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Hey all, I'm Craig in Seattle. I've been kayaking around the sound a bit over the last few years and decided it's time for something a bit bigger for crabbing and general fishing. My son's getting close to college and I'd like to spend a bit of quality time out on the water with him before he goes away.

I'm new to boatbuilding but not new to making stuff. I don't have a full garage, so inside my little kitchen I have a few 3d printers, a CNC router, and a 40w CO2 laser cutter. I do 3d modeling and find myself using the 3d printers more than anything else. One of the things I learned to do to finish off a 3d print is to apply epoxy resin - it removes the striations between lines in the print and gives it a bit of durability due to surface tension, so I do have about a quart's worth of epoxy resin experience at least.



After a minor shipping issue I ended up with the FS14 CNC cut kit at my house. As I mentioned before, I have a CNC router, but the cutting envelope on it is just to small to do anything this large. Pricing out quality marine plywood locally, it seemed to make financial and free-time sense to buy the routed kit and have it shipped. I opened up the kit and carefully laid out each panel, jigsaw cut the tabs out, and got to work lining up workpieces to epoxy while I sanded down the rest of the tabs.



As I mentioned, I don't have garage space. Having spent a bit of time mulling over the boat-in-a-box instructions and some of the builds here, I decided it seems more important to have the jig flat and square with the molds than to have it on a perfectly level work surface. The only caveat is that I'd need to figure out how to prop up the jigsaw cuts and the butt joined stringer pieces.



I'm hoping there's no issues layering work like this. There's no undue stress on either side of the lengths of wood and the amount of pressure I have on there is keeping everything nice and flat.



The stringers are setting up in the kitchen on my rollaround stainless steel work surface. It took exactly six pumps of epoxy and three pumps of hardener from the metering nozzles to do all of this with no waste. I didn't figure that out before hand, it just ended up that way after epoxying up the puzzle cut pieces, wetting the buttblock area, and then mixing in the wood filler for the butt blocks.



I think I may have applied too much pressure using clamps on one stringer, if so I may have to figure out how to recover. I slid the butt block off while it was still wet and added a bit more but a lot of it squeezed out afterwards. We'll see tomorrow. I feel pretty good about the amount of work I got done today. I left the tabs on the 2-part pieces to get them setting up ASAP, trying to manage time a bit.



I'm hoping if this all sets up within 48 hours that I can have the molds up and maybe get some stitching in during the weekend. Lofty goals, but I have a bit of imperative to get this banged out before the rains set in.

Welcome, Craig! Looks good so far, and with medium hardener it should be set hard well before 48 hours.

Craig, Welcome and really happy the kit made it to you, although not timely!! Regardless, you are on your way and we look forward to watching your build and all of us here on the Builder's Forum will assist you should you have questions!! Again, welcome!! Jeff

Waiting on epoxy to dry to satisfaction. In the meanwhile I CAD'd up a few little 12mm radius inner/outer spreaders for when I get to the hull. Both the inside and outside are exactly 12mm so I can use them for both sides of the hull. They cost a few minutes to CAD and pennies to print so I figured I'd see if it works better than doing it by hand or by popsicle stick. These are in PETG, basically water bottle material. I tried mixing some epoxy with a different 3d printing plastic and it quickly started to melt, this stuff wont.



I also remembered I did try making a wooden boat once.



It didn't float.

Craig, this is going to be a very interesting build!!! Jeff

I got a bit more done today.

The very bottom puzzle joint of the stack either did not have sufficiently mixed epoxy, or was anaerobic enough to not set up. The other three set up fine. I let the bottom joint sit another 24h, and it was not looking any better and was gumming under sandpaper. I took off as much epoxy as I could and applied some fiberglass tape along the joint with fresh epoxy. It set up to satisfaction and I moved along.



I mentioned before I don't have a garage, and I somehow thought I'd get the strongbacks straight and leveled along the sawhorses and would ignore the whole piece not being level. That didn't work. The human eye wants to square things off from a nice level surface, and without the aid of lasers and places to put them I decided to assemble in my driveway. It took almost half the day just getting everything in square and the mold setup.





