Another FL14 started!

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Mike Adams
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Location: Gympie, Queensland, Australia

Post by Mike Adams »

Thanks, John.

I haven't had a lot of time to fish as yet, but I'm sure planning to this Spring/Summer! I'll launch in Lake Jindabyne and will probably fish there or in Eucumbene most of the time, although the Clyde River around Nelligen is also pretty good for small boats. The Wyangala Dam out past Yass is also a good fishing area.

What part of Brisbane are you from? We're Queenslanders - my wife's family live in Gympie and we have a house there that we intend to retire to in about 18 months. We lived in Brisbane and in the Caboolture area (Beachmere) for many years - we used to own and operate two flying schools, one in Redcliffe and one in Caboolture before moving to Tamworth for 3 years and then to Canberra 10 years ago. The older I get, the more I look forward to getting back to Queensland weather and away from the bloody cold in Canberra! (It's minus 2C this morning.....).

I want to build the DE23 next, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do much on it before we retire, due to lack of space here in Canberra.

Cheers

Mike
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

Mike Adams
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Location: Gympie, Queensland, Australia

Post by Mike Adams »

The sun has shone this weekend, so we managed to get the inside of the boat painted white. The meranti rub rail and inside trim with a contrasting lighter gunwale deck has turned out quite nicely. The deck over the breasthook was to have been finished bright as well, but I got a bit too enthusiastic with the orbital sander and put some rather ugly marks in it. :oops: There were also a couple of sanding marks at the edge of the deck where it meets the meranti trim across the back of the breasthook, so I decided to paint the breasthook deck white, with a couple of narrow white trim stripes to cover the edge marks. Although this was actually done to cover a mistake, I am rather pleased with the final effect!
Image
Image
The rub rail on this side was covered with masking tape that was exposed to the sun for the last week. As a result, it was very difficult to remove the masking tape after painting, and there was a lot of glue residue remaining after the tape was finally peeled off. I used a little acetone on soft cloth, together with a lot of elbow grease (!) and it has cleaned up nicely with no adverse effect on the epoxy surface.

The bright finished transom matches the gunwale deck:
Image

The finishing clear coats still have to be applied over the interior and brightwork, the non-slip paint applied to floor and seat tops, and the hardware fitted. I hope to be able to get that done over the next couple of weekends, provided I feel OK after a medical procedure I have to undergo next Wednesday. The final task will be to put her name on the boat - I have called her "Lake Dreamer", to match the DE23 ("Sea Dreamer") that I want to build next.

Launch is being tentatively planned for 17 September (weather permitting).
8)
Last edited by Mike Adams on Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

cimmaronjim
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Post by cimmaronjim »

Man, that is nice!

What an inspiration to us future builders!

Dane_Ger
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Post by Dane_Ger »

Gorgeous Mike . . . . absolutely gorgeous!
Building the FL14

Rich_L
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Post by Rich_L »

Wow!!

Outstanding job Mike.

Rich
When can we go fishing?

Mike Adams
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Location: Gympie, Queensland, Australia

Post by Mike Adams »

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement, guys! I really enjoy this forum and only wish I was geographically closer and able to meet more of you.

BTW, I'm happy to report that the (not-very-pleasant-but-necessary) medical procedure I had to have yesterday went successfully and after a few days rest I should be OK to get back to finishing the boat. :D
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

Dane_Ger
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Post by Dane_Ger »

Mike, glad everything went well as can be expected and wishing you a speedy recovery!
Building the FL14

Mike Adams
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Location: Gympie, Queensland, Australia

Post by Mike Adams »

Thanks, Dane. I'm feeling fine now - the next step for the boat is to apply the final clear coat, but unfortunately my son has decided to take this weekend off to go 4WD/camping, so I won't be able to get back to finishing it until next weekend. Oh well, I guess I've run out of excuses not to do all the other things that need doing around here...! :roll:

Actually, I took a big deep breath and cut two more holes in my boat yesterday... 8O !
I had previously decided I needed a couple of rod holders up for'ard in addition to the two in the aft gunwale deck, but I was having difficulty finding space for them because of the way the gunwale deck narrows towards the bow and the sides slope inwards. Anyway, it suddenly occurred to me that the front seat had a lot of spare space underneath, so I very carefully positioned the two rod holders in the seat top, facing outwards.
This is how they look:
Image

BTW, the other two holes you can see are to accommodate the oar handles when they are stowed in the side bins.
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

Dukydo
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Post by Dukydo »

Mike,
I think Joel is right when he says yours is the "MOTHER" of all FL 14s.

I am going to start my FL 14 next spring. My wifes health is on the front burner till then.

I hope you would entertain a question about your boat. My main question is this; When you cut the frames did you square off the tops instead of useing a radius on the inboard side? If yes I presume it was to help support the gunwale deck? My monitor is not the best and the photos are not real clear due to that.

BTW Have you named her?

Mike Adams
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Post by Mike Adams »

Hi Duke,

Yes, I deliberately left the tops of the frames square to support the gunwale deck. I also added a couple of extra plywood supports under the gunwale deck between the rear mid seat frame and the transom seat frame, at the position of the oarlock pads. I put another small support between the two mid seat frames so that I could join the gunwale deck pieces at that point, and to provide a fixing point for the bimini top. I'm at work right now, but I may have some pics on my home computer that show these details in close up. I'll have a look tonight and see if I can find anything useful.

It's now completely finished except for tidying up a small area of paint that got damaged and putting on the name. I have a few things to do over the next week or so, but hope to post full pics of the finished boat soon.

As for the name, when I first started out with the idea of building a DE23, my family thought I was dreaming, so I decided in advance that she would be called "Sea Dreamer" (hence my signature). When I decided to build the FL14 first, it therefore seemed logical to call her "Lake Dreamer"! So that's her name.

Now that I have decided to build the LB22 Nina next, I will call that one "Sea Dreamer", and if when I retire I manage to build a bigger boat (it may be the TW28 instead of the DE23) that one would become "Ocean Dreamer". A bit corny, I know, but I rather like the idea of building a "Dreamer" series just to rub it in to those who thought I was dreaming when I first said I was going to build a boat!

Although I won't launch "Lake Dreamer" for another few weeks yet, I think it's time to change my signature below....!
FL14 "Lake Dreamer" built.

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