Cut Down Day 2 - Fitting the Sole

Most people not building a boat are impressed with boatbuilding. The truth is it's really a series of small steps to get to the finished state. And when I say a series of small steps, I mean thousands of them. There's some art to it. For example, hand me a pencil and paper and hand the same to Michaelangelo and you'll get very different results. But overall, building PocketShip isn't something that's beyond the reach of most do it yourselfers.

If there's any risk, it's not trusting the manual and not trusting your own skills. The manual assumes some level of boatbuilding and sailing and is exceptional, especially compared to other manuals on the market. I know, I've seen them. Don't know how to loft? Too bad, you can't build 3/4 of the boats out there. It doesn't go into every little detail all the time. It just assumes that people are going to do the right thing. And if someone is going to step away from the manual and do things like laminate accent boards and install more than two lift outs, then it's something you gotta figure out on your own by trial and error and then finally just doing it.

An example of what I mean is how to build the lift outs. The manual doesn't say, for example, that you need to put cleats on the floors so that the lift outs have something to sit on. It also doesn't say that you should be careful not to put the backing plates where the floors are. Nor does it say that you want to drill the finger holes a little closer to the floor cleat so you can maybe latch it down in case of knockdown. The manual says none of these things, but an aware boatbuilder understands these things are necessary. It's possible to overthink, for sure, but better to overthink a little bit than to assume things are fine and then have to deal with a maintenance issue or redoing an entire plank.

All that said, there are some significant issues with the manual that's been pointed out before. I plan to compile a list of these when done; I'm sure other builders will have more to add. In the meantime, as I write this, the cleats are curing in the boat and I'm one step closer to ending this phase of the build.

This is the underside of the accent boards with epoxy. I'm leaving them like this (not sanded nor varnished).

Top row are backers for the lift outs. Bottom row cleats to attach to the floors to support the lift outs. These are drying after getting some epoxy.

Cleats get epoxy'd onto the floors. These will serve as little sitting areas for the lift out boards. These will be primed and painted.

Cleats get epoxy'd to bulkhead 7.

First set of backers go on. Hope it still looks good when in the boat. The green tape marks where the floor is - you don't want to put a backer there.

Lift out between floors 3 and 4, right in front of the centerboard trunk. These are small strips of ash, which make excellent connectors. I used a few 1/8" drill bits for spacing.

Bit of a heart wrenching thing. Cutting fingerholes in the lift out.

And... cut!  Forstener bit cut pretty well. This had a scrap backing behind it which is why there's some light colored wood.

Fingerhole for the front lift out. I originally was going to do two holes but didn't like the way that looked. It took a long time to perfectly center the hole here, but thankfully it's centered. I applied a roundover to all the holes and then lathered on some epoxy with a gloved finger to seal the new wood.

The end is in sight. I've been pushing to get this done so I can finalize the wiring and get the decking down.

Cut Down Day - Building Lift Outs

I knew this day would come and I'd been dreading it. After carefully picking, sculpting, and varnishing the padauk boards that would serve as the sole, I knew that I'd be building lift outs from them. That meant my 8' long boards would in some cases be split into four smaller pieces. This needed finesse, precision, carpentry, and a big set of .. guts to actually yank the miter saw and split the wood that took so long to carefully create.

The first task was to move the bilge pump aft one bay. I put it where the lead ballast goes, and that's just no good. That meant re-routing the wires back through the conduit and screwing a couple more holes into the centerboard trunk. An upside is the white / positive wire was a little short the first time through, so this gave me a chance to make it the same length as the brown (hot wire) and black (negative). Not that that really means anything, but it's nice to know things are even.

Bilge pump gets a new home.

I then hopped into the boat and stared at it for awhile. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but I was torn whether or not to add a lift out between bulkheads 3 and 4 and one more bay aft than the manual suggested, spanning 3 bays instead of 2. I was always going to put one near the back of the boat for access to the conduit so that wasn't much of a decision. The sole provides some structural support - imagine a twisting soda can - but I wasn't cutting the really long ones right up against the trunk nor the outboard ones, nor the ones at the very front, so between all that, I felt OK about removing these.

Honestly, the number one thing I was worried about was how this would look when done. I didn't want a bunch of different looking boards, all uneven and stuff, scattered throughout the sole. I plan to spend a lot of time in the cabin, curled up at anchor somewhere sparkling beautiful, and having uneven cuts would spoil it for years to come. This was one of those things that if I messed up, I would redo. No amount of epoxy can fix an error here.

