John Burritt

A router bit is now available for cutting the bird's mouth for the masts. I believe it is available from Lee Valley/Veritas. It gives greater control than cutting them on the table saw. It also allows you to move the bird's mouth off center so that the length of the outside leg of the V matches the thickness of the wood being used. This dramatically reduces the amount of planing required. They sell bits with different angles for making hollow cylinders with a variety of different numbers of pieces. We've been using the one for an 8-sided mast.

545 is the primer US Paints recommends as the transition between the basic epoxy and Awl Grip. Its actually a two-part epoxy primer that gives a good base coat for the Awl Grip. It will also show up all (make that most of) those little imperfections you thought you had sanded out already. (The ultimate test is the first coat of shiny paint.) Prime, sand, then prime again if necessary to provide a uniform base. A good uniform color base reduces the number of final coats that are necessary to cover and look good. The number of different materials used with Awl Grip is the same as Interthane. Two-part polyurethanes are all about the same process. They have a base color, a converter to make it get hard and some reducer to thin it out to a good working consistency. Both Awl Grip and Interthane contain the nasty stuff you're not supposed to breath. LOTS OF VENTILATION!! And the brushing converter is not nearly as volatile as spray. The secret with rolling and tipping is maintaining a wet edge so everything continues to flow together - without sagging. Awl Grip's brushing converter is superior in this regard.

Sounds excessive. My most recent experience has been with Awl Grip. You should be able to easily apply 2 coats of 545 primer with a quart of base and a quart of converter (1:1) depending on how much bright work you have on the inside, decks, etc. I bought a gallon of each and the number of boats we've painted with it goes on and on. The amount of finish paint depends again on the amount of bright work and whether you're using a different color for the decks and/or interior than you're using on the outside of the hull. Awl Grip mixes 2:1. You should be able to easily paint the exterior with 2 quarts of base and 2 pints of converter. A quart of base and a pint of converter should be more than adequate for the interior. I haven't used Interthane for awhile, but I seem to remember that I got fairly good coverage from it also. By the way, I'm rolling and tipping the Awl Grip and like the way it handles much better than the Interthane. If you're careful, its hard to tell from a spray job.

Unless I'm mistaken, the doubler is a piece which is basically the same shape as the center portion of the bottom of the boat. Its epoxied in to help hold the shape of the bottom and add extra strength where you sit. In short, yes, its necessary. Keep reading the plans and ask more questions before starting. Better now than after. Graham also is more than willing to explain whatever you need. Either email or phone him direct.

Graham provides you with quite a lot of info on "stitch & glue" boat building. For more info find: "Devlin's Boat Building" by Sam Devlin, which is available thru many book outlet, or thru his web site. His techniques are slightly different from Graham's, but it is a good primer on "stitch & glue." http://devlinboat.com/

Here's another possible source of Okoumi that has an outlet near you. Don't know how their prices compare. http://www.pdusa.com/

I get a catalog from an outfit called Farmtek which shows a variety of temporary shelters, many well under $1000. You should be able to check these on their web site. www.FarmTek.com

Just looked at the CK17 plan. If you like this boat, you should love the Bay River Skiff 17. The BRS is a well proven boat. Graham's web site has a good comparison of the BRS 17 and the CS 17.