Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Hey, everyone! My name is William Wolfe, but my friends just call me Wolfe. I have chosen to build the 14-foot Runabout. I chose it for a number of reasons. I like the style. I'm looking forward to decking it in mahogany and working out a smooth, beautiful finish. I love the type of boat this is. I'm going to want to just get a boat on the water and drive until I run out of gas -- then fill it up and drive some more. I might even want to invite a young lady to join me. Finally, the size of this boat will fit quite neatly in my garage alongside some other woodworking projects I have going on.

I've been woodworking for several years now. My dad taught me from a young age and it's been a great outlet for both my creative side and that geometric part of my brain.

Several months ago, Dad and I were talking about fishing in the Gulf and he asked me once again why I don't have a boat. Then he brought up that he and his father used to build Glen L boats back when it was all purchased out of the backs of magazines. Over his lifetime, Grandfather had built about five boats.

Prior to that conversation, I had never heard of such a thing. But I was hooked immediately. It took me about four months just to decide which plan to buy, but I finally did it. I took a month to pour over the drawings.

I recently made my inaugural cut.

It's the bowmold, cut from a scrap of birch plywood I had laying around. Being the big kid I am, I took the photo to work on my phone and showed it to absolutely everybody.

Lots of eyerolls.

I'm most looking forward to getting help from friends and family on this build. I think this will be a good opportunity to teach my niece a lot about woodworking. I even bought her a dust mask.


And, like so many of you, I'm looking forward to the day when I can lean back in my Runabout and say, "What, this? Just got done building it."

Ha ha! Your niece almost looks like she's shocked in that picture!

Keep up the build! And take LOTS of pictures for us picture hungry fools!

Congratulations on getting started. Posting updates on the forum motivates me to keep going - I can look back and see what I have accomplished and when I find myself on page 4 I know its time to get busy building. Good luck with the build.

Got some of the stations cut out. If I feel this large a swell of pride just from that, I'll probably fall over dead once I get the boat finished.

Pride is what you deserve when you cut your own panels rather than buying a pre-cut kit. Nice

Good start and good of you to share with a younger generation. Keep it up and you'll be floating in no time

gstanfield wrote:Good start and good of you to share with a younger generation. Keep it up and you'll be floating in no time

I'll turn that girl into a tomboy yet.

Wolfe, Welcome. We are neighbors of a sort. I live down S. Shades Crest. Shoot me a P.M.

Got all of the stations cut out. Still need to do the transom layers and the rest of the stringers.

I'm a little ashamed of my unabashed childish glee, but I took Station A to work to show off.

"That's nice, Wolfe."

I'm a little ashamed of my unabashed childish glee, but I took Station A to work to show off.

Why be ashamed? You are doing what 98% of the world is scared to death of doing and will do their best to talk you out of! Be PROUD of what you're doing! And take pride in doing it right!

Most of us, especially those that have build multiple boats, do it not to save money but because of the sheer enjoyment of the build process. Boat building is simply a series of problems to be solved and then move on to the next. Every problem, including those you make yourself, is solvable. Every problem solved brings a sense of accomplishment. Many problems in life are beyond our complete control, that makes guys unhappy; however every step of the build is under your control, and can be controlled, solved, accomplished, and your own ideas blended with the experience of others.

What you're feeling is what we call BBV - Boat Building Virus. Some folks get all the way through a build before they realize that they have this new addiction, but it sounds like you're already hooked! Welcome to the club!

I suppose the only cure for BBV is water.... maybe a lakefull?

Well said ross. I live on the jersey shore or twenty minutes from the beach. I continously here why didn,t you just buy a boat. They don't understand the virus. Where I live there is a boat bone yard every 1/2 mile. i could have chosen a hundred boats to even repower or rebuild. To build one from a stack of plywood has been a dream for over 20 years. Welcome to the club and build on my friend. There is no know cure as of yet.
Dave

Started cutting the stringers this morning, but -- like a dingaling -- forgot to account for the kerf. So one of the stringer pieces turned out a blade's width shorter than the other. Luckily, I have wood to spare and can give myself a do-over.

Keep in mind that a little bit of gap is a good thing with epoxy construction. If you're only off a blade's width you are well within tolerance

I'm more worried about it creating a gap for glassing later.

Maybe I'm not following correctly, but the gaps get filled with thickened epoxy when you glue the parts together then a fillet and then the glass. The glass wouldn't be bridging a gap at all. If you read the tutorials you'll see that you don't want a tight wood to wood fit as it created hard spots.

Or maybe I am misunderstanding your concern.

Well, when you put it that way...

I'm just being anal about the measurements.

