Knackeredyachtie Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Well, work has finally started on building the little day sailer. It's been a while in thought, planning, sourcing materials and so on. You all know how it goes!! Built the jig, sturdy & strong. Have set up the frames and now getting the floors sorted. Next will be the gunwales, keelson, fitting the transom (10 deg angle) and making the centre board case. The reason I chose this design was a) it's a pretty little traditional yacht simplicity of construction - strip plank cedar, galssed inside and out c) my son-in-law is a boat builder, so available for advice! Attached is a picture of the final finished boat, taken from the plans, but I intend to instal a gaff rig (of course!) Plus some pics of work to date. I'll keep you up to date for those interested in following the progress. Oh - we had to clear out the garage, much to my wife's chagrin, so I promised to name the wee yacht after her - "Shirley"... You always need to find a way around minor challenges. Cheers for now, Knackered Yachtie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knackeredyachtie Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Ok, a bit more progress... The frames have been profiled, as have the stem & transom. The Western Red Cedar arrived just before Easter (25mm X 12mm) as did the Alaskan Cedar for some other timber parts needed - keelson, keel, gunwales. I purchasaed some very nice Kauri, brand new, which was left over from a construction project. It was pretty much the right size I needed and quarter sawn as well. Kauri is a New Zealand native timber and is highly prized by boat builders. Very nice to work with and a lovely grain - but difficult to find these days. Anyway, I've attached the floors to the frames, but will need to put some wax paper between them and the frames plus apply some wrapping tape to the frame edges to stop the strip plank from sticking to them. I'm just in the final stages of attaching the gunwale to the stem and decided last night that I'll need to check these in to the stem. I can then profile this to fit the planks as they come to the stem and will allow a good area for them to mate onto. So, almost ready for the planking to start. I'm using the West System for glueing the planks, plus other items. I've cut out the parts for the centre case, which I'll glass, but think I'll fit this once we've turned the hull over and the temporary frames have been removed. I think it'll be easier to fit then. Comments anybody? However, I'll cut out the slot in the keelson & keel while it's upside down, rather than try to do this from underneath. In the meantime, I've scarfed the keelson and gunwales - (an interesting exercise when you don't really have all the tools you need!) - from memory I used a ratio of 25:1. Certainly took an aweful lot of planing and sanding - in fact, 4 hours hand sanding to finish, but the joints do need to be perfect. Attached are some updated photos, incl some where I trialled the planking. It's going to be an intersting exercise planking it up, as the boat is only 16' 6" long overall, but the beam is 8'. The stern area is very tucked in too. The little yacht has been based on mullet boats, which are very popular in Auckland, although the majority are 22' to 26', with massive sail areas - a real handful to manage, particulalry in a breeze. The mulleties have been around since the turn of the century and many are still sailing, plus the occasional recent builds. The owners and crew have a bit of a reputation as being hard men.... See attached link: http://news.mulletboatracing.co.nz/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dunsworth Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 I think this is going to be an interesting build. Please keep us updated with progress and pictures. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knackeredyachtie Posted May 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 Thanks Scott & yes, I hope so too!! Just about ready to start planking up. However, we're going away in June, so no progress that month! Will have to try & get as much done as possible before we leave. I must admit, one of the trickier bits so far has been profiling the stem, due to the varying angles involved - but done now. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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