Florin {VACATIONER}

That is a nice boarding ladder. I am planning on making one too, we have a few mermaids as well and I don't really feel like hoisting them up in the boat (with my arms) every time they're done swimming. I'm still looking for a good design of a boarding plank to be used mainly by my 100lb dog when the boat is beached. I really am not looking forward to lifting the bugger up on board from the water, besides he gets really offended when someone tries to pick him up and he growls pretty ugly. I think it has to do with the alpha dog male pride or something, but he's not very happy. Do chime in if you have any ideas other than the boom-crane deal I've heard before. Thanks

That looks good Mike, What are the two boards on the sides of the stub for? Are they just extended versions of the little 8" plates in the plans? I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it, but I think I'm going to somehow modify the existing hinge (in the plans) to go with the hollow mast. It just may work.

Good progress TDROWN Most of us have used scarf joints to "extend" our rubrail material. They're pretty easy to make. I would reccomend against using the plastic resin glue on these scarf joints though. It didn't work for me at all. When I attempted to pick them up they all popped at the joints. I ended up gluig them with elmers urethane glue. That worked good. Good luck

Barry, that's exactly what I was envisioning. Good thinking. That's how I'll build it. The only thing I've had different is the drill bit is an auger and has it's own pilot in the tip so I can't drill other pilot holes. I will attach a tube to my jig which will guide the bit (the bit will go right through the tube) That should help guide the bit pretty straight. Thanks

Thank you, I guess according to the poll, the wooden track is bad news. Ok, I'll stay away from it for now. I'll play around with my idea after we launch. I do think it's a good idea though and I can't see the plastic sails hanging up on nicely polished track anymore than they hang up on the pain in the a$$ aluminiun track on the CJ's we're renting from the local sailing club. thanks

Thanks guys! I made the stub mast solid, and the gaff solid as well. For now I am going to make the boom solid too. Later on I will try making the hollow boom and add a traveller on top of the lazarette to keep the boom end down. So the only hollow piece on the boat (possibly) will be the mast for now. After I make my decision about the hinge of course. Thanks

Thanks guys for all the advice, I'll read up on the recomended info and will come up with a plan. Thanks

So the decision was made. I built the gaff last night and it is solid. I laminated it of course out of 2 pieces ripped out of the 2x12x12' spruce I got the other day. I glued and clamped them together with plastic resin glue. I made them a little bigger, so I have to trim down the edges today. I also made the stub mast. It is solid as well. I couldn't see why I should make this one hollow since I don't have to lift it anyway when stepping the mast, plus it's a lot simpler to build. I made this out of 2 pieces of 2" stock and one piece I had to rip to 3/4" which went in between to give me a 4x3 3/4" piece. I'll have to trim down the edges on this one too. All end grains went against eachother to prevent warping. I also made the gaff jaws yesterday. I have to pick up some ready-rod to screw the jaws to the gaff now. So today I have to trim down all the edges and I'll possibly start cutting the staves for the mast, but I have to find a lot of those radiator hose clamps to put the mast together. I took your advice and will keep the boom solid, I'll make that today as well since all I have to do is rip a couple of pieces of wood and glue them together. I also need to buy more clamps... I almost ran out yesterday when I did the stub mast and the gaff. Florin

Yes Phil, that makes a lot of sense. I guess something has to keep that boom down. Thanks Florin

Yep, I can see what you mean. One of my joints is a bit slack... all the others are really good, you are right, the plastic resin doesn't have very good gap filling characteristics. I wonder if it would fill better if I mixed it a bit thicker.

Thanks, It loks like a usefull tool to have in my arsenal. How did you make sure it sits level on the edge of the keel?

Sea Eagle, I don't think I would bake it like enamel.... I will be using acrylic enamel which uses hardener to cure. I can bake it in the garage at 30C. that should make it cure a bit faster. Well, faster than 15 or 20 degrees anyway. I don't know anyone who paints cars, I can spray my own pretty good, I just bought another gun yesterday.... We'll see what kind of results we get from an HVLP. We're spraying tomorrow if it doesn't rain. "I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it" :-) Cheers Florin