Mate, a pic is a 1000 word worth here..

keep posting progress of your pics, sometimes people just dive in before you even ask for help when they notice smtg that you may have missed.. like above we are just guessing to help but with the pic, things are more precise.

really a helpful community out here.. so post pics as much as you can..

Just to put it another way:
when you go to glass it, you take mayonaisse consistency epoxy+woodflour and fill the gap. then you take a tounge depressor and give it a little radius, then lay the wet-out fiberglass tape on top. So, 1/8" or even 1/4" gap is good, it gets filled with woodflour which you need for the radius anyway. In places like the very prow and again the transom after flipping, the gaps can even be bigger than that.
wade

This weekend we can buy plywood tax-free for emergency preparedness.

Sadly, there's still no 4mm marine ply available around here.

Just ordered the Silvertip kit for this boat. Ordered this before ordering the 1/4" ply so I could go ahead and assemble the stringers and transom.

I really like the SIlverTip. Other than the cost issue, It would be a near impossible sell to get me to go back to any other brand(s).

When/if the cost comes down, I've got two projects planned already, once I've got a building area arranged again.

I don't know if you've used other products before. If you have, I think you will like ST.

ks8 wrote:I don't know if you've used other products before. If you have, I think you will like ST.

This is my first build. For me, it's going to be like driving a Porsche. Using anything else will seem like total garbage. Might as well stick with the good stuff, eh?

Some other brands are quite good, but the SilverTip certainly raises the bar in several ways. I would not too quickly denounce any others. MarinEpoxy is a very good value, and a good epoxy, but be sure to use it up in a year or two. The SIlver Tip wets out so nicely though, no blush encountered yet, mixes easily, good shelf life, better specs, but again, the specs of some other brands are well within the range for use in these designs, and certainly less of a strain on the wallet, but I *do* like SilverTip! And I think you will also.

Tomorrow I'm gluing the transom together. My question is this: Is it better to do all of the layers at once or one-by-one (two layers, let it dry, add the third, let it dry, add the fourth)?

I glue all the layers at one time. Dry fit them and clamp them together, then drill 3 holes through it and insert short 3 pieces of wooden dowels. This will keep all the pieces aligned. Take it apart, prime and glue one layer, insert the dowels, set on the next layer, prime and glue it, then the next. Just stack them up on the dowels. Like this....

Dry fit



Glue



Stack and clamp

Thank you, Larry. Now where am I going to find a section of railroad?

Use some concrete blocks, or screws, or bolts, or plastic water jugs, or stand on it until it drys The transom doesn't care. I've got several different size pieces of train rail, great stuff There is a railroad yard a couple of miles from me that lays and repairs track. They have cut off scraps that they throw away, or sell as scrap metal.

[quote="Cracker Larry"]or stand on it until it drys quote]

William Connected with Southern Gent

As tempted as I was to take a picture of myself standing on the transom as it dried a la Cracker Larry's advice, I decided not to gamble on it.



Instead, I used a pair of pickle buckets I fished out of the dumpster at work and filled with water. They weighed in at about 40lbs each.

You can just make out the curve of the tumblehome along the bottom there.

The transom was maybe the first thing I laminated on my first build. It was a great feeling holding it after it cured and was cleaned up. A tangible proof that I was actually building a boat. Showed it to guests that Christmas and told them it was going to become a boat... I'm anticipating seeing more pictures of the first RB build I know of that is being posted here. Enjoy your build!

Fresh off of a rare two-days-in-a-row off and I managed to accomplish a great deal. Lots of table and band saw work got my stringers all cut out and congruent. Spent the rest of last night with the broom and shop vac.

This morning before work I set out the plastic and set the stringer pieces out for epoxy.



Slapped on the epoxy with what will turn out to be my LAST overpriced paintbrush. Managed to piece it all together nice and straight. Folded over the plastic, set down a couple of lengths of 2x4 to even out the weight, and applied more pickle buckets from work. Thanks, work!



The next step will be to cut notches in the stringers and stations, then to the dry fit!

Hopefully when I get home tonight I won't find that the cats have pushed the buckets over.

This morning, I took down the pickle buckets and checked on the stringers. They look good except for the points, where they didn't quite meet up. Guess I should have put something heavy on those especially.



Should I take the time to re-lam those or is a 1/8" gap not going to matter?

This morning before work, I set up my garage to notch the transom for the stringers. Ideally, I should have just notched one of the layers before laminating everything together. Bygones.

I have the transom clamped to my sawhorses and the router depth set to go through one layer of ply. When I get home tonight, I'll plot the cut and score around it with my pull saw. Then I'll pretty up the notch with a chisel.

Throughout the week, I'll begin assembling the build platform, then finally get to the dry fit.

I'm really looking forward to watching this one come together.

I'm a little surprised that there aren't more people building this style of boat. I can understand wanting to build a fishing boat. My next build will be a fishing boat.

