Happy Anniversary - Flotation and Footwell

Today marks the one year anniversary of the kit getting dropped off at my house. I didn't know how far along I'd be a year from then. I knew that some people had boats in the water after 6 months. Others, after a year, barely had their keel assemblies done. In the end, it didn't really matter, as long as we eventually finish. I will share, though, that if not for the (self-inflicted) complicated electronics and the agony of the sole, I'd be much, much farther along.

My wife compared the PocketShip build to running a marathon the other day. I agree. The first and only marathon I ran was New York in 2006. The most I'd run before that was about 3 miles. Training took up too much time and heck, thousands of people run marathons every day. How hard can it be?

Turns out really hard. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done, and I've done some dumb things. I couldn't walk for a week and the accomplishment - 6 hours, 15 minutes - earned me a letter from the marathon organizers congratulating my finish as a special needs runner. I'm not kidding. Now, 26 miles over 6 hours averages to a little over 4 miles an hour, a slow jog, but still a jog over 6 hours, something I'd wager few people can wake up and do. I finished, though barely, and now have a good story to tell.

Same with PocketShip. The most impressive thing I'd built before this was a shaker table. It's a nice table, but it won't take me to the Isles. I also made a very nice cutting board. Fast forward a couple years and I just installed the footwell of my 16' foot sailboat. By this time tomorrow, I'll have the cockpit decking down, too. Suddenly, I won't have a bathtub in the garage anymore, but a boat, with a top, bottom, inside, and outside. It will truly be a three dimensional object, and a cozy one at that.

It took awhile to prep the transom for this day, something like six weeks. In between was getting the electronics ready and testing them fully since I won't see the bus bars again until I cut out the laz hatch sometime by 2018.  I laid out the protective paper and hiked down to the Big Box store for a couple 4x8's of the purple foam. It's 1.5" thick so just the right size. Of the three main types, it was also the most "water resistant". It's almost like this was made for a boat.

I had to cut it in half to get it home so the Big Box guy cut it for me. He asked what I was going to do with it since it obviously wasn't going to go behind any sheetrock. I said it's for flotation for my boat. He said, oh, I have a runner with a 100hp engine I'm fixing up. There's something about boats that connects people. Granted, I wouldn't take a runner with a 100hp engine if someone paid me but at least he was trying to make conversation as he cut up my insulation. I thanked him and secretly wished I never run into him in the water.

I got home and started carving. Keen readers will note I've got more-than-the-average stuff going on in my transom, so had to be careful about placement. My garage, too, is now littered with bits of purple insulation everywhere.

Flotation goes in. First of many.

Careful finagling to avoid the conduits and other things. This is starboard.

After about 30 minutes, I had the flotation sized and placed. One row is made up of offcuts as I had to really jam some flotation in there. It worked out well. I'm a little concerned about all the squeaking this stuff does. Only time will tell.

Flotation done in this area. The row second from left is made of offcuts. Couldn't quite get a full piece in there but managed to stuff it mostly full. I'll lay down more flotation left and right of this under the laz floors.

Once sufficiently stuffed, I took a break for dinner, came back, and formally installed the footwell sides and bottom. These have been sitting prepped for awhile now. Getting them onto the boat was exhausting due to the contortionist requirements, but one of the highlights thus far.

I then checked on the laz floors. These were cut from the pallet. I didn't want to use good plywood here as they will take a beating (I realize that's a bit of a contradiction....) but with some epoxy and paint they'll look decent enough and be able to support all the assorted crap I'll throw in the laz. I'll probably need to cut these away every couple years to access the transom bilge area, so again, didn't want to do too much of an awesome job here.

Laz floors cut from pallet plywood. 2nd layer of epoxy curing.

Test fit of laz floor. I like it! Keeps stuff off the conduits and foam, protects the hull, and looks good.

Doesn't go all the way across so I can still access stuff if I need to.

I haven't decided how permanent I want to make the laz floor. They're there to keep water off the bilge and to protect the conduit, pump, etc. But I'll need to remove them some day and don't want to muck up everything to do so. I'll probably loosely secure these with silicon to form a barrier between the floor and the footwell side (including a small 'weep hole' to drain water from here) and screw it down with a couple short stainless steel screws on the cleats. That'll be structurally sound yet still give maintenance flexibility if needed.

Other accomplishments include getting the 16' select pine from Menard's (6 planks for $140) and starting to order hull hardware. It's really, really coming together!

