Bill Burruss
Well-known member
All,
Hi, it?s been a while since I posted and update on the longest boat build ever. Honest, I bought my BB2 wood in Feb 04, launched (without power or registration) Aug 04, and made the teal opener registered and under power to put blood (besides mine) on the deck in Sep 04. The Cackler was started in 2015 and has been built over several years in a series of sprints, and is now painted, powered (minus starter battery) and we are getting ready to register the boat and test. Now that I am confident we will be finished soon, I?ll finish posting about the build.
During the last post, we had added wedges to the bottom of the hull.
View attachment IMG_4465.JPG
The next step was to fair the outer hull, paint, and flip. At this point we bought a cheap, very used boat trailer to serve as the cradle. This proved really useful. Besides having a good platform to move the boat around, we ended up using it to take the boat to the Tohatsu dealer to get the engine installed. And it was ugly enough not to worry about overspray and epoxy drips.
Once flipped, we had to add the ?sole? to the boat. I had not purchased the wood for this up front, and finding a 2x6x10 piece of clear, strait grained wood was a real challenge. Ended up paying a steep price for a piece of Dough Fir, but am thankful to the contractor who helped me procure it as we were dead in the water at that point. If I ever do this again, I?m going to buy a Red Grandis or similar board that is big enough to cut all the hardwood pieces from (shear clamps, combing, sole, and maybe keelsons, although I?m starting to think Trex for keelsons may be the way to go). The days of going to the big box store and buying good Doug Fir lumber seem to be over. Did buy a piece of hemfirsprucekudzu-pine at the box store for 1/10th the price and cut a full size template before running the quality Doug Fir thru the bandsaw.View attachment IMG_4755.JPG
I was having trouble visualizing the best way to finish off the area between the motor mount and bulkhead in front of it, and wanted to deal with any conflicts/mods needed before glassing. Had been thinking a clean Yamaha ?big tiller? 40 HP 2-stroke was the way to go, but my son wanted new. He did the research and came up with Tohatsu 4-stroke tiller due to reliability, cost, and weight, so we went and talked with the local dealer. He said he did not sell many 40s due to 50s weighing the same. We went back and checked the Coast Guard formula using the actual, as-built boat dimensions, and according to that, the boat can handle it. The dealer also recommended a break away since the engine has hydraulic trim and we said the boat would be run in shallow water and stumpy conditions. I had not anticipated this as I had never heard of breakaways before and the largest outboard I?ve owned is a 25hp portable with manual trim. Would not have bothered with the wedges if I?d known the engine could be adjusted on the fly.
View attachment IMG_4798.JPG
View attachment IMG_4796.JPG
While checking the engine fit, I was surprised that the cowling would make contact with the rear, top inside corners of the sponsons. On my BB2, the problem was reversed; the anti-ventilation plate hit the bottom of the sponson in certain positions. This was easy to adjust right now.
View attachment IMG_4802.JPG
After installing the motor, it was time to keep moving and finish the floor. I decided to add floor supports. In addition to stiffening the floor, they were intended to help support the ends of rectangular cutouts that were to be used as cleanouts. We later decided to go with pop-out deck plates for the cleanouts (not sure that was a good move, would like easier access for air flow, as well as getting a sponge in there to soak up standing water). The plans called for gluing in the floor, and the lack of access to the inside of the hull bugs me, but on a big boat I think the added strength is needed. Plus we had cut the bottom side of the knees much shorter than the plans to make them not protrude into the cockpit, and I wanted to strengthen that connection point. View attachment IMG_4799.JPG
View attachment IMG_4907.JPG
With the Cackler built on 12.75/12 scale, the floor is longer than an 8? panel. Rather than lengthening the panel I positioned the forward most floor support to support a butt joint. Side to side we scarfed in a 10? piece so the floor runs chine to chine .
View attachment IMG_4822.JPG
Before installing the floor I glassed the inside of the hull. Not really needed, but when I did some repaint on my Broadbill I noticed some faint cracks in the floor. Knowing there will be virtually no way to inspect and how much damage sitting water can do, I went for some light glass and 3 coats of epoxy. Final step before epoxying the floor in was to install the bilge pump, complete with wiring and hose.
When test fitting it all, I realized it would be a lot easier to work on the bilge if I moved the hole in the floor. Fortunately, so far this is the only re-work I?ve had to do that involved first un-doing something.
View attachment IMG_4901.JPGView attachment IMG_4862.JPG
Up next, battery compartment, strong backs, wiring, and foam (and maybe I can figure out how to rotate pictures 180degrees. they are properly oriented before I upload them)
Take Care!
