad.

He's got good reasons: Winnipeg sucks for weather; he will live with his son in Australia; he prefers cooking to Captaining. Fair enough. But you have to wonder why go through all the trouble and expense and writing if you were just gonna go and sell it? As I said in the thread above, all things shall pass, though I never thought so soon. Clear skies and fair winds, Captain Dave.

With that, my emotional journey took a turn for the worse over the last few days. I've been dreading sanding down my fillets and tack welds. It just isn't fun and it's pushed the build out until 2015 at least. I finally sucked it up and got into it since getting back from DC. I figured I'd finish the transom, so I laid down the best fillets I could, then 'glassed the area. Although bulkheads 1-6 still have tack welds in them, and 7-8 have fillets, I'll have a 'glassed and finished transom. Mentally, for me, that works better than staring at a big project. It took about 2 hours to sand down the fillets so the 'glass could lay flat. I can't wait for the bow....

I took pictures throughout the process but didn't realize I didn't have a memory card in the camera, so everything I took went into the electronic ether. They were awesome shots of my frogtape, me peeling the frog tape, a dowel + 80 grit sandpaper, and some new stuff that arrived in the mail. Alas, before I realized what the world would be missing, I was ready to sand and lay out the 'glass.

Measured transom area for 'glass. Homemade fillet tools lie about.

Corner cured after some denatured alcohol applied.

Keelson fillets before sanding down.

Keelson fillets post-sanding.

The 'glass itself was cut 36x36, leaving extra for a full overlap of the keelson and then up all sides between 3-5 inches. I wasn't picky about how high this went, as long as it was up at least 3 inches.

All transom fillets sanded and waiting for 'glass.

It took about 25 pumps to fully wet out the area. Though that seems like a lot, it's a full 9 square feet of area that needs a little extra to ride up along the sides. Still, it took a lot of care and fingerwork to get every last bubble out and for the 'glass to lie flat against the fillets themselves. I understand that this can go a little easier if the 'glass is applied when the fillets are still wet. That makes sense, but unfortunately I don't have the luxury of being able to do that right now.

The second side (in this case, starboard) went down easier than the first, as always. I cut darts in each corner but also a couple about a foot apart along the transom and bulkhead 8. I found with the port 'glass that it wanted to wrinkle a bit. Cutting a couple extra darts helped ease out the wrinkles. This took about 20 pumps to wet out mostly because the middle area overlapping the keelson was still damp so I could use that to wet that area.

Port 'glass down; starboard laid out.

With my vertical wet work improving, I laid down a strip of 'glass at the side panel-transom joints. This was mostly because I mixed too much epoxy and it was either watch a few pumps harden in my Dixie cup or maybe I could actually use it for something. Whether or not it's needed, who knows, but the scenario of an engine pulling the boat in reverse and separating at this joint just got a little less likely. With that curing, I opened up some of the goodies I got while I was away this weekend.

Strip of 'glass at the transom-side panel joint. Can't hurt.

I opened this post with lamenting about Dave. Another astounding thing about his build is, because he was the first, he did not have the luxury of other people's learning curves. He pretty much built it as presented, whereas I completely stole (and will continue to steal) ideas from other builders. That's just the way these things work. To that end, I ordered the same bilge pump, solar panels, and controller that Sean did (Hi, Sean). I got the battery box idea from Jimmy V. I'm looking at bas relief art for the bow courtesy of the newest PocketShip in the fleet, in Wisconsin. Chris' propane motor is the likely winner. I'm not sure there's anything I can borrow from Pete's Tattoo because I'm just not that smart.

PowerUp-BSP-1012LSS. Two of them from Ecodirect.

Battery cables, solar controller, battery switch. Getting closer to putting this stuff in.

I hope I can present some ideas here that other people might want to try. I have some thoughts on a footrest grate that could double as a table while underway. There are some cabin thoughts that could work well for cruising. But those things are a long way off. For now, I have my transom curing and I'll continue to sand tomorrow. Small steps forward.

Good News / Bad News

The universe telling me something?

The number one thing every blog warns against is the crooked keel. This is mostly due to the way the aft part of the keel lies on its taper, and the solution is to prop it up a bit to avoid it lying flat. The good news: I was successful in preventing the crookedness due to lying flat. The bad news: my keel now curves AWAY from the table about half an inch. I propped it too high. Sigh.

The centerboard trunk glue up paradigm.

Aligning the keel so it doesn't lay flat. It worked - too well.

It doesn't appear as serious as some others, though, as I could easily bend it back and lay the keelson on top without any noticeable curve. That makes me think after the lead pour, screwing in the cap, then the keelson, not to mention stitching to the bilge panels, I don't expect this to be much of an issue. Still, it's annoying as I went out of my way to try to get this one right, and oversteered into the ditch.

Meanwhile, as that was curing, I put together the keelson and let that sit under a battery for a few hours to set. It's too long for the shop (or just about anywhere else in the house, really) so I set it up by the front door. This was fun to get downstairs for the dry fit.

Battery + keelson puzzle joint = longer keelson

Resigned to a krooked keel for now, I sanded everything down smooth and applied a 1/2" roundover to the bottom.

Close up of roundover and void in the plywood. Roundover was OK. The void isn't something I did.You can also see a void between the centerboard blocking and the keel blocking (this is the triangle timber between the centerboard trunk and the keel nose). I'll fix this when I do the flip.

Roundover and another blocking joint. This is the extra piece I added because the keel blocking pattern was too small. Turned out OK. Need a little filler here and there to finalize the work. Like the one earlier, I'll take care of this at the flip.

I then sat it up to admire the work so far and felt a rush of pride. It was like watching a thing rise from the nothing, this thing that was at one time a series of two dimensional panels was now a 9 foot behemoth in my small basement shop. It doesn't look like a boat yet but I can get a true sense of the scale. It also sits up very nicely on its edge; very well balanced with just a touch to send it over. That was a bit of a surprise, and a good thing. I brought it to the family room and laid down next to it, as if I were in the cabin. As everyone says, this is a big little boat! If this is my reaction now, I'm bracing the neighborhood for when I actually make real progress.

First view of the keel assembly. Very proud poppa! The frog tape is when I laid down a dry fit on the wrong side of the non-mirror half of the keel.

Perky - the full keel with keelson laying on top. Need to fair the noseblock a little bit, which I expected as I kept it a little pointy on purpose to sand down later.

What would this blog be without a requisite shot of the boom gallows? After 2 layers of epoxy, sanded to 220, I put the first coat of varnish on it, and once again the colors popped.

First varnish layer. You can see the notches from the band saw here. The macro angle makes it look more distorted than it really is. Debating whether to brush over with white paint or leave as is. Otherwise, looks fine when not zoomed in 200x.

It's a funny thing, because the sanding brings the epoxy down to a matte grey finish that looks terrible. And then a little bit of chemical coatings get applied and pow! It's shiny and new again. I'm a fan of varnish, even moreso because this was leftover from another project and I didn't have to buy it.