Glacier Boats of Alaska - Builder's Forums
Great Alaskan and Boat Building => Projects - Glacier Boats of Alaska boat projects => Topic started by: Lindy on January 06, 2022, 07:52:17 PM
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Well, I officially started today, went to the barge lines and picked up my kit from West Coast Boat Works. Unloaded in my workshop. I was very impressed on how everything was packed, cut out and labeled. Chuck and his crew did a great job, and sure will make my job easier. Ms Jones and I put some sheeting on my building jig and I started on the transom. I glued the wings on the sides of the transom, the CNC stepped scarf joints fit perfectly. I also glued the 1/2 inch piece of White oak on the top of the upper doubler. I predrilled it and held it in place with Raptor fiberglass nails, My hope is to use them to hold things together as the epoxy sets up,?does anyone see a problem using this instead of screws which need to be removes, leaving a hole?.
Plan tomorrow is to glue Both of the LVL transom doublers to the transom, then cover with a piece of 10 oz biaxial cloth, then put the 3/4 inch upper transom doublers on and cover the whole enchilada with a piece of 10 oz regular weave cloth-sound copasetic ?
I also plan on gluing the scarfs for two 16 foot side blanks and covering the inside with 6 oz fiberglass cloth. My hope is to do as much pre assembly as possible as my shop will get quite small once the boat is together. Still need to figure out how to get it out of my 9 foot wide, 8 foot high door once I am ready to move it out of the shop.
Thank you in advance for any advice. Big thanks to Brian for designing the boat and keeping us all on track. Also a big thanks for Chuck to cut out and ship the kit to me There help is invaluable. I appreciate all the time and energy they put into making it possible for people like me to do something like this-Thank you both.
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Wow,
Talk about getting after it, you guys are an inspiration already. To answer one question about the raptor nails, no issue whatsoever to leave them in. They will never rust is the big plus and it will make assembly a breeze. I am not familiar with fiberglass nails but it seems that if you put them in at an angle like so: \ / they will hold. It does not take much to make some epoxy squeeze out and you don't want too much squeeze out. My thinking is you leave the "nails" a bit proud it would be easy to sand, grind or file them off instead of having to fill each hold. I used thin strips of plywood to nail thru to avoid putting dents from the nailer everywhere and to make pulling my "steel" nails easy.
Your plan on the transom sounds good but I know putting 10oz cloth over the biaxial wet on wet is a good thing just try to press the biaxial firmly so nothing floats and the 10oz cloth over the top should almost wet itself out when laying it on top of the biaxial cloth.
You will be an epoxy and glass expert soon enough. Congratulations on the build!
I can see rolling your boat on on pipes and outriggers of some kind (big roller skate) Maybe your building jig can be built with a lowering option.
You know I just thought about something, you may not want to glass your transom until its glued in, you will be applying 3 layers of glass on outer and inner seam and big fillets on the inner.
Brian will set you strait for sure.
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All I can say is Fantastic! Congratulations on your start! Everything looks awesome!
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Wow nice shop!! Glad it all arrived safe and sound (well almost all...inside joke..haha) When you wet out your Biaxial ya need to roll in the epoxy with a groved roller to get all the air bubbles out. They sure make it easier...check out the link
https://www.fibreglast.com/product/Aluminum_Rollers_129?gclid=CjwKCAiA5t-OBhByEiwAhR-hm_oQhJjcqNrFgq-zzCbbanOQqIaEXOtPFnB6kD8oMvyPOps14p4RYxoCcjcQAvD_BwE
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Great view too ... motivates you to be in the shop!
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Today I was able to get my transom together, glued 2 LVL's to the 1/2 inch plywood, covered with 12 oz biax, followed by 10 oz regular weave, covered with 2 more coats of epoxy resin. All harding up now-I Hope. Hopefully be strong enough to hold the big Yamaha twins I will put on the back. Also scarfed up my hull side blanks, plan to cover the inside with 6 oz cloth in AM, should I put 2 or 3 coats of epoxy on them after laying the cloth at this time? So nice to hanging out in the shop and working on the boat-life doesn't get better than that.
