221 replies to this topic

[Miyot]

Received my plans today from Graham and Carla for the Ocracoke 24. I have poured over them for several hours and can't wait to get started. I called him, not being able to find the planking page. It was rolled up inside the full size Mylar plans. Sorry Graham. Everything looks pretty straight forward, but I'm sure i'll have questions in the months to follow. It is a nice set of plans with a lot of info on where to get materials, including what he carries. Willing and helpful on the phone for a guy so busy and I appreciate that.

I looked at several other boats by other designers for the Carolina type boat I was after. I kept coming back to the Ocracoke. When I found he had plans available for a 24 footer I didn't hesitate. I would have purchased a Jig kit for the 24 if it was available. I believe he has them for the 20 footer. She is the right size to trailer, and economy and performance are at the top of my list. I saw his boat Marissa running in a you tube clip and liked that boat a lot.

I have a lot of work to do to the boat barn, getting it ready for this build while I order materials and build the jig. I'm also redoing our basement. I'll do all 3 at once until and can concentrate on the boat itself. The barn should be warm enough this winter for epoxy work, I'll make it so. I'll start a building thread and do photos when I get started like the one being done now on the Ocracoke 20. Which will be a big help to me in the following months as well. I think the builder is NZ (thanks NZ) she looks great.
Dave

[WhidbeyOne]

Dave:

Sounds as if you are off to a good start. Enjoy!

Joe

[Miyot]

Getting started. Put the drop ceiling in the barn over the weekend. 3 days of it.This is where I'll build the boat. I will put a door on the front,do some framing and finish with some plastic and a tarp, and insulate the whole works. I'll have 12' X 27' inside. I ordered 43 sheets of 4 X 8 Okoume and 300 ft. of Douglas Fir today. I think I'm close on the plywood as I will put a cuddy and a hardtop on her. I'll bet I'm short on the Fir, but now I can get started. Now back to the basement for a while to keep the wife happy.

[PeterP]

Now back to the basement for a while to keep the wife happy.

This seems to be a recurring motif on this forum. In fact I have seen this same phrase so many times I wonder if B&B really stands for Boats&Basements PeterP

[nz lance]

Looking forward to seeing her underway Miyot. Graham has done a fantastic job of designing a great boat. Have you thought about going "express" for the cabin style? Doesnt give alot of headroom is the only problem, but with a 24 ft boat there will be more hight in the bow (maybe). The only reason I ask is that it is in keeping with that caroliner look, and alot easier to construct than a raised cabin. The 20 needed a cuddy for headroom but was a total headache to construct. Could of have gone horribly wrong in the looks department too. There were plenty of nights I had a sabre saw in my hands ready to take the whole lot off and go back to a centre consol.
Good luck with her mate, Im sure you will do a brilliant job.

[Scott Dunsworth]

Lance you have done a brilliant job. Very impressive!! I wish Dave the same results.

[Miyot]

Thanks for the comments fellows. The express style is what I have in mind. I owned a 31ft Ricky Scarborough Express, selling her about 6 yrs ago(another story) best boat I ever owned. Graham included a drawing in the plans of the bow decked over and a hard top of sorts above the helm. I would like to have a hardtop with glass windows and enough headroom to at least sit up just forward of the helm in the cabin. I'll just have to turn her over and see what works. A head up forward is a requirement. Your boat looks great Lance and I have spent several hours studying your thread. Very helpful and motivating as well. Can't wait to start building.
Dave

[Tri]

I received my Ocracoke 20 plans and patterns! Great detail and disc fantastic. Work thru Carla and Graham to get a jig! Getting boat shop organized with new shelves, cabinets and maintenance to woodworking equipment! Hope to start soon! Attached is my 27 Warren O'Neal carolina with a forward cabin for reference!

[Miyot]

Finally makin way. My construction base is on a dirt floor, so I cemented it in with 4x4's. I am transferring my drawings to the plywood with carbon paper. I'm using a deer antler tip ground to a small diameter, just a little larger than a pencil lead to use as a tracing tool. It has to be sharpened occasionally and then polished a bit to keep it from tearing the Mylar. It works really well, but care has to be taken to not press to hard, and you don't have to to leave a nice line. Stations 6 and 8 are cut out with their doublers as well. Here are a few pics.  IMG_4975.JPG   111KB   116 downloads  IMG_4984.JPG   119.92KB   138 downloads  IMG_4985.JPG   67.48KB   113 downloads

[Miyot]

Moving on. Just finished my last mold or frame. Now on to the Transom, Keel & Stem and Stringers. Set up coming soon. Sure wish I could work full time on it.  IMG_5130.JPG   129.07KB   75 downloads  IMG_5141.JPG   56.06KB   86 downloads  IMG_5142.JPG   61.11KB   60 downloads

[nz lance]

Geez you were not joking about deer antler ... (my 4 year old son calls them horn-tlers) for the tracing tool. love oringinal ideas.I used a nail punch sharpened to a point and punched a dot through the mylar every inch or so then conected dots with pencil. Crude but effective. We wish you could be workin on the thing full time too mate.Keep pics comming.