Baby Got Back - Prepping the Transom

Over the last few days, I've managed to firmly and permanently secure most of the sole to the floors and cleats in order to prepare for the cockpit decking.  I say "most" because I'm about 80% done and stuck.  When I first shaped the planks that would become the sole, I started portside and worked my way inside, then out to starboard.  That meant by the time I got to the starboard planks, I was fairly well versed in the machinations of floorboard fitting.  (Aside from sanding fillets, this was the least fun part of the project thus far.)

Fast forward six months:  I began installing the sole on the starboard side first, only because my step ladder was on that side.  Most pieces slid in easily and the pre-drilled holes securely held their shapes.  I was dutifully impressed with my work because there no were squeaks and, for the most part, everything lined up well, even the lift outs which I built a little blind.  As I started prepping the planks for the last three outboard slats portside, things didn't seem quite as good.  There was a raised area where there shouldn't be and one board wouldn't stay screwed down as the pilot hole was too big for the screw.

Scratching my head, I wondered what the heck happened.  How did starboard go down so well and port did not?  And then I realized that the portside planks were the ones I did first.  They were part of the initial learning curve, and suffered for it.  I'll need to pull them out, reshape some, varnish others, and fill the current pilot holes with epoxy before trying again.  The joys of boatbuilding.

Rather than do that, I took a pause and prepared for the Super Bowl.  While the game was a bust, these were a hit, courtesy of a friend's wife, a professional baker.

These were seriously good.

I contributed these: blueberry pecan banana quick bread.

These were a hit, too.

And all the while, tried to avoid looking outside. Yes, that's about 18 inches of snow on my patio.

I don't know why I even have the window shades up.

Work got the best of me over the last couple days, but I did find time tonight with my wife at a work outing.  She's at a Minnesota Wild hockey game, luxury box seats.  She doesn't even like hockey.  How's that for fair?

With the plank-work set aside for now, the first thing I had to do was empty the transom of its assorted junk.  Thirty minutes later, I finally ran the aft wiring through the vinyl tubing.  The tubing will act as a conduit and protect the wires from any water that weasels its way into the transom. Supposedly, this will work in watery environments from -40 to 140 degrees. I then lathered on enough silicon to create a lifeform, then secured it with a stainless steel band.

I also decided tonight that I will add a bilge pump back here. I see no reason why not: it's the wettest reported area in the boat, and anything I can do to keep water away from the thru-hull and the wires will go a long way towards the life of the build. I'll put the same one in I have in the cabin and run it out through the same hole in the footwell side. I didn't plan to put one here from the outset so I don't have a proper hotwire. I think I can use the green one I'd set aside for the horn as the hotwire as both the horn and the bilge pump should be 'always on.' That could be fun in the marina if I get a short in this circuit.

Wires run through the conduit. It was a bear to get this through but eventually did it.

Close up of thru-hull at BH-8. The left is the bilge pump drain. I'll be putting another bilge pump back here.

I pulled the battery from the bedroom and tested the wires as they ran from the forward locker to the transom. All of the wires work, I'm pleased to report. However, as I was taking this photo, I realized a mistake.  I needed to pull one of the speaker wires through about 3 feet more than the other to reach the far speaker. With all the friction in there, these wires aren't going anywhere, so I'll need to make a couple butt joints and wire the speaker the hard way. No fun.

I then routed through small vinyl tubes which will carry wires aft from the cabin. To do so, I drilled a path through the corners of bulkheads 7 and 8. These will run just under the support cleats and will each carry one wire. The tube acts as a mini conduit for protection and allows me to seal up the drilled holes yet still have access to run a new wire if necessary. Practically, I can now run wires to and from the cabin without messing with the wires under the sole. The plan is these will power the cabin LED strip lights mounted underneath, but can be used for anything.  With the cabin deck down and the tubes secured up against the cleat, they're not noticeable.

Small hole drilled at corner of bulkhead 7 to support the vinyl tubing. This will be filled with epoxy. The wires are test wires and will be removed.

The tubing runs along the cleat now but will be secured against it soon. I haven't decided how long a LED strip I want to run back here.

Another hole at the corner of bulkhead 8 into the laz area. This will allow me to run wires easily fore-and-aft if necessary.

Soon I'll be building the speaker boxes and installing the bus bars. Little random globs of epoxy need to go where the wood got exposed here and there, and I need to finalize the planks on the sole before securing it down. The upside is everything looks really good as I'm taking my time through this part of the build. Once the decking goes down, that's it. I'll be too preoccupied with the portlights to care..

dunnoduncare

One of the interesting things I've found about building PocketShip is how much less I care about some things I cared a lot about not long ago. One of these things is my lazarette compartment.