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Today I was able to get my transom together, glued 2 LVL's to the 1/2 inch plywood, covered with 12 oz biax, followed by 10 oz regular weave, covered with 2 more coats of epoxy resin. All harding up now-I Hope. Hopefully be strong enough to hold the big Yamaha twins I will put on the back. Also scarfed up my hull side blanks, plan to cover the inside with 6 oz cloth in AM, should I put 2 or 3 coats of epoxy on them after laying the cloth at this time? So nice to hanging out in the shop and working on the boat-life doesn't get better than that.
It's big enough to support twins, as long as you watch the weight limits expressed in the manual, and include all stern weight (kicker, brackets, motor(s)) when you're figuring out your maximum motor weight. I can always help with that ... when the time comes, just send me motor weights, bracket weights, bracket length for mains and kicker and I'll do the math then let ya know!
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You are getting after it in a big way!! I logged right at 2200 hours to build mine. This does not include hundreds of hours researching. Pretty much all shop time, it does include lots of head scratching thinking ahead how everything you do today will have a bearing on time spent further into the build.
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With help from Ms Jones, the epoxy goddess, I was able to glass 2 of my 16 foot side blanks. Having 32 feet of plywood laying in my 36 foot long shop makes me realize that soon my shop is going to seem very small
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So cool that you and Ms Jones got a thing going on!
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Looking great. At this rate you'll be ready to flip by the time I'm home from work.
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Got my shelfs put together today, fit very nicely, although at station 168 I was 3/8 inch shy of my mark, but everything else lined up perfect and the joints were tight. Guess my boat will be a tad skinny in the midsection. I think she will still float.
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Got my shelfs put together today, fit very nicely, although at station 168 I was 3/8 inch shy of my mark, but everything else lined up perfect and the joints were tight. Guess my boat will be a tad skinny in the midsection. I think she will still float.
Did you notice the A/B line I marked when cutting the kit? keep this located it will help throughout the build to measure from
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Yes I did see the AB line it is 146 inches from the bow, sent a picture of the AB line, my 140 inch station line and a ruler going aft. I would call that balls dead on for the computer lofting and the CNC cutting. Was able to glue up the chines after work, they were perfect.Turned the heat up in the shop to try to cure the epoxy overnight Hope to get bottom panels together tomorrow. Glad I bought the kit, sure makes this initial part of the build move right along, sure my progress will slow down once I get all these puzzle pieces together.
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Incredible progress ... And yeah, kits help a lot :)
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Got my jig set up for the bottom molds, with the help of 3 friends, Ms Jones and a 6 pack of beer was able to get the bottom panels on the jig. Will bring the old singer sewing machine up to the shop and start sewing them together in the morning.
Wish me luck? Any tips or tricks to bring these bad boys together?
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Lets see, put the panels face to face and drill holes for the zip ties or wire ties (closer together at the knee to bow) and open it like a book, this part is easy.
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... Long and floppy, heavy, parts ... have a friend or two over for lunch to lend a hand :)
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It’s really very simple. Leave the ties on the knee looser. I used 1/4” ss tubing cut to about 2”. I put it where the edges met. It helps keep the panels aligned and from sliding over one another. Tighten them last!
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Got the hull stitched up, everything fit perfect, all gaps 1/16 inch or less- thanks Chuck. Ms Jones,the queen of fillets and epoxy goddess, my buddy Pete, who is 2 weeks out of a total knee and myself put down the center seam. Left the zip ties in, laid down a big fillet followed by 3 layers of fiberglass tape, all worked well.
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Wow you two are really getting it done in a hurry. Glad the kit is working out well, you have the first Kodiak kit. Be-sure not to forget to let me know when your getting closer. I will send you your CEO (Certificate of Origin) with your HIN numbers. That way when you go to get insurance it will help having West Coast Boat Works as the manufacture otherwise it will say Home Built. Some insurance companies use that as an excuse to charge you more. It will also help resale value should you ever sell it.
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Lindy,
You are making great progress, nice clean work and what a nice shop you have.
