Core Sound 20 Mk 3 -- #4 "Chessie" . .

[Action Tiger]

You are so awesome.

[Pete McCrary]

Just before the rollover I remembered to mark the locations of the two Anderson Bailers. Much easier to do before than after. And the first thing (after the rollover) was to permanently mark the water line boot. The marking will show thru the fiberglass and epoxy. I also carefully located the CB slot and measured the angle that will be set into the router base when routing out the slot (with a flush trim bit).

After the rollover, my son Jim suggested that I should pad the cradle for gentle treatment of the bottom after "Chessie" is once again upright. He said "swim-noodles" would do the job. So, I got 6 of them. They are available only seasonally -- Wallmart was out, but Target had them in red and green.

Tomorrow I'll start working on making the keel and chines ready for glassing.

[Drew]

Great idea. I have some of those hanging around.

[Pete McCrary]

Getting ready for glassing the bottom & side panels.

For a "planeing" boat, performance is improved if the bottom / transom edge is square (or even at an acute angle). Alan pointed this out. But the transom / bottom edge should be rounded over so that fiberglass can reinforce the joint by wrapping it over the edge. That requires ~ a 3/8" radius. To get the square edge, here is what I plan:

Of course, the dry-wall screw-holes should be filled in after cleat removal.

Today, I finish sanding and some thickened epoxy filling a few dinks, holes, etc. Tomorrow I'll sand over the touch up spots, then Annie will help me layout the fiberglass on the starboard half of the hull. And I will pre-cut about A dozen 24" panels of Peel Ply. Hopefully, all will be completely ready for application of FG & Peel Ply on Friday am. Temperatures predicted in the 70s.

If all goes well, then on Saturday I'll prep the port-half for fiberglassing it on Sunday. Then on Monday: priming, painting, etc. !!!!!!!! GETTING CLOSER.

[Pete McCrary]

Now she's ready for glassing the starboard side of the hull -- tomorrow. I'm using "Peel Ply" so I expect not to have to "fill-the-weave" and a 3rd coat. Annie is my helper and mixer. We'll get an early start and hope to be finished before noon. Forecast temps 70 to 80.

The second photo shows ten 25" Peel Ply panels pre-cut to cover 24" sections as I wet the fiberglass from stern to stem. We'll remove the Peel Ply the next morning. On Saturday we'll prep for a Sunday glassing of the port side. Cool weather also expected.

. A view from the shop.

[Drew]

Pete, what weight of cloth are you using? I assume from the way it lays out you are using bi directional cloth and it looks to me to be about 6oz. Give me a cople of weeks and I should be at the same place.

[Pete McCrary]

It's 10 oz.  Recommended by B & B.  

[AmosSwogger]

Interesting reading Pete; I'm glad the Virginia temperatures have moderated which should give you little more open time.

 

Reading about your plan for the squared-off transom and have a question:  would the resulting sharp corner be prone to damage, i.e. chipping out?

[Pete McCrary]

My guess is probably not. Alan and Graham do this on their Core Sound boats.

[Alan Stewart]

Amos, 

 

Any sharp corner is more prone to "damage" because whatever touches it exerts a much larger force per area on contact. In this case, it's not worth the extra effort to do something crazy like put in a metal edge because it's easy to replace any chips after a few years if you even get any. I always feel better knowing i've reduced that drag at the transom as much as I could. I also think it makes for a quieter boat through the water assuming your already in good trim. 

 

-Alan

[Pete McCrary]

"Chessie's" starboard side of her bottom now is covered with fiberglass. We (Annie and I) started at 9:20 am and finished at 1:30 pm. Four hrs 10 minutes. Temp ~ 70 at start and ~ 78 at finish. Hard tedious work. But we are still friends. The epoxy was setting up faster [at the end] than I could (easily) keep up in laying down the Peel Ply. But I think it will end up a nice job. Tomorrow will tell.

. We wil be a little faster when doing the port side.

The Peel Ply comes off tomorrow. And then I'll trim and sand the centerline and dry-fit the fiberglass on the port side. We'll do the second half Sunday morning. But we'll start at 8:30 am instead of 9:30. Hopefully, that will be the last of fiberglassing!

[Action Tiger]

Pete,

That is one reason we always do glass on the cooling of the day. My wife and I did half a 20 footer the other day, and are doing the second half in a bit. Not a CS 20 footer. Mine is only 17 feet, and waiting patiently presently.

Luckily, my wife has been helping mix and squeegee gloop for some years. I mostly just have to keep moving, keep,pointing, and keep quiet. Nice to have a great partner, eh?

Good luck on the second half.

Peace,

Robert

[Pete McCrary]

As I'm installing the keel "batten" and 3/4" half-oval, it occurred to me to "dry-fit" one of the trailer's (two or three) rollers. Here's a photo of it.

With the trailer setup that I will have, it appears that almost the entire weight of the boat (and equipment) will rest on the rollers. Of course, there will be side "bunks" to keep the boat upright, but the weight they support is practically nil. And the trailer frame is suspended with shock absorbing leaf springs rated for about 2,000 lbs (i.e., ~ 1,000 each). That's 2,000 for trailer frame and boat.