After that, it was pretty easy on the mind and hard on the body. I moved the joined pieces up to place, and realized there are holes on both sides of the hull, and none along the bow stitch. I'm not sure if that was meant by design, but removing outer holes that don't stitch to anything while putting three holes along the bow line would help 'register' the piece as to where it's meant to go. I also have holes along the rub rail area to make sure are closed off, maybe they're there for that purpose. I drilled bow holes to taste. I actually had this many zip ties and a lot more in stow. I didn't have enough screws.





It's all stitched up and tack welds are setting. I used the little spudger tool I 3d printed, but I have been using little 3d printed big flat popsicle sticks more since they're a nice flat surface. Once it's safe to remove the zip ties I'll move onto taping and glassing.

With you having to work outdoors I think after I got the taping done I would go ahead and coat all the outside wood with a coat of epoxy. My fear would be an unexpected rain soaking the wood. At the least it would cause you a delay while things dried out. Others may feel different.

craigyb, fast work and looking really good!! Is your son enjoying the build? Jeff

Sons been gone until the other day and has an itch to get it done as well. I got the stitches out and got the glass on the next day.





Next day, I found high spots and a few dry setup areas. I got the wet layer of tape down but didn't get the dry layer of glass sheet wetted well enough. I sanded down around the high spots the next day (Tuesday, yesterday) and re-epoxied around them, pushing down with a roller to make sure all the glass came down. I still got some high spots on the first fairing layer. I assume if the wood is well saturated and faired over that a a 1/4" missing bit of glass sheet here or there isn't a deal breaker? Didn't imagine so.

Son will do a lot of the sanding from here on out. There's a lot of sanding involved, FYI, I've done all this thus far and now need my son's help.

I'd also like to know how to apply the provided fiberglass up to 6" past the waterline as prescribed, without ending up with the same amount of loss as cutting all the way up the side. I had meant to follow the BOM and spec but could not figure out how to do this part without losing as much material either way.

Wow, that's some fast progress, Aug 24 to Aug 31 and you have a boat already. It took me six months to get to this stage, I must be slacking off. Looks great, hope the weather remains good for you.

Fair WX Pilot wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:04 pm Wow, that's some fast progress, Aug 24 to Aug 31 and you have a boat already. It took me six months to get to this stage, I must be slacking off. Looks great, hope the weather remains good for you.

Thanks, I'm pretty motivated to get on the water. If it wasn't for the lack of garage I'd probably take more time, I'd much rather be out on the river in my kayak trying to catch salmon in this weather. I pulled the trigger on a new 20hp suzuki, the fact that it's EFI and about 20lbs lighter than everyone else's 20hp appeals to me. I'm hoping to have the rest of the boat together in about a week, I need to figure out a trailer next.

A little less daylight each day.

You are moving right along. I hope the weather keeps being nice to you.
It will be interesting to see how you like the Suzuki and how it does on the boat.

Port side rub rail is put on. I decided that I don't want to subject my neighbors to sanding dust, so I'd like to move the project down into the yard this weekend, and I'd rather have the rigidity of the rub rail on before I do that than not. I still have one more file and sand for fairing on the outside and plan on getting to the starbord side in the morning. My son and a friend are coming over to help do some work and the moving tomorrow.

On a side note, not having a garage and not wanting to throw up a lot of epoxy dust at both mine and my neighbor's motorcycle, I decided to open the big long black box I've been using in the photos, which contains a whole lot of very long hardened steel files my dad gave me a month ago when he heard I was going to build a boat. He also gave me the orbital sander I've been using. Anyways, grinders with a flapper seem to take down material very quickly but is hard to use. A sander, even with 60 grit, can break it down but won't get a long patch level. A nice long hardened steel file, though, seems to span well past the 'divet' you're filling in with fairing compound and works really nicely without throwing a lot of duff into the air.