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Got a bit of a lick in before and after work today, stitched on the chines- all gaps 1/8 inch or less, put some peanut butter between the stiches, turned up the heat to 75 degrees, Tomorrow I hope to tape the chines with 4 inch tape followed by 6 oz of biaxial and then place the 9 oz bottom cloth over everything while it is wet. Again impressed how the chines folded nicely around the top of bottom panel-amazing!
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You're on a real roll!
Chines fit nicely? I used error propagation calculations so that all seams would fit with 1/16" accuracy ... in the computer model. 1/8" in the real world, real wood, is pretty good. It speaks highly of how well Chuck Mazzola (see Kits tab at https://www.glacierboats.com) cut those out with his CNC machines.
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You’re rocking it, looks great!
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Had the day off so made a big push on the bottom, chines all taped up bottom covered with 10 oz cloth, burned through a lot of epoxy. After a few fill coats, have to figure out how to flip this thing and hang from my ceiling. Thanks everyone for your support.
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Awesome job and accomplishment, flipping should be easy. Supporting from ceiling? Not a bunch of weight but probably going to make a couple holes in the sheetrock..
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Support timbers across the boat, wide straps, and chain hoists are your friend!
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got the bottom flipped over, aft seams taped, and hung the bottom from the ceiling. Kinda fun hanging things like this from the ceiling
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Nicely done. Good to see it went well.
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Looks great! And now for ... crawling and laying on the floor, climbing over/under timbers in cramped quarters etc ... LOL.
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Very cool! You are ripping right along! Nice work...
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WOW this thing is big. got my Jig set up, leveled, and put the shelves on. Fit perfect, less than 1/16 gap where they meet at the bow, and perfect alignment on all molds- thanks Brian and Chuck. glassed the underside of the shelves, and mounted my stem. It is a 70 year old piece of doug fir that was a closet shelf in my old house. Next job is to shape the bow stem, trying to wrap my brain about the instructions for that, will review others build and figure it out.
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I struggled with the bowstem but I was never good at shaping wood but a strait edge and a powerplane / hand plane you will get there.
Since you have such a nice piece of wood to use as your stem I suggest to practice on a pos 4x4. (I had to do it twice!)
On page 2 of my build BobC did the best job of fitting a stem I have ever see.
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Thanks, was reviewing your build just now. Appreciate your pictures, and thoughtful posts, back at it at 6 AM , off for a week, brother Walt coming up from Montana tomorrow, so hoping to make this thing look like a boat in the next week
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Looking great and thanks for the kind words!
Get a 'special' (antique, one from 2021 when the build started, or ...etc) coin and bury it in the epoxy at the base of the stem. Sailors used to put a coin under a mast for good luck ... we use the epoxy under the stem :)
Shaping the stem ... Try not to think about it too much, but understand and follow one step at a time and it'll work.
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Thanks, was reviewing your build just now. Appreciate your pictures, and thoughtful posts, back at it at 6 AM , off for a week, brother Walt coming up from Montana tomorrow, so hoping to make this thing look like a boat in the next week
Lindy, did you find the cd full of pictures in the inside cover of one of the bidders? I think it's in the Kodiak addendum binder. Glad it's all fitting well with a slight change to a mold:) Did you other panels arrive yet?
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Chuck,
Thanks for pictures, very helpful, yes parts arrived today- thanks. Got the stem shaped, had to use my secret weapon- Ms Jones to make it pretty. Attempted to hang transom, but a bit heavy for the two of us, so will do tomorrow when my brother arrives.
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Wow,
That is impressive job fitting the stem!
Hats off to Ms Jones.
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Got the transom mounted and glued knee braces in place, glued bottom and stem on, looks great, stringers sucked nicely to bottom. Boat shape and length now is what it is, and looks great to me- 30 feet long. Plan next to put the second layer on bottom tomorrow and hopefully start working on the sides. Nice to have brother Walt here, building boats and drinking Rainier, life doesn't get better!
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So cool to see you make progress in leaps and bounds. Beter than checking the news....
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Rainier!? What happened to the Coors and Billy Beer ... and the Schlitz? LOL...
