Rapchizzle's GF14 - Creek Rat (COMPLETE! 8-23)

[Rapchizzle]

I've gotten my motorwell, midseat and bow compartment pieces cut and cleats glued and are cleaning them up with the sander today. I flipped the hull and put the bottom on, and it was only a little bit off but i was able to get everything lined up and shaped up enough for my liking. I also added two strips of 3/4" x 1 1/2" SYP to the bow transom to continue the rub rail around the front as I find that I like to run into stuff like docks, piers, pylons, etc. I'm getting it shaped up and filling in all my screw holes with epoxy glue today and hopefully will be ready to lay the inside glass this week.







not too much of a gap between the sides and bottom.



put the bottom on, taped it, screwed it and it fits!



Small gap between the bow transom and the bow platform



gluing cleat on the bow compartment divider for the foam and the extra rubrail on the bow so I can ram shit.







One of my buddies OD'ed and passed away yesterday so having today off and a little boat building has helped me keep my mind on more positive things. It's a terrible situation and I know his family has been going through tough times lately. I just hope this is a wake up call to some of our other friends to get their act together and clean it up. He had been getting everything straight for the past year and just made a stupid mistake.

[Aripeka Angler]

You are flying on this build! I will have to check it out next month when we are in the Keys Maybe you could use some help sanding for few hours?

Sorry to hear about your buddy Boat building sure is great therapy though when life throws throws a curve ball at you...

[Rapchizzle]

Thanks AA, it's a shame that it happened now. A mutual friend of ours moved out to LA and has been getting heavy duty into the Hollywood thing with film production, directing, etc and this guy was planning to move out there next month to work with him for a fresh start. I hope this makes people realize how fragile their existence is.


A few more pictures of today's progress.




Filled the lip in with some epoxy glue so I can shape the bow rub rail to look like one fluid piece.

[thb]

Maybe its just the photos but where is your fiberglass tape and epoxy on all your exterior seams? I would have done this before any attempts to flip. It seems like the sequence of the build may be off but I have no plans for a GF14 so I am just guessing it is like all the other builds.
Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

[Cracker Larry]

Tom, he is using the correct method for that boat, and the way described in the building notes. Since the GF series are not built on any kind of jig, they rely on the frames and seat tops to square the boat. If you glass the outer seams first, there is no way to insure the hull is square. It just takes an extra flip, but that little boat is simple to flip.

[Rapchizzle]

I have sanded everything on the interior of the boat, glued all of my cleats and filled in any holes I drilled and am ready to start glassing! I cut all of my cloth out tonight and will cut my tapes tomorrow evening. I am fishing monday-friday and will have saturday off, then will fish 6 of 7 days next week too. I hope to get all of the glassing done on the inside of the boat on saturday so it will all cure together, reducing the amount of sanding time! I also shaped up my front bow rail and have an idea as to what to use for a rubrail instead of the expensive Taco kits. I'd like to get my hands off some 4-5 " fire hose that I can wrap the gunnels in.

Been offshore to 2000 ft the past two days and only have 1 dolphin and 1 skipjack to show for it. Offshore is touch this year but at least the weather has been swell. I plan to hit the rEef in the morning and go. Poke my nose out in the afternoon tomorrow!

[wadestep]

Good talking to you at dinner. We were talking about drains. Here's how I did it:
http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=220
I bought the PVC at Ace Hardware.
Cheap, easy, and 1.25" drain plugs fit. Might want to get the drain plug at the same time to make 100% sure before glassing it in.
wade

[Rapchizzle]

I've been pretty busy since my last posting. I've got the interior glassed and sanded and about ready for fairing this next week. I've got my hatches cut in the bow compartment and mid seat (next round of pictures...) and the drains cut and I'm close to glassing the PVC ripped in half to the deck under the compartments. I've got a can of Bilgekote for the bow hatch, midseat and rear hatch. Instead of putting the fuel tank in the bow as I had planned before, I've decided to keep it in the middle seat accessible from the stern. I got a water tight, locking hatch for the rear deck and have my motor well and foam compartments about ready to be finished. I've been covered in fiberglass dust for the past week and it SUCKS!

[Rapchizzle]

[Rapchizzle]

Fairing sucks.