Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

**** This thread is picture heavy! ****

The purpose of this boat and the name come from my other ongoing build, a GT23 named Midstream. My plan is to have a folding front bow of the GT that I can load/unload kayaks from. I figured I would document this build separate from MidStream.

BB, good seeing you this week. Have a nice holiday weekend!! Jeff

It was nice meeting the crew at Bateau. Too bad Jacques was not there but I bet he's having a lot more fun than any of us right now.

Here's tonight's work. Not bad for an hour after bible study... The wife came out and helped me trace while I was making the next cut.


I will try to get another hour or so in tomorrow night after church. I'll see if I can get the wife out there again. I'm amazed I got her out there tonight!

BB, that is a huge amount accomplished in 1 hour!!! Nice, Jeff

I had to make a trip to Montana so I didn't get a lot done working on the boats for the last week. Here's a couple of pictures to show a short portion of my trip.


Sacajawea II is a 50' wooden boat that the tour was given on. The tour guide was a Cajun from Louisiana that gave a great history lesson on the area.


I finally had time to get some work done. I have about 90% cut out. I am waiting on a few pieces until I get the hull finished and take measurements off of the hull itself. I built an assembly table out of 2"x8"x12' joists that I will reuse after the boat for my kids fort. I used 3/4" plywood for the table top and some 4x4 oak legs that I had laying around. I didn't have to cut them to get a near perfect height. I got things laid out for gluing tomorrow evening.



Instead of making 4 transom cutouts and then gluing them together, I did two out of 4mm and used 9mm for the other two. It should save me on the gluing time. I am tempted to just glue a 4mm and a 9mm and call it good since I will only be using electric motors with this one.



Here are the transom knees that I did the same as the transom only this time I only cut them out of 9mm instead of two 4mm pieces.


Here's my under table storage. Not full yet but it shouldn't take long to fill it up.

Looking good Barry! Trip looked like it would be fun.

Barry, looks like a great trip to Montana, beautiful State!! Nice work on the cutting!! Jeff

First two splices are made with assistance. The bigger one placed the fiberglass and moved some epoxy around. We'll see how it comes out!

BB, great family project and glad to see them both involved!!! Jeff

Nice work so far. I'm interested in the FS13 so I'll be watching this thread to learn some building tricks.

Karlo,

The first picture is from earlier in the week. My oldest son was visiting from Montana and spent a little time learning about making short pieces of plywood into long pieces of plywood.



Today was a very successful day. Bobby (Repton) came over and we managed to make a stack of plywood into a boat! Here's some of the pictures from today. We only worked for a few hours but that was enough to get to this point.






Things learned from today:
1. Having someone else who is interested in boat building makes the build go better.
2. The ziptie head should be on the inside of the boat not on the bottom.
3. It's nice having a garage that is 15 - 20 degrees cooler than outside.

Mistakes made thus far (that I'll admit to):
1. Cut a the sides ~7" short. I didn't measure right.
2. I tightened some of the zipties too much too soon.
3. Applying too much epoxy to some of my splices.

Both of these were easy fixes this week.

BB, that is a good looking oldest son!!! Also, you and Repton got a lot accomplished!!! Really looking good!! Jeff

Thanks Jeff. Trying to get done at a fast pace...

I did the fillets and tape wet on wet. I did the whole inside tonight.



I messed up one batch. I think I had it right but I rushed it and lost my pump count. I'd rather waste it than have to clean up the mess.



I was worn out and felt like I needed a reward after the session!

Looking Good Barry!

BB Sig wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:01 pm
I did the fillets and tape wet on wet. I did the whole inside tonight.

That's the way to do it Barry!

BB, really clean work!! I also like the after-work drink!! Jeff

Thanks guys! The drink was a celebration from nothing too crazy happening.

I should have the stringers and frames in tonight and I'm shooting for getting the cleats in on Thursday night. Friday night is wife time and Saturday morning is hopefully fishing. I want to pour foam on Saturday afternoon. We'll see how tight to the schedule I can keep this. Shooting for a July 16th launch.

I think I read somewhere that if I launch and it is only primer, that it is okay. Is this right? I know it will at least require a couple of sanding/re-primer sessions.

