Bow Gussets

[Jan Williamson]

I have been procrastinating cutting the bow gussets. I am ready to install the hull sides, but I am a little unclear about how to cut the gussets. I measured a 40 degree angle from the stem to the proposed hull side. The plans call for a 37 degree. Which in my case would leave a gap. ,Since I read about a few problems in this area, I guess I am a little chicken. :oops: Plus I hate cutting deep angles on the table saw, so I only want to have to do it once.

[Guest Anonymous]

Rough cut them, lite, and then shape by hand the angle on them, by a four inch grinder. or a rasp and then sand the edge of them.

Oyster.

[Barry Pyeatt]

They all fit a little differently and have to be shaped after installation anyway. The angle at the deck is different than the angle at the bottom so anything you do is going to be off somewhat.

I cut mine wider than called for so I would have more material backing the sides at the stem. My stock was a true 2" X 4' that I used. But I used the 37 degree angle and it was pretty close. I had to sand a little off of them with the belt sander to get the angle faired in at the bottom as I recall. But the contact surface was great. Don't worry about it too much as long as the piece fit well to the deck/bottom stringers. It isn't that critical. :wink:

[Dave R1]

Barry,'s right. To make up for gaps in some places, I made up a batch of very thick epoxy to butter the surfaces with. This allowed me to make up for places where the wood surfaces didn't meet perfectly. As I recall, I buttered all along the bow gusset and upper and lower stringers when I put the sides on.

[Guest Anonymous]

Well, I cut the gussets, did some planing, and I think they are going to work. They were a lot easier than I thought too. I don't know why I was so worried. I have already learned the fine art of thickened epoxy. Maple flour is the best if you have to do any sanding afterwards, but fumed silica hardens the best. I plan to smear it on thick to install the sides. I wanted to paint the inside of the cabin first before I put the sides on, but I am really anxious, so..... we'll see. Thank you for your input. Maybe once this thing is less ugly :oops: , I'll post some pics.

[Jan Williamson]

I keep getting logged out. I should have looked first But now that i am back, the last post is mine :oops:

[Barry Pyeatt]

Jan,

I think you will appreciate it later if you paint everything inside that you can before you close up the sides. Then when you get one side on, caulk all the seams that you can get to before applying the other side. I don't know about you, but my daughter was the only one that could get up into the forepeak and reach back into that last corner of the Lazerette to caulk. She's slender and that helped a lot. But I don't think she wants to do it again.

I had my Weekender upside down to apply the sides and it allowed me to finish the underside of the deck and the cabin before I closed it all up.

[Jan Williamson]

Barry, I know common sense says to wait and paint first. I do see it being quite difficult to do the forepeak with the sides on. And I know I am not as small as your daughter I need to practice patience.

Speaking of the undersides of the deck. Are there places that blocking under the deck would be useful, even though not stated in the plans, that I being the inexperienced sailor would not be aware of? Before things get closed up anyway.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Yes!

Helpful if you decide where you may want deck cleats (if any), or to set cam cleats (if any).

It isn't hard to put them in the forepeak area later or in the side decks adjacent to the cabin, but behind the seats can be a real pain to do later. You do have the panel joiners that can serve as backing for deck cleats in that area.

So the area behind the seats is the only real thing to think out before you enclose it completely. For example, I'm running two 4" diameter tubes from the main bulkhead behind the seats to the area adjacent to the lazerette. They will have caps on both ends to serve as storage but with caps on them they also serve as flotation. I will enclose them so the area around them is also serving as sealed compartment flotation.

I have also run some 3/4" PVC electrical conduit from the forepeak to the main bulkhead and then again from the main bulkhead to the lazerette. That will allow me to install my electrical panel at the main bulkhead and have my batteries in the forepeak. I can run heavy guage #4 marine rated cable from the forepeak back to the lazerette for my motor and have an enclosed route for the other wiring to the panel and the stern or the bow from the panel. I also plan on cutting foam panels to fit on the underside of the deck adjacent to the cabin and in the forepeak. They will be held inplace with velcro strips and the ones in the cabin will be covered with upholstery fabric to finish off that area and serve as flotation.

Seriously considering cutting panels to fit on the forpeak hull sides that are wedged inplace and can be removed fairly easily, but serve as protection for the forepeak area as well as flotation.

I have a friend with a glass boat, (no insulation) that put foam panels covered with upholstery against the hull sides with velcro. It is held tight and functions as additional flotation as well as insulating the hull for comfort. It works for him as his boat has been swamped and the extra flotation brought his deck back above water, just barely, but above water so it made bailing/pumping a lot easier. He pulled the panels out and let them dry and they were ready to go again.

[Frank Hagan]

TEST:

Bumping the "bow gussets" thread to see if the date comes out right ...

Or, "Ignore that man behind the curtain ..."

[Barry Pyeatt]

I just knew it had to be a solar flare/atmospheric/radiation/Northern Lights/electronic glitch/gremlin/timewarp/interference problem/thingy of some sort. 8) I think Frank is amazing! Gone into cyberspace and he sets out on a rescue mission. I'm constantly amazed at how you do it.

[Guest]

International and a possible world crisis averted, by our one and only. it had long range repercussions to it, here.

[Guest Anonymous]

Frank, I am truly impressed. Thanks!!