In the end, I decided on a set of 4 lift outs: the area between bulkheads 3 and 4, right in front of the centerboard trunk; a 3-bay span port and starboard, which would include the areas shown in the manual plus one more bay aft; and the last one up between bulkheads 7 and 8 where the electrical conduit and bilge return run under the boards. This last one isn't technically a lift out because it will be screwed down, but the boards will be cut as such to allow easy access if I have to get back there to fix something.

The best thing about this schedule is that it would look symmetrical, maintain stability, and provide much-needed storage. For what seems like the tenth time, I pulled the sole back out and trucked the pieces to be cut downstairs to the basement shop. Carefully measured, then precisely cut, I'm happy with the way they turned out. 

First cuts done.

Accent board and a couple more sets done. I had a tough time cutting the accent board but once committed, I'm committed!

Each board got a brand new bit of frogtape and will get a dollop of epoxy tomorrow. But I've got my lift outs. Now that there were many more of them, I had to come up with a naming scheme. Nothing brilliant, I know, as PocketShips all over the world have soles and therefore had a naming scheme. But mine went something like this: P2-B for "Port side, 2nd plank from centerboard, 2nd plank from the front." (ignore the non-nautical terminology).

Close up of bulkhead 7's lift out section. The accent board will not be cut nor screwed down. A new cleat will be installed here to support the cut boards.

Good view of the lift outs forward and on the sides.

Close up of the space now able to be used. This is between 3 and 4. The contraption is / was 100' of wire. There is surprisingly a lot of room in this compartment. The conduit carries forward the RAM3 and the bilge wires. All the wires in the transom run through the larger one up a little higher.

View from above. I haven't cut the finger holes yet.

Now, one thing this exercise does is that it forces new cleats in certain areas. The sole needs three 9" cleats and four 7" cleats to ensure things don't fall into the storage areas. Getting the cleat schedule worked out was an important part in the build, both functionally and aesthetically. As I write this, the cleats sit cut, ready for installation over the next couple days. They will be epoxy'd and screwed into the existing cleats and/or bulkheads, then painted. Did I mention how much I love my heater?

Time on My Side - Floorboard Fitting

I thought I'd be shut down ostensibly until May with a rush to get done by my self-administered June 30 deadline. There's quite a bit of benchwork that has to be done, but even some of that needs to wait until more progress is made to ensure a proper fitting. Now that the heater's installed, I have more time than I know what to do with

The day began with my wife and I taking a knot class from the Captain I took my ASA 105 with. I'm OK with knots and so is my wife, but we figured we weren't doing much (I was supposed to be on a trip that got cancelled), the class was cheap, and maybe we'd even learn something. She also wanted to meet the Captain in case she wanted to further her sailing classes. There were a lot of people there, more than would be conducive for this kind of class, so it was difficult to follow along. The real reason I bring it up at all is to show off my much improved woodworking skills.

The class required a knot jig. Anyone who's taken a sailing class has seen one of these. They would be available during the class, but for "only a few dollars more" one could buy a "deluxe kit" for about $30 which included a knot jig. They wanted $15 for the knot jig alone and another $15 for the DVD. I'm all for supporting local businesses, but $15 for something that I knew I could build from scrap in about 2 minutes? No thanks.Total cost: about $1 in scrap supplies and 10 minutes of time. We didn't buy the DVD, either.

Knot practicing jigs.

As they day rolled into night, we finished up a movie and got ready for bed. I wasn't tired so got up and turned the garage heater on. In about 30 minutes, it was warm enough to start working, and in about an hour, it was downright hot. I finished up the electrical wiring fore and aft by hooking up the bilge pump. I only had a couple more crimps to do but I remember it being around 4 in the morning when I stopped back in November and I was too cold and tired to continue. The next day the temperature plummeted to the teens and that was about the end of the season until Fleet Farm came to the rescue.

With the electrical done, I went to the basement shop and sanded down the cockpit decking with a quick rub with 60 grit to knock off the hard stuff then hit it with 120 to prime for painting. Four hours later, they had the dull matte grey that all boatbuilders yearn for. Fiberglass here is well worth the extra effort and materials for the added strength and stability. I put everything away as it was about 4 in the morning once again.