You could launch it with just epoxy just don't leave it outside in the sun for long periods of time. Then prime.

Great job. It seems like you earned at least 7 or 8 drinks. Keep them in the bank for when you need one and haven't earned it

Okay it's Saturday! We need pictures of fish or foam. Foamy fish or Fishy foam will work too.

LOL! How about fish and boat work (x2)?! No foam but getting closer...

Started fishing at 9 am and limited out at 9:30. Snapper were hitting everything and then stopped like someone turned off the switch!



Got most of the frames and stringers glued in. I also got a new bulkhead glued in that is not per the plans.



Keep in mind that I am going for a work boat finish. Eric, hide your eyes!



I've been working on this little guy for a few months. It is harder to bend this to shape than it was the full size. It is a tenth scale using the metric measurements.



Hopefully that will satisfy Eric for now.

Thanks for the encouragement! It was a busy day to fit it all in.

Nice looking work

That will do for now! Carry on!!

Catching a fish = good day. Building a boat = good day. Doing both = great day.

Thanks guys! It was a great day!

Great day BB!!! Love the scale model as well!! Jeff

Not a lot to show for the day even though I worked a while after church. I ripped cleats from 2x4's and coated them and the inside with a layer of epoxy. Used the GT23 as a saw horse. Placed some packing tape on the stringers and frames.

Progress is progress!

It's like eating an elephant. Sometimes the bites are memorable and sometimes it feels like you've had better things to eat. You get through the elephant by eating it all one bite at a time.

BB Sig wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:21 pm It's like eating an elephant. Sometimes the bites are memorable and sometimes it feels like you've had better things to eat. You get through the elephant by eating it all one bite at a time.

There is no other sensible way.

Not too much memorable bits lately. I've got my kids visiting for a month so my priorities have changed lately...

Been working on cleats slowly. I feel the need to buy or make more clamps... I think AA and Eric have me beat on clamps!



I want to install a thru the hull transducer so I don't have to do the typical kayak pvc pipe mount. Worked on that for a little bit. I think I am going to make a few more layers prior to calling it done. This is starboard side between the transom and frame D. I will be placing an access port and conduit for the transducer wire to run to the bow. I used plexiglass taped to the bottom of the hole and then a plastic cup with diving weights in it to get the glass to stay down. You can see the lettering imprint the bottom of the cup made on the epoxy. I think it worked great for compressing the fiberglass while the epoxy cured.

BB, looks good!! Just sent you a response on the Bow Eye, very nice!! Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I wanted to talk to Jeff before posting this piece.

I wanted something a little different than a normal bow eye and found it on Bay of Maine Boats They designed and made it for the custom boats they build but also sell these bow eyes. Real friendly people and shipping is faster that Jimmy Johns! That's right faster than freaky fast! I haven't mounted it yet but I will probably do it upside down to flow with the curve in the bow.

***I want to make it clear that these are really small. They state that they are for boats under 20' but I think I would limit it to 16' due to the single attachment point. This is my OPINION only. ***

Jeff is going to attempt to make contact with them in an attempt to start carrying them in the store.

Nice looking work You are going to be floating waaayyy before winter.
What type of metal is your bow eye made from?

I picked the stainless steel option.

Barry, Richard has a bunch of clamps. I have a bunch of sandpaper!
The boat is really looking great!!

Got a little work in between kid issues... If they could learn to get along, the kayak would be done!

I got the bow deck cut out and a backing glued on. The backing really stiffens the bow deck! The only reason I used a backing is so I can put an inspection port and use it for a small 7ah battery for a depth finder and navigation lights. I plan on fishing at night and want them built in.



Bow deck in place..



My main fly rod would fit without going into the bow compartment but I would have to step into the aft 1/3 of the boat. I prefer to avoid that in this kayak! I put a rod tube into the bow compartment for this reason. This will allow me to grab the rod while at the grab bar. I used light weight water pipe to keep it as light as possible. This will make up for my messy work habits!



And then there was the foam. That is a weird process. My boys enjoyed watching it expand! My youngest thought it was weird and wouldn't take his eyes off of it until the last batch had risen. Then the rain started 10 minutes later and I had to rush the boat back to its now clean table.