Barry, I think I will add the blocking under the deck behind the seat backs now. I really like the PVC tube idea!! Maybe your boom tent, rolled up, could be stored in one of the tubes. so you would be able to retreive them through the side opening on cabin bulkhead right? Adding upholstered foam to the inside of the cabin walls, also very good. Is this the kind of foam you buy by the sheet at the home improvement place?

[Jan Williamson]

Last post was mine :oops:

[Barry Pyeatt]

Jan,

Yes, the blueboard. It comes in several thicknesses. I planned on using 2" thick material. I planned on applying the upholstery material with 3-M spray adhesive. Do you have any other ideas.

The tubes can be used to store any number of longer items, but the boom tent and its poles were the primary consideration. I had thought of keeping the oars stored there too, but the tubes won't be large enough in diameter. I think I will store them on either side of the boom, they will be easy to get to and out of the way.

[Jan Williamson]

Barry, I have used foam spray adhesive gluing foam, I can't remember off hand what brand it was. But I sprayed both surfaces, let them dry to tacky, then with one try, stick them together. Works pretty good. Are you planning on any seam sewing? Box cushions are really easy. You could sew in velcro for a closure instead of a zipper. But a nylon zipper is easy too. I would make a box cushion. Then you can sew the velcro that is to be stuck to the boat on the backside before sewing the rest of it. Sewing seems to hold the velcro better than adhesive on a porous surface. If you want I can draw you a diagram for a typical box cushion.

[Barry Pyeatt]

I will take you up on your offer when I get to that stage. Since the foam is pretty rigid, I was planning on simply sewing up a box cushion without the back, but with tabs/flaps that would be glued inplace to hold it. I've been planning on upholstered foam cushions for the cabin sleeping platforms. Velcro to close these.

I'm playing with reversing the sleeping positions so that our feet would extend thru the forward bulkhead and our heads would be near the main bulkhead. The first thoughts are to enlarge the openings in the forward bulkhead after strengthening the remaining framework and building a small box structure to be a foot well. The concept is to extend that into the forepeak area to be essentially flush with the front of the mastbox. It doesn't need to be more than about 6-8" high and that could leave battery space ontop of them on either side of the mastbox.

Building up a sleeping platform on either side with storage space below the platforms. A drop in trapizoidal section between the two platforms could make the sleeping areas a little wider. By raising the level about 4-6" inches it increases the amount of width that is available. We've pretty well established that we are both too tall to make upright sitting inside the cabin practical even with the cabin roof raised by 3". But there may not be enough width to make the raised platform sleeping idea work. The hatchway seat as per the plans may need to be changed to a lift-up/fold down seat. The raised platform offers some additional storage space then as well. We would still retain the under cockpit seating accessed from the cabin, My son and I are going to measure it out and see about mocking it up in the cabin with cardboard to see if it is practical to consider for a Weekender. The greatest challenge is still the port-a-potty. My son thinks it should go under a seat in the cockpit. Build a recessed well to store it while sailing.

Then it can be pulled out for use under a boom tent at night, or placed in the cabin during the day for use.

Oh my, so many ideas and so little space to execute them. But it sure is an interesting challenge to work them out and see what will be functional as well as workable.

[Barnacle Jim]

Hi Jan,

Barry's suggestion on painting all those hard to reach places before such places become even harder to reach is good advice. We did something like that ourselves.

Here are a couple of photographs. We encapsulated the interior with epoxy, primed and sanded the surface, and then, sprayed the finish coat.

Here's a picture of the lazarette area. A lot of work still needs to be done here, but, at least, this is a start.

We also did something similar for the sole, with the epoxy, of course, being applied in thicker layers. We wanted to do more than merely fill the cells of the wood.

I had hesitated about encapsulating and painting the sole. After all, there is still a lot of work to be done in that area. Yet, so far it seems that simply putting a cheap tarp down protects the surface as we continue to do our work. So far, we have not damaged the surface in any way.

• Stem Gusset

Here's what we did with our stem gussets. The stem gussets are laminated hickory. Epoxy seems to be everywhere; hopefully, some of it made it to the joints. The gusset is attached to the stem with lags and bolts.

Here's a question for Barry. What is a blueboard? I really like the idea of positive flotation.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Sorry....Blueboard is a misnomer as there is a drywall that is more commonly referred to in the building industry as Blueboard. I should have said "blue foam" insulation board.

It is a "closed cell" rigid foam insulation board. It comes in various thicknesses from 1" up to 12" thick. It is generally stocked in (between the studs) widths and length or thru distributors in 2' and 4' widths and in lengths between 8' and 16'. In some parts of the country they sell a pink insulation board instead. I think it is a Pink Panther thing. It is ocasionally laminated with plywood or OSB for building panels. Completely waterproof, fire rated. Cuts with either a hot wire or a conventional saw. In the thinner boards it is flexible enough that it will conform to the hull curvature. In the thicker boards it has to be cut to conform, but it can be shaped with wood working tools. Surform, saws, etc.

[Jan Williamson]

Jim, what a great paint job! Thanks for sharing the pics. I better start painting while I am inspired. What boat are you building?

Barry, When you make the box cushion without the backs are you going to glue on the velcro to the foam? What kind of glue? I think when you are done with your boat, you will be able to live aboard Sure is fun though, isn't it. And what great quaility time with your son. I think you are the one that told me that building a boat will be one of the most satisfying experiences I can have, and you are absolutley right