Today I worked on the port hull, taking all of the wire clamps out and cleaning it up. It is now ready to begin filleting in the keel tomorrow. I've got everything lined up and the wires and screws are holding it nice and tight. I used screws in the skeg area to get the sides completely flush. It is a PITA trying to get the wires tight enough (they break). I also glued up the starboard side of the starboard hull tonight. I'll glue up the port side in the morning. I want to have the port hull stitched by the weekend, but we'll see how hard I work! I still have to finish out all of the starboard bulkheads.

P.S. Shopvacs are the best tool in the garage

Diagonal Stiffeners

Today I got all of the diagonal stiffeners and the cabin and deck support beams cut. I ended up beefing up all of the parts for more strength. I will have a picture below with the standard triangular shape that the plans call for and one with the size I am going to use. Tomorrow I'm going to start with the hull assembly process for the starboard hull. I will also glue on the stiffeners in the morning. They are all prepped and ready to go in. After the stiffeners are in, I can finally start the fillets for the keel and bulkheads.

These are still rough cut. I will sand them and make them all pretty before they go in for good.

The size the plans call for and the beefier size used.

I got inside to check it out. I'm definitely sleeping inside once I get the bunks in.

Diagonal stiffeners are prepped and ready to be glued in place in the morning.

Bulkheads Stitched

So we finally have something that resembles a boat in the garage! I kind of had a few weeks of not doing much with the boat (climbing too much). Now that it finally looks like a boat, though, my motivation has returned in full. Here are some pictures of everything. I still have to clean up the garage and finish tightening everything down (especially the stern section). The power went out earlier, and I had to do most of the work by headlamp. It finally came back on right when I finished, of course.

The white is just epoxy dust from sanding. I haven't taken the time to wipe it down yet.

The deep V shape of the hull provides lateral resistance without the need for daggerboards. I am eventually going to add some skids that are about 4" deep along the keel for beaching and drying out. These skids will also add more lateral resistance for going to weather. These will be made of hardwood and will provide a sacrificial layer for wear. The front and rear cavities are the built in flotation chambers that keep the boat afloat in case of being holed. I'm probably going to fill these chambers with empty bottles in case they themselves become holed.

Bulkhead Work

Today I glued up the deck and cabin top braces to the bulkheads. I also cut out a bunch of other stuff for the other hull. Tomorrow I plan on coating each bulkhead with two coats of epoxy. I experimented with adding some designs to the bulkheads. The sun pictured below was added to the bulkhead that splits my bunk in two. I am thinking about possibly putting a sailing quote or two on another bulkhead. Who knows. I like having a little bit of personalization to my hull. We are going to varnish inside the cabin, so it will shine through pretty well, I hope!

First Hull is Stitched!

Today Grace and I got the first hull stitched together. It took a little bit longer than expected, but it was well worth it. I'm going to finish the bulkheads on Monday/Tuesday, and then we will be able to finally stitch them all into place. Finally seeing the flat panels  expand was a really nice reward today. We left some of the stitches a bit loose, as can be seen in the pictures. Those will be getting tightened up, but for now it's off to Texas Roadhouse for some food!

Back to Work

Well I have glued up the keel and sheerstringers for hull 1. All of the butt blocks are double coated now as well. I plan on gluing up one of the sheerstringers to the hull panel today. Hopefully we can go 3D with the hull tomorrow afternoon. It's about time!

Vacation

Well we haven't updated the blog, because we have been on vacation. Grace has two weeks off of work. We spent the first half of this week sailing Brandon Gamble's tiki 21, Element. Camping out on her provided us a lot of new ideas for our own boat's customization. We had a great time there. Thanks, Brandon!