Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I was looking to build a tender for my sailboat (a J/120, a 40' racer/cruiser), and after going back and forth between a few boats, I settled on a GV10. So I went to the website and bought plans for a GV11 because bigger is better, right?

Here is Vamoose, the J120. Also where we came up with the idea of calling the dinghy Vamouse. Picture taken from the 45 lb. Minto dinghy I made, but we have outgrown.
Ordered plywood from a friend with a cabinet business and that came in on Jan 23rd. We couldn't find any good quality Okoume, so Aquatek it is. The rest of that day and the next were spent drawing lines, cutting wood out, and sanding them to final shape. Threw some epoxy on a few of the short pieces to make them long pieces. Heavy groceries keep things flat.
Once I had wood pieces, I put them together so they looked like a boat. Took about 4 hours to get it all stitched together and straight. I mixed some epoxy with some glass fibers and silica to hold the seams together while I flipped the boat to do inside seams.
I didn't get any pictures of doing the inside fillets and seams, because you've all seen that a brazillian times. Then I flipped it over and did the outside seams and a few reinforcement areas. I was going to leave it like this, but I can't convince myself that I shouldn't just glass the entire outside. I'm not going to be babying this thing, so I'll feel better to just glass the entire outside bottom.

But, before I decided to glass the entire bottom, I flipped it back over and started working on the seats. The plans call for a front seat and two small seats that sit athwartship. I decided that the extra weight of more seating would be worth it to me, so I started cutting some more wood. I'm not sure if I'll do a front seat or not at this point. I'm thinking yes, but the wife is thinking no.

I'll make under the seats storage and flotation. After this picture, I flipped it over and filleted and taped the bottom of the seat seams. Now my knees hurt.
That's where I am today. I have a 9.9 Suzuki coming on Monday. It might be a little less power than I would like, but it should be good enough. I'm struggling to come up with a good solution for a gunwale. I'd like something that adds stiffness to the boat, but also won't damage my sailboat's hull when climbing back and forth. Cotton rope? Something rubber? Not sure. Still figuring that out.

Vamoose is a beauty!

You've made some good progress on Vamouse and you work neatly.

I see on the study plans that there is no frame forward, which I would have expected. There are people here with more knowledge about this design than me, but it seems like the seat in the bow may be structural and if you delete it you may need to add something else to do the job. Perhaps a foredeck would suffice? What about weight balance? You don't want all the passengers sitting in the back.

Weight and balance, and it being structural are both good arguments. Front seat is going in for sure now.

Today, I decided that the back under the seats will be positive floatation, the middle sides will be accessible storage/flotation (hatch), and under the middle athwartship is where I'll make an area that I can put the 6.6 gal gas can and strap it down. I started making parts to do that, and started covering them with epoxy. Now I'm formulating a plan on how to get everything in with limited access. I like having a fillet on each side of where plywood meets plywood on a perpendicular, but I think there will be a few places that won't be possible. Overkill, I know. I guess I'll be saving some weight in those spots.

I'll be dragging this boat up and down the shore over rocks and such, so I'm planning on putting on a few strakes (I think that's the correct term) as sacrificial things to slide over barnacles. I assumed that some sort of plastic would be ideal, like a UHWM plastic or something, but after looking at prices and availability, I'm thinking wood should be good enough. What is everyone else using?

A few years ago I ordered some UHMW online and the price was not too bad. I think it would make good runners for dragging over rough ground. Sorry I do not remember where I got it but even shipping to Alaska did not make the price too bad.

White oak

Most plastics are soft vs barnacles..

I used pine with a piece of 1/8" aluminum "shoe" for the skeg on my dory.

If you are going to put a larger motor on (i.e. planing speeds) then a single layer of biaxial, inside and out, on the bottom panels is really required. But you don't need to glass the side panels since you used a good plywood. Strictly optional and if you do, a lighter 4 or 6 oz cloth is fine. It's more a cosmetic layer on the outside. The tropical hardwood plywoods don't really check like the doug fir plywoods so 2 coats of epoxy is OK.

UHMW is very tough and will be fine for barnacles.

I'm just putting on a Suzuki 9.9, so nothing big. I am hoping to plane with one or two people, but doubt it will with more. That's fine, though.

I put a 6oz on the outside and don't plan to put one inside. I did some extra biax on the bottom of the V for abrasion resistance. The hull feels pretty stiff, and I'll be adding more stiffeners inside as part of the seats I'm putting in. One more sheet of ply on order for that.

I like the idea of UHMW plastic stringers, but I'd really rather not have to drill through the hull to attach them, so I'm leaning towards wood, but haven't made up my mind for sure.

I'm close to getting the hull ready for paint. Planning on graphite powder in epoxy for under water, and I have dark grey Brightside Polyurethane for the sides. I'll just do white for the interior.