With the cockpit deck ready for installation and the electrical done for now, at least the electrical that needs to run under the sole, I pulled the finished boards out of hibernation and attempted to redo the puzzle. The padauk darkened somewhat in storage and my pencil marks were difficult to see. I knew, roughly, where things went, but it was still a bit of a chore to line everything back up. I couldn't do this in the garage so my living room served as a staging area while I figured it out. I then labeled with green painter's tape and began fitting them in the boat.

Laid out in living room. Took far too long to do this.

The goal here isn't to put these down permanently right now. I need to figure out where I want the liftouts. Anywhere there's a liftout will also require a little additional cleat for the liftout to sit on. These new cleats will need to be epoxy'd and painted, so that's just more work. Whatever. I also like the idea I saw which had a little hook accessed through the fingerhole. In case of a knockdown, the liftouts won't become flying objects.

In total, I need access to two bays on each side for the ballast, another for the bilge pump, and one towards the back for the electrical access. I also want access between bulkheads 3 and 4, the space right in front of the centerboard trunk. This is a fairly deep bay right under my nose. I'm sure I'll find a use for it. In the back, I can keep these screwed down, but I do need to be able to get them out easily.

While inspecting, I realized that I installed the cabin bilge pump in the wrong bay, one too far forward. This is because I remembered from the manual that the ballast should go "in the compartment closest to the front of the trunk" which to me means between between bulkheads 4 and 5. However, when I went to the manual for something else, I saw that the ballast is actually between 5 and 6, where my bilge pump is on the starboard side. For a few seconds, I thought I'd leave it there and put the ballast around it (the ballast is poured or bagged lead). But I want the bilge pump to work; having 75# of lead on top of it wouldn't be good. I know how I'd feel about having 75# of lead on my head, so I'll have to move it back one more bay.

Starting to lay out the boards. The bilge pump return and electrical conduit is visible back there.

Boards "dry fit." I would've liked to go a little wider but those last outboard boards were really hard to shape.

View of bulkheads 7 and 8. Tickled how well the lines run under this. The middle accent board will be a lift out, as will the two left and right of it. They'll be screwed down as I don't expect to need to get back here often, but when I do, I should be able to get to it pretty quickly.

View forward. One of the reasons I chose padauk is that when it ages, it takes on a darker brown, not grey like teak or mahogany. Should still keep a pretty good brightness for awhile, though.

If one were in the boat facing forward, this would be the view.

Later in the evening, I dropped the cockpit decking on top to see what would be the last bits and pieces I'll need to do before permanently installing it. With the top on, it will be far harder to work back there. The result is I'll need to run a couple more wires now before screwing it down for good. I'm not going to install an inspection port in bulkhead 8 as previously debated because as warned, it was really hard to crawl back there and not worth the effort. I am happy the speakers are back there, though.

PS: I received a note the other day that while the blog is "great" it's hard to find stuff, that they have to sift through my ramblings. That's true; there's a lot of rambling. So a little mini project is to be sure people can find things easier by using the post titles, not just the search function or keywords. If the post isn't something specific to PocketShip, then it's surely not something about PocketShip. The title here is the first post in an attempt to fix the offense.

So Happy I Could Cry -- and Probably Will

Just a quick note to share some good news.

Today is one of the nicest days of the winter. Crisp, clear, bright sunshine, and even the snow looks wonderful as it boughs off the trees and out into the yard. But it's also 9 degrees - albeit that's about 40 degrees (not exaggerating!) warmer than it was last week, and that means yet another lost day counting down to warmer weather.

View outside living room window. Yes, it's pretty, but I'll see this until June.

Today, however, I installed this:

Here:

Panarama shot. Normally this mode is for mountains and sea views, not 10' garages. The cushions are from the Macgregor, stored here for the winter. I'll need to find a new home for them!

All I can say is wow. It's been running now for about 3 hours since the electricians left. It's warm in there. I can work in there. I'm so happy I could cry, and probably will. There's a good 40 degree temperature gradient between the floor and the ceiling but that's OK, that'll get better. It meant I had to install 220v and can never have an electric range but I don't care! I'll microwave everything from now on.

It's a Fahrenheat 54 (clever, those Fahrenheat people are -- get it? Is this Celsiheat in Europe?), got it on sale at Mills Fleet farm where they kicked in a $25 gift card for no good reason at all. I could hug it if I didn't want to burn myself. Seriously, some of the best dollars I've spent in a long time, and that includes the Costco hot dog I splurged on last week.

