New Member: I will start building a Weekender this summer

[Zelix]

Hello everyone,

I got the Weekender skipper package for building a Weekender over 7+/- years ago. I've recently decided to undertake this project with my wife and daughter.

I live in the south so I'm sure I'll be using SYP for the the keel. and Home Depot plywood as that is the closest supplier to me. I will order stainless steel screws.

I am unsure if I'll epoxy or do as they done in the video with the fiberglass method. I wont be keeping the boat in water and only taking it out maybe 6~7 times a year.

I look forward to getting going on this and the adventure that awaits as the process unfolds.

Z

[jmatheso]

Z,

In the same "boat" as you (pun intended) except I sat on the plans for 20 plus years before getting started. Building it now with my son and having a blast! My wife is kind of helping as well. (That's if you can count "Close the damm visqueen on your side of the garage. You're getting dust all over my car!!!!" as help!) The folks here are quite a bit of help and the archives are EXTREMELY useful. Every time we run into confusion on the plans or some other build aspect I come here and search the archives to find out that someone else has "been there, done that"

Good luck to you and have fun!

John

[Frank Hagan]

Welcome Zelix (and jmatheso!)

SYP is fine for the keel.  I think I used 1400 stainless screws in my Weekender, so there are a lot of screws to drive.  I really recommend a cordless drill like a Makita for driving them.

Almost everyone uses epoxy now, because it is easier to use than polyester resin (to be fair, the Stevenson's don't even use polyester, they use vinylester which is almost as expensive as epoxy).  I used just under 6 gallons on my Weekender, but others have used less.  I recommend epoxy for ease of use!

[Zelix]

Thanks for the reply jmatheso and Good luck with your build. You have any progress pictures I can droll over? One of the things I like most about the Weekender is all the cool webpages of the photos in progress. I intend to make a blog of my build with photos as I go.

Thanks for the reply, Frank. I will use epoxy then. I will research brands for the cheapest... as I'm on a budget with this project. Of course I have a while before I will need epoxy. I have to get some screws hemmed up. What size do you recommend?

I've been kinda confused with the keel drawing in the package so I am drawing it up on AutoCAD to make it clearer to myself before I get to cutting lumber. It might be a good practice to do that with all the pieces ( measure twice, cut once routine )...

[maligno]

I have to get some screws hemmed up.

Having been der and done dat, using bronze ring nails rather than screws will make the build go faster.

https://www.boatdesigns.com/departments.asp?dept=3

Hope this helps and have fun.

[Charlie Jones]

The cheapest epoxy going is from Graham and Carla at B and B Yacht Designs. See the associated BB for the boats from them.

Here's the web site though, and you'll have to call for epoxy- it isn't listed on the site..

http://bandbyachtdesigns.com/

[Oyster]

Welcome Zelix (and jmatheso!)

SYP is fine for the keel.  I think I used 1400 stainless screws in my Weekender, so there are a lot of screws to drive.  I really recommend a cordless drill like a Makita for driving them.

Almost everyone uses epoxy now, because it is easier to use than polyester resin (to be fair, the Stevenson's don't even use polyester, they use vinylester which is almost as expensive as epoxy).  I used just under 6 gallons on my Weekender, but others have used less.  I recommend epoxy for ease of use!

1,400 screws??? You may as  well saved your money on wood and paint and just welded up a steel weekender. ;D

Heck, I can build a 20 Simmons using no more than 400 silcon bronze fasteners including the decks and bolts from the frames unless I was to build it with rivets or clinch nails along the laps, which is not really done anymore. Interesting

[Frank Hagan]

Welcome Zelix (and jmatheso!)

SYP is fine for the keel.  I think I used 1400 stainless screws in my Weekender, so there are a lot of screws to drive.  I really recommend a cordless drill like a Makita for driving them.

Almost everyone uses epoxy now, because it is easier to use than polyester resin (to be fair, the Stevenson's don't even use polyester, they use vinylester which is almost as expensive as epoxy).  I used just under 6 gallons on my Weekender, but others have used less.  I recommend epoxy for ease of use!

1,400 screws??? You may as  well saved your money on wood and paint and just welded up a steel weekender. ;D

Heck, I can build a 20 Simmons using no more than 400 silcon bronze fasteners including the decks and bolts from the frames unless I was to build it with rivets or clinch nails along the laps, which is not really done anymore. Interesting

Yep, 1400 stainless screws or something like that.  I always said it totally disproved the notion that the Weekender is an unballasted boat!  I used 1200 #6 x 1" screws, plus some others.  My old "Log of Costs" is at http://www.frankhagan.com/weekender/boatcost.htm ... it might prove useful, although the costs are from 1999.  1/2" ACX ply was about $12 ... I think its closer to $30 now.  While the Weekender was designed to be an inexpensive boat to build, with common lumberyard materials, I think a re-design would probably replace some of the materials with "pro" alternatives (such as thinner okume ply with more bracing and no fiberglass cloth which is needed primarily to prevent the construction plywood from checking). 

On the keel dimensions, there is a common problem with "station 13" on the keel plans, as well as an issue with where the tail block goes:

I can't figure out the dimension for the end of the keel, at station 13.

In Figure 2, the dimensions for the end of the keel can be confusing.  At station 13, the top nail is located 3 - 3/8" above the reference line. The bottom nail is located 1/2" ABOVE the reference line. Got it?

Here's where it gets confusing.The end of the keel is located 5 - 5/8" past station 13 at the very top edge of the 1 x 12. Make a mark at this point, and when you're drawing in the line using the batten against the nails, make sure it extends to this mark and gives you a smooth transition.

For the bottom of the keel, measure along the reference line 4 - 5/8" past station 13. The final nail is driven at this point, one inch above the reference line. On the plans, they show that point as 3", but don't clearly show that they mean its 3" from the top of the 1 x 12. A few people have thought that dimension was either for the amount of 1 x 12 left over, or the distance past station 13. But it refers to the distance from the top edge of the board.

The keel stern-block to stem dimension isn't 154 3/8".  Where did I screw up?

This measurement is taken after the deadwood is installed. The deadwood "raises" the joint where the keel meets the stem by 3 - 1/2". You can try measuring before putting in the deadwood with a metal tape and locating it 3 - 1/2" above the keel-to-stem joint, but you have to keep the tension very tight. (The reason people miss this is that in Figure 2, there is a call-out to the "STEM/KEEL JOINT" before the deadwood is installed.) If you are about 2" too short without the deadwood, then you'll be OK when it is installed.

[maligno]

This measurement is taken after the deadwood is installed.

Indeed, I can confirm this: 154-3/8 is labeled in Fig. 3 but when you refer back to Fig. 2, there is no reference for the opposite end of the measurement line. I clearly remember trying to figure this out and I made a special note in the plan about it when I found out that it should be at the forward end of the deadwood.

Looking at the plan now I also see a sketch I drew for widening the transom, a modification I would include if I were to do it all over again.

[Zelix]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really appreciate your help so far.

I have new exciting news. I broke the whole "honey I'm gonna build a sailboat now" new to the wifey. She wanted to see what it would look like and I showed her the sight. I mentioned that the Vacationer had more room. She said, "why don't you build that one then?"  I think that she knows I'd always second guess if it would have been better to have more room. I also noticed watching the weekender how to build tapes that on teh sailing part the boom is really close to your head and you have to duck to avoid a whack to the head. At least it looked that way on the video. It seems that the vacationer is a bit higher.

Although I like the weekender I do think that the Vacationer would be more suitable for us as we intend to do some camping in it as well. *** Don't tell the wifey but I'll prolly make a weekender later on.... just to enjoy the whole process..

Now the big question is how long will I have to wait until I can get plans? The sight isn't working properly .. because I tried to order the plans last and couldn't.... I'll try again today.

now I have to find one of those temporary outdoor tarp/tent looking garages. My garage is packed out with all my tools, guitar making equipment, and Beer making stuff.