I am leaning towards getting a Dragonfly 5 for the yak. The length of the transducer dictated a change be made. The small circle for the old style transducers would not work. I cut it out and expanded the hole. 12oz biax with 2 layers of some heavy mat made quick work of the 4.5 x 9" hole!

Barry, Take a look at wheelchair batteries. They are small and deep cycle.

I have a used wheel chair battery in my FS18 given to me by a buddy that sells them, and I haven't had to charge a single time in a year and a half. I guess the 20 hp Merc charges it plenty even with the low hours running.

Thanks for the suggestion but a little large to fit through a 6" hole and they are HEAVY! This has to be able to be removed for days when I just want a quiet paddle in a light yak. The trolling motor and the battery are for serious fishing days!

I plan on installing an anchor trolley. I am guessing that a 6mm backing plate should do?

I'm also trying to figure out where to mount a fish finder. My first thought was at the bow but then I have to walk up there and it may be unsteady. The next thought is to the right of the seat so i can see it from standing and seated. Would you run a conduit from the center or from the bow under the inside gunnels or just route a little bit from the gunnels to do just that?

I didn't realize today when we were talking how small this is. You are definitely more of a man than I am to take that thing offshore. It looks awesome and will pretty awesome to let your kids use it and to have it on the front of the 23. Build on and keep up the good work. Good talking to you today!!

Lol! Calm days only! Your build looks good. It was great talking boats today.

Sorry for interrupting your wife's painting session on the dresser.

Glad you guys had the opportunity to meet!! Jeff

I try to meet builders if I go near them! I like to see and talk about boats people build. My wife said I'm not allowed if we are supposed to be on a romantic vacation anymore.

this was an in law trip. Good time to get away!

Hey Barry. Just catching up on your build. That bow eye is pretty cool looking and I'm glad you decided to do the thru hull.

BB Sig wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:22 am I plan on installing an anchor trolley. I am guessing that a 6mm backing plate should do?

Regarding the anchor trolley, that much backing would be fine. I installed an anchor trolley on my yak years ago and it's just riveted in with silicone to keep the water out. I've been in some pretty ripping currents with the anchor deployed and they never came loose or leaked once. There were several times I expected them to pop out any second. With the building methods here and the backing, that will be STRONG. And, the line will flex some to take the strain off.

Next time I see you remind me to tell you about my adventure in East River where I got my anchor tangled up. I was in there by myself and shouldn't have been in there in a yak.

Steve

Good to hear from you Steve! I am trying to keep it light otherwise i would use 9mm. I'm trying to keep the screws from protruding. These little add ons eat up the time. I should have stuck with minimal but that is hard to do for me.

How's your FS18 coming?

Just read this thread again. Re the fishfinder, I mounted mine (SK14) on the rail. I had a slotted rail, which made it easy, but my point is that on the rail I have no problem using it when siting, and can see it fine while standing. I put it forward of the grab rail by about 2feet, as I was sitting on a cooler in front of the grab rail, using the grab rail as a back support. Since then I've moved my seating behind the grab rail and will move the finder back about even with it on the starboard rub rail. I hung my 'ducer off the back and run it and power to the finder down the rub rail. Can't do pics for now 'cuz everything is on dang photobucket and I have not learned the work around.

Oh, and I am using a Motorguide bow mounted trolling motor for now, with no outboard yet.

Dougster

Dougster wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2017 9:45 am Just read this thread again. Re the fishfinder, I mounted mine (SK14) on the rail. I had a slotted rail, which made it easy, but my point is that on the rail I have no problem using it when siting, and can see it fine while standing. I put it forward of the grab rail by about 2feet, as I was sitting on a cooler in front of the grab rail, using the grab rail as a back support. Since then I've moved my seating behind the grab rail and will move the finder back about even with it on the starboard rub rail. I hung my 'ducer off the back and run it and power to the finder down the rub rail. Can't do pics for now 'cuz everything is on dang photobucket and I have not learned the work around.

Oh, and I am using a Motorguide bow mounted trolling motor for now, with no outboard yet.

