Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Hello Everybody,
I decided to build a AD16 and I can't be more exited : D ! Last weekend I began building the cradle and this weekend I will be picking up the CNC Kit from Bateau. I decided to go with the Kit due to time constraints (My wife is having a baby at the end of February). This will be my first boat of any kind therefore I will be asking lots of questions. Hopefully everything goes smooth and get to set sail by December 5 of 2013 (My wife’s birthday). If you have any advises for a newbie please don’t hesitate to write.
Thanks

Good plan: one year is reasonable for that boat.

If you have technical questions after taking delivery of the kit, please post in the technical section.

There are several good thread about the building of AD14/16's.

Congrats on the start, boat... and baby.

Is your shop climate controlled? Heat? AC? If not, tell us the avg temps so you can get the right hardener purchased to get started in the temps you will be experiencing, pre-baby.

I am building the boat in my garage , which is a slow cooker in the summer. I live in Orlando therefore it should be around 80 degree . Thanks

In that temp range of 80F. I like slow hardener, particularly on larger glass laminations, or for things like bonding down a seat top or deck or sole. It sometimes takes awhile to get those things right, and fast or medium hardener can *go off* before you're done. But I also find the *fast* hardener handy for a smaller job, if I will have sufficient working time to get it done and settled and cleaned up *in place*. Budget mindedness might hope to get just one speed hardener, but it can be sooooooooooo handy to have another speed hardener on hand, so you might want to pencil that into your *expanded* budget...

I don't even sail, and I think that is a very cool little boat.

With a total of 15 gallons of epoxy needed (that means 5 gallons of hardener) I would also recommend you get a gallon of fast to go with the slow. (maybe 1/2 gallon) I like the slow, I like the open time, but there will be days, where you do some small work, and have to stop working for 12 - 24 hours till it sets. And that is not productive.

Thanks for the Advise guys. I went over Bateau this afternoon and got 1 gallon of medium hardener. They were vey nice and help me with every question I had. I will begin the building process next week and I will start to post picutes then.

Hi Stuff. Bondo here. I was planning to summarize my experience building the AD 14 when finished but it seems that you are ready to go. So, winging it, I will throw out some thoughts.

1: If you make a rolling cradle by chance, have two of the wheels fixed and two steerable.

2: Jacques knows what he is doing. Do things his way.

3: This boat is very strong. I glassed more areas than the minimum but it was not necessary.

4: I did not use as much epoxy as the plans suggested. The designers are correct about estimates. I used premixed fillet material and gel instead of mixing everything from scratch.

5: I would coat all parts from the kit with epoxy on both sides before proceeding. (read number 2 again)

6: The fillet size suggested seemed too small for me but in the end, I just added weight and expense. I like it, but unnecessary. The best radius working tool for each joint will not always be the same size.

7: I believe there is a problem with the full size pattern for the centerboard. I think something compressed in the printing? The other builders did not have a problem and Jacques saw nothing wrong. Just check it for me.

8: With every modification I have made from Jacques plans, I could later tell you why he did not design it that way. Be very careful.

9: You have to fiberglass the inside bottom of the hull. It is shown on the drawings but is omitted in the step by step instructions. Again, the others did not seem to have any problems. Fiberglass the inside bottom before you install any frames or stringers.

10: The elevation of the centerboard trunk in relation to baseline was confusing to me as drawn. Probably drawn correctly. Just saying.

11: The AD 14 plans list the mast rake at 2degrees but should read 5 degrees. The boats share the same centerboard and rig so I would check.

Bondo,
I have being looking at your work and you have excellent workmanship. I hope my boat can look half as good as your!! I want to thank you for your advices and let you know that you inspire me to take this challenge. If somebody can do a sailboat in a small shed then I can do it in my garage. It is funny that you mention to fiberglass the bottom of the hull before installing any stringers because I ask the same question to Joel when I went to Bateau. By the way they are very impress with your work as well. About the wheels, yes I am putting the cradle in 4 well but because I need to move the boat in every direction I decided to put 4 swivels instead of two but they all have stops. Can you tell me why you put only 2 swivel wheels?