I guess for me this boat will be art for art's sake.

94Virago wrote:I'm a little surprised that there aren't more people building this style of boat. I can understand wanting to build a fishing boat. My next build will be a fishing boat.

I guess for me this boat will be art for art's sake.

It is a beautiful boat, if I could use it here I would definitely build it I think reason you don't see much RB's build threads is because her plans aren't released for to long of a time now, so it's a fairly new design at Bateau.com

So, I'm a groundbreaker? Cool!

peter-curacao wrote: I think reason you don't see much RB's build threads is because her plans aren't released for to long of a time now, so it's a fairly new design at Bateau.com

thats right. Once there are a few documented builds, we see the plans/kits order really pick up.

Makes me want to build one, for that reason.

I'd love to build the RB16 as a cruiser to take to the lake.

94Virago wrote:I guess for me this boat will be art for art's sake.

Agree!

shine wrote:thats right. Once there are a few documented builds, we see the plans/kits order really pick up.

If I haven't already said or implied it. Bateau is welcome to use any and all of my photos for the RB14 page. That said, I'll endeavor to take nicer pictures.

Please post more pics as you go!!! I am eager to see your progress, as I will be starting a RB 16 in March. (I'm just getting to the rigging on my PK 78, and will post my own pics as son as I'm done).

Jason

nitwit wrote:Please post more pics as you go!!! I am eager to see your progress, as I will be starting a RB 16 in March. (I'm just getting to the rigging on my PK 78, and will post my own pics as son as I'm done).

Jason

Sorry I haven't made any real progress lately. I've been on a long string of 12-hour shifts at work and haven't had time to do much in the way of personal projects.

94Virago wrote:I'm a little surprised that there aren't more people building this style of boat. I can understand wanting to build a fishing boat. My next build will be a fishing boat.

I guess for me this boat will be art for art's sake.

I want to build one but i'm told i can't adapt it to my wishes because the boat is just to small or my wishes to big

Thinking about a modified RB16.. Maybe impossible to scale up the RB16 a bit more to get what i want out of it.

I'm thinking of This layout:



Between 2 back seats 200 cm / 6 feet 7 inches so i can lay the seat flat and have a sunn deck.

1/4" plywood ordered! Niece is coming over Thursday to help me square up my garage for some serious build-time. Maybe now I can get the stations and stringers out of my living room

Whenever my build materials migrate into the house i'm not able to keep them there. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) will not tollerate this

When the plywood comes and you start cutting it starts getting real real fast

PrometheusNL wrote:Whenever my build materials migrate into the house i'm not able to keep them there. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) will not tollerate this

I thank my lucky stars, my friend.

Thanks to a hefty tax rebate, I decide to go ahead and buy my trailer. On my father's recommendation I call Eddie English in Milton, FL and let him know that I'd be down in a month. Long story short: I drove all the way down here for nothing. He is apparently having problems with his frame supplier.

I'm going to get some sushi then drive up Gulf Shores Parkway and see if any dealers have one on the lot.

William, Bummer on your trailer deal in Milton. Drive safely and good Luck in your search. Bill

Found a trailer at Aiport Marine in Alabaster. Turns out that story about finding treasure in your own backyard has some merit.

I did a dry fit of my stringers and stations last weekend.


Then I took that apart and cut out the hull panels.

That's right. They're in my living room. Three cheers for living alone!

Tomorrow, I'll tidy up the panels on the band saw.

So here's how my dad and I spent Father's Day:



Roughly $600 in parts from Eastern Marine (dot com). My birthday present from dad was the channel steel we used to build the trailer. We got about halfway through the build in one blistering hot day's work. We're planning to finish it up Tuesday evening.

PS: Sorry for the long delay between posts. Work has been an absolute bear lately.

William, That's great. Work safe in this heat. Bill

Any chance of you making the Gautier July 12-14 meeting?

Southern Gent wrote:Any chance of you making the Gautier July 12-14 meeting?

Sadly, not this time. I blame a combination of factors including but not limited to: Work, boat building, limited remaining vacation time, etc.

Trailer!



Still missing fenders, rollers, bunks and the winch stand. But I got it good enough for driving around.

Also, marvel at my poor landscaping skills.

OK. I found a problem I need help with. The drawing that shows the spacing between stations shows:



16.25" between the back station and the transom.

The drawing of the motorwell sides show this:



15". Should that 16.25" be from station E to the outside of the transom?

EDIT: Crap. It IS from the outside, isn't it? Does that mean I have to re-cut the notches on my stringers or -- worse yet -- cut all new stringers?

The one at the top shows the location measured from the outside lower corner of the transom, the other one takes in account the thickness of the transom and clamping board. It will fit.