Love how you guys do HUGE jobs and just mention it so casually! Putting on the bottom panel assembly, the transom, and having it all glued together so quickly is amazing!
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These kits really fly together. I’m impressed by the rate ate which your progress is moving. It’s fun to see it come together.
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Yes,
The kit has made it come together quick so far. Unfortunately running out of kit parts, so soon I will have to go back to a tape measure, batten and a saw, sure progress will slow down then.
Today we got the second bottom glued on. Ran out of fender washers, so used blocks of wood covered with duct tape, hopefully I won't be regretting that move tomorrow when I remove the screws. Got forward end of shelfs planed and added blocks to hang the sides, got my 10 inch skill saw ready for the scarfs I need to do. Hopefully put the sides on tomorrow!
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Making it look easy one day at a time, good job.
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ScArfs are easy. My weapon was a power plane. They are inexpensive a d you can do many sheets at once.
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Bit of a little more than I could chew today but got her done , Cut out scarfed and glued side panels in place. Did my preliminary chine fillet. 12 hours for brother Walt and I, My bum Knee buddy Pete hung in for 8 hours. Back a little sore from the under the boat gymnastics
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I am more amazed every day the progress you are making, you could be on a boat building magazine soon!
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Making some good progress but I bumped my elbow crawling under the boat and got some fluid in my olecranon bursa that got infected and created infection of most of my arm, so got a dose of IV antibiotics and have to work with my left arm held up in the air. Fortunately my crew picked up the slack and we made some good progress. All outside seams are taped with three layers of glass, it was a wet on wet program, and doing it this way was able to blend them all together. Hopefully if my arm allows, will scrape and fair the tape edges and glass the boat on Tuesday.
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No pics of the one-armed bandit?
Looking good as always!
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I had the bursa elbow infection thing and it was no joke! Had to hold my arm up in the air all night just to sleep. Could have fried a egg on it. Be good to yourself!
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Had a bit of slack day, faired tape edges and cut up and scarfed blanks for spray rails and bottom strakes. Weather broke and went for a walk. Walts last day is tomorrow and we plan on going big. Hope to glass the boat in one big session. Recruited 2 or three other helpers, so should be fun.
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I wish I was there, should be a great day.
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Big day today, scraped and sanded some pre glassing faring, sheeted the whole boat with cloth and put one fill coat on top of everything. Had a big crew for the glassing and all went well.So far 30 gallons of epoxy. Brother Walt leaves tomorrow, and I have to go back to work (need more epoxy), so things will slow down.
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Congratulation to you and the crew, very impressive accomplishment for one day.
So cool to see it!
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Thanks Bob, appreciate your encouragement, wish you were here, after seeing your boat, sure the quality of work would have been dialed up a notch or two.
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Curious on a couple things:
How many people were mixing epoxy?
How did you keep the side glass from slipping?
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Brother Walt and Pete did the mixing. Have a Michael Engineering sticky stuff pump, so no measuring or pouring. Having run 30 gallons through it, impressed in its accuracy. Mix everything with electric drill and paint mixer blade, puts air into the mixture but so far, knock on wood, none of my layups have failed to go off.
My glassing schedule was as follows. First rough cut pieces for the transom and both bottom panels. Held transom with blue tape, applied epoxy, removed tape and cut flush. Then applied first bottom side, making it flush with the keel, and hanging over the chines 2 inches onto the sides, and overlapping transom 2 inches. Held with blue tape, then removed once epoxy placed. Then did other side from some temporary scaffold on the opposite side, overlapped that 2 inches at the keel, as well as chine and transom. This stayed in place as it overlapped the other bottom side which had wet epoxy on it. Finally pulled out the side pieces from my home made scaffold cloth roller and placed it right at the chines. Put a few thumb tacks to hold it, but really not necessary as the 2 inch of wetted epoxy from the bottom held it in place. Overlapped both sides onto the transom and one side at the bow. All worked well, had to be careful not to create air pockets at the inner and outer chines with so much going on at once.
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I am pretty sure this is the biggest one shot glassing and epoxy session I know of, you and the crew are an inspiration.
Your elbo must be doing better.
