Capt Bones Core Sound 17 Mk 3 #14 Kit Build?

[Alan Stewart 112]

Hmmm... well I do sort of see what you mean there.  Worthy of an extra sentence in the plans perhaps, "Do what we mean not what we say"? It had not dawned on me that your slots were actually a solution to a different problem. 

 

I have it on good authority that Graham and I could not be more pleased with your progress thus far and if every boat looked the same what a boring forum this would be! The goal is not to end up with a perfect boat, only one that you are proud of and I have little doubt you will proudly display your boat when the dust settles and leave the cover at home. 

[Chick Ludwig 196]

Bones, I'm having so much fun reading your recent literary contributions. And also so glad to see the frank admittance of the many screw-ups that we all make on our projects. Well, maybe others do. I never really make any mistakes, only "modifications". Graham admitted that he made a mistake once, but don't tell anyone that I told you. Alan will maybe share with us if he ever makes one. Give him time. He's still a young-un.

 

Oh, a note on how BandB boat plans are to be read. Do ya see the blank spaces with no drawings or writing? Those are carefully planned blanks left with the specific purpose of inserting any conceivable---or inconceivable---modification, addition, correction, or improvement. The Master and Young Master have already thought of them all, but want to give us the experience of "discovering" them for ourselves.

[Steve W 115]

2 hours ago, Chick Ludwig said:

Oh, a note on how BandB boat plans are to be read. Do ya see the blank spaces with no drawings or writing? Those are carefully planned blanks left with the specific purpose of inserting any conceivable---or inconceivable---modification, addition, correction, or improvement. The Master and Young Master have already thought of them all, but want to give us the experience of "discovering" them for ourselves. 

 

Chick, why didn't you tell me this before? That explains it all!

 

Seriously, Bones, you're a good read.

[Chick Ludwig 196]

Gosh Steve, I thought everybody already knew that! Bones is a VERY good read!

[Oyster 28]

5 hours ago, Chick Ludwig said:

Bones, I'm having so much fun reading your recent literary contributions. And also so glad to see the frank admittance of the many screw-ups that we all make on our projects. Well, maybe others do. I never really make any mistakes, only "modifications". Graham admitted that he made a mistake once, but don't tell anyone that I told you. Alan will maybe share with us if he ever makes one. Give him time. He's still a young-un.

 

Oh, a note on how BandB boat plans are to be read. Do ya see the blank spaces with no drawings or writing? Those are carefully planned blanks left with the specific purpose of inserting any conceivable---or inconceivable---modification, addition, correction, or improvement. The Master and Young Master have already thought of them all, but want to give us the experience of "discovering" them for ourselves.

 

 

[Chick Ludwig 196]

Ha-ha! Funny man. I've told y'all, what I write is "the truth, the half truth, and nothing like the truth".

Actually, I'm considering a pair of these to wear for launching and retrieving the Codger on winter days.

[Capt Bones 7]

Wow!  Ya'll make me feel energized with your kind comments. Thank you all.  Oyster. Well, um, Oyster, I thank you for your expressive response.

 

Originally I thought the white areas in B&B's plans was a serious layer of sanding dust I generated and had buried details of the plans.  Later, as I delved into the white drifts further, I was sucked through the plans into a whirling vortex, a white blackout, which felt like a black hole looks.  Soon enough I determined it was neither a dust pile nor a black hole, but simply a dark blanket of ignorance of my boat building skills. Being relatively unsure of my skill set in building things due to youthful re-construction experiences, (I once, or was it twice, had two pieces left over after assembling a five piece puzzle--maybe it was a four piece puzzle, but to my defense it was a solid color puzzle).  Hence, it should come as no surprise upon reaching the last two wooden pieces of this boat build that I had, right you got it,  two pieces left over. Sigh.  The writing on the wood pieces read 27 Aft and 27 fwd.  I checked the illustrated parts page but it wasn't much help. the 27 group of parts belongs to the coaming mid-deck on the house.  I checked the assembly page for the coaming, no joy there.  Sigh.  Two darn parts left over.  Again.  Swallowing my pride I emailed Alan explaining my two part dilemma.  That afternoon Alan responds.  Oh, those parts are no longer used in the MK 3, they are extras, do what you want with them.  I sat down and cried!  Oh, not with frustration with the plans, not with any annoyance.  I wept with pure joy--for the first time in my life I did not have two parts left over.

 

I can not remember what was accomplished yesterday, but at the closing bell this afternoon, all three hatches were finished and lying in place as well as the washboards, the rub rails built and glued in place, final sanding before fairing, the ends of the chrome rub strips beat into submission and ground to round as well as the first round of fairing compound applied and drying for tomorrow.  The B&B sails, lines, the mast float, forward hatch slider-opener-thingy and assorted parts and other fun stuff arrived from Alan today.  Oh, yeah, Christmas in October.  A few pictures to follow.