In the traditional design, the area between bulkhead 8 and the transom has a good layer of flotation. While watertight, it's otherwise open to the elements. Open the hatches, and you're staring at flotation. Water gets in there through rain or worse and without a bilge drain, it can get a bit, shall we say, musty (I'm looking at you, PocketShip #1).

Aesthetically, no one wants to stare down into Menard's finest home insulation. Practically, it makes it that much harder to find the beer. Many builders have installed "floors" here to separate the laz area from the flotation, which of course is an idea I'll borrow mercilessly.

Back in August, I carefully and skillfully measured the area I wanted back there. I wanted to leave a certain height to fit a 3 gallon gas tank. I measured it so carefully I was afraid to cut the cleats until everything was just so. Fast forward two months, and there were still no cleats, until tonight, anyway.

I was working on the battery platform (another long-delayed build) and mixed up too much epoxy. Rather than let it harden in the cup, I decided to go ahead and use it for the laz cleats. I couldn't find my original notes with the careful measurements, so I ran upstairs to the boat and quickly measured out 22", 26", and 17", and cut them from a ribbon of pine I had laying around the shop. The longest and shortest ones needed a 15 degree bevel to support the rake of the transom and hull.

Laz cleats in place. Left to right: 17" 26" 22". The 17" and 26" get 15 degree bevels. I aligned it with the bottom of the footwell. If I'm off a little, I'll just raise with dowels or something.

Ten minutes later, they were epoxy'd and screwed into place and I suddenly have port side laz cleats. The rest of the epoxy in the cup was getting too hard so couldn't do the starboard side, but it was nice to get something done that's been on the agenda for a long time. I don't know if it'll fit my 3 gallon gas tank, but it doesn't matter. Not lost on me is how quickly I was able to do this, based on my original attempts when building the deck cleats.

A benefit to doing this is now I can size and cut the holes for the deck plates that will give me access to the laz area from the cabin. That was an idea from mtsailor, a builder from the boards. Turns out I can fit a full 6" plate there if I want but I'll probably go a little smaller so as not to interfere with the deck or footwell.

I also expanded the holes for the secondary limber holes I drilled into the floorboards. The original secondary holes I cut into the floorboards were 7/8". The conduit I got is bigger than that, so I had to make the hole bigger. I used the old woodworker's trick of a pilot hole. First, cut the new sized hole into a piece of scrap. Then center the scrap over the old hole and clamp/secure it in place. Then drill the new hole. The scrap wood will hold the hole saw in place while you cut the bigger hole.

Scrap with new hole clamped over old hole.

I then trimmed back some of the plastic of the thru hulls and they look and fit great. I test fit the new conduit and ran a wire down the length. Very satisfying to have something work. This is a huge win for my intolerance for wires. I'll have a couple in the cabin - unless I can figure out how to invisibly run the RAM3 wire - but there won't be many.

Trimmed back the thru hulls. They fit and look great.

View of thru hull from above. Transom is to the left. To the left.

The only thing missing from the electrical infrastructure was the battery platform. A battery platform can be very simple, and indeed, many PocketShips have a couple pieces of scrap holding up the battery box, and that's just fine. I don't know why I decided to build a xylophone for my battery platform, but I did. I think it's because these were the closest bits of wood near me and I wanted to see if I could make it fit the design.

Getting the angles right was tricky. It reminded me of the exercise in futility that was the sole: measure once, cut twice, measure four times, cut once, until it fits. Finally happy, I mixed up some epoxy and screwed the pieces down with brass screws. This will then be epoxy'd onto the hull permanently, and the battery box platform will be screwed into this. Whew!

Xylophone? Nope -- battery box holder. Top holes for conduit; bottom arch for limber/water flow.

It fits pretty well. I drilled a couple holes in case I wanted to run the conduit through, but seriously, this whole exercise was completely unnecessary. In hindsight, I think I was just having fun in the shop again after ignoring the build for so long.

Lamination of cabin sole, part 2. Some day this will be done.

The last sole lamination for the sole was done tonight. That means I'm completely done with this finishing project. The manual mentions it's a big finishing job - file that under no sh!t!

I'm undecided if I want to build the speaker boxes before painting, or paint before the speaker boxes. I'd like to bust out the primer and paint as little as possible, but I know I'll be painting the top sides whenever I get around to that, which means if I put off the speaker boxes until then, no harm.

View from the garage at the rear of the other boat. It was a nice late afternoon to work. That's my father in law back from a walk,