Outdoor build of GA Kodiak, Orange, CA

[Brian.Dixon]

<snip>
Good thing this boat doesn't take furniture joints, I would have a pile of scrap at this point. I am sure by the end of this I will be a pro at hiding my mistakes, as I am making plenty of them...

Epoxy-filled joints are stronger than tight wood-to-wood joints with a thin glue layer ... My kind of joinery!  Wiggly jigsaw cuts are A-OK!

Brian

[json]

I got the bottom assembly glued on today, which took a lot longer than I thought it would. No sweat though, I am using ebond's 1289 so I took my time and got it done. Next up, 2nd bow layer.

[Djeffrey]

How did you decide to finish the back of your boat? Nice transom!

[json]

How did you decide to finish the back of your boat? Nice transom!

Thanks! I am not entirely sure yet, I am thinking I am going to maybe have a swim platform and then a second curved transom 2 feet in front of the real one. I am still sort of pondering it and probably will for a while honestly. I plan on flipping without the second one installed to make it easier to get in and out of the hull to do the interior work. How about you Djeffrey?

[Djeffrey]

Doing the same

[json]

Doing the same

Awesome, can't wait to see what you come up with!

I got the second bow layer installed. It was uneventful, with the exception that my scarfs are pretty lousy and it's going to take some fairing to whip them into shape. Par for the course though from the sounds of it. The bow feels really solid once the second layer is installed, it's pretty awesome how this hull is really starting to get pretty rigid. I wasn't sure how solid it was going to feel when it was just a floppy plywood assembly but now it is becoming apparent that this is going to be a pretty bulletproof boat.

[Brian.Dixon]

You're getting lots of work done fast and it's looking great!

And yes, this boat is OVERLY strong ... that's a good thing.  Strength does come from the sum of the parts, not just individual pieces

Brian

[Djeffrey]

Jason, How’s it going out there in Cali ? Much progress to report?

[json]

Jason, How’s it going out there in Cali ? Much progress to report?

Slow and steady. I forgot how busy summertime is, so my plan to really crush it on progress is falling through to camping and entertaining my kids. Oh well. Regardless, I got the first side installed yesterday, I ran out of time to do the stitches but probably going to find a minute to do them today. This is going to be a big boat.

[Brian.Dixon]

Looking great!  Yup .. BIG boats are BIG fun!

Good on ya for giving the kids and family some time.  Building a boat can be rough on the family life if not managed well

What's in the cinder block building with the red stripe?  Looks like an Action Auto or something   Curious... Love your tenacity and creativity in building outside.  Good thing you're in sunny California ... 

Brian

[json]

Looking great!  Yup .. BIT boats are BIG fun!

Good on ya for giving the kids and family some time.  Building a boat can be rough on the family life if not managed well

What's in the cinder block building with the red stripe?  Looks like an Action Auto or something   Curious... Love your tenacity and creativity in building outside.  Good thing you're in sunny California ... 

Brian

Ya, I am definitely very conscious about making sure I am dedicating time to the fam. I have been trying to get my kids into boat building but they may be a bit young (2 and 4). They have swept the shop floor up with a shop vac a couple times, now I just need to get them cracking on slinging some epoxy and I will have a valuable resource. My son is super into the whole process when he is around watching, my daughter not so much. Most of the time I spend working on it though is after they are in bed or during the day when they are in school.

The cinder block building is a mom and pop run storage unit, so that actually works out pretty well since I don't have neighbors on that side and can mind my own affairs without anyone getting up in arms about dust or whatnot. It's really a pretty perfect spot for it since I built the fence around it. The sunshine helps too, although I came back from camping a couple weeks ago to find my tarp blown off and light rain soaking the whole bottom (blah). Left the tarp off for a few days and the sun dried it all out, seems no worse for the wear. It's been a very wet year and a struggle to keep the project dry, but seems that the rain is over for the summer so now the challenge is largely trying to find time to do epoxy work that's not in the mid-afternoon sun. Always a challenge figuring out how to deal with the elements, but that's how it goes building outside.

[Brian.Dixon]

All good.  I know a guy in Alaska that built mostly outdoors ... and even got rain on fresh epoxy.  It cured with neat little dimples all over it, but other than sanding and needed a leveling coat, it didn't hurt a thing.  Warping (uncoated) wood is the worst fear.... not so much on other stuff (assuming you aren't going to store it unprotected from UV for a year or something.)

Brian

[json]

I got the final side panel installed last night, so hey, it's a boat! Pretty cool to see this all come together I must say. My on-the-boat scarfs might have been the best ones I have ever done, not sure how putting wood vertical and hard to manage makes me better at scarfing but hey, I'll take it. I also got to try out that nifty little trick with the roll pin. Boy, that sure beats drilling a dozen holes around a broken screw and fishing for it.

I am tempted to do a bottom coat with titanium dioxide just to protect the boat from the heat from sitting upside down under the sun. Or possibly even make that the bottom coat. It's covered by a tarp but it would be nice if I could leave it uncovered while I focus on it so I don't need to keep covering it all the time. As I think about it, as much as I kind of want a graphite bottom for the looks and ease of maintaining it I think sitting upside down outside might be damaging from the heat it would absorb in the so cal summer sun until I was ready to flip it.

 Up next is a week of vacation with the family and then a month off work to be a boat builder full time. That's the plan anyways...

[Todd j]

I decided to go pour unthickened epoxy right on the bottom.  Squeegee it all over the boat.  Sides too.  Then glass and treat the hull. Kick the whole thing outside for awhile and build a couple gantry cranes. Then resume the build again inside.  I wonder if just epoxy coating the bottom and leaving it untended for the duration of the summer would accomplish the same thing if it’s rained upon.

[json]

I decided to go pour unthickened epoxy right on the bottom.  Squeegee it all over the boat.  Sides too.  Then glass and treat the hull. Kick the whole thing outside for awhile and build a couple gantry cranes. Then resume the build again inside.  I wonder if just epoxy coating the bottom and leaving it untended for the duration of the summer would accomplish the same thing if it’s rained upon.

I would feel a lot better about my project sitting outside if it was coated. However I can see from chunks of epoxy that have been sitting in the sun that they start to get pretty weathered pretty fast in direct sunlight. Interesting that you evicted your hull to build some cranes. Is that for the flip? I think if I was doing a gantry in the shop I would just rope the beam to the rafters and then build up the feet right in place. Probably easier without a giant hull in the way though.