Rudder Chaos

Last we left the Macgregor rudder, I was in the planning phases. We took a trip to Woodcraft not far from the house. This is an outfit that caters to woodworkers, from turners to carvers to form/function guys like myself. I like visiting that store because they have a good selection of exotic hardwoods that are rarely found in person. Marblewood, for example, and Bubinga and Wenge and of course, Padauk.

We settled on a board of Mahogany. Not sure if it's African or whatever, but it was really nice. Good lines, mostly flat, vibrant grain, and just the right size. The price was reasonable, so we hauled it over to the counter. The cashier who ran the card asked what I was going to do with it. Why, build a rudder of course. His eyebrows raised: a rudder? That should be fun, and he was serious.

We got it home where it sat in the family room for a couple days as I finished up some PocketShip parts (trimming the 'glass off the cockpit decking) and got the area ready for some work.

The board - it is 1x15x75 solid Mahogany.

I also needed to plan out the strategy. There's a wide range of rudders out there. A 2x4 can act as a rudder, just not a very good one. And the Macgregor is not known as a performance boat, so it needs every bit of finesse it can get. I did some research and found an outfit that sells the tiller-block-rudder assembly in high end plastic (though with a laminated tiller) for about $900. That's more than the boat cost. But what was nice about that site is I also got the specs. It turns out the existing rudder is very close to spec except for the foiling.

I don't know when foiling came into vogue for rudders, but the old one definitely was not foiled. There's a little bit of rounding, but nothing near the specs called for in the NACA 012 tables I pulled down for it.

If you want to use this, just input the right two columns under "NACA 012 Ratios" and then calculate the rest.

Graphic representation of the table, minus the German.

NACA 012 are industry-standard foil specs for foils. The table works very much like offset tables when lofting a boat. The table is given in percentages against both the Y and X axes. Apply the percentages against the length and width of the block (or chord), and you've got how far from the centerline it should be. I entered the percentages into Excel, input the size of the chord (11 9/16") and it spit out the specs. Nice!

NACA 012 is the one used by the third party rudder maker, so if it's good enough to cost $900, it's good enough for me, too.

Tracing the pattern. I went a little wide to give some room for error.

It was planed, rough cut, and sanded, waiting for next steps. Everything was cut a little larger than the actual spec for a few reasons. First, it's of course much easier to cut a tree than grow a tree. If I make a mistake over, I can always sand back. Second, epoxy ooze can muck up the finish. The less finished area that has epoxy on it, the better it will look. Third, I was lazy and didn't feel like following the lines as much as I did. It's all close, but maybe 1/4" larger all around than it will be when done.

Old rudder where the kick up line is. Looks like a shark took a bite out of it.

Tables and drawings and rough cuts.

Trimmed and rough cut with table saw and jigsaw.

Taking a page from the PocketShip centerboard build, except without the table saw madness, I cut a nice little dado into the blanks which will become the trench for the leading edge epoxy. I almost made a cardinal mistake by cutting non-mirror images of each other, but thankfully I dry fit it first and realized the near mistake. I also cut dados instead of rabbets because rabbets are easier to cut for me, and I knew I'd be filling in this trench so I wanted any squeeze out to fall in here.

Cut dados for epoxy trench.

Hole all the way through. Two dados = hole. The left 1/4" or so will be cut away.

I wanted to increase shear strength, reducing the ability of the boards to slide past one another. Water moving past the rudder faster along one side will put more shear force on that board. Probably way too over-thinking and over-engineering, but I wanted to be sure the rudder would hold up to those forces. And since I'm not cutting "blocks" and re-installing them grain-against-grain, I fast tracked it and installed dowels. The dowels, though small, will provide added strength and stability, plus also allow contraction and expansion in these smaller joints. When the rudder gets shaped, some of these are likely to be visible, but only barely.

Added dowels.

Three batches of thickened epoxy made for a nice bit of lather. I'll probably need to order some more epoxy for PocketShip but my wife said she'd help pay for that since I'm using a good amount on "her" rudder and tiller.

Lathered on thickened epoxy.

I brought out the clamps again and set the planer on top (with a small board under it to even the pressure and not muck up the surface).

Clamped and planed. Sort of.

This will sit for a couple hours before I scrape off the epoxy ooze. If all goes well, I'll cut it to spec and start shaping tomorrow. It's going to take a lot more effort than the centerboard as this is 1.5" thick. The air foil goes down to nearly a point at the trailing edge, meaning at least 1 1/4" is going to be sloughed off. In the meantime, I ordered a quick release cleat for the kick up which will go a long way towards rudder life. Progress is slow, but progress is good.