QUESTION 1: Is the boat designed such that all its weight may be supported on its trailer at (as few as) two points on the keel batten (xsection: 7/8" x 3/4")?

QUESTION 2: If that isn't advisable, should I be looking for a different trailer configuration?

QUESTION 3: What trailer / roller configurations have other builders utilized with success?

Note: I have a third roller that could be placed approximately under Blk 2. But distributing the weight equally would be problematic.

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions.

[PAR]

Keel rollers are fine, use as many as you can fit on the trailer. Rollers are not a good idea on planking, but the keel can take them easily. Ideally, you'll have two "bunks" aft, which support the boat to a limited degree, but mostly to keep the boat from flopping over when you take a corner too fast on the road. The keel rollers carry the weight, which frankly isn't much and yep, the structure is stiff enough to tolerate this treatment.

[Hirilonde]

I have 2 rollers and 2 bunks adjusted as Paul describes in the previous reply.  I wanted a 3rd roller, but it was not practical and now I find it is unnecessary.  Some what flexible bunks are the best surface to meet the hull.  Mine are covered in pvc which makes sliding the boat on and off the trailer easier, even though there is little weight on them during the process.  I added a plank under the centerboard.  It offers security should the uphaul fail while on the road.  It also serves as a walking surface during launch and retrieval.  I also added a step on either side to make climbing in and out of the boat while on the trailer easier.  I went overboard and carpeted the steps so I can wipe my feet before boarding.

 

[Pete McCrary]

Thanks guys. Relieves a lot of uncertainty.

For my PocketShip I had flexable bunks with "shock absorbing" qualities. Instead of the 2 x 4s or 6s that came with the trailer, I fabricated bunks from pairs of 1 x 4s. Screwed together at the middle -- and at each end with carriage bolts (heads countersunk) tightly thru the top plank and "loosely" thru a slot in the bottom plank. Before assembly, the inter surfaces of each plank was waxed. They were plenty strong for their purpose and very flexable. Mine had carpet on the top plank -- but this time, like Dave, I'll use the pvc. And his idea for the longitudinal plank between the rollers is a good one. It would also prevent a big problem if you tried to launch with the CB already down! I've always put "running boards" on my trailers. Right up to the hitch. I could usually launch without wadeing into the water. It's also a good platform for working the crank.

[Chick Ludwig]

There are some boats that don't have a strong/stiff enough keel to be supported on keel rollers. You will find the the boat "sagging" over the rollers eventually. Of course, if the roller is under a bulkhead or rib, this shouldn't be a problem. If you can spread the load over several rollers, it would probably be fine, but most trailers only have a couple of cross frames that rollers can be mounted on, and they rarely fall under a bulkhead.

 

On Summer Breeze, The "keelson" is not a wood member, but is epoxy putty built up to fill the "V" where the bottom panels meet. I'm not comfortable with having a roller in this area. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid about this, but I've seen too many boats damaged with these rollers. I choose to carry most of the weight on the bunks that I have shaped to fit the curvature of the hull. I also make sure that these bunks span along enough of the hull to land under a couple of bulkheads.

 

I also provide a support for the centerboard. It only takes once for the board to drop and drag down the highway to show the benefit of this. (I've never had this happen, but I've heard stories....)

[Paul356]

How did the peel-ply and glassing marathon go?  I think we have your weather this week.

[Pete McCrary]

Paul356,...

Here's the report I sent to Alan:

"The port-side glassing w/Peel Ply was much easier -- but the results are about the same. What made it easier was that I actually laid out each PPly panel over the glass as a "dry fitting" and marked (felt pen) its location (top and both sides) right on the FG. Then the same with the next panel marking its location (top and leading edge on the FG and trailing edge on the previous panel of PPly). Each panel was numbered and placed on the side [not being glassed) and its top edge taped to the other side -- so that I only needed to flip it over to the side just wetted. I applied epoxy only for the first panel. That required 10 pairs of squirts (a little left over for the leading edge). That way the epoxy was fresh for each panel. As we moved forward, the epoxy batch was reduced with the last one only 6 pairs of squirts. The process was much easier and took about 20% less time. It was also easier to squeegee the PPly panels down onto the FG.

"However, although we had a better quality product, it still had a significant number of flaws. Maybe it's quite good -- I just don't have anything to judge it by. I'm going to follow [Alan's] suggestion [to fix the flaws] by applying the Interlux Watertite Epoxy Filler on the obvious flaws and then two coats of the AWLGRIP 545. I think it will be a very nice end product."

If I made another boat, I'd use the Peel Ply again. The second application was definitely easier although we only saved about 20% of our time. The prep for each day took a full work day (i.e., for me ~ 4 hrs). I couldn't do it [the application] myself -- full-time help was essential. To make removing the Peel Ply (after an overnight cure) easier, be sure to leave a dry edge for each panel. And don't wait for a 2nd day of curing. Also the PPly can be removed by "ripping" off small (3 to 6 inch strips) rather than entire panels.

With a helper, Graham glassed both sides of the bottom of his CS17.3 in one day! But, of course, he's an experienced professional.

[Drew]

Pete, your notes are so helpful. Did you overlap each sheet of peel ply or just butt them. Using peel ply in the past I found the main issue was the little ridge that forms at the edge of each sheet, but I found I could sand that back easily enough.