Dougster

Good to know! Fishgtr and I were talking about your slotted rubrail yesterday.

Why did you move the seating behind the grab bar? You're making me rethink my plan.

I moved back to level the trim and to be able to stand and grab the rub rail. The Motorguide Troll Motor is on the bow and weighs about 40 lbs. I put the battery in the stern (50 lbs), but she still was trimmed just slightly bow down. Plus, if I get an outboard I'll need to be behind the grabrail to use it. I will need to move the battery forward then I bet. Wish those light weight lithium ion batteries weren't so pricey. My AGM weighs 50 lbs and cost $160 on sale at Cabella's I found a 50AH equivalent lithium ion that weighs 25 lbs for a mere $700 Not going there.

Dougster

BB Sig wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:01 am Good to hear from you Steve! I am trying to keep it light otherwise i would use 9mm. I'm trying to keep the screws from protruding. These little add ons eat up the time. I should have stuck with minimal but that is hard to do for me.

How's your FS18 coming?

I hear ya about the ad ons eating up time. I'm at the point now I'm getting ready to flip and paint the hull on mine. Decks are down and it's that time.

Not too much to show but I am still working on it. I forgot to get a picture of where the power will be run for the trolling motor and an alternate position for the depth finder. Here's pictures of my custom cooler/seat build that will also hold the battery for the trolling motor. The back of the cooler will be the mount for the grab bar/back rest so I used 9mm (overkill) for the front and back walls. I used 6mm for the middle divider. My thought being that when I mount things to these areas(grab bar and cooler tiedowns) I won't have to use an insert of some kind. I will use 4mm for everything else to hopefully save on weight. I will come up with a way to support the sides when pouring the foam.





The wife was out of town last night and I ran out of room in the garage to layout my sole. I wanted to wait until the last minute on the sole to ensure I got the dimensions right. I think it will be a perfect fit with only one spot that will need trimming.

Not alot to show for the work I'm doing right now. I flipped the hull and I am filling and sanding the stitching holes that didn't get totally filled from the inside. I will fillet the joints on Thursday night.



Been working on the cooler/battery box slowly. I got the sides cut out and glued on. Now I have to come up with a decent curve to fiberglass the sides together. I'll be experimenting with 1.5 and 2 inch pvc pipe to see what I can cut to fit. 6 oz biax should do for the fiberglass.

Barry that's looking good my friend!

Nice work Barry!! Jeff

I especially like your battery box idea. Mounted in between or in front of my grab rail would have been a great idea. I would even have like to recess it down right on the bottom of the hull, to get the weight lower. Sure looks good.

Dougster

Hi,
Nice work with the battery box. Your FS13 will be a real beauty. You seem to have the run of the whole house for boat building. My wife restricts me to the guest room, loft ( freezing in Winter ) and cellar rooms because a boat building shed and a single garage is just not enough workshop place.
Greetings from Karl

Thanks guys! My wife was out of town so it is easy to sneak some work into the house while she's gone. I was showing someone my pictures last night and she saw the one of the plywood in the foyer. She laughed and said that must have been while I was out of town! She's a good sport and very supportive of having me having a hobby. Lots of men these days get so wrapped up into work they forget to enjoy life and it affects everyone around them. I use to be like that. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Sanded my last hole filling episode and then applied some more glue to some of the seams. This should be the last glue needed on the outside. Saturday or Sunday I should be able to lay glass on the exterior.

I worked on the cooler some more tonight. I made a mold for the corners using a PVC pipe, a carriage bolt and nut.





It's hard to see but I did put packing tape on the pvc pipe prior to placing it on the cooler.



And here it is with a staggered layer of 6oz biax tape and epoxy glue to fair out the joint (I hope). I'll go back and fill the inside in with more epoxy glue and a layer of tape on the inside.

Nice work Barry! Good thinking.

BB, very well done!! Jeff

Thanks Eric and Jeff. Looking forward to trying to get fiberglass on the hull this weekend. I'll try to get some tape on the keel on Saturday and then lay the cloth on Sunday. We'll see if the wife has other plans...

Well done. I love the idea of making the mold. The potential for using glass and epoxy is seemingly infinite.

