cprinos

Next up, I started working on some of the deck and foward hatch framing. I was able to start work on this in my basement shop. Cross bars were beveled 10 degrees and rabbets were layed out for the frame. Similar rabbets were let into the bulkhead. And then the dry assembled unit was fit into the forward hull, including notching the inwale. At the moment this is all dry fit ( plus some screws). I'll wait until I have a couple of other items to glue up so that I don't waste a small epoxy batch. I should be able to start on the seating soon. This past week I got the final installment of plywood for seats and decking, plus some additional epoxy ( total so far has been 7.5 gallons ordered, and I've used close to 3 gallons to date)

While the seat bulkheads were drying, I started making the deck beams, one for the forward bulkhead and one that goes about 20inches behind the forward bulkhead which will support the aft end of the forward deck. I started by taking a board and scribing to the bulkhead. I trimmed and then epoxied into place. After doing this I looked at the plans and realized I made a mistake--plans call for this beam to have a constant width at the curve, and I made mine straight on the bottom instead. Not too big a deal, just a bit extra weight, but for the next deck beam I decided to try a different approach. I though it might be fun to try my hand at laminating the curved beam, so I cut four 3/4 inch pieces that were 1 1/2 inches high when stacked together. Then I made a bending jig on a piece of plastic-covered plywood with some wood blocks to position the bend. When laying out the points for the beam curve, I added a little bit extra curve than called for in the plans to allow for spring back when the beam is taken off the bending jig. Gougeon Bros. book on boatbuilding says to allow for spring back according to the following formula: Spring back = deflection / ( number of lamination layers)^2 So in my case I allowed for 3" / 4^2 or 3/16 " Next day when I removed the clamps, I measured the spring back: Final spring back was less than predicted, just 1/8"

More updates.... Above I showed the glass being dry-fit to the portion behind the forward bulkhead. No pictures of wetting that out, but that part is done as well. I thought I would save some time and put down both layers of bias and then wet it out, but that turned out to be much more time consuming than just wetting out one layer first, then doing the second layer. Note for the future--one layer at a time. With that done, I turned to the seat bulkheads. I layer them out per plans and cut notches for the stringers, then wired them in place in preparation for taping. Once that was set I mixed up some epoxy and did the fillets and tape. Both seat bulkheads in place.

Stamps on three sheets of okoume I just got from boulter all look like B side. I think that has been the case previously too but would not swear to it.

some pics... Since I wasn't sure I was glassing the forward hull panels, I started by taping seams, starting with the centerline/bow. I'm only about 5'7", so reaching down there was tough, a stool helped. I used multiple pieces of tape where the bulkhead and side batten intersect rather than trying to smooth around the batten. I made it so far without any bubbles in the tapes, and then I noticed this the next day, looks like it was in the second tape layer only. I swear it wasn't there when I went to bed. Later I dry-fit the mast step assembly Here is a rough cut of the biax cloth, shaping it to fit the bow. I did a final trim in place Midway through wet-out of the first layer at the bow, and dry fitting the section in the cockpit.

Yep, I've got the bias cloth. I decide to go ahead and go for the glassed version, I was able to get the forward section done tonight. That first layer of cloth was pretty thirsty for epoxy to wet out, but when I put the second layer down it took a lot less as it soaked up excess from the first layer. I used a hard rubber roller, like an old veneer roller to lay down the glass, seemed to move the cloth around less then trying to squeegee it.

A long time between updates, it's been difficult to find time lately to work on the boat, but summer (and warm epoxy friendly weather) is slipping away, so I need to kick things into gear a bit. The forward bulkhead and the forward centerline are taped, and I made a few smaller pieces such as the bulkhead reinforcements, forward mast step and seat bulkheads. Expecting to get into seat and deck framing soon. A few sessions have been a little more rushed and sloppy in places as I sneak boat time in here and there, but I told myself I'd keep posting pictures even if it's for humility's sake, so I'll get some more up later tonight. I knew finding time to work on the boat would be an issue for me at different times, it's one of the reasons I'm glad I picked the CS17 -- no matter how slow I'm progressing, the remaining work is not overwhelming to contemplate. I had thought about many different, more ambitious builds & building methods but it would have been tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel on many them. On the plus side, when out cycling w/ the family I have been scouting potential cruising an launching grounds for when the boat is done. Marblehead had some good spots and Colt State Park in RI had a nice quiet ramp w/ access to the upper narragansett bay. I also spent a week on Prince Edward Island , and though it may be a while before I drive back up there, there are just oodles of empty, shallow sandy beaches just waiting to be cruised, plenty of wind, and water temps were 68-70 which was a bit of a surprise. I saw on some other threads that a few people have opted for two layers of 12 oz biaxial on the forward bottom panels in lieu of the wooden stiffening battens. I thought about going that route but now after feeling the 12 oz biaxial cloth, it seems like it is going to take an awful lot of epoxy to wet it out. Much thicker than other cloths I have worked with. Haven't done this yet, so still weighing the options on that one. Maybe I will just glass the forward compartment area and then use stiffeners for the portion aft of the forward bulkhead. chris

How were the two joined, just a solid interior piece fitted to both sections, or was the upper created like a round tenon? How far into the aluminum lower does it need to extend?