 

Enjoy the Mess-about or your weekend elsewhere,

 

Bones

 

[Capt Bones 7]

Pictures

[Alan Stewart 112]

Well done sir. You are half way there! (joking) but rigging does take a while. Keep it up and you'll be sailing soon!

[Chick Ludwig 196]

Awww, Alan. Don't mislead poor Bonesey. As we all know, once you are 90% there, you still have 90% to go! Anyway, getting to this point is SO-O-O-O exciting. You're project that you've spent all those agonizing hours on actually looks kinda like a REAL boat! And with no pieces left over? WOW!

[Capt Bones 7]

Yeah, ok, I get it.  I am on the second 90%.  A ten hour day yesterday left me tired this morning.  Today the fiddliness of the tabernacles glassing and epoxy, are, well, ready for paint. 

 

The fairing compound of yesterday is not dry. 

 

The masts pieces are joined together, glassed and epoxied. Instead of six pieces I have two masts.  Cool beans.

 

I do not like the hatches all in wood like finish.  They are going to be paInted and only the rails in natural type finish. 

 

The cockpit footwell needs attention and has not been sanded for fairing yet. 

 

Still hoping to get uppers first coat of paint this weekend.

 

As a reward for my hard work, I allowed myself to slobber on the sails over lunch.

 

Tomorrow could be interesting, maybe even productive.

 

Bones

[Capt Bones 7]

I have really enjoyed all the pictures and videos of the Messabout.  Thank you all for sharing. 

 

Wow!  Not sure where the time between my last post and today disappeared.

 

I do know all the hatches have been re-sanded as I did not care for so much varnish trim.  I felt a need to do a little bow shaping, well, maybe a lot by some standards.  I have installed a sliding hatch handle, epoxied and sanded the new oars from Canada and applied a carbon fiber on the blade edges. They are ready for paint and for smacking gators down in the Everglades.  The mizzen tabernacle thwart is installed, tabernacle insert cut, the heel installed the tabernacle glued, properly, in place.  The main tabernacle support and tabernacle glued into place.  The masts pieces glued together and fiberglass transition wraps completed and shaped.  The sprits are ready for hardware install.  

 

I also learned from capsize class and have installed a hand hold on the stern rail and one further in, on the aft upper face of the cockpit well.

Once the forward hatch paint drys, I will mount the solar panel that came yesterday.  

 

Some time ago a person on this forum ask with what was I painting the masts.  I said I wasn't.  But it got me thinking and finally I bought and applied rattle paint.  I chose a titanium color that looks like aluminum.  Rattle, because I can touch up easily, though I understand many would prefer a variety of coatings from this right up to a two part.  I chose having been informed.

 

Perhaps another controversial decision was to use my main paint and colors as a sanding primer.  The first coat, two colors, is on the boat.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news is the color combination looks good.  The bad news is I did not keep good control over the sanding technique of others who may have helped from time to time.  There is a considerable amount of edge sanding marks exposed by the primer on some vertical surfaces.  Yeah.  OK.  Friends and family.  meant well.  I did not monitor properly and too much in a hurry to get done.  Reminds me of a song:  "...slow down you move to fast...."  Sigh.  Back to sanding.  But the boat looked good for a moment.

 

Back to work.  I have a trailer, of sorts.  It looks like it has spent time in a third world rendition location for way to many years.  Working on it. Yesterday and today we set the sail track, drilled the holes, and popped about a jillion rivets. Tomorrow it is either sanding or start attaching hardware which brings the following questions:

 

Which is better to use for attaching hardware.  Rivets or taps?

Obviously rivets will work.  But if tapping turns out to be better can it be done on these mast metal thicknesses?

 

Its getting exciting here, well, except for the new sanding needs.  

 

Looking at pictures of forum members boats together, Bones & Bumpkin notice there seems to be a trend toward a great deal of pride of ownership or more specifically pride of buildership.  Most seem to take excruciating care and effort in their build and enjoy reaching for perfection.  We understand that desire, that need, and its value, though we have taken another approach that meets my needs.  Function over finesse.  We think of this boat as a tool.  This tool is dedicated to getting my sorry ass from St. Pete's to Key Largo next March alive, and preferably in one piece.  Especially after wandering the edge of the Everglades in waist deep water talking to those who inhabited my hallucinations for several hours in 2017.  Bumpkin, my co-capt, has been assigned as my spirit guide by my wife to protect me from myself. 

 

This I must say.  We like our new tool, my boat and just because it is a tool does not mean it will be ugly.  In fact we expect it will turn out to be rather handsome, with a little more sanding.

 

Pictures to follow

 

Bones 

[Capt Bones 7]

Pictures,

 

Miss Lynn, my wife and Capt Kyle aka Bumpkin in photos

[Steve W 115]

Most impressive. It took me three years to get that far!