Great idea for making round corners but how was the bolt used

The tube wanted to collapse when pressure was applied to the mold. The bolt kept it from collapsing. There has to be some wiggle room to get the tube free from the epoxy. Tape held the mold in position. I'll take a picture when I get the other one going tomorrow. I plan to use medium hardener on the next corner.

Wow, it's been a bit since I posted something. I owe you guys a picture of the cooler progress. I've got all four corners fiberglassed. I need to start the inner cooler walls and clean up the inside.

I had a couple of areas that I rushed through and I needed just a little more epoxy so mixed a small batch that must have been bad. I had to scrap and grind them out. That is frustrating! It is fixed now.



I've got the cloth ready to apply. Two of our regulars for Tuesday night bible study cancelled so I might get to work on it tomorrow night or put it off until Thursday night since the wife will be out of town.

Just caught upon your build Barry. Your round cornered cooler is going to look the goods.

Hey Barry, I hate you had to deal with a bad batch. It's not fun but the boat is looking great!

Thanks guys!

The work continued tonight. I got the outside epoxied and fiberglass laid. I'm hoping that I don't have another mixing issue. I mixed to whole songs. That's normally 3 mins. Scrape the sides a few times during the mixing and then applied as fast as possible. Epoxying the sides stink.

Epoxy set up CL style.



Epoxy and fiberglass applied.



And a couple of pics of the cooler/battery box so far. The corners need to be built up and I need to start working on the cooler insert. I'm thinking just simple fillets on the inside of the insert. The rounded corners took too long.

Nice work Barry. The layup looks great!

Thanks Eric.

I used 4 pumps of resin, 1 pump of medium and 1 pump of slow. Already firm enough this morning to take a razor blade to the glass and trim off the excess. I should be able to start fairing on Thursday. This will not be to Eric's standard.

BB Sig wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2017 8:24 am Thanks Eric.

I used 4 pumps of resin, 1 pump of medium and 1 pump of slow. Already firm enough this morning to take a razor blade to the glass and trim off the excess. I should be able to start fairing on Thursday. This will not be to Eric's standard.

Barry, Watch the monster coming y'alls way. Get the crap away from it.
The boat can wait. You need anything PM me.

Not going to hit me for a while. Wait, see and don't panic is my plan. We are pretty far inland. I do plan to bug out if it is making a direct path towards us though.

I am waiting to make an order with Jeff after the storm. Saving my cash for travel emergencies if needed.

How are you doing Barry? I haven't seen you post in a while.
I'm hoping you got through the storm ok.

Thanks for asking. I've been getting the jitters from boat building withdrawal.

I got through just fine. I took some large trees down the day before the storm hit and that has been my priority. 60' oaks make a huge mess when they come down. I took down 7 trees total and some where larger than 2' across. Makes me glad I have a large saw now. Hoping to start burning this weekend if the rain holds off. The logs in the picture are 4 - 5' long and heavy but out of the way. That's from two trees.

I've really got to get back to work! Using this to start thinking/budgeting for paint! I liked the color of Whaler Blue from EMC. It looks good on the GT27 so I might use it on my GT23 and Lil Stream!

wkisting wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:50 am This is Whaler Blue. Kind of growing on me.

About coverage... I'm covering about 220-240 sq ft of area...

Using EMC surfacing primer, first coat took 48 oz. total. Each subsequent coat of primer took around that too.

For Quantum paint, I started with 48 oz. And had almost 20 oz. left after first coat! Second coat I mixed up 32 oz. and still had about 10 oz. left. Third coat I mixed up 27 oz. and that was about perfect with about 3 oz. to spare. In retrospect, I think the paint can be stretched thinner than you realize at first. First coat should've been 32 oz. And all subsequent coats 27 oz. at this surface area.

Conditions may matter. I had a constant 75-80 degrees for the entire day (using heated shelter). About 75% relative humidity so I set up a dehumidifier that brought it down to 60% while curing through the night. Outside temps were high 40s at night so the roof of my shelter got very wet with condensation but never did drip on the finish thanks to the high pitch of the shelter roof. All things to consider...

Also, I did not use accelerator or reducer. Just the base and the activator, for both primer and paint each. Primer was 1:1 mix, paint was 2:1 per instructions.

