Complete Novice Building a Sailing D5 in Texas

[Pokeydonut]

Hello everyone -

I have decided to launch into a project to build a D5 dinghy and equip it with a sailing rig.

I have literally zero boat-building or wood-working experience so this will hopefully be a good resource for any future landlubbers looking to build their first boat whose expectations are, like mine, reasonably tempered. I’ve been sailing quite a bit (admittedly most of it 20 years ago), but I have very few tools, almost no skills and I have never said the phrase “Lie Nielsen” without “Les” in front of it - primarily when discussing the Naked Gun movies.

I purchased the D5 plans, the CNC routed kit and the Silvertip epoxy package so I’ve made things as easy as possible for me, although I still expect them to be extremely and almost insurmountably difficult. I’ve read all the D5 threads, I read Devlin’s book on stitch-and-glue boatmaking and I’ve cleared out the moderately sized workshop behind my house that I have heretofore been using exclusively for storing bikes and camping equipment. See workshop with boat parts in the box on the left:



A little about me - I’m in Dallas, Texas and I have a wife and an eleven year-old daughter who are eager to help me with this process. I mean, at this point they are when it’s still only 98 degrees outside. We’ll see how excited they are in August.

So the first thing to do is clearly unpack the pieces and start the stitching process. So out of the gate I have just a couple questions I was hoping the experts here could answer:

1. Do I build it right side up or upside down? Devlin is a big advocate of doing it upside down by setting the bulkheads on a jig of some kind and building the hull of the boat on top of that so you don’t have to try to fight to fit the bulkheads into the already built boat. It does seem like this way has some advantages but most of the builds I see on these forums of the D5 are right side up. Thoughts? If it’s upside down I have to build a jig? That seems like a project unto itself. How do I know if I have the bulkheads in the right places?

2. Question on stitching. Is everyone on board with zipties? They sure do seem easier but I know there are a lot of people who still push for using the electric fence wire. Is it harder to get the zipties out at that stage? Why do people still use the wire?

3. And my biggest question at this point — what do I need to worry about now if i want to make this a sailing vessel. Honestly the part of this that I find the most intimidating is the daggerboard because (a) those pieces aren’t in the CNC kit so I actually have to make the daggerboard and the daggerboard trunk (and the tiller) from scratch, and (b) it seems Iike I am voluntarily making a hole in my boat and I have no idea how to make sure that water doesn’t leak in. I understand people weight the daggerboard to keep it down, but how on earth do you keep the seal tight enough? Anyway - my main question is do I need to worry about any of that now or do I just build the boat and then put in the mast step and the daggerboard at the end? I think I need to split a seat in half to put the daggerboard trunk in there - do I cut one of the seat boards in half and do it that way? This is the one part for which there doesn’t seem to be much help online and I am mystified. What else do I need to know before I start this thing if I’m going to make it a sailboat? There are sailboat plans that come with it but they’re not super illustrative.

3b - do I need to cut the transom to make room for the rudder before I put it on the boat? I do, right?

I have a ton more questions that I’m sure I will continue to have as I progress: I plan on loading this thing up with foam where I can - do I put in drains? What exactly is fairing compound - is that in addition to the epoxy and the glass? Do I put rubrails on this thing; it’s not in the plans?

So if you’re reading this in the summer of 2024 — Help me!! If you’re reading this in the future, then skip to the last page to see how successful this thing turned out to be, and hopefully this can be a guide for other boatbuilding newbies looking to get their start.

Thanks in advance for all your wisdom and indulgence.

[Dougster]

First thing is to study the plans and building notes. Devlin's book is a great read but his designs and build process differ somewhat from Bateau. Zip ties work fine. Upside/rightside down matters less with the D5 as you can flip it at will. Read some of the relevant tutorials in this site first. Study other D5 builder threads. Figure out how to post pictures. You can absolutely do this.

Dougster

[Reid]

Pokeydonut,

Welcome to the Forum. Just as Dougster said, look through the tutorials, read through other build threads, and study the plans. Most of your questions will be answered. I also highly encourage you to keep asking questions and post a lot of pictures on your build thread as you progress through your build.
The plans actually have a nice assembly diagram on page B229/5. I would follow this diagram.
Side note: open up your CNC kit. There is a CNC nesting diagram inside that shows each sheet of plywood in the kit. You will see the daggerboard, daggerboard trunk sides, and rudder have been cut for you (Sheet H4).

Good luck,
Reid

[Fuzz]

Hey welcome to the forum. You will find mostly helpful and friendly folks here. I know nothing about building sail boats but I know a little about boat building in general. Read the building notes 3-4 times. Most answers are there. Learn to post pictures. Pictures both get more interest and help folks better understand. While it is nice to have a handle on the whole project from the beginning it is not a must have. Take it one step at a time and let the guys help you when you need it.

