Narfi's Life after EU: Chapter Four - FS17 a 17ft V-Hull Powerboat

Unboxed my new shop vac so got for Christmas and discovered it doesn't work so well when your floors and walls are thin plastic.

So I swept as best I could and marked about where I need to put my tapes. Hopefully start with that tomorow night.

Reading another forum today I had to show Landon pictures of this guys work and Landon agreed it looked like out progress.

This could very well be our next boat project, it is almost perfectly what I have been looking for.

 

Jan 11, 2018

Layed down the tapes after work tonight.
Started with the transom, then the keel, then the chines.

Each section I started by brushing down a coat of epoxy, then laid down the tape, then patted, brushed or squeegee the tape down to the epoxy along the entire length, then brushed fresh epoxy down from the top along the entire section, then a third pass catching any dry spots that hadn't completely soaked in yet.

I was a bit frustrated with the edges of the tape, one edge is clean the other is frayed and impossible to get to lay nicely, oh well I'll just grind and feather before the cloth.

The corners of the transom were not perfect, but I kind of expected this, nothing that can't be fixed


Silentneko! You need to do the next step so I know what to do I have decided you are my new bigyellowtractor version: fs17

 

Feb 8, 2018

Finaly got some time on the boat.
2hrs start to finish.
That includes rolling up the glass I had layed out,epoxy priming 1/2, laying down the first side and epoxying it, priming the other 1/2, laying down the second side of cloth and epoxying it, when it started getting sticky we stripped off our gloves and got out before being tempted to touch it one last time and mess something up.

 

Feb 11, 2018

Sanded it all down yesterday with 38grit and got the transom ready to glass.
When I glassed the bottom I wrapped it over the transom 4-5 inches, so sanded that transition smooth and layed a solid layer over the transom and forward on the bottom 24inches.

I had layed a 6ft straight edge across the back and found a fairly uniform 1/8" hook all the way across. The plans allow for up to 1/4" so I am not worried, but going forward with this peice 24" shares the love of the multi layers at the corner over a greater distance.

Landon played outside all day.

 

Feb 19, 2018

Bought a lightly used table saw from a buddy and set it up in the tent.
I don't think my extention cord is big enough, it doesn't seem to wind up very fast and bogs down easy on just a 2x4. I also discovered a missing tooth, so need to buy a new blade for it.

I did manage to cut a couple triangles to lay on the chine for looks and I think it will work.

Near the transom,



Near the bow,


I think I like it better with the 90deg corner out which I think is what silentneco was thinking for his as well.

It is pretty close to flush with the side panel near the transom and angles out a bit at the bow.

Forgot how dusty I had got it in there, I'll need to clean some before doing anything productive.

Momma is doing better but still trying to keep her as quiet as possible. So Landon and I are (trying) to do as much of the cooking and cleaning as possible.

Been just below freezing last few days. Too warm to work outside with more than a hoodie on.

 

Mar 17, 2018

So I got 10guage underground cable (10/2 + ground) hooked into a 30amp breaker and run out to the tent. (Will have to bury it in the spring) used a scrap of particle board to mount a light switch and outlet box. Still need to ziptie the board to the tent frame, it's just leaning against it for now.

Got a new freud blade as recomended and turned on the table saw....... it started up slowly and then popped the breaker.
I took the motor apart and cleaned it out and put it back together. Plugged it in and popped the breaker. Very frustrated I spent some time googling and took it apart again. The contacts for the centrifugal starting capacitor switch were welded together. I broke them apart and polished them up a bit and put it all back together again.

In the process I broke a mounting bold off and had to drill it out and luckily was able to get it extracted, then lost the set screw for the pully and made one by cutting a bolt down and slotting the shaft to use a standard screwdriver.

Once all together it is running properly now and has good power.

Now I can learn how to use it.

 

Mar 18, 2018

Getting started. But got a call and we are heading out To sled and snowboard behind Hondas on the bay.

 

Mar 20, 2018

Got the chines glued down.
2.5"x1.25" triangles
Bow pieces are 5ft long tapered for the front 4ft 4in leaving 8in full size to mate with the full size angles all the way to the transom.
Kerffed every 2 inches which made them pretty flexible, but not flexible enough to hold in place with duct tape so I still had to screw it down every little bit.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out so far. I will need to fill the kerfs and butt joints and blend in all the irregularities, but it already looks pretty close.

 

Someone asked me how I cut the taper on the chines as they approach the bow,.....

I used a straight edge and drew a line on the cut face.
Then laid it down cut face up and free handed it through the table saw.

