New boat build

John, Looks like fun! Thanks for sharing in the original spirit of the DHBP. One tip you may want to try- When I built my Broadbill the square coaming didn't do much for me so I experimented with a laminated ply coaming. I discovered that if you heat plywood with a heat gun it will allow the glue to slip and yopu can bend it like crazy. Then laminate to it and it will be bulletproof as well as "pretty". I think there are some pics in the Armstrong Broadbill sneakboat spec pics on here. If you are interested and can't find them drop me a PM and I'll dig them up. Good Luck.
 
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After installing the deck, I determined that the forward edge was more flexible than I cared for. After considering what was the most visually appealing method of strengthening the deck, I epoxied on a pair of 2" wide quarter inch thick plywood strips across the top surface of the deck. The deck had a small amount of bow in it from the installation, and I'm thinking that these 2 layers will be give it enough rigidity that if a dog should jump on it, that it won't damage the deck due to flexing. I don't think 2 layers will make it strong enough for me to sit on, but thats OK, I'm not in the habit of sitting in that area on my Poke Boat, so I probably won't get in that habit on this boat. After the epoxy dries, I will go back and trim the edges to match the rubrail. Putting these strips on the rear deck made me reconsider the bow deck. After I trim these 2 pieces, I am going to install a similiar strip (the one you see leaning against the stb side in the pic) underneath the rear edge of the bow deck.

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All kinds of things are getting in the way of me getting boat work done including a thing called a job. As a result, I didn't get a heck of a lot done in the last couple of days. I did however get the sheet of 6 oz. glass draped over the bottom of the boat. There was a sale at Hamilton Marine, so I picked up a 15 or 16 foot section that was 38 inches wide for a song. After draping it over the bottom, I took a Sharpie marker and drew a long line of dots along the chine on both sides of the boat and another line about 3 inches below that one. The first line is to make sure I have the glass placed properly when I start glassing. The bottom line is the one I will cut the glass to.

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Then I cut the cloth along the second row of dots. At the ends, I made a verticle cut in the cloth so that I could wrap the glass around the ends of the boat and have it lay neatly on the wood.

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Considering all the family stuff I have going on the next couple of day, I probably won't get a chance to finish the bottom glassing job till Monday. Stay tuned.
 
In the last week or 2, its been too hot to do epoxy work after 9 or 10 in the morning. So, this morning I got up early, as in before dawn, and turned on the heat lamp I had arrainged the night before. That heated up the epoxy and resin just enough to allow proper mixing and spreading. I mixed the epoxy in small batches, and using a 2" chip brush, smeared the epoxy over the cloth and worked it into the weave. I started at the center of the boat and worked my towards the bow, then went back and did the stern section. After that I did the part of the cloth that hung down the sides. When all of that was done, I wet out the part of the skeg that was to contact the bottom and set it aside momentarily while I mixed a batch of thickened epoxy. Then I smeared thickened epoxy on the skeg and positioned the skeg onto the bottom. I weighted it down with various heavy items and went into the house for breakfast. Later today, after the epoxy is suitably hardened, I will put the first of 2 coats of epoxy onto the sides and bottom of the skeg.

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Yesterday I had a chance to put a first coat of epoxy on the bare wood of the sides of the boat. Pretty easy. After it dried I noticed that there is some serious amine blush on both the sides and bottom.

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So, this morning, I took it outside long enough to wash it with very soapy water. Then I let the sun do its thing and dry it off. No more amine blush! Tomorrow morning, if its not raining, I will take down the high spots on the hull side with the rotary sander. Then, if time allows, I will put a second coat on the sides.

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Thank you Sir! Its been a fun process and I'm amazed how many views this thread has had.

This morning I had a chance to sand down all the high spots on the side where either the cloth unraveled or there were runs in the epoxy. Then I put the second coat on the hull sides. That step didn't really change the looks of it so I didn't bother with a picture. I probably won't get a chance to fool with it again till Wed. Pesky job....The end is in sight and I'm dieing to get it wet.

John
 
This morning I turned the boat over and started epoxying the decks. I started with the rear one first 'cause it was going to be uncomplicated and easier than the bow deck. The epoxy was slathered on as thin as I could drag it out with a brush. I've always tried to apply the epoxy thin. Less runs and hopefully less sanding that way.

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The bow deck was next. Same routine as before, drag the epoxy out with the brush as thin as possible. Once I had the deck coated, I coated the bottom of the V shaped coaming piece and placed it on the lines I penciled in on the deck. The coaming fit well enough that I did not have to mix a batch of thickened epoxy to apply to the bottom of the coaming. The the usual assortment of clamps and weights were applied to hold everything together while it kicks. Later today, after everything kicks, I will apply epoxy over rubrails and any other bare wood there might be.