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yep getting better. Stuck a needle in my bursa to drain it, and the fluid grew out Staph, so I am glad I hit it hard with antibiotics in the beginning. If I were a good patient, I would of rested as it swelled a bit for the first few days- defiantly on the mend now.
Was able to get my spray rails cut out and put glass on the aft ones. Forward one is ready to install, hoping it doesn't snap when I try and make it turn the corner on the chine. Drilled 3/8 inch counter sunk holes in it, and plan to attach with bronze screws and cover with an oak plug. Glassed the top of all of the strakes, except the forward 12 foot of the keel strake, will have to do that once it's installed. Ms Jones placed another coat of epoxy on the boat.
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If the rail breaks or seems like it will you could try steam bending. I used "nylon sterilization tubing" and a crab cooker to supply steam (1 hr.) thru the lid via a hole I drilled and added a hose adaptor:
On edit, steam bending did not work on the spray rails, it worked on the keel strip. Spray rails wanted to twist so I ended up putting the spray rails on in several layers, 3 on the bend at the front.
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Progress- Ended up using 2- 3/8 x3/4 pieces of white oak laminated together on the boat for my Auxiliary Spray rail. Worked much better than trying to bend a 3/4 x3/4 piece of white oak around the chine. Also got Ms Jones to fillets on the keel strake. Appreciated Brian's tip to use acetone and a old T-shirt to polish the fillets, worked quite well. Hopefully finish the spray rail fillets, glass the auxiliary spray rail and attach the Aft spray rail tomorrow, then will be done except a lot of fairing and painting. Planning to go to Seattle Boat Show next week to check out some "Bling" for my new boat, then to Winthrop for some Nordic skiing.
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Nice to see some style lines on, glad to hear the spray rails went on great.
Wow Nordic skiing, I have been to Winthrop, Twisp and camped at Loup Loup. I have not been skiing, only snowboarding. Beautiful area.
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Wrapped up a crazy month of boatbuilding. Got the outside of the hull put together and coated with epoxy. Going to let it bake for a week and then get to some sanding and fairing-ugg. Thanks Brian for the excellent plans and CNC programing, and thanks to Chuck for the excellent CNC kit, and that you all for advice and encouragement.
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Wrapped up a crazy month of boatbuilding. Got the outside of the hull put together and coated with epoxy. Going to let it bake for a week and then get to some sanding and fairing-ugg. Thanks, Brian for the excellent plans and CNC programming, and thanks to Chuck for the excellent CNC kit, and you for all for your advice and encouragement.
Thanks for the kind words ... thank YOU for sharing all your work with us, on top of busy long days building a giant boat!
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Wrapped up a crazy month of boatbuilding. Got the outside of the hull put together and coated with epoxy. Going to let it bake for a week and then get to some sanding and fairing-ugg. Thanks, Brian for the excellent plans and CNC programming, and thanks to Chuck for the excellent CNC kit, and you for all for your advice and encouragement.
Thanks for the kind words ... thank YOU for sharing all your work with us, on top of busy long days building a giant boat!
Likewise Lindy thanks so much! Without Brian we would all be in something way less capable than a GA. I sell these kits in large part because I am a huge believer the GA is by far overall the best in it's class in so many ways. IMHO
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Outstanding work. You guys are rockstars. Anybody who has finished a boat knows how quick you are progressing.
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This project is moving fast. Using the kit is clearly a huge savings in time. More than one set of capable hands make the work easier all around. Good job!
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This project is moving fast. Using the kit is clearly a huge savings in time. More than one set of capable hands make the work easier all around. Good job!
Kit makers exist on West and East coasts, and in Alaska. Check out our kit's tab at: https://www.glacierboats.com
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Back at it after a week down south. Had a long day with the festool sanders. Ms Jones and I sanded the boat, and washed down with ammonia water. Plan to put some fairing compound down tomorrow then another coat of epoxy and then, yes more sanding. Want to get the bottom painted before I flip the boat.
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Ugh,
Sand, sand, sand and more sanding.
Does your Vacuum system keep up with the sanding dust?