Your stringers are correct too. There is nothing to subtract or add to any of those dimensions.
The stringers drawing says that the stringers butt against the transom, that means against the transom with the clamping board on it.

BTW, you did a dry fit and it worked, we see the pictures.

jacquesmm wrote:BTW, you did a dry fit and it worked, we see the pictures.

True, but that was without the motorwell sides. I've since temp-cleated those in place and its all out of whack.

What is out of whack?
Does it fit without the MW sides?

The stringers drawing shows the first notch at 14-7/8". The distance you show us is 15". That should match within 1/8".
You don't really need the other dimension but we show it on the stations drawing for those who want to build the boat their way with different molds spacing.
The text just above says:
"Stations location origin is outside lower corner of transom.
All station locations are on the "smallest" side of the frames.
This means from A to C = bow side, all others stern side.
The baseline (BL) is the top of the stringers."

Did you cut your first notch at 16-1/4" instead of 14-7/8?

Once I understand what happened, I have some ideas on how to fix it easily.

We posted at the same time.
What is the distance from the end of the stringers to the first notch?
Measured as we show on the plans, along the keel side?

The stringers drawing shows this text next to the stringers:

Stringers are made from 2 layers.
Offset seams!
Assembly notches optional.
Notches in stringer are 1" deep, see stations drawing for location.
As designed, stringers butt against transom.
If desired, the builder can notch one or several layers of transom
to receive the stringers. Extend stringer accordingly.

I see that you notched the 1st layer of the clamping board. That is fine but as I wrote on the plans, you must extend the stringer accordingly.

PS: we'll fix it . . .

End-of-stringer to the first notch is 16 3/4. Does that mean I need to lop an inch and three quarters off of the end of my stringers or do I need to re-notch?

That is where we show the 1st notch on the plans.
Can you check that distance?

Sure enough. That's where I boned it up. What do you recommend I do?

What is that distance?

18"

OK that's good.
And how did you measure the location of the other notches?
If you measured them all from the rear notch, if all the frames spacing is as on the drawing, then the solution is super simple: trim the end of the stringers.
If not, let me know how you measured the location of the other frames.

94Virago wrote:End-of-stringer to the first notch is 16 3/4. Does that mean I need to lop an inch and three quarters off of the end of my stringers or do I need to re-notch?

I did not see that one.
Yes, that's what you should do: cut the end of the stringers.

Luckily I did measure subsequent notches from that first one. Will trimming the stringers not make them too short?

No, they will be exactly as on the plans.
All your frames are in the correct place, the hull shape is correct.

That was easier to fix than to add to it but I was ready to recommend to sister the stringers if they were too short.

I will add a big bold line to the building notes. I understand how the confusion happened.

By the way, thanks for the rapid response.

I got a Google alert in my email for an outboard that fit my specifications: A 1959 35hp Johnson Super Sea Horse. And he only wanted $200! He had that and a similar motor as a parts donator. I plunked down the cash and took them both home.

Hell, You'll be lucky if they only last another 50 years.

rjezuit wrote:Hell, You'll be lucky if they only last another 50 years.

And if I'm unlucky, they'll last 150?

After another lengthy hiatus while I learned the proper spelling for "hiatus", my dad and I got to work un-screwing-up my stringer situation. My dad noticed something that I'd like to ask you pro builders.

Towards the bow of the boat, should I round over the edges of the stringers to match the shape of the hull? It looks like the hull is going to lean more towards the vertical as it goes forward, especially when it gets to the notches in Station B. I'm concerned about there being too much gap to fill with putty.

You can do that or use putty with little wedges. Up to a 1/2" gap there is normal. For more than 1" I would fill with wood wedges and putty.

My dad and I got down and dirty yesterday. We grinded/sanded down the stringers so they would conform to the hull shape better.


Then we built some quick jigs from 2x4's to hold each station in place and draped the whole thing in tarpaulin.


After that, we had just enough daylight left to do a quick fit of the bottom hull panels.


The plan is to drape the hull panels in steamed towels to get them to better form around the stations and bow guide. Does anyone have a better idea?

I cant tell from the pictures if you have done this....

I put finish nails right at the apex of the mold, so when you pull the panels together, they but right up on the CL. The nails also make for a consistent small gap.

for reference...

I'm using tile spacers.

the nails in the center of the mold keep the panels lined up relative to the center line.... keeps them from moving when you push the bottom panels together. When you start to bring those tow panels together at the bow, they push against one another, the nails do not move, and that is nice. Tile spacers will move right along with the panels

Ah. I see what you're saying. I'll take a run at that.

My dad and I learned some valuable lessons today.

• Just how poorly a 14' boat fits in a 20' garage.
  That I measured everything correctly.
  How little that last thing matters.