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This past weekend the family all went to Lake George NY with one day at Saratoga Race track for my horse crazy daughter, so not much got done on the boat. I did get a chance to wash off the amine blush from the deck and hull side though. Then, after it dried, I sanded all of the above with the random orbital sander and put it back in the garage till after dinner tonight. Tonight I installed a piece of the 1" wide hard plastic rubrail I got from Hamilton Marine. First I cut it to length, with the plan being to have it stretch from the very rear of the skeg to a place on the forward part of the skeg where it was thick enough to screw to. That of course invites the question as to how to fasten that forward most part of the rail?

Before answering that question, let me say that I had to dig through my collection of odds and ends to find a variety of different length screws to use on the rub rail. I started out at 1" long at the aft end of the skeg and ended up with screws just over a half inch long at the forward end. Each screw was used in a hole drilled to the size of the shank of the screw and bedded with God's gift to boat builders, 5200! Then, I used a liberal dose of 5200 to glue the forward end down, and weighted it with a piece of a dumbell. I figure I won't be able to work on the boat again till at least Fri morning and the 5200 should be pretty well set up by then.

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John, not to pee in your Wheaties, but i used 5200 and SS screws to attach the same plastic rub rail on my Ipe ice runners. I had a screw within an inch of the leading edge, and while it may have not been deep enough in the Ipe, it failed this past winter in the ice, and the rigid rub rail broke back at the next screw. I have since pieced in some repairs, double screws this time and a little deeper. My point, is the adhesion of the 5200 to the plastic was not all that good, and I had roughened the plastic with a wire wheel and cleaned it with acetone.
 
"not to pee in my wheaties..." There's a term I hadn't heard before! No offense, emotional or scatalogical taken....Since the beginning of the build, I have looked at this boat as somewhat of an experiment. As such, if the 5200/rubrail bond doesn't work, I'll do something different. Maybe I'll cut it off back to the first screw and double screw it, like you said. Thats the beauty of a simple light weight boat like a kayak. Flip it upside down, flop it down on a pair of saw horses and have at it.

John
 
Hello All. This morning I painted on the second and last coat of epoxy onto the decks and rub rails. Yeah! This evening I will wash them with soapy water and when they dry, sand the decks in preperation for painting. I didn't bother taking a picture 'cause it wouldn't have looked very different from earler pics of a coated boat.

I thought I would mention that the launching party will be Oct 7th at Sandbar State park from noon to 2pm. I'll bring that kayak, and my son's 6 hour canoe, the boat I based my kayak's design off of. All who stop by are welcomed to try it out. Who knows, there might even be a cooler of beer lurking nearby. If for some reason the gates are locked (shouldn't be), we'll do this across the street.

Hope to see you there,

John Bourbon
 
Had a chance to do some boat work. I bought one of the small 2 part foam kits from West Marine for filling the floatation chambers. Holy Smokes are they expensive! In looking at the kit and reading the directions, I was pretty sure that one kit was not going to fill both chambers. So, I improvised. I cut up an old Omaha Steaks cooler into strips about 2" wide. The top and all sides and bottom. First I stood the boat up and leaned it against the house. Then I placed many of these strips into the chamber(s) and poured a small batch of foam in there to see how the expanding was going to go. Even though the kit says it will expand 8 to 1, 8 to 1 of a small batch is still a small bunch of foam. So, I put more cooler pieces in there and before all was said and done, each chamber took 4 batches. That took almost the entire kit. I was down to the last ounce or so.

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Here's what the process looks like part way through it:

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If you decide to use this route, do yourself a favor and make bigger access holes.....
 
This morning I made some time to install the wooden cleats my friend and fellow forum member Dave D. made for me. On the stern cleat, I used a left over piece of Ocoume as a backing block under the deck.

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The forward cleat, I mounted on a short block to raise it up slightly so the bow anchor rope won't rub too severly on the forward coaming. It also has a backing block under the deck. Both cleats were slathered with epoxy.

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Then the bow hardware. The bullseye is there to direct the anchor line back to the cleat, and the chafing strip is cut from a piece of 1" rub rail. Both are bedded with 5200.

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Next up, painting the bottom!
 
This morning the painting of the kayak commenced! My daughter Sara and I painted the bottom with this "mud color" paint I got from Hamilton Marine when I bought the 6 oz cloth. We let it dry 6 or 7 hours and it dried very reddish, and I don't like it. I tried mixing some with white to see if it would calm it down and it became an ugly washed out pinkish color. Tomorrow I buy some OD green and try it again. What the heck, thats why we start on the bottom.

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Jon, U.S. composites has a 2 gallon foam kit that runs about 100 buck more or less. That is 16 cubic feet cured. For glass, epoxy and foam I've never found a good reason to pay West Marine Prices.
 
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