I picked up a table saw today after trying to cut out the rub rail with a jigsaw and a skil saw. I have a lot of machine-precise bits of aluminum to use as a fence, but I really wanted to justify a table saw to cut up the large pieces of baltic birch plywood I use for laser engraving. I get it in 2x1 and that's two times as big as my laser machine can take, so it's not frivolous. It also cut rub rail strips out of the waste plywood from the CNC kit very quickly and saved me a lot of time and effort. I have a lot of delrin plates and now I think I can cut them down to machine size and have some branching ideas.

Oh yea. I have a few small paint rollers and wanted to use one as an epoxy spreader for the inside tape and glass. They sell these, but they look just like a roller without the roller on it. I CAD'd up one to go over the roller, it rolls fine, but there's nothing to stop it going off the edge. I could tap the end for an M5 screw, but I think I'll just spread in the direction that doesn't make it walk off.

Really innovative Craig!!! Nice Jeff

My son, his friend, and I got the hull flipped onto my kayak's lander. We glassed the insides and the stringers in a day.





I was impatient and put the frame back in, and ruined the stringer tape near the mid seat a bit. I'll fix it once I go through the last taping, hopefully tomorrow.

The decks aren't glued in yet, I got the battons in today and have a few more to get in tomorrow. I also got a layer of quickfair in on the upper side abd found out i have a system 3 dealer a few miles away. I get my motor tomorrow but I plan on finishing the boat to taste before christening it. I feel like rain will set in later this week so I'll seal all the wood and will keep on working in a popup if I have to.

Inside is almost ready to paint. I'm a first time builder, so I ended up gusseting up every non-visible intersection I could. Everywhere inside the decks and the seat there's a 1" batton gusseting up the split, because I just don't want to second guess whether or not I got everything structurally sound as well as I'd like.
Motor came in.





I've faired a bunch, came to love quickfair, and was ready for final prep before inside paint before the rains set in today.

I went inside, looked at the metric D5 plans, CAD'd them and scaled them 1:10. In the wild event I don't get the fs14 done before it rains hard it'll sit under a tarp and I'll work on something else before Washington lets back up. The 1:10 model came out very nice.



[imghttp://i.imgur.com/QxBrKhm.png?1[/img]

Very efficiently nested D5 example sans seat tops



1:10 model test fit based on sketchy sketchup CAD I did off metic free plans



1:10 model proof fit. I'll probably make it this winter one way or another.

Craig, very well done!! What HP engine are you going to run?? Jeff

The motor for the FS14 is a new Suzuki 20hp. It may be more motor than I need, but I've been eyeballing jet lowers for the motor and while they're spendy, they look fun for river use and would bump power down a bit. I didn't get priming done today but got more fairing in on the interior.

Dad's been following my wooden boat aspirations and found this photo he took near Mt Addams in WA of an old wooden boat and either a steam powered or gasified motor, back when I was a knee high to a knee. I'm not sure what it is, but it was too good not to share.

Jokes on you!
He has an motor under the rear seat there, He just wanted to keep his still close at all times.

I've been spending most daylight hours I have off working on getting fairing just right. I sourced a trailer and plan on working on a few cosmetic issues once it's up on it, after the hull is finished. I got the inside all faired and painted out, and actually was able to slowly flip the boat solo. I put a lot more glue on the outside than I wish I had and I have at least 3 days of sanding, putty, sanding, etc before I can figure the outside will be satisfactory. In the meanwhile I have a few questions







Do I need to, and should I work in a motor well?

I can machine a jack plate, or a stronger transom mount out of plate aluminum I have on hand. Given that I have a 20hp motor, should I?

Outside of limber holes if I decide I want a sole, and scupper/drain holes on the rear deck if I find it collects water, and a brass drain for the hull, do I need any other holes? I scoured and did google-fu to try to answer my own questions but came up a bit short.

You have a motorwell, I see that cut in the rear deck, no need for more.

For drainage, picture the water flow: along the keel and along the stringers. Think of water that could puddle in the corners between stringers and frames if you leave the boat outside uncovered. If stored on a trailer at a good angle, you need only limber holes in the frames.