-Bill
Hi, it?s been a while since I posted and update on the longest boat build ever. Honest, I bought my BB2 wood in Feb 04, launched (without power or registration) Aug 04, and made the teal opener registered and under power to put blood (besides mine) on the deck in Sep 04. The Cackler was started in 2015 and has been built over several years in a series of sprints, and is now painted, powered (minus starter battery) and we are getting ready to register the boat and test. Now that I am confident we will be finished soon, I?ll finish posting about the build.
During the last post, we had added wedges to the bottom of the hull.
View attachment IMG_4465.JPG
The next step was to fair the outer hull, paint, and flip. At this point we bought a cheap, very used boat trailer to serve as the cradle. This proved really useful. Besides having a good platform to move the boat around, we ended up using it to take the boat to the Tohatsu dealer to get the engine installed. And it was ugly enough not to worry about overspray and epoxy drips.
Once flipped, we had to add the ?sole? to the boat. I had not purchased the wood for this up front, and finding a 2x6x10 piece of clear, strait grained wood was a real challenge. Ended up paying a steep price for a piece of Dough Fir, but am thankful to the contractor who helped me procure it as we were dead in the water at that point. If I ever do this again, I?m going to buy a Red Grandis or similar board that is big enough to cut all the hardwood pieces from (shear clamps, combing, sole, and maybe keelsons, although I?m starting to think Trex for keelsons may be the way to go). The days of going to the big box store and buying good Doug Fir lumber seem to be over. Did buy a piece of hemfirsprucekudzu-pine at the box store for 1/10th the price and cut a full size template before running the quality Doug Fir thru the bandsaw.View attachment IMG_4755.JPG
I was having trouble visualizing the best way to finish off the area between the motor mount and bulkhead in front of it, and wanted to deal with any conflicts/mods needed before glassing. Had been thinking a clean Yamaha ?big tiller? 40 HP 2-stroke was the way to go, but my son wanted new. He did the research and came up with Tohatsu 4-stroke tiller due to reliability, cost, and weight, so we went and talked with the local dealer. He said he did not sell many 40s due to 50s weighing the same. We went back and checked the Coast Guard formula using the actual, as-built boat dimensions, and according to that, the boat can handle it. The dealer also recommended a break away since the engine has hydraulic trim and we said the boat would be run in shallow water and stumpy conditions. I had not anticipated this as I had never heard of breakaways before and the largest outboard I?ve owned is a 25hp portable with manual trim. Would not have bothered with the wedges if I?d known the engine could be adjusted on the fly.
View attachment IMG_4798.JPG
View attachment IMG_4796.JPG
While checking the engine fit, I was surprised that the cowling would make contact with the rear, top inside corners of the sponsons. On my BB2, the problem was reversed; the anti-ventilation plate hit the bottom of the sponson in certain positions. This was easy to adjust right now.
View attachment IMG_4802.JPG
After installing the motor, it was time to keep moving and finish the floor. I decided to add floor supports. In addition to stiffening the floor, they were intended to help support the ends of rectangular cutouts that were to be used as cleanouts. We later decided to go with pop-out deck plates for the cleanouts (not sure that was a good move, would like easier access for air flow, as well as getting a sponge in there to soak up standing water). The plans called for gluing in the floor, and the lack of access to the inside of the hull bugs me, but on a big boat I think the added strength is needed. Plus we had cut the bottom side of the knees much shorter than the plans to make them not protrude into the cockpit, and I wanted to strengthen that connection point. View attachment IMG_4799.JPG
View attachment IMG_4907.JPG
With the Cackler built on 12.75/12 scale, the floor is longer than an 8? panel. Rather than lengthening the panel I positioned the forward most floor support to support a butt joint. Side to side we scarfed in a 10? piece so the floor runs chine to chine .
View attachment IMG_4822.JPG
Before installing the floor I glassed the inside of the hull. Not really needed, but when I did some repaint on my Broadbill I noticed some faint cracks in the floor. Knowing there will be virtually no way to inspect and how much damage sitting water can do, I went for some light glass and 3 coats of epoxy. Final step before epoxying the floor in was to install the bilge pump, complete with wiring and hose.
When test fitting it all, I realized it would be a lot easier to work on the bilge if I moved the hole in the floor. Fortunately, so far this is the only re-work I?ve had to do that involved first un-doing something.
View attachment IMG_4901.JPGView attachment IMG_4862.JPG
Up next, battery compartment, strong backs, wiring, and foam (and maybe I can figure out how to rotate pictures 180degrees. they are properly oriented before I upload them)
Take Care!
-Bill
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