Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I guess I should move this here haha. I don't know how to copy a "thread" to a new "board?" So here's the link to the thread instead and we can continue on here.https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=64800

Ended up flipping it to get the inside finished and then I will flip again to fair after the wood has had a chance to soak up epoxy and move however it is going to. Also, I plan on spraying the color on at work and the less time that takes (trips back and forth to paint different sections when they get ready) the better, this way I can have it all done and spray it in a weekend also I can get started on building the grab bar and poling platform after hours and be able to get everything to come together at around the same time. The flip went smooth with three guys (probably could've done it with two), went off the strong-back to the grass upside down still, situated some bunks and then flipped it and back onto the strong-back in one move. Then just playing around I put the frames and decks in to see the final form and get some excitement, other than the pure joy I get from sanding. I like how everything fit and it should go pretty smooth when the time comes. You can also see the deck extension where the fore-deck is moved aft 18" making the cockpit ~7.5' and the front deck ~7.2'. That overhang will have an above floor bulkhead that will be fitted once the other frames are in and the hull is formed solid..

I can upload the plan I drew for the casting deck, grab bar and poling platform and if anyone is interested I can email them to you if that is something anyone would be interested in. The grab bar has a cooler bar that wraps around the base and will fit a Yeti 45 or Rtic 45, though it may be a little large for those coolers, I designed it to fit the Rtic 52 ultra-light that is up for pre-order right now that just so happened to be the same colors I plan to paint this thing.

Very nice!

Looking good!

Really nice work!!!! Jeff

Thanks everyone, not getting any criticism for flipping before fairing and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign...
I plan on getting the inside glassing done this weekend all in one shot then I can start laying in frames every day next week and getting cleats made and laying out chase tubes, the fun part! I did add a bow brace made from scrap ply and cypress that will be glassed in to give the bow some extra support and the eyelet somewhere to bolt to, other than that no new changes.

Looking great! A boat that size won’t be difficult to flip (even multiple times) so it’s not terribly important whether you finish the outside before flipping to work on the inside. When I was building “Tipsy” I always liked to progress to the parts I was excited about and return to the other stuff later. Sounds like that’s what you’re doing too. Build on!!

I keep telling myself I need to flip my build back over and finish the fairing and paint the hull, but I keep building the interior. While it was just the stringers and frames in I could easily do the flip solo without mechanical help. So by now I will need to rig a flipping system to do the job so I keep heading towards the finish of the interior but will stop before the console and painting is done, HOPFULLY!

It looks like you are following the steps the plans outline, so keep doing that and you will know when it's time for the details. Just keep in mind that before you glue any decks down or cover up openings, you are done with adding any and all holes, tubes and openings. and don't need access below them anymore.

Your build is looking great and coming along nicely!!

Are you planning on running as a console or a tiller?

Cbuf

Been awhile since any update but progress has been made I promise . Cbuf, I plan to run a tiller just to keep things simple and lightweight. The initial flip of the boat was really easy, I severely overestimated the weight and so I'm not too worried about another flip with the frames in the boat. My tentative plan is to leave the deck off for as long as possible and then glass the whole thing around the rub-rail just before painting, that way I can reinforce where I need to for the platform and grab bar and make sure I have everything laid out and chase tubes run where I need them.
So progress: the inside of the hull is glassed, took way longer than I expected/ hoped. We are getting the 90+ degree weather here in Charleston and the epoxy, while it is slow cure, doesn't last long so I had to work in 12 oz batches in order to get it all out before it kicked. I then got the stringers and knees in and glassed and I am working on the frames now, hoping to get them all fitted and glassed in by this weekend. I do have a bubble along the top edge where excess glass rolled up and over the sharp corner of the top of the hull. The glass wet out there and is hard but it didn't bond to the wood, what should I do here? I'm thinking try to fill the gap with epoxy and try to clamp it to the side with a batten or just do that same idea using the cleats for the deck when I glue them on. What do you guys think?

I have 2 comments. 1. I would add more rub rail. I spent a ton of time on mine added built it out to 1.125. I put a .5" radius at the hull. I'm not kidding I go through 1' footers and not a drop of water gets on the boat or sprays back. Then your rubber rub rail will hangover the lip .25-.5 all the water coming up hull dies into the rub rail and fall straight down even in the wind.
2. I know you are planning a grab rail and a tiller, but I was unhappy with the tiller on this boat. Leave yourself a 2" conduct below deck to be able to change this in the future is you want. I have seen a couple grab rail wheel boats and they are cool. I found with the length of the back deck and the longer tiller handle it can be uncomfortable to drive long distances. It might just be that I put a 50 on the back, a 30 hp might have been the better choice for the tiller. The 50 just give me to much pull even with the trim plate set. The hydraulic steering and controls is about the same price as the tiller handle if you are buying everything new.

cbuf

1 more thing. I used the 2 part foam with weep holes. If I was to do it again, I would add more weep holes and use the solid pool noodles or high density foam blocks. If your set on the 2 part foam, I would double bag it in a high quality plastics bags. I think of it this way, plan for the boat to get swamped and almost sink. This way you have a plan for all water to drain out somewhere, then hope it never happens.