Looks great Jim! Great to see it splash after following your build. I think I've seen several other comments about giving the sprits some extra length for sail control -- I'll have to remember that when I get to that part.

Looks great Jim! Hard to tell from the photos -- did you do the interior same as the hull or is it flat/less glossy? btw, thanks for the full gallery of build pictures you put up -- I'm always checking them when trying to figure something out. Chris

I'm curious about glassing the interior, I don't think I have seen that before. Carbon masts -- not sure how easy/hard that would be to make, out of curiousity a while back I had looked and it was something crazy like $50/ft to get them ready-made

Did you end up getting stuff from B&B or rolling your own package from other sources?

Joe, that's a good tip... originally I had just been going for a thicker mixture to start and relying on that to keep the fillet in shape, but that will sometimes sag anyway once as the epoxy continues to kick off. When I do the bulkheads, I'll try letting the fillets set a bit before taping to get a neater appearance -- unlike the chines parts of these will be visible in the finished boat.

Five months with no update, and truth be told, not much progress to report. A new job and an unheated working space conspired to keep me from the boat over the winter, but with warmer days approaching I'm looking forward to finishing up the bulkheads and start to work on some of the interior framing. Looks like the plans say I could flip the hull at this point to tape the outside chines, but I've decide to build out the interior first which looks like many others have done. I may have the opportunity to see a finished cs17 from another forum member in the next week or thereabouts, so I'm figuring that will help provide a bit of motivation as well. Question for you all-for the large forward and aft (aft-deck version) bulkheads did you just fillet the bulkheads to hull or fillet + tape?

Glad no one was hurt--really sorry to hear (and see) about the boat, especially one that had been finished launched so recently!

try michael storer's site... http://www.storerboatplans.com/Paddles/FreePaddle.html

I beveled my keel batten, but I didn't try to get it to exactly match the bevel all the way through, I just got it 'close enough'. So it stil ended up being bedded in thickened epoxy, but less was needed than if I left the batten completely flat. The largest amount of bevel seemed to be required from around the temp mid-frame forward (the front of mine went to 1/4 inch or less). If you have the patience to get the exact bevel, go for it, you will save some epoxy. I found this to be one of the more stressful parts so far honestly, because it's a large glue up of an important structural piece, but you really have no idea how well the epoxy is bedded underneath the batten, or if there are air pockets etc. At least with fillets & taping you can see exactly what you are doing and can correct if needed. I'm sure there's plenty of margin for error however.

it's best if you upload them to a hosting site, fickr, picasa, etc (there are lots of free ones). Use that to manage the photos and then just link to them in your posts here.

I put mine on the inside... have seen that done on other builds. Should be easier to fair the hull this way. I wonder if this is just a difference in the kit instructions. I put stringers on before joining the side & bottom panels. Not sure it matters much. I did it for the entire seam (doesn't take long), but I think it does the most good up towards the bow where the panels meet at a more acute angle.

one more... this is a bit distorted because of the wide angle lens & high viewpoint, but it gives an idea of the relative size of the cs17 next to the kayak that is 6" shorter, a CLC Mill Creek 16.5

After the side seams were taped and the epoxy was set, I moved to the keel batten. Plans give you a choice of bevelling the batten to match the bottom profile, or just keeping it rectangular and setting it in a thick bed of epoxy mud. I kind of went for the in-between approach. I roughly bevelled the keel batten over it's length, but I didn't try to get it exact, I figured I would make a moderate bed of epoxy to make up the difference, but it would still be less that required if the batten was left flat. I wet out the center seam with unthickened epoxy first.... it's kind of a reach (I'm short) to get to the center seam, so I taped a brush to the end of a paint mixing stick for a few extra inches. Filling the center seam with an epoxy bed took a lot of epoxy and a lot of filler. Actually I ran out of wood flour about 3/4 of the way through. I made a quick trip to the basement and used the "cake" from the inside of my dust collection filter bag, and that actually yielded some pretty good filler, but it was a messy process getting it out and contained. Here's the keel batten shortly after placement, and again with the aft bulkhead put in place over the top of it (I think some people mentioned running the keel batten only to the aft bulkhead and then using a separate piece to the transom, but I figured I'd do it as one solid piece). I think the keel batten is the last of the really big/long single-session glue ups I'll need to do for the while. The framing and seating should be able to be done in smaller steps if I want. I would have gone ahead and started filleting the bulkheads, but I used all my cell-o-fill as well (I mix that with the wood flour to make it easier to smooth the fillets), so I'll have some more coming in for next weekend. I have a bunch of coloidal silica still, but I've decided not to use that anymore in lieu of the cell-o-fill -- the latter adds more volume and doesn't spew into the air like the silica (which I'm not thrilled about given the health hazards of silica and the fact that my garage is connected to my house). Here's where the project is at so far. Filleting out the bulkheads and framing work is next I think.