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Yes,
I got a 5 inch and 3 1/2 inch festool sander with their vacuum system and it works great. Both sanders have an aggressive mode which chews through epoxy, and the vacuum system sucks out all the dust. For a bit today, I was using the 5 inch machine w/o the dust extractor while Ms Jones was using the 3 1/2 with the dust extractor and we created dust cloud and had to wear N-95 masks.
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Today I was busy collecting boat units at work, I believe that 1 boat unit still equals 1000 dollars, but Ms Jones spread some glass balls and fairing compound on the the hull to smooth put some of the ripples that made their way through all of the fiberglass tape and cloth. I also spent 1 1/2 hours talking to Dan Boccia about my electrical system.He is a wealth of knowledge. Given my lack of understanding of electrical systems and my desire to work with wood not wire, I am hoping Dan will take the lead on my design and install of my ever increasing and complex electrical system.
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Wiring is way harder than sanding! (mentally) If Dan heads your electrical project you will be in good hands and money well spent.
It has been a pain for me mainly because it is not my expertise and caused me lots of time thinking instead of doing.
Time to break out the sanding blocks, hopefully you have some guide coat. It makes knowing how far to sand easy.
https://www.amazon.com/GUIDE-COAT-gram-white-cartridge/dp/B00LADGP0A/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1AH0V4BAAVAR5&keywords=guide+coat&qid=1645163309&sprefix=guide%2520coat%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-7 (https://www.amazon.com/GUIDE-COAT-gram-white-cartridge/dp/B00LADGP0A/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1AH0V4BAAVAR5&keywords=guide+coat&qid=1645163309&sprefix=guide%2520coat%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-7)
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Thx Bob,
Yep bought some guide coat after my visit to your boat, interested in trying it out, never new something like that even existed.
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Lindy,
One more tip, tell the Ms. the more bubbles you add to your mix the easier it sands...
on edit:
#40 - #60 grit to knock down the fairing compound, stay off of the glass it will take it down quick. Then move to #80 -#120 to finish blocking.
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Lindy,
One more tip, tell the Ms. the more bubbles you add to your mix the easier it sands...
... and that the white "microspheres" sand easier (and feathers out better) than the pink/purple phenolic "microballoons" ... QuikFair seems to be the exception on microballoons ... it works great.
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scrape, sand ,fill repeat, looks the same but feels smoother. Trying to keep Ms Jones happy as she is much better at this than myself.
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Tonights sunset, the only way it could be more beautiful is if my Kodiak was tied up to my dock.
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An amazing view!
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Well, can report a bit of progress. After an amazing job of fairing, filling and sanding by Ms Jones, we got two coats of primer on the bottom of the boat. Hopefully determine the line for the bottom paint, put that on and flip w/n a week.
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Nice looking primer job, its gotta feel good to see color. Ms Jones is multi-talented.
:)
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I am pretty sure you two have broken a record in the fastest start to flip yet!!!
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Fast flip was because of the kit you sent us. Some assembly was required, but all parts fit perfectly. Hoping the next phase of building goes as smoothly as the first stage. I am going to get the hull off of the jig tomorrow and with help of a few friends who know how to move big things, flip on Wednesday.
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Lindy,
One more tip, tell the Ms. the more bubbles you add to your mix the easier it sands...
... and that the white "microspheres" sand easier (and feathers out better) than the pink/purple phenolic "microballoons" ... QuikFair seems to be the exception on microballoons ... it works great.
I'm a big fan of quickfair!!
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Fast flip was because of the kit you sent us. Some assembly was required, but all parts fit perfectly. Hoping the next phase of building goes as smoothly as the first stage. I am going to get the hull off of the jig tomorrow and with help of a few friends who know how to move big things, flip on Wednesday.
Thanks for the kind words. With Brian's lofting dimensions some cad work for programing 150k for a 5 axis 5'x12' CNC it's easy:) Thanks for all your patience and help with shipping! When I make my Inside Passage trip your way you guys are one of my stops!
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Flipped today! Defiantly nerve racking but everything went smooth. Guess I am 50% done with only 90% left to finish. After flipping we did pray to Poseidon and his wife, sea goddess Amphitrