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Spindrift 12 build log


Walt S.

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I'm fairing this week.  I have planed down the chines and rounded them over and then sanded with a fairing board to ensure waviness was eliminated.  I planed a 3/4" flat line down the keel line and 1/2" up through the stem where I expect to attach an UHMW shoe keel guard.  Today, I'm going to try fairing some spots with microballoon/epoxy putty.  

 

I'll try to finish fairing by the end of the week or when I give up, whichever comes first. 

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I dry-fit the fiberglass today overlapping it about 1 1/2" at the keel line.  Pictures to follow.  I'm going to start finishing the foils.  Dave and others have pointed out that you want to completely finish the centerboard (glassed, primed, painted) before gluing the centerboard trunk together so that you know the centerboard will fit. 

 

Does anyone have a source for soft single-braided 3/16" dacron rope?  I want to make the leading edge of my foils epoxied dacron rope. 

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Welp, I started glassing at 8 last night and didn't finish until 2.  I should've mixed larger amounts of epoxy and squeegeed more before rolling.  It has been 10-12 hours since I put the last coat on and the epoxy is still sticky.  The ambient temperature is around 55 degrees F and it got much colder last night even with a space heater.  I'm going to have to wait another several hours for the epoxy to get hard enough to put the fill coat on.  This time, I'm going to mix in larger quantities (8 pumps each of resin and hardener) with microballoons and spread it over a wider area faster with a squeegee.  The glass job looks pretty good though, in my opinion: no waviness, no air bubbles.  Again, I faired the hull before putting on the glass which is the way to go.  I gave everything a final downward squeegeeing before trying to sleep (I was unable), so there were no drips or runs. 

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I finished glassing the boat.  To fill the weave I used a bit of cabosil (about 20 - 25% of the volume of epoxy), then rolled and squeegeed it on.  I waited a few days, sanded, and applied a hot coat running a heat gun slightly ahead of the tipping brush after I rolled it on.  Here are the results.

 

589dfdbad763b_DSCN16151.thumb.JPG.469bcad73ab9e3748bf68e48785cc6b0.JPG

Today, I planed the leading edge of the centerboard down to 3/8" width and dry fit the 1/4" nylon rope.  It turns out that the rope at the hardware store said "Nylon" but the inside packaging said 'Nylon, Polyester, and Polypropylene."  The latter supposedly does not bond well to epoxy, so now I'm going to have to drive half an hour to West Marine.  While I'm there, I might as well get varnish and paint.  If any of you reading this want to know why and how to put epoxy-saturated rope on the leading edge of your foils, read this featuring references to forum greats Tom Lathrop and GRaham Byrnes. 

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/howto/foiled/index.htm

589dfde9d2501_DSCN16161.thumb.JPG.7c8d30a1faec2ca8bb2838b32a63986a.JPG

 

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I ended up leaving it flat as I didn't see these updates before I got started.  It centered fine except in one small section.  I faired it with cabosil the next day.  The way to do it more precisely is on a router table.  I liked Dave/Hirilonde's method of cutting the groove on a router table and installing the rope before shaping it.  He shows this in his Lapwing build.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Roam,


I considered it but think that the fiberglass will be tough-enough.  I filled the weave of the fiberglass with epoxy and cabosil.  It's so hard to sand that I wonder what further abrasion resistance is necessary.  I don't intend to drag it up the beach on its chines.  If it is just leaned over gently, the fiberglass should be hard-enough. 

 

The keel and stem are a different story.  I could see my boys having trouble lifting the boat and dragging it on its keel.  For that, I intend to screw in some HDPE over a bedding compound, though I haven't figured out which.  Most people here are using a hollow back on the keel which tends to run about $10-12 a linear foot and adds more weight. 

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I intend to post some more pictures today or tomorrow.  I finally finished epoxying the centerboard which ended up slightly wider (not thicker) than I would like due to the rope used on the leading edge, so I spaced the kingposts an extra 1/8" across the centerboard trunk.  I glassed the insides of the centerboard trunk, filled the weave with epoxy and cabosil, sanded, and hot-coated.  It seems plenty tough.   

 

This part of the boat build drags out quite a bit.  I'm trying to figure out where to put the dado slots on the trunk stiffening beams and am garbage at reading plans.  I am probably going to put the beams on then put in a 3/4" wide by 1/4" deep dado with a 1/4" routing bit on my Dremel.  A router table or table saw with a dadoing blade would be nice, but I don't have them. 

 

I'm going to keep the centerboard trunk in two halves so that I can position it on the deck and outline where the centerboard slot should by tracing one have of the inside centerboard trunk and then the other.  Then I'll cut it out with a jigsaw and glue in the trunk. 

 

Again, this part is dragging out owing to kids, number of coats of epoxy needed, work, etc.

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The inside of the centerboard trunk is now 1/4" wider than the centerboard (width, not thickness). Maybe I pushed the kingposts out too far?  I'm thinking of building up a 1/16" layer of epoxy on the inside of each kingpost to make the centerboard fit more snugly.  I'll make a gutter by using the thwart beams coated on one side with some packing tape so that I can pour thickened epoxy in a 1/16" gap. 

 

 

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Sorry I don't know which one, but one of Alan's videos of his CS15 build shows the gap he has for his centreboard and there is some gap.  In the video he points out that, while sailing, the foil is generally pushed hard against one side of the trunk so there is no rattle due to the space between the trunk and the foil. There is a good visual and explanation in that video. 

 

Matt

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Walt, 

I don't think you'll have any issues whatsoever with a 1/4" gap fore and aft. I think in fact it is desirable because it just makes it easier to put the board in and take it out. Close tolerances are the enemy with centerboards and hatches because they always seem to jam. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's been awhile since I've updated this thread.  

Most recently, I fitted the aft thwart beam for the centerboard trunk.  I set it back 57" from the forward bulkhead according to the plans.  This is a really handy dimension Graham put in the plans. 

58e1b6346aaed_DSCN16231.thumb.JPG.516c44bbc37cd5d64651a2f3bc89af93.JPG

 

I marked a line for the centerboard 1/2" to the port of the centerline.  I had to find the centerline with a piece of string pulled taught from the where the forward bulkhead touches the centerline to where the transom stiffener touches the aft end of the centerline.  "X" marks the spot where I'm going to drill the hole for the edge trimmer when I route out the opening for the centerboard.  I am not looking forward to drilling this hole. 

DSCN1622[1].JPG

 

I decided the centerboard trunk kingposts weren't thick enough so I added 1/8" plywood to widen the trunk.  I cut a spacer to the new trunk width to space the two sides of the trunk when I glue it in.

 

DSCN1619[1].JPG

 

I trimmed the forward end of the centerboard trunk too much and had to add more back using thickened epoxy poured into a gutter of packing tape.  Epoxy can bail you out of many screw-ups. 

DSCN1620[1].JPG

 

I fit the seat-tops in-situ and had to trim them a bit after marking them with a compass.  I put staples to join the two halves of each seat top as I glued them to the butt-block so they would glue as I had aligned them in situ. 

DSCN1618[1].JPG

 

 

Overall, the centerboard trunk is taking me a lot longer than I thought it would.  Slowly-but-surely, I'm figuring out how to align it and plumb it.  Any tips are appreciated.

 

I decided to ditch the idea of using HDPE on the keel and stem. Putting more holes in the hull makes me nervous.  Instead, I'm going to use PAR's method of spreading epoxy thickened with rock powder on the keel and stem.  I'll probably spread the epoxy using a West notched spreader with the 1/8" or 1/4" notches, let it set up, and then come back and fill in the notches with more epoxy/rock powder.  Also, I'm calling this boat "Rock Bottom."  

 

My wife was right about how much time this would take me haha. 

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Thought I would post some pictures of Randy and Bobbie's Spindrift (Sorry it is a bit covered in pollen at the moment) we have access to here at the shop. They help answer some questions that Walt was asking me about today. 

 

I added the pictures to the Spindrift album. Link here. https://goo.gl/photos/UowQxTVp3Wky6SCm9

 

You'll notice some deails on the traveler line across the transom on which the lower sheet block attaches in the middle. The line is knotted under the quarter knees for a simple attachment method. Cleats on the thwart are for the halyard (with anti-re-cleat cover) and the others are for the vang and reefing line. 

 

I also took some pictures of an experimental gooseneck attachment to an aluminum boom that we wanted to test out. It worked fine but we had to fabricate a tapered boom plug to bolt the gooseneck straps to. We may one day switch to the hole and pin method such as is used on the laser but for now we like the racelite goosenecks in conjunction with the fixed non-rotating mast. 

 

Below is a screenshot (squashed in length to 25%) of our CNC keel that comes with the S12 kit. Walt, I may have confused you on the phone (sorry) you should have the one shown at the top. It's a two piece keel strip with a scarf and has the taller "skeg" part already built into it. We cut these on the cnc machine. Simply scarf it together and then glue down as I described. I like to drill a pilot hole in the bow and stern of the keel and then use drywall screws to dry fit it to the boat. It only takes a couple careful turns of the screw with a MANUAL screw driver to get a thread or two into the bottom of the boat to hold the keel in place. No need to screw it on or to drill through the bottom of the boat. Once the bow and stern are set you can get it dead straight by eye and add about 3 more screws to fix it's position. Then remove it and butter it up and then replace the scews back in the small holes again with just a couple turns of the screw to hold it down to the bottom. Then of course the screws are removed after the epoxy is cured and the pilot holes can be poured with epoxy. We typically put a "finger" fillet on the keel-bottom joint. We do not recommend glassing "up" the keel to the bottom because it will eventually get scratched up and then the glass will work it's way off the keel strip and it just makes for a bigger repair job than it needed to be. I a currently dealing with this issue on our CS-20 as I redo her bottom from a time when I had not the experience I have now. 

 

The lower keel is another way of creating the "skeg" effect using a long tapered (3/4" to zero over ~48") piece underneath a 3/4" square piece. This is what I was describing but again, Walt should have the CNC version.

 

58ebc6ef7cf3c_keelstrip.thumb.jpg.5f6c9c1378c6f9c611dc28a0e113a994.jpg

 

Walt is doing an excellent job on his boat and we love seeing these boats go together by people who take a leap of faith in and choose our kits over the many other options there are out there these days. 

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THanks, Alan!

 

I'll post another picture of the installed centerboard trunk later.  I ended up dado'ing the trunk stiffeners and the thwart beams with a Dremel and it worked quite well.  Leveling the centerboard trunk required a ton of fussing with it and eventually you just put it in.  

 

Guys, I'm looking to finish this boat this month.  Painting will drag into next month when it's warmer.  

 

I was looking at the Interlux Interstain product.  I'd like the gunwales and boom to have a darker color.  Interlux claims INterstain can be mixed with its varnish to give a darker color.  I'd prefer to do this after epoxying the gunwales.  Has anyone tried using Interstain as a pigment for the Schooner varnish? 

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