[Miyot]

Bottom stringers done, used butt joints.  IMG_5184.JPG   175.28KB   72 downloads  IMG_5195.JPG   140.86KB   67 downloads

[timbo2]

Great start, Dave. Like a lot of people I'll be watching your progress intently. Love this style of boat and am thinking of building the 20' one next, although now I'm thinking might as well build the 24' instead. Do you know if anyone has completed a 24' footer yet? And do you have any idea if how you're going to power it?
Tim

[Miyot]

Tim, my plans say hull #4. I have not seen or heard of one actually built yet. I am going to power with Yamaha, probably 150HP. I have started on the stem and have cut out several of the pieces. I am using the middle section of the stem for the pattern to complete the rest. The stem and keel are made up of 3 one inch thick lamination's, if you can call them that. I am spending some time on the center one, making sure it is true as possible. Then when I glue them up I will use the router to trim the outside pieces to the middle one. I'll have to spend some time getting the glue off the center one so the router has a clear, smooth path. I think the time spent cleaning up will be worth it. The idea being to keep the everything square as possible to the sides and keep hand tool use to a minimum. Some pics coming soon. Great fun.
Dave

[Miyot]

Working on the stem. I made some trial cuts to make sure my jigsaw blade wasn't flexing to one side, causing my part to be to small on one side. All was well, so I cut out the first parts of the stem. I cut very close to the line, then trued it up with the spoke shave and block plane. I'll use this as the pattern for the rest of the stem, marking all the scarf joints on this part and then transferring them to the right parts on the other two sides of the layup. The other two sides to the stem I'll cut a little big and then trim them back to main pattern piece with the router after glue up. Mark the bearding line and station points and move onto the transom. I'm having fun now!
Dave  IMG_5215.JPG   79.69KB   63 downloads  IMG_5230.JPG   102.44KB   69 downloads  IMG_5242.JPG   80.51KB   74 downloads  IMG_5249.JPG   81.66KB   59 downloads

[Dale Niemann]

I am sure Graham would have it on the plans but make sure when you make the second side of the keel that none of the joints are at the same place as the first side. Also on my Marissa they usually go in opposite angles as the first side. This is hard to explain but hopefully it is shown on the plans and my worry is for naught.
dale

[Miyot]

Thanks for the heads up Dale. The scarf joints are scattered around pretty good, like a puzzle. It actually took some thinking to get it all straight. I have finished with the stem and have begun glue up. Tomorrow is a big day. I hope to get two of the sides glued up, stem to stern. I should finish the job Saturday with the third and final side. It is actually quite a beefy chunk of wood. Should get some pics up tomorrow. Thanks again.
Dave

[Miyot]

Makin way. Didn't get as far as I had hoped. I had some trouble with some of my Doug Fir. Although the boards looked straight, two of them mooned or curved after I cut out the piece I needed. I don't know if it was my fault or what. I had to discard two 10 ft boards, I can still use them for smaller pieces later. The rest of the boards cut nicely. Another 12ft board had splits or shakes in it not apparent until I had cut and started planing it down. Expensive boards, but you'll have that I guess. Tomorrow I'll glue up the puzzle pieces, Sunday should see the completion of the stem and keel, then on to the transom.  IMG_5256.JPG   147.59KB   93 downloads  IMG_5260.JPG   116.17KB   107 downloads  IMG_5262.JPG   112.39KB   104 downloads  IMG_5268.JPG   144.99KB   79 downloads

[Hirilonde]

Makin way. Didn't get as far as I had hoped. I had some trouble with some of my Doug Fir. Although the boards looked straight, two of them mooned or curved after I cut out the piece I needed.

When you cut a wide board into a shape you release loads that were controlled by the wood you removed and it can change shape. To avoid this, lay out your piece, cut well outside the lines and release the loads and let the board distort. Then erase your lines and lay it out again. Now when you cut it it will hold the shape desired.

The pieces look good though. You are on your way to a boat.

[Miyot]

Thanks for the tip Hirilonde. Makes sense, and I won't forget it. Nice to have a place to learn some things. One more side to glue up and i'll start work on the transom. Everything takes longer than you think it will. Gluing up the stem & keel today wore me out. Constant motion till it was done.
Dave