Thanks Ray and Barry, :-) if the answers would have been identical I would have had my mind made up already. Maan, it would be so easy if there wouldn't be so many products to chose from. Since I have my boat finished quite nicely and I have used automotive paint before I think I'll go with the automotive paint. I spoke to a sales rep at a paint store and he told me "no matter what anyone tells you, oil based enamels or urethanes will take up to 3 weeks to a month to fully cure". We need to turn this boat really soon, so we can't afford to wait a month to turn it...that will push our launch date in December :-( As far as I know, acrilic enamels (car paint) will fully cure overnight. I gotta dig out my old spray gun and get it ready for action. Thanks Florin

Thanks guys for the quick answers. I have spent a few agonising hours today at a few stores including our yacht shop in town (can you believe we have one here?). I did find interlux brightside (very expensive at $45/qt) and it comes with its own primer at $35/qt. I did some calculations and discovered it would cost over $600 to paint the boat with that stuff. Not that good! I then looked at some other marine topside paints selling at around $40/gallon and the primer the same. The more I read up on stuff it sound like rolling and tipping won't give a great finish (it sure didn't work out great for my gelcoat) and hearing from some of you guys the same thing I am almost tempted to spray it on instead. I don't own an airless spray system but I do have access to a spray gun and compressor which is used in the automotive industry to spray cars. Would you recomend I use that for oil based enamel or urethane paints? Other than having to mask a lot of stuff, I don't really have a problem with using that. Also, when spraying oil based paints and enamels or urethanes, does one have to wait until dry, sand it and then spray the next coat, or can you just wait until tacky and get the next coat on like in car paint.... It sure would save a lot of sanding time.... Don't forget, my finished hull right now doesn't need anymore sanding; it's perfectly smooth with that gelcoat on it. Thanks Florin

I've noticed in his post Mike Stevenson said LPU paint is good for boats. I assume this is polyurethane paint. Is it polyurethane paint we're looking for, or urethane, or are they the same thing, or what? Is it the two part paint or just one part?Could you guys elaborate on this please? We used some urethane enamel or something like that inside.... The stuff is not too bad, but it takes forever to dry and the brush stroke are quite visible even after 3 coats plus one primer... It also scratches quite easily. We've had some kids play in the boat last year before turning it and all the benches are scratched, I assume it's from their shoes... well we'll have lots of shoes on deck when we sail and that worries me, if all paints scratch that easily the deck will probably look like hell after one sail. Do you buy these paints at HD or any paint store, or do you order them from somewhere. It would be nice if I could find it locally 'cause we would like to paint this weekend (again). Any particular brand names and models? I assume there is a special primer for these paints as well.. Is there more sanding involved? Also, could someone re-post the bit about rolling and tipping please Thanks

The gelcoat problem is somewhat solved by now. I

Good site Capt.Jack. A lot of good tips and tricks Florin

Go right ahead Frank, that's why I posted it to begin with.... Hopefully it'll help someone out (or keep them from doing the same things) we've done. I've just checked the status of the gelcoat. It seems like we may be able to do some sanding. I tried it last night on a spot where it was as hard as glass using open coat 120 grit. It still plugged it up quite quickly. If it goes at this rate I'll be going thru a lot of sandpaper. I'm not sure why it clogs up, the stuff comes out like powder, I'm not applying too much pressure and I'm not going too fast either. I wonder if they make wet/dry paper in such coarse grit... I was looking at some boat paint (Interlux) the other day... this stuff is prohibitively expensive here. They want 45 bucks for a liter. Can you guys recommend some good bottom and to paint that is a bit more reasonable in cost, for I think we may be going that route. Thanks Florin

The real truth about fiberglass resin (Polyester), Kevlar cloth and gelcoats. I am writing this in hope to help the next victim who may decide to go this way. Don

That looks really nice Jim. Congrats! Something to be proud of. Enjoy! Florin

Thanks guys for the warm welcome! Glad to see everyone is having fun here. Had a busy weekend sanding and filling, we're getting there. We may even have her bottom painted by the Saturday turning party. It's a close call... We also had a minor setback with the kevlar on the keel which is now being taken off due to extreme difficulty to finish the fuzzy stuff. Will post some pics later today when I get back from work. Bye for now Florin

I guess since I am the new member here and I would like to introduce myself: My name is Florin, and I am working on a Vacationer. I am in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Some of the members know me from the BYYB BBS, where I've been a member for a couple of years. We're hoping to launch sometime this summer. We are bondoing and sanding the bottom of the hull right now and probably will be ready for paint this coming weekend (or next). Hi All! Florin