I thought about trying to rig up some sort of jig, but couldn't think of a quick easy way, and perfection doesn't matter too much, I'll be filling, sanding, glassing, filling and sanding anyways to make it look good, so an 1/8" give or take off the line was close enough imo. (I think I stayed within less than 1/8" of my line freehanding)

 

Mar 21, 2018

A picture of Landon water skiing on the bay with his 'Uncle Greg' (no relation)


Started filling the kerfs with thickened epoxy. They are thirsty...... will take atleast one more pass to get them filled.

 

Mar 28, 2018

Third pass of filling and I think the Chines are ready to sand down and shape.
Thinking about the strakes..... How far forward should they go? I was thinking 8ft is easy, but maybe not quite long enough?

Split the bottom exactly in 1/3rds with them or have them a little closer to center?

Is there an easy way to taper the front down? It was easy with the chines cutting the side of the triangle off, but with this I want to cut the bottom off..... I'm having trouble picturing the geometry needed to make it work.....

Maybe instead of tapering the front couple of feet it would be easier to go full size the whole way and just round over the front?

 

Mar 29, 2018

Thinking more about it, I think I will go a lot longer than 8ft. a lot closer to the front, the main reason I want them is for sacrificial pieces, so longer seems smarter in that respect.

I still want them to look good and behave well in the water though......

How far from center should they be?
Parallel to center, or as a ratio to width?

 

April 7, 2018

Finally got them cut and glued down!
Will pull the screws tomorow and put another layer of filler over the kerfs and make fillets. Then it's sand and shape and radius for glassing.

Would you guys do one or two layers of tape?

 

April 8, 2018

Screws removed, thin epoxy chased down the screw holes and edges filled and radiused with thickened epoxy.

 

April 17, 2018

Thats a lot of corners to be sanding..... but im almost there.
I used my router to round off the chines to a 1/2" radius but it wont fit down close enough to the keel or strakes.
I am going to try and build an extended, narrower base for it tonight and round them off as well.

It is hard to know how much to sand before glassing as it is a compromise.... Dont sand enough and lumps will show through the glass and be even harder to fair afterwords, perhaps even causing you to cut into the glass.... however glassing it will cause its own roughness that will need to be faired anyways, so too much sanding is just a waste of time and energy. I hope I have hit the right amount, I guess time will tell.

My plan once glassed is to sharpen the chines and transom but leave the keel and strakes 1/2" radius.
Is there any need or advantage to sharpening the strakes and keel?

 

April 18, 2018

Its ugly but the router base worked.




It's almost ready to glass.....


The Chines need their kerfs filled a bit more, rounding the edges uncovered them a bit.
This is the worst spot.

 

April 20, 2018

Last night I sanded down the areas I had filled in the revealed kerfs, and finished shaping/rounding the trailing edges of the chines, strakes and keel for glassing.
Then I laid out and measured and individually rolled 2 layers of tape for each.

Hopefully if nothing comes up I'll be glassing them tonight.

 

April 21, 2018

Well it always takes longer than I expect. Glad I decided to do it today instead of last night.

Two layers of 12oz tape staggered over each peice.
That ups the count to 6 layers of 12oz on the keel(the original 2 layers of tape plus the overlapped cloth plus these two layers) and 4 layers on the chines.
I was happy with how easily it layed over the radiuses.

 

April 22, 2018

Sharpened the chines and transom with wood flour thickened epoxy and duct tape dams. Not as great as I had pictured in my mind but it did 'ok' enough. When it cured enough to pull the tape I went back over it again just in the areas it had sagged through the tape. Will all sand fine and look good, just caused more work than intended.

Then I filled the weave of the tapes for the chines, strakes and keel with fairing mixed epoxy.

Need to sand and fair and sand and fair the bottom till good enough for graphite. Get the graphite on and rubrails installed before I can flip it.

3 weeks till our cruise so hoping to get that far by then....

Took inventory and am low on epoxy. I'll order more this week. I've used 2 rolls of 12oz tape and have 2 left.... think I'll get a couple more of them as well.

7 full sheets of 3/8" plywood.
1/2 sheet long ways 3/8"
4 about 1/4 long ways 1/4"
And a bunch of scraps.

For rubrails..... can straight ripped strips of 1/4" or 3/8" follow the curve of the sheer, or will I have to cut curved pieces? (I am really hoping for the easy answer!)

 

April 25, 2018

Turned two of my 1/4 sheets of 1/4" into 1.5" strips.
Sheets are 8ft 2in long and the rubrail is about 18ft long.

I cut a few 2ft, 4ft, and 6ft sections and it will work out just about perfectly.

8 - 8 - 2
6 - 8 - 4
4 - 8 - 6
2 - 8 - 8

This will give me a 1" plus glue rubrail.

The plywood is about 2 inches over 8ft, so will have 4-5 inches extra to cut off once done.
I plan on starting at the front and working my way back using temporary screws to hold it in place till the glue cures.