Hayloft VG23

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tonymart
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Post by tonymart »

Andrew,
Any updates on your VG23? I am anxious to see how it turns out for you and even more anxious to get started on my own boat and learning to sail.
Tony
Vagabond 20+

andrew lucking
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Post by andrew lucking »

tonymart wrote:Andrew,
Any updates on your VG23? I am anxious to see how it turns out for you and even more anxious to get started on my own boat and learning to sail.
Tony
Hi Tony. For sure:
Things are coming along nicely. The hull is now completely glassed on the inside and I've patched up the bubbles I mentioned previously. I squeeged on a 'coat' of epoxy on the weekend to fill the fg weave. One more "quick" sanding and I should be ready to begin installing the stringers and frames. (I'm still trying to figure out how to sand a 23' boat quickly :roll:). I've also been plugging away at applying a saturation coat of epoxy to the frames to get 'em prepped.

I was going to run a few gallons of epoxy short before the cold hits so I ordered some jugs of the E-Poxy with a medium hardener and they arrived just in time - the last few evenings of work the temps have dropped to 12-15 celcius. If winter doesn't hit too early this year I hope to be able to get the framing installed before halting for the cold months.

Not much to photograph but I'll snap a few when I'm up the next time.

Hey Tony, do ya think we could get some sort of group deal on sailing lessons?? :wink: :wink: Have you settled on which boat you'd like?

Cheers,
A.

jasonmcintosh
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Post by jasonmcintosh »

andrew lucking wrote:I squeeged on a 'coat' of epoxy on the weekend to fill the fg weave.
Why did you decide to fill the weave with epoxy rather than fairing compound? Did you learn that epoxy would be stronger?

jason
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andrew lucking
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Post by andrew lucking »

jasonmcintosh wrote:Why did you decide to fill the weave with epoxy rather than fairing compound? Did you learn that epoxy would be stronger?
jason
Only anecdotally I suppose. My thinking is that fairing compound is intended for more of a cosmetic application and I do intend to use it on other visible areas. I feel that inside the hull I'm better off going for the structural and bonding advantage straight epoxy gives. To be honest I didn't sweat it much, and my opinion is worth what it is - that of an amateur.:lol:

Cheers,
A.

tonymart
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Post by tonymart »

Andrew,
You looking to learn sailing also? I have never sailed but have become very interested in sailing after years of motorboating on lakes. My interest is to be able to coastal cruise when I retire in 5-6 years. I have read stories of people coastal cruising and all the possiblities around the continent after having my interest peaked from reading about Justin Pipkins cruise to the Bahamas with some trailer sailors.
Originally thinking about building the VG20 and purchasing the plans I have now become more interested in the VG23 or the serpentaire. I am happy to see you building the 23. I have looked at other plans and have not found any that compare to the VG20, VG23, or the Serpentaire for their size.
By the way, only way I know to sand that 23 footer any faster would be with a 23 foot sander!!!! If I lived near I could give you a hand with it for the experience but I reside in Oklahoma.
Lots of luck,
Tony
Vagabond 20+

andrew lucking
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Post by andrew lucking »

Well, here are a couple of the latest pics:

Image
Image

I tried to get some shots from across the alleyway to give you folks an idea of what the boat looks like sitting up there in the loft but they didn't turn out. Too dark I guess. I'll try to set up a couple of the halogen worklights and see if that'll help.

I started to install some of the framing on the weekend. Well, I started to fit them atleast. Its nice to switch back to working with wood for a bit.

tonymart wrote:You looking to learn sailing also? I have never sailed but have become very interested in sailing after years of motorboating on lakes. My interest is to be able to coastal cruise when I retire in 5-6 years. I have read stories of people coastal cruising and all the possiblities around the continent after having my interest peaked from reading about Justin Pipkins cruise to the Bahamas with some trailer sailors.
Learning to sail is definitely on my to do list. 8O When I started dreaming of this project I thought it would be more "adventerous" to build the boat and then learn how to sail her. I must be getting old as that little plan is starting to seem less practical lately.:lol: No matter the order though, following that dream is certainly the important part.

Cheers,
A.

chrisobee
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Post by chrisobee »

Lots of people learn to sail on a 23' sloop. But do yourself a favor and go take a class or get a friend to help or join a local club.

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LarryA
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Post by LarryA »

andrew lucking wrote: Learning to sail is definitely on my to do list. 8O When I started dreaming of this project I thought it would be more "adventerous" to build the boat and then learn how to sail her. I must be getting old as that little plan is starting to seem less practical lately.
Cheers,
A.
I seem to recall Dennis Conner's book suggests learning to sail on a light-to-moderate displacement, performance oriented keelboat in the low 20 foot range, gives you a lot of feel for changes made to trim without the fear of going swimming....

jasonmcintosh
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Post by jasonmcintosh »

Alas, I know very little about sailing, but one thing that my 12' snark taught me is that how you rig your boat is important.

If you don't have much sailing experience, you may not know how to rig it well. Not sure what are in the plans, but I'd highly recommend that you get some sailing experience before you spend the money and effort on rigging your boat.

Which is to say, unless the plans include some very good rigging guidelines, DON'T rig your boat until you've got the experience to know what you want!

A number of months ago, someone finished one of the Bateau sailboats (he left the rear transom open so he could get in and out easily). The guy did a stellar job with the boat, and the pictures of his rigging setup was amazing. Certainly nothing you would have come up with some afternoon. That guy knew what he was doing, and I'm sure that the performance of the boat benefited greatly.

jason
Hopefully fishing from my GF18

andrew lucking
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Post by andrew lucking »

LarryA wrote:I seem to recall Dennis Conner's book suggests learning to sail on a light-to-moderate displacement, performance oriented keelboat in the low 20 foot range, gives you a lot of feel for changes made to trim without the fear of going swimming....
Excellent. It just so happens I have one of those in the attic... err... hayloft. Mind you it needs a bit of work if I recall correctly! :lol: :lol:
jasonmcintosh wrote:Which is to say, unless the plans include some very good rigging guidelines, DON'T rig your boat until you've got the experience to know what you want!
More words of wisdom, Jason. To go along with that I find myself in a similar situation with planning the layout of the cabin and all the "convenience customizations" etc. I'm kind of looking forward to the pause winter will give me to spend some serious time investigating, reading and plain old thinkin' about how I specifically want to set things up. Of course I'm going to do some of these things wrong but heck I am doing it, not still sitting on my couch talking about it (as I did for quite sometime) 8)

A.

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