Last bit of foam. Moving on next weekend to smoothing the foam and then applying some epoxy to seal the cuts. I'll take care of the "oil can" effect if I can....

I'm going to let the foam stabilize until later in the week and then start smoothing and coat with epoxy. There is still the nagging issue of the oil canning of the sides. It is bad enough that I don't think I can fix without removing the foam and starting over. Not doing that now. I'm ready to start using it!

My plan is to trim the sides down to ~1.5" from the sole. Modified paddle board. I present the two options!

Slant cuts are easier and quicker. I get on the water quicker!



Rounded is sexier and more labor intensive. I look good on the water! It also looks more like it was meant to be shaped like this.



Looking for opinions on what should be done to either fix the issue (not sure it can be done) or take the easy route with one of the two options!

Try clamping your rub rails on and see if it will pull back into shape. Maybe Dimensional lumber rails as they
would be stiffer.

I agree. Before you cut it try rub rails.

I've already got the material to do that with. I'll try it tonight but the gaps are pretty large where the earlier foam shrank.

I'll post some pictures but I'm really leaning towards cutting the sides. Any reasons why I shouldn't? I almost wish that I had done that from the get go. Almost like a Dragonfly SUP but with a motor.

Your suggestions rocked. I'm going to leave the starboard side in the rack for a few days to see if it does anything by itself. I used two screws to secure the 2x4 loosely and then used clamps to "straighten" out the side. I only have enough clamps for one side.

Starboad side = after



Port side = before



If you look close, you'll see my fly rod I had to test out in the forward rod tube.

Rub rails cut 3/16" layers and coated with epoxy. I cut some shorter strips but didn't get around to coating them. I still need to level the new foam pours and smooth everything out with epoxy.

Still got a mildly wavy hull. I've got one more layer of rubrail to glue on the starboard side then I'll move to port. I think I'll over clamp this go to see if it springs right.

No clamp:


Clamped:

Good move getting it fair before adding any more rubrail. If not you will never get it right

You'll get her there BB Sig

Agree with Fuzz & Eric!!! Jeff

The problem is that when I unclamp the rails, the plywood springs back to being wavy. I've been fighting this because I poured foam prior to doing rubrails. Hopefully by over compensating for this wave on the last rubrail layer, it will straighten out.

Jeff,

I'm hoping the plans get changed or annotated that the rubrails should be installed prior to foaming/flipping.

BB, I will get your request for change to Jacques today. Jeff

The building notes say:

In most cases, the sheer line will be fair but this is worth checking. If necessary, clamp a temporary rubrail (a plain wooden batten) to the sheer edge to preserve the sheer line fairness.

on page 5, well before the foam stage.
I will add a comment to the foam paragraph:
Before pouring the foam, be certain that the rubrail or at least a temporary rubrail (mentioned earlier) is installed. If not, pressure of the foam may distort the side panel sheer edge.

To fix the wavy sheer may take several steps:
- remove the rubrail or cut a large number of slits in it, vertical
- drill through the foam where it pushes the side panel out or,
- if necessary remove a 1" slice of the foam along the side.
Once your side panel is not under pressure anymore, install a new, solid rubrail.
Finish by filling the foam gaps, slowly, a little bit at a time.

jacquesmm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:25 am The building notes say:

In most cases, the sheer line will be fair but this is worth checking. If necessary, clamp a temporary rubrail (a plain wooden batten) to the sheer edge to preserve the sheer line fairness.

on page 5, well before the foam stage.
I will add a comment to the foam paragraph:
Before pouring the foam, be certain that the rubrail or at least a temporary rubrail (mentioned earlier) is installed. If not, pressure of the foam may distort the side panel sheer edge.

Thanks! I like the next person to have that heads up!

jacquesmm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:32 pm To fix the wavy sheer may take several steps:
- remove the rubrail or cut a large number of slits in it, vertical
- drill through the foam where it pushes the side panel out or,
- if necessary remove a 1" slice of the foam along the side.
Once your side panel is not under pressure anymore, install a new, solid rubrail.
Finish by filling the foam gaps, slowly, a little bit at a time.