After taping the transom-bottom seam, I went ahead and did the long side seams. I did one each day, took be 1 1/2 or 2 hours for each seam, again taking my time to make sure I didn't have any bubbles and the tape was wet out. I'm still not very good at getting the epoxy fillet looking nice and straight (it deforms a bit when I'm wetting out the tape), but these are night and day better then my kayak fillet & tape joints (I've got pictures of those somewhere, they are pretty ugly). This is a closeup of the starboard seam.... Not easy to see here, but there is a bit of a drip edge below the tape. I brushed it out several times as the epoxy was setting, but it still flowed a bit afterwards. I decided not to worry about it, as this will be completely concealed by the seats anyway. In front of the forward bulkhead, the side and panels meet at an ever-decreasing angle, to the point where there's not really a fillet. My filleting here was a bit more ragged, but still got a good wet out. For this section, there are some parts where the tape lies right on top of the stitching wire. Later when I pulled the wire, it left a small air pocket behind the tape. I decided that I would not remove any more wires unless they were completely embedded in a fillet -- I'll just trim them against the hull. Pulling the wires has been a pain--I am heating them with a soldering iron and then pulling. I'm not sure it's worth it... I left the wires in on my kayak have not had any of them show after 14 years or so.

I decided to tape the transom-bottom seam before the sides so I could practice on a short section. My first taped seams on the kayak I built many moons ago were none too pretty, so I figured I'd start small. First I cut up some paddles in assorted radiuses for the fillets No pictures of the fillet and tape process as I was up to my elbows in epoxy, but here's how the looked when done: I could have probably got the tapes a little bit straighter along their edges, but I was more focused on a complete wet through and saturation. On my kayak I had lots of air bubble first time around (and second and third), but on the CS I managed to get a nice wet-out of the glass and I don't think there's any bubbles. That's it for now, hopefully I'll get some more updates in this week. I'll tackle the side seams next.

Here's what the initial fitting of the Okoume transom looks like. The picture is a little deceiving due to the angle of the shot (and the top of the transom is also not trimmed at all at this point), but it gives an idea of the rear curve. Here's a closer shot looking down at the aft port quarter. You can see the curvature a bit more clearly. I'll trim those bottom panels after the seams are taped. And from the inside here's the fitted transom. The bracing beam at the top is inducing the 4" curve and I'll leave that in place until everything is stitch & glued and I fitted a permanent reinforcing piece on the transom. While the luan was easy to bend to this curve, the Okoume just barely made it, it was pretty stiff. The curved transom looks subtle on it's own and kind of hard to show really well in these pictures, but when I compared to the flat temporary transom it is quite a difference. My wife gave it the thumbs up, says the curve makes it look less like a rowboat (not sure how to take that comment, I think she likes it ). I have to mention that Paul Riccelli (PAR) inspired me to try the curved transom (I saw he did that on one of his builds) and was generous enough to give me some instructions on how to tackle it. Working out the fit definitely caused a bit of head-scratching and time in the moaning chair, but I'm glad I spent the extra hours and gave it a shot.

Been a little while since some updates... I decided to change jobs so between the new job search and wrapping up the old one, I had a dearth of boatbuilding time. The good news is that I've got this week off before I start the new gig, so I'm hoping to make up some lost ground. I sorted out the issue with the mid-frame fit... the bottom panel angles match nicely if I let the sides spring naturally instead of being screwed to the center frame. My boat is about 1-2" wider at the center frame as a result, but everything looks nice and fair along the sides and sheer. Earlier I mentioned that I had not put on the transom (just the aft bulkhead). So I went ahead and started on that: The picture above shows a "temporary" luan doorskin transom. It's slightly inset from the aft end of the boat. The bottom panels extend 2 or 3" past their cut lines (side panels are per plan). There is a good reason for this.... Here's a second luan transom being fitted. The first one made sure the aft end had the right shape. This one is to develop the proper expanded shape for a curved transom: By using luan again for the curved transom, I was able to fine tune and scribe the fit. It bows out 2 inches or more at the bottom (basically to the end of the extended bottom panels) and at the top, it curves out about 4" more than a straight transom at the peak of the curve. After some trial fitting and trimming, I got the curved doorskin to where I wanted and then used that as a pattern for the Okoume stock.