[AmosSwogger 29]

To answer your question about attaching hardware to the mast, you can actually attach more than you might think with through bolts. 

 

I attached a wrench to a stick of wood for this, and it worked well.  By placing the wood/wrench stick on top of the mast, aligning the wrench with the hole in the mast, you can then strike a line on the wood that helps you achieve the right location when you insert the stick/wrench inside the mast.  I taped the nut in place on the wrench, aligned the pencil line, and using a flashlight you can align the nut with the hole and then insert the screw.

[Capt Bones 7]

Thank you Amos for your insight.  Not sure I have the patience for what you described, but I do have a couple of brand new drill bits and taps that are just beggin to be tried out on the masts.

 

I am guessing most people install their center board while the boat is upside down.  Since I have three chain hoists (see picture) in the boat barn, Bumpkin suggested we install the CB at our leisure after the boat is turned right-side up.  Looking at it we both agreed it looked easier to do that way and fit our timing much better.  So we raised the boat until the CB fit between the cradle and the hull, slide it in, and let the boat down. It went pretty quickly with Bumpkin sliding the board fore and aft to line up the hole while I stood upside down with my head in the battery compartment.  I was amazed the CB slide back and forth, with no lateral movement, like it was cinderella's golden slipper or a greased pig through the arms of a ten year old in a catching contest.  Further, though I knew it should, it thrilled me the CB recesses all the way into the hull.  I was disappointed there was no way to take pictures while doing the install but we did manage to take a photo of the uphaul line hauled up.

 

I got annoyed at attempting to manipulate the Gordian Knot of lines from B&B and was thankful they were all labelled and tied together.  Never-the-less, I managed to get them all tangled together.  I separated the lines and hung them on my clamp rack, which I need less and less for clamps.  See Pic.

 

While messing around with the boat on the hoists we decided to bring in the trailer for a fitting to see what would need to be done to get it ready for the boat.  The trailer is at the shop for a bit of welding and my checkbook is making the rounds of Amazon for Trailer attachment parts.

 

The sprits are rigged with the first of many pieces of boat hardware.  Amazingly, I did not get one hole mis-drilled or out of place.  Yippie Kai yea, cow patty. 

 

The paint finally dried enough to sand the inch high looking ripples here and there. If I say it I know you will feel the pain with me.  SANDING SUCKS!

 

If the weather holds I will paint the uppers tomorrow allowing me to get on with setting the cockpit, boomkin and coach roof hardware in the not too distant future.  It would be comforting if I could get all the masts and boat hardware set this week.

 

What KNOT is good to use for lashing hardware together?  I dislike knots, for some reason, almost as much as sanding.  I think over the course of my life I have learned to tie the Bowline at least 9 times only to forget it for the next series of events calling for the bowline.  If you dare respond bowline, I will send all my fittings for you to tie. I prefer non-esoteric knots like the fisherman, the figure eight and the square knot.  I can tie a real good square knot.  Enough silliness. 

[Capt Bones 7]

Pics

[Capt Bones 7]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

 

I have been thankful for many blessings and people in my life and this year my thankfulness for the riches bestowed on me this last seven  months seems very personal. Since May I have been sequestered in an 18'x27' barn with a 4'x8'×18" box and its contents of jiggery, boodily shapes, slivers, pallets, blocks and plates of wood and endless possibilities.  Through a symphony of emotions, misteps, epithanies, druggery, mindless work that should have been minded, fourteen tons of good luck, Thanksgiving Day we pushed a boat out into the sunshine.  I wept.

 

Friday, a cold damp day made bright by our task, we rigged my boat outside the barn.  Oh, to be sure it was a clusterf__k.  But it was my mess and my boat!  We rigged and re-rigged until one moment  we all stepped back, my son, my co-capt, my wife, we had nothing at hand to do, we felt lost, for a moment, then realized the boat was ready for its first sail--the boat was rigged.  In our exuberance, someone pulled in the mainsheet, somebody else the mizzen to better shake out the sails and of course it almost sail off the trailer down the lane and off the farm toward the Tennessee river.  Almost but it did not.

 

My thanks to Graham and the B&B staff and endless gratitude to my boat shepard Alan.  He never faltered, never quit me.  He was always there for me supporting, guiding, teaching.  Alan is my hero.  My thanks to Co-capt and friend, comrade-in-arms, Kyle, constantly keeping me focused and doing the best right thing and always applauding my efforts.  Thanks is far too insufficient for my wife and constant gardner who cultivated me in every possible way and need through the seven months I neglected her and every house and farm chore in benefit of boat building.

 

Capt Bones 

[Capt Bones 7]

Photos:

[Alan Stewart 112]

That sir, is a fine looking vessel. I await your first sailing report with anticipation. I have heard the rare comment that some do not prefer the lines of the flush deck cabin on the MK3 design but i just don't see it. Looks very sweet to me.