Upon completion, I got a few of the internal bits, as we say up here, kennewampus. They're an inch off, maybe, at side to side, enough to tell by sight. I won't show you until it's fixed. I think not having a perfectly flat surface to build upon just helped to get thing off centered, and I'm looking forward to getting it in a garage to work it over, sometime soon.



This guy, and a few others, gave their lives to my graphite layers on the hull.



You can skip brushes entirely and spread the graphite layers on really thin. I got my first one on thick-ish by trying to cut it in cleverly with chipping brushes, but got goop on the paint and had to touch up after. Just tape off right the first time and spread it extra thin per layer with a roller.



Here's before touch-up, epoxy runs down into tape way worse than paint, and neither are fun to clean up. It doesn't look this bad now.



My son and I got it trailered and the motor mounted last weekend. Trim and everything seems to line up, but I'm still really hesitant to take it out. I picked up bouyency foam but it's a bit too cool to set up properly this time of year, so I'll need to hold off until next spring, I think. Same goes for some kiwigrip I picked up. In the meanwhile, I have some ideas for cutting some really thin decking, laser engraving something onto it, and coating it with resin. Basically, I can raise one side up with some kind of filler, a precision 3d print, whatever, and level it all off with decorative decking.

The motor I picked out is a new 20hp so I can probably afford the few extra pounds to make it look like I'd like. The hull is all in the right shape and dimensions, I'm just really dissatisfied that I let myself put in the casting deck and seat out of level.

I also want to put her name, "Lost Summer" somewhere on her. I'm thinking of engraving 4" tall letters in 3mm thick baltic birch, then cutting them out and applying each in epoxy resin on the transom. I'm out of practice with the laser, and it's still pretty new, so I have stuff to do this winter.

craigyb, she is really looking good and you and your son really put her together fast (by most standards)!!! Cool name selected!! Send us some photos now that the Boat is on the trailer with motor!!! Jeff

Any news Craigyb? Launched?

I take it you are a single man. If I layed my kitchen out like yours I prob. would be single now. Yikes!!!!

Yes I am a single man. Who needs a lady friend when you have a kitchen full of lasers and robots?

I have not launched. I moved out of Seattle and my 20hp suzuki was stolen right off my transom before I could take it out. I had just moved in and was sure I'd eat the cost in homeowners insurance if I reported it, so I let the boat sit a bit. I also set the casting deck and seat a few degrees off and they look kennewampus when you eyeball it. Friends tell me they cannot tell, but I think they're being kind, it's more than a few degrees. Luckily, the new place has flat covered areas and I can cut the casting deck and seat out, clean them and the old fillets up, then set them back in an inch or so lower. I was going to just buy new plywood, but dang, even local plywood ain't cheap.

2 years later, boat is licensed and launched, and a Tohatsu 20hp motor sits where the stolen Suzuki sits. With two adults, two dogs, and a bunch of gear, it's still easy to get on a plane and my top speed so far has been 22mph with a whole lotta junk in the boat. The licensing was pretty easy, I just brought receipts and filled out forms to the DOL and they did it up. Nobody there had any idea how to license a home built boat, but we slogged through it.

Took it out today on Lake Wenatchee in Leavenworth, WA. I'm super glad I built a boat instead of just buying a 14' aluminum skiff, it looks a whole lot better if I do say so myself.

Congrats!

That's a great looking boat and some beautiful scenery right there
What color is the sides?

Congrats!! She looks really good and what a beautiful place to splash her!!! Jeff

Nice, well done.

Beautiful color.

That's a beauty! Nice SUP too...I bought the same one for my family!

She turned out great! Definitely worth the effort.

So, I took the boat out on Lake Roosevelt, an 80,000 acre impoundment of the Columbia river this week. It was glass-calm when I went out, and we sped over to a nice sandy cove devoid of humans and had a fine day on the beach. After inflating my lady friend's SUP off the boat battery, I took my dog out for a bit of kokanee fishing. As usual, later in the day as the wind kicked up and waves started to white cap, which is a no-go for small boats up here in the PNW. My friend says the boat was a-rockin during the times I was re-rigging my lines and wasn't able to man the tiller. I think I shouldn't fish alone unless I know the day is going to be totally calm.



I puttered back to the beach and waited for the winds to calm down. They did, and we basked like lizards in the sun for a few more hours. Eventually the wind came back and the waves started to really kick up. We deflated ourselves, then deflated the paddle board, loaded back up and headed to the launch. It did fine! With all our weight on the boat neither of us really were worried much. We tied off and started to unload when a big aluminum Hewes craft (upscale fishing platform in PNW) came up to the launch full of people and fish.

I'm still an amateur at backing up a trailer and in a bit of a panic attack I unhitched it and lowered it back down the ramp manually and had my friend back the truck up. The Hewes craft was listing and bucking pretty wildly and they were audibly concerned about losing their fish. A couple guys off the boat helped me load up quickly and were extremely friendly and helpful and reminded me to just do what I have to do and to not have a panic attack about it. My boat's got as much right to load and unload in due time as any that happens to be on the water. Some of the hull paint came off from the boat harshly hitting the launch's dock, but the big Hewes was hitting it too, so I don't feel like such a dumbass. It was just some unexpectedly wild conditions for both of us.

My FS14 got slammed hard in Monroe Washington today, coming home from a great week-long trip out to Leavenworth, WA.



Some guy dropped something a few cars behind me, looked down to get it, and hit a student driver between him and me. A first responder told me 'oh it's cracked in half' and I thought he meant the boat, he meant the trailer. The boat is mostly whole.



The 20hp tohatsu is all broken up. The trailer folded like a piece of paper. The FS14? Well, I think the transom needs replacing and the skeg is shot. The hull kept its shape very well and did not deform at all that I could see. The boat shot up and hit my tail light and broke the housing, but the motor and the hull took the most force in the collision. I think it actually kept a bad accident from being worse.



I had to have the trailer and boat towed off to a yard while my insurance decides what to do about it all. The car in the middle had it's occupants all driven to the hospital. They had to take the cars away first because they were leaking hazmat, and I wasn't, so I sat there the longest.



Man, I'm heartbroken. My boat is hundreds of miles away in a tow yard sitting up on a broken trailer. I don't have the wherewithal to asses what it would take to fix the problem. I hope I get to take her home in the end after all is said and done, though.

Wow! Glad you are okay!

Your beautiful boat! That sucks about the boat! Look at Coach's thread for rebuild inspiration!

Sorry to hear about your accident and the damage to your beautiful boat. I imagine you are still shook up and suffering from the shock and swiftness of how it happened.

Most likely what happens next depends on a few things. An adjuster will be sent out to inspect the damage and assess the loss. The police report will be reviewed and your pictures at the scene will be requested. Depending on who is considered to be at fault your loss could be covered under yours or the other party’s homeowners, auto, a specific boat policy or even an umbrella liability policy or some combination of the above if the coverages don’t overlap. Your insurance company will work with their insurance company to figure out who is going to pay and how much is going to be paid.

At some point you will be offered a settlement amount to cover the estimated cost to either repair the damage or replace those components of the motor, boat and trailer that are unrepairable and considered a total loss. Depending on what insurance you have you may get some additional money for the impaired value of the repaired vehicle or even paid the total current replacement cost, minus deductibles. It all depends on what kind of insurance you and the other parties have.

The adjuster will not have much difficulty figuring out the cost of the motor and trailer. The boat on the other hand is a one of a kind custom built piece of art and the value will be highly subjective with the insurance company likely undervaluing it due to a lack of comparables. You may have to help them to understand the cost of the materials and the hours of labor invested to build the boat or come to some agreement on a comparable retail value production built substitute.

You do not have to accept the insurance company’s settlement offer for your boat and can negotiate for more if you feel it is warranted and you have documentation to back up your valuation.

Best wishes to you as you navigate the process. It will likely take longer than you want and involve more paperwork and follow up to get the fairest resolution. Be persistent and you will be on the water again in the style you have grown accustomed to.

Glad you are safe!!! Sorry this happened to you!!! Jeff

Browndog wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:09 am Your insurance company will work with their insurance company

Browndog, is this with the assumption that his boat is insured, or would it come out of the property liability of the at-fault driver. My drift boat is not insured, having trouble getting an ins company to review it.