Thanks for those ideas. I'm pressing onward though. Dealing with the wavy sheer the best I can without going backwards. I just got a contract on our house and I want the rubrails on her prior to leaving. I might not have a place to work at a rental house.

It might not be the straightest boat but she'll float!

So medical issues, a baby being born, and selling a house really get in the way of boat building! With all that mostly behind me, I am back at work on 'Lil Stream! Mid-Stream is stored away in a barn at my I had a quite weekend planned and got an extra free Hurricane Day off from work so I was busy working in the new garage.

I don't know what happened to the pictures but I took most of Jacques advice and cut some foam to relieve tension on the sides. A little persuasion from reversed clamps to spread the waves out and foam poured and hardened took care of most of it.

Not having installed a fishfinder/GPS before, I ASSumed that you could run the power and transducer wiring in the same chase tube. What I read on the subject convinced me it was a no go but I had already poured the foam! Nothing a multitool won't fix! You can also see the overdrilled hole that is now fillled.



I used coroplast (think political sign material) to make most of the blocking because I could not tape around the holes. Worked great! I could cut to fit tightly and just slide it where it was needed using the foam to hold it tight.



I needed to make a curved chase so I packed a irrigation pipe (thin wall pvc) with sand and heated it with a heat gun. Worked fairly well with very minor kinks! Regular PVC works better for bending but the walls take up room and weight.



I was getting low on breakfast sandwiches and a bit tired of them. I bought the fixings for breakfast burritos and turned to the skillet when it was too hot in the garage. They are my family's favorite breakfast.

Good to see you back at it BB!!! Jeff

Barry did you finish this build. Going to look in Build threads....

Bob

Not yet but The wife is gone next week and I am in training for two weeks from home. Training doesn't start until 11 am so I might pull the boat into the garage to get some work done.

New to me house and yard has been keeping me too busy. My wife has been telling me to take a break but she also wants things done... I'm sure you have all heard this before!

BB Sig wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:51 am

My wife has been telling me to take a break but she also wants things done... I'm sure you have all heard this before!

IT'S A TRICK!!! KEEP WORKING on the honey do's!!

Got some time carved out and space cleared! Space is always at a premium....

Finished flattening the foam and fitted the doubler. Need to coat the doubler and all the foam in epoxy. I've got some parts and pieces to fit as well as a kayak trolley to figure out.

Good to see you back at it!!! Jeff

Bet that feels good after so long!

cape man wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:30 am Bet that feels good after so long!

It does!

Had a helper want his first ride...



And I mixed some epoxy to start coating the doubler, bow piece and transom supports. I rounded the edges of the supports that were not getting glued down.

Always good to have family help!!! Jeff

Agreed Jeff!

Dangerous hole cutter. Requires a steady hand that I learned to find!



I keep going back and forth on recessing the inspection so fishing line doesn't catch on it. This one is on the forward bow "deck". I can see a fly line getting caught real quick. I'm only thinking of recessing the part that bolts to the deck. I'm using the space for a small 12 v 7ah battery to run gps and lights. 6" deck hatch to get the battery through.



I got lucky on the size of the drill bit I used. That's the widest it would go without switching the paddles and going in reverse! I guess I forgot to get a picture of the cut hole in the middle. I had to adjust the cutters back to the smaller hole size.



I will use a router to get it as flat as possible. Only need to take 1 or two mm off. Back working on the cooler as well. No pictures of that except for the pink foam above.

Ordered some flattening router bits for the recesed deck plates. Waiting until Friday for them to come in.

Worked on the cooler/battery box this weekend. No picture... Started working on a wooden grab rail/console/seat back. On small boats, each item needs to do double duty!

Epoxy coated the foam twice to make sure I got it all. The second coat I used white tint to see where I had gone. Worked really good.

I also mixed up some fairing to fill in a few minor divets in the foam.

Nice Foam work BB!!! Jeff

30' nice!

I recessed the front deck hatch the thickness of the insert. The lid edges slightly recess but with the epoxy and 4200 it will be slightly above.

I have found that using the white tint lets me know when I've got enough coats on the part. I've got four containers of white tint!