[Jaysen]

1. Ignore everything that isn’t in the build notes. Put down the Delvin and all other external sources. Just do what the actual designer tells you to do. If you get stuck in the build bites, THEN AND ONLY THEN look at outside resources.

2. Because people are stupid? The only reason to use wire for one of the BBC designs would be that the tensile strength of the zip tie is inadequate. If you get to that point stop… you did something wrong. Backup and figure out what is wrong and you’ll be back to zip tie. Normally the problem is that you over tightened a different zip tie too soon.

3. Overthinking. That’s the problem. We all do it. Just read the build notes, and plan your steps including the sailing specific steps. This isn’t rocket science and unlike with normal build methods, you can undo mistakes. Plus you have the cnc kit so you won’t make any.

I highly recommend just going slow and making your plan. You have all the information and base materials. This isn’t a convoluted “do it wrong and it’s over” type thing. Just read the notes and follow the plan and you’ll get sailing before you know it.

[Pokeydonut]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. Good news about the daggerboard and box being in the CNC kit!

One quick question - what are the “builder notes” you all refer to? Is that the Assembly Schedule on B229/3 “Assembly Schedule & Lamination Schedule”?

Reid - is that the page you’re talking about? I don’t have a B229/5; I have a D229/5 but that’s the Sail Plan.

I now see that the Construction page (D229/2) shows the distances between the bulkheads so that’s helpful. I will break out the CNC pieces and see if I can figure out where everything goes. The sail plans indicate that the daggerboard trunk goes between the midship frames so I’ll figure that out down the road (presumably this involves cutting the Mid Seat Top in half).

Pictures to come!

[Pokeydonut]

Ah! I went back and found the PDF files I downloaded when I first conceived of this plan in 2019 and found the builders notes!! I will read these carefully multiple times before I ask any more questions!

[Netpackrat]

A few notes from a D5 sail version builder:

1) Getting a seal between the dagger board and the box is a non issue, since the top of the box is well above the water line. You don't want the fit to be super tight here since you want installation and removal of the dagger board to be easy.

2) I found it helpful to complete the dagger board prior to building the dagger board box. This way if the dagger board ends up a little thick due to coats of epoxy (or if you glassed it as I did), you can adjust for that when building the box, and not end up with a dagger board that is too thick to fit down the box.

3) I put a layer of glass on the inside of the dagger board box pieces prior to assembling them. This is not necessary, but since that area is difficult to touch up after assembly, I felt this would give me the best longevity and resistance to wear.

4) The D5 was not my first stitch and glue build, but I did find trying to assemble the boat without a jig to be an exercise in frustration. Your mileage may vary, but I found that assembling upside down on a simple jig made of 2x6 lumber helped me to get the relationships between the frames correct. Once stitched, IIRC I then removed it from the jig, placed it on a pair of sawhorses right side up, and after blocking it up into correct alignment, I "tack welded" with putty between the stitches. After the tacks cured I removed the stitches and proceeded as per the build instructions.

[Pokeydonut]

OK. I have cut out all the pieces from the CNC-cut plywood kit and sanded the edges to get rid of the little knobs that held them in place (like plastic airplane model pieces).

Here’s my understanding of the next step from the builders notes:

1. Drill holes for the zip ties in the sides where they meet the bow, the transom and the hull - but not the inner frames and of course not the top edge
2. Upside down, find the location of the midframe (as per the plans) and screw the sides to it with screw i can take out later
3. Then attach the bow and transom via zipties
3.5 Then attach all the other inner frames via temporary screws as well? And just judge distances based on the plans? Is that right - I’m a little fuzzy on this step
4. Drill holes in all four side of both hull pieces
5. Connect the two sides of the hull together via zipties
6. Open like a book, and put on top of the sides
7. Ziptie the long edges of the hulls to the sides
8. Zipties the short edges of the hulls to the bow and transom

I have a few question:

1. Do I give everything a coat of epoxy first? Someone online did that but it’s not mentioned anywhere. Is it easier to put on this first coat before starting to build?
2. When do i cut a notch in the transom for the tiller/rudder? Before i attach it?
3. Does it matter how I screw these frames in. Just long wood screws that I can easily remove? No concern about holes because I’ll eventually fill them?

I will figure out how to post pictures of the pieces.

Thanks!

Adam

[Pokeydonut]

Also - do I bevel the edges before I ziptie them together so that they meet in a perfect 45 degree angle? That’s in the Devlin book but nowhere in the building notes and I have no idea how I’d do that.