cbuf

Currently rub-rails are at 1" of wood thickness plus whatever the epoxy mix adds probably close to a 1/16". I used cypress boards planed to .5" thick x 1.5" wide and 2 layers of that. I do not want to get soaked ever time I'm out in the harbor so I would not be opposed to maybe another .25 x 2 strip level with the top edge and filling the trough underneath and laying in a PVC pipe to form a radius to ramp the water back down. I'm not sure what the difference between the round chine and the hard chines makes in the spray when planing but yes I do want to be wet without my consent. As for power, I have been out with friends in production skiffs with tillers and grab bars and have driven them and I don't mind the feel, granted they were boats designed for that with slightly shorter rear decks but the motors were much larger than I plan (60 hp on an East Cape Caimen and a 70 hp on an East Cape Glide but they did have hydraulic dampers). One of my buddies sold his jon boat and still has the 30 hp 2-stroke Tohatsu tiller that I will be trying before I put 4k into a new power plant. This boat will be used primarily for flats fly fishing so I want to keep the weight as low as possible to get into the skinny stuff, the hull will weigh whatever it does so really I can only control the parts I put in. I do like the bag idea for the foam to keep it dry if water were to get inside and I plan to put a drain pipe along the hull from probably 3" PVC whatever the thinnest wall is cut at about a 1/3 lengthwise going through all the bulkheads with weep holes in it to let water in and drain to the rear. I am kinda set on the 2-part as I have 4 gallons of it. Thanks for the ideas, this is what I am looking for from this thread, good info from people who have built boats and what they would change if they did it again. I want to keep it simple yet not to the point where I regret not putting in features that I can't change down the road. I will definitely keep this in mind as I progress.

All the frames are now in with fillets and ready to be taped. What should be the next step? I'm thinking of starting to get the decks fitted -- hull sides leveled off and frames trimmed along with laying out the cleats and floor supports for the decks and hatches.Just don't want to make it too heavy to flip back over to fair.

Got all the frames in place and taped and man does the hull stiffen up. It was definitely heavier to flip this time, but still doable with 2 people, if i had to guess somewhere between 200 and 300 lb. Still have a lot of wood, glass, resin, and aluminum to add. Anyway its time to start fairing. Any tips to make this fast and efficient? I'm using the BBC fairing stuff, the maroon color stuff. Probably going to get the Quik-fair for the last few round once it is all brought near the final shape.

Cracker Larry always liked to run the first coat pretty lose. He felt like it did a better job of filling the weave if it was not too stiff. I like using the BBC stuff for the first few rounds as it shows the lows pretty well when sanding.

Don’t ask me, the outside of mine took months. I think because I did a little at a time in an effort to conserve material. I’m happy with the results, and didn’t break the bank, but it’s taken maybe, 200 hrs? not thebfast and efficient route you’re looking for.

If i had it to do over, I’d like to spread it heavy using the notched trowel method.

I put in a fairing coat when the glass layer was gelled so most of the weave is filled, just got to work out the lows and the layering from the glass. I just have no idea how thick this stuff can get, the bag I have is pretty small and the hull is pretty big. I dont know how far I can make the BBC last, not expecting it to go on like a body filler, what consistency should I go for?

I’ve found that a cake frosting consistency works well.

Small batches are easier to get on the boat before starting to kick. Even before they kick and get hot, they’ll get stiff and be more prone to pinholes.

You can also add some cabosil to keep it from sagging, but will make it harder to sand.

This is my approach now and it seems to be working pretty well,

Brush or pour on straight epoxy and squeegy around with a bondo scraper in atleast 4 directions to fill all the little holes, then using the same scraper remove as much epoxy as possible (moving it to the next section)
When done with that the surface should be wet with epoxy, but no real build up as you have scraped it all off, but the holes and low spots in the weave are filled.
Give it a few minutes or however long at your temperatures till it starts to gel slightly, then mix up your fairing mix as thick as you like (cake frosting as mentioned above works well) and put it on a 18x18 inch board as thin as it will spread out, this gives you more time to work as its not heating itself and curing too fast from thermal runaway. Using your spreader you can cut as much off your board as you go and spread a decent amount on, also scraping all 4 directions to fill spots, and then scraping some off but leaving it as thick as you feel needed for filling lows. The pure epoxy underneath will mix a little with it, so the bottom is runnier, and the top thicker which lets it run into the tiny areas better while still being thick and non sagging on top.

I reuse the board, just sand it smooth after it cures before the next use.

Lots of words.... hope it made sense.

That interesting, I'll have to try that. What I've done on the bow section is I sanded the glass to get some of the overlaps out from the tape and the sheets and knocked the surface/binder threads down until I can see some of the weave. Then I went in with a pretty thick but still runny coat. Then I sanded on the known high spots from the overlap areas until I get them back to close to the weave using a DA and longboard for straight sections. Then I came back with a slightly thinner coat and used those highs as a guide and lightly screet the thin stuff into the remaining lows. Seems to be working pretty well. I'm thinking the back/bottom 2/3 are the most important to get perfect as that will be the planning surface, the front/bottom 1/3 will be less important and the sides I will just get smooth so it looks good in paint.