Posted it elsewhere before, but WD40 is the bomb for cleaning up 4200 or 5200 if you get any squeeze out.

Thanks for the tip! I wouldn't have thought of that.

Glued sole down and applied a few coats of epoxy to the bottom of the sole. I'll do the top when it's in the boat as the wife got back into town and wanted her half of the garage back!



Here is what I am thinking for a grab rail/mini console. I will round over the grab portion once it is glued together.

Started gluing grab bar cleats. PVC clamps work good for this. I also worked on the cooler from earlier in the thread. I forgot to take a picture of that.

BB, I've been toying with the idea of building a ply grabrail vs buying one for my FS14LS, I'll be interested to hear your final analysis when it's all done, if it's "well worth the effort" or "If I did it again, I'd just buy one" kind of thing. Looking good so far!

Jeff

I think AA did one but as a cabinet builder, his was far nicer!

Was able to work on the little boat this weekend. Glued sole down and worked on anchor trolley attachment points.

BB, great to hear from you!! I hope you are doing well with your health issues!!! Jeff

Doing a little better. The medication adjustments kick my tail but I'm liking this last cocktail! Hopefully I can call in August for paint to float a boat!

Just take good care of yourself BB!!! Jeff

Sanding inside a hard to reach area.

Flipped her over and installing a skeg. Will be getting her faired and then painted.

I love all the different ways guys solve problems. Slick way to hold that skeg

looking really good! have you decided on a color to paint it?

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 1:14 am I love all the different ways guys solve problems. Slick way to hold that skeg

Thanks!

I semi copied that technique. I had seen someone use a clamp and 1x1 before and added a second clamp.

First round of fairing. I'm using way more epoxy on that then I thought I would!

jonnymac wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 7:15 am looking really good! have you decided on a color to paint it?

Thanks!

Matterhorn White with a black painted rubrail. I'm thinking I might wrap it with a Tarpon scale wrap. I think it look pretty good and will hide my first attempt at painting a boat! We'll see how the paint job turns out!

Almost have a good enough bottom.
I'll order a larger kit of epoxy this time! My wife had projects for the camper that needed some epoxy. I thought about telling her that this epoxy was reserved for boat building. Since I can type this from the comfort of my couch, you already know I didn't and she is getting our camper outfitted with okume and epoxy. At least the furniture will last longer than the camper...

Normally, about 3 coats of fairing starts to look decent for me now. 6 is really close to perfect.

I am awake with left arm nueralgia from all the sand/fill/arm work last few days

Looks good BB!! Take care of yourself!!! Jeff

Thanks Jeff!

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:29 am Normally, about 3 coats of fairing starts to look decent for me now. 6 is really close to perfect.

I am awake with left arm nueralgia from all the sand/fill/arm work last few days

I'll probably end up with 4! I'm not shooting for perfect on the bottom and the top should be a grimy mess from the mudflats and creeks that I plan to attempt to fish.

This is after 3 coats on most of it. I've got some minor low spots and then on to quick fair for the last coat on the outside bottom.
To answer your question, I have young-onset Parkinson's Disease. My neurologist and now a second opinion are concerned that it is progressing as quickly as it is. The latest cocktail is slowing the progression to a manageable level. I've had to limit a lot of activities and I am looking at a semi-forced medical retirement. Hopefully, they will allow me to continue my work at home until the retirement paperwork gets completed.

My wife has been supportive but gets onto me for trying to get as many projects completed as I can at a break-neck speed. My desire to sell the GT23 was to ease her concern but at the same time, I don't want to see it discarded for the trailer. I've got a group of guys that I go to church with that might be willing to assist with it so they can use it as well. IF, if I get to finish it, it will have to have a provision for a lift of some sort and a dockside wheelchair ramp. I've thought about this before and now my current circumstances would make it a necessity for future use for me.

BB Sig best of wishes to you.

Tom

BB Sig best of wishes to you. Boat is looking good.

Tom

Some pics of a navigation light and trolling motor plug mount.

No pictures but I did some sanding and laid the fiberglass out for the interior for it to relax the creases. Using 4 oz woven. My father-in-law is going to be mixing tomorrow while I apply epoxy.