Princess Sharpie 28

[PeterP]

I was hoping to get this posted before Garry vanished into the blue yonder. Hopefully he will check in from time to time and see the twenty eight take shape. Please, take a special note of the building jig. One of my elderly neighbours came over to see "the boat" just as I was putting the final touches on the jig. Her comment was : Bless my heart that is neat! You going to make the sides a bit higher ain't  ya? Needless to say I crossed my heart I would. PeterP

[PeterP]

Here are some more pictures:

[Howard]

Looks good Peter. I wasn't aware the 28 plans were done, but this looks like the rounded bottom, cedar strip version vs. the hard chine plywood version I've been looking at.

Have you given thought to how you are going to turn her? Will you be able to drag that hull and jig out in the open and keep her in one piece?

What engine.....if any....is planned?

[PeterP]

Howard, the jig will roll out on SCH 40 or SCH 80 pvc pipe. Or so I am hoping. Once in the clear I plan to roll it in a custom made circular cradle using neighbours for steam and beer and pizza for lubrication. PeterP

[PeterP]

To continue with the answer: yes mine will be WR Cedar planked - round bilge. The reason this came about is simple. I had some wood left over from a project that did not come to fruition. And I wanted a round bilge boat for a change. As to the engine- yes I would like one but right now I don't have the money. It may be hard to believe but I find comfort in that because I have never ever got into a project with all the money in hand yet I always manage to finish. So you could say I am right on track there. When the money comes -and I know it will -I will get a small diesel ie Bukh or Kubota. Single cylinder 7-8HP. And if it does not materialize I'll pole the bugger until it does. Right now I just want to see this babe planked up and  right way up. PeterP

[Tom Lathrop]

Looks like you are finally building on your own little cruiser.  Decided in favor of the P28 instead of the NIS26 I see.  Undoubtedly a good choice. 

[PeterP]

Sorry Tom, the temptation to have an original by "An Apostle Of Speed" proved too much. PeterP

[Tom Lathrop]

Sorry Tom, the temptation to have an original by "An Apostle Of Speed" proved too much. PeterP

Is that the 13th Apostle?

Sorry, I could not resist  :P

[PeterP]

They had sail numbers back then? PeterP

[PeterP]

When I first got into this I did have a nagging suspicion that this was going to eat up time like crazy. In actual fact it is about ten times worse. Building a boat out of matchsticks is VERY SLOW. Lucky I like wood working. Here are some more pics: deck flange in place. Transom ditto and looking right handsome. First planks glued up and looking good and smooth. PeterP

[Scott Dufour]

That transom looks gorgeous!  And it only took you ten times longer than originally planned?  Excellent- we call that "on-time and on-budget" for this kind of project.

[sitearch]

Wow it looks incredible Peter. Are these plans available yet. I assume they are from Graham.

I am very interested. Good luck and thanks for the wonderful pictures. I am already jealous of your project and boat.

Bob

from Alaska

[PeterP]

Thanks for the kind words Bob. The plans are available from Graham - I don't know if he has the whole package ready yet but he had enough for me to get going. Strip planking does not offer instant gratification of plywood as I am finding out.  Luckily, my pace picked up a bit since the last post. I've had a couple of conceptual break-throughs. Biggest thing was the switch to wider stock as I got away from the hard bend in the bilge. Also, I stopped using trunnels to keep my planks flush. Those were a total time killer. The plywood tabs I switched to go on FAST. Sure, everyone of them leaves two holes to fill but filling holes with epoxy is fast and easy. Next, I gave up on bead and coving the stock. Another time killer with no apparent benefit. The biggest thing was switching to 5 min epoxy to do the stock scarfing. The stuff is kind of expensive but now I can literally do two scarfs to glue up 28'5" plank and have it ready to hang in about 30 min. Unbelievable. It still takes a ton of time to hang the planks but things are definitely moving along. I should be about 25% planked up by this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed. PeterP

[wkisting]

Looking good. Are you finishing the sides bright, or why continue stripping above the bilge turn? I would think it would be preferable to switch to plywood at that point, and should save a ton of time and fairing work, no?

Just curious.

[PeterP]

Do not tempt me. The plywood option crossed my mind -alas there is all that red cedar sitting in the garage. Got to go. Wife just bought her dream car and dream cars need to live inside. So I get to build my dream boat to move the wood out of the way for the dream car. One could spend a lifetime exploring marital stratagems like that. Even make a name for himself in this fruitful field. Anyway, the boat will be painted apart from the transom which is laminated out of Okoumi and has lovely uniform color you are familiar with. The cedar on the other hand covers the spectrum- brown to red to white. Interesting effect but one that leaves me cold. My second CS17 was green with tanbark sails and I think I'll go that route again.  But all that is a long way off. PeterP

[Ray Frechette Jr]

Is there any particular reason the planks need to be scarfed together before fitting?

When I build glued lap boats, I scarf the strakes on the bench but glue them together on the hull.

In order to hold them snug tpogether on the build I use builders plastic on both sides and pieces of 9 mm plywood both inside and outside and screw it al together with drywall screws.  Once cured I remove the screws and the ply pieces fall fof and I pull off the plastic and the scarf has a;lways been perfect.

Perhaps there might be someway you could secure the crarf pieces on the build reasonably to avoid the 5 min epoxy expense and time...

it certainly is easier fitting shorter pieces on at a time too.

Just a thought to mull around in your head.  By the time you have the planking done I suspect you will just about be an expert at it..

[PeterP]

Ray, as you know there is no one perfect way to skin a cat. I did think about scarfing in place but decided against it because in my minds eye I could not get into a satisfactory flow of work. My present procedure works for me because I can keep each each operation a discrete step. Less chance for me to get messed up by doing different steps at the same time. The cost part is not that bad. Raka charged $18 for two pints. I use syringes to mix and it takes 3 ml of each to do a scarf on 1.5" plank. My estimate is that I will get a better part of the boat done on what I have in hand. The stuff is so good I'm thinking about getting some more and  putting it over my cereal to see if it will firm up my softening brain. PeterP 

[PeterP]

I have to correct the prices in the post above. I bought a 32oz kit of superfast which was $38 (not $18) and I also bought a 16oz of 425 cold weather hardener for $18. Got them mixed up so to speak. Still a good deal to me. PeterP

[sitearch]

I love it. Will continue to check in to see how goes the progress.. Still jealous.  I'll have to check with Graham when he is done with the plans...

Regards,

Bob

[Dale Niemann]

Question Peter,

In the one photo of your planking it appears that all the planks are on one side.  If this is true.  I thought you were always supposed to just put a few on one side and then a few on the other side to keep from warping the hull.  That balances everything out.

Maybe I am not seeing both sides of the boat in the photo completely.

Thanks,

Dale