Craig, that's a tough break. I feel for ya, glad you weren't hurt. Keep your spirits up about it and keep us posted, its a position any one of us could be in any time so plenty of sympathizers here.

oh man! I feel for ya. As others have said. You are blessed to be safe and healthy. Your boat may be damaged, engine shot and trailer hammered. Those are things that can be fixed or replaced to 100%. A life or a limb cannot. Still stinks, when your head stops spinning you will be thinking about all the new upgrades you will do while she is mounted back on the strongback for repairs! YOU GOT THIS!

Wow! That really sucks! Very sorry you are going through this. That is one beautiful boat!

Well shit! Keep us posted. I'm crying for you. Had a semi miss my boat by an rch a few years ago on the interstate and still get stiff when I think about it. Glad you're safe. The boat can be fixed.

I am assuming that his auto insurance company will be involved since there is damage to his vehicle. If he also has the trailer insured on his auto insurance that will be handled as well. The boat might be insured separately. Or the other driver’s auto insurance will cover the boat and motor damage depending on what kind of coverage they have.

It gets kind of messy sometimes because the motor, boat and its contents, the trailer and the vehicle are all considered differently for insurance purposes.

Valuations are tricky for self built boats because of the lack of comparables. Certainly the materials and some agreed upon labor rate can be used if necessary to come to a value.

The insurance company representing the driver at the rear that caused the pile-up has already admitted full liability and has agreed to work with me or my insurance company. They're indicating, though, that while the repairs to my truck are easy to take care of, it may be a bit more difficult assessing the boat/trailer/motor situation. They're asking me to go to a boat dealer to get an estimate - I don't think dealers typically deal in hand-made fiberglass laminate boats. I'm waiting on my insurance agent to see if he has any better suggestions.

I think many transoms are wood cored and occasionslly need to be repaired due to water inttrusion/delamination. Same with cored decks on sailboats. I suspect you can get an estimate from a glass guy to cut off the transom and replace it/fair it in etc. Then maybe collect the money and do the work yourself.

My .02

Man it sure seems like a lot of boats are getting hit lately. I hate this for you and hope the insurance people treat you right. As said by others the best way to come up with a repair cost is to have a glass shop give you a quote. Make sure they look the whole boat over for hidden damage.

So sorry to see this, Craig.

I know you're dealing with a hundred different aspects of this event. But if you do decide to rebuilt and need an extra hand, I'm relatively local and willing to help out. Just PM me.

Oh man this is terrible ! Sorry this happened to your beautiful boat . One of my biggest fears when I’m trailering Tipsy in Myrtle beach traffic...

Craig,

I’m a personal injury lawyer in Seattle so I deal with stuff a lot. There’s a good chance I’ve met whatever insurance adjuster you’re dealing with. Usually property damage claims are pretty easy to sort out. If you have any questions about whatever the insurance company offers you, I’d be happy to talk you through it (for free). Shoot me a private message and I’ll give you my contact info.

Now that is a down right nice offer! Hats off to you sir

I sorted the boat out with the 'at-fault' party's insurance. I had a hard time getting anyone local to give me a quote, so I itemized out every part still on the boat when it went to the junkyard, including the plywood and my time. Each and every part up to the spare tire carrier I had just put on the trailer and all the scotty and ram mounts, with receipts and current cost links. I quoted my time at 100 hours at $20/hour which I considered fair, since I'm a novice boat builder and I wouldn't pay myself more than $20 an hour. Someone later told me 'that's the friends and family rate, not the guy that ruins your boat rate.'

To my surprise, their insurance offered me back my quote. The adjuster even said I had undersold the labor price. My truck was fixed within a week and my body feels fine about a month on. I've been following the IIAA auction for the boat, I don't imagine there will be a lot of takers, so I might bring it back home still.

https://www.iaai.com/vehicledetails/373 ... owNumber=4

Great news out a bad situation. Sorry this happened.

Are you going to build another boat?

Good news!!! Jeff