cs 17 in the port townsend wooden boat festival

[jan nicolaisen]

hi all,

i signed up as an exhibitor in the recent WB festival in port townsend, WA. it was a blast. have never talked so much boat as in those 3 days. lots of good feedback, even met a few folks who had built a CS themselves.

too busy to take pictures, or simply ignored that chore, sadly. regret it now off course. found this one on the web of my boat:

cheers, jan

[JEHayes]

Wow!  I walked right by your boat at the festival on Saturday (you were over by the CLC display, right?)  Sorry I didn't recognize the boat but, at the time I was not aware of the CS-17/20 design.  I do remember admiring the boat however as a very nice construction job.  Congratulations.  Joe

[psvansickle]

Jan:  I made visiting you and seeing your boat a primary objective of my attendance at the Wooden Boat Show.  I was not disappointed.  I enjoyed seeing the boat up close even more than I enjoyed your article in Small Craft Advisor.  However, the best part was being able to get a few pointers from you in the brief time we spoke.  Thanks for sharing your experience, your craft and your craftmanship.

Peter

[jan nicolaisen]

that's cool. i think i remember you peter. only one or two i met had plans to build a similar boat.

so joe, have you decided to buy the plans yet?

thanks for the kind words re my boat,

jan

[JEHayes]

that's cool. i think i remember you peter. only one or two i met had plans to build a similar boat.

so joe, have you decided to buy the plans yet?

thanks for the kind words re my boat,

jan

Already ordered and I have even cleared 30 feet of floor space in my shop.

BTW - has anyone used vertical grain hemlock in one of these boats?  I have a ton (literally) of rough stock left over from my house construction (I used it for all the interior trim).  How is Hemlock in terms of salt water and rot?

Joe

[jan nicolaisen]

hemlock is considered slightly or nonresistant to decay, together with ash, poplar, pine and such. it has no place in traditional boatbuilding, but with modern epoxy encapsulation and a pile already sitting in the shop, well, there could be an argument for using it...

jan

[tom151]

How is Hemlock in terms of salt water and rot?

Joe

Salt water is not the usual cause of rot in wooden boats, but fresh water does support rot. When you see the old timers in the anchorage washing the decks of their wooden boats with buckets of salt water early in the morning - they are washing off and diluting the fresh water from overnight dew/condensation, keeping their boat safe from rot. In our area, when our wooden boats are hauled for the winter it is common to sprinkle rock salt onto the stringers and into the bilges to stop the rainwater/snow/ice melt from causing rot by turning it to salt water. We always did this on our old, non-epoxy lobstering boat, as did all of the local fishermen, and never had rot problems with boats many decades old.

From "answers.com"

Dry rot flourishes only in wood with a moisture content of 20 percent or more. It prefers temperatures between 75°F and 85°F (24°C to 30°C) and it needs air, so it will not attack submerged or waterlogged wood.Fresh water is conducive to dry rot, whereas the salt in seawater inhibits it. Fishing boats and other working vessels frequently had rock salt strewn among their timbers for this reason.

If your wooden boat sits outside even if anchored/moored in salt water, fresh water from rain, snow, and condensation will accumulate in nooks and crannies, so plan on taking precautions.

Jan is right about the 'encapsulation' but IMNSHO, the dirty little secret of plywood/epoxy boat building is that it's the hardware and fittings that are the source of most problems. Because wood is comparatively so much softer than the epoxy being used to protect it, the overloading or point loading of fittings can crush the plywood and cause small cracks to form, allowing freshwater to migrate into the plywood. Proper mounting of hardware really depends on overdrilling for the fasteners and filling with extended epoxy. The higher the loads on the hardware the more you should overdrill - spreading the loads over larger area and reducing the stress on the plywood (also, I always use extra layers of fiberglass under the hardware and hardwood backing blocks to unload the more vulnerable plywood).

So in spite of the long-winded answer... don't worry about the type of wood (Hemlock) as much as the fresh water that finds it's way into the boat.

My 2 cents, hope that helps,

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

Jan

I am interested to know how you constructed the 'teak decks' on you side seats, hatches etc in the interior.  I am building another boat and really like that look.

[lbrewer]

I really like the look of the seats too Richard... and in case I never got around to saying so....great job Jan!

This thread has a lot more pictures to drool over Richard:

http://www.messing-about.com/forums/index.php?topic=6173.msg52606#msg52606

[jan nicolaisen]

hi guys, thanks again for the kind words.

the seats were a lot of work, but so was the whole boat project, off course.

i did them following a procedure outlined somewhere in the gougeon bros old book on epoxy work. thin strips of a suitable wood is epoxied onto the plywood substrate, with 1/8 or so space between them and in a pattern that is pleasing. figuring the latter out might be the hardest aspect of the job. i used a computer drawing program with great success.

to make the black 'caulked look' between the strips you mix the usual peanut butter like sludge, but add some graphite powder. with a big syringe you lay it into the grooves, and overfilling a bit because the graphite makes the epoxy shrink some.

then sand the whole thing, and, with a really good vacuum try to remove all the absolutely obnoxious black dust that seem to absorb deep into the raw wood. my 18 year old shop vac couldn't do it, so i had to invest in a $250 fein.

finally oil or varnish or even just leave them bare, with teak and its varieties.

i built the seat tops right on the work bench, on pre spiled pieces of 1/4" ply. nice and convenient, like a furniture project.

hope this helps!!

jan

[Maria CS20 104]

Jan, Jim Atkinson here, I'm the guy that is orginally from Washington and love your lake, and picked on you in regard to your concerns regarding perfection.  I am so very glad you went to Seattle and got the exposure you clearly have earned and deserve.  Hope you sell a lot of boats, buyers will be lucky to have your masterpieces.  I saw your boat in another mag and read the final installment on the building.  WOW , we are at the point of fiberglassing the inside seams and installing the forward bulkhead and stern half bulkhead.  I have a dumb question, should I install these and fiberglass inplace before I turnover and begin the bottom?  I think the answer is yes, just want your input.  I also want to add some 3/4 x 1 stiffeners on the bow side of the forward bulkhead, Ideas?  Met a fellow enthusiast about 20 miles away and we are stealing your ideas and both have blow-ups of your work.  By the way, which one are you in the boat, I thinks yer the gray hair with a lot of wisdom in yer smile.  Keep the faith, lover your family and gifts, and enjoy yourself.

Best and Blessings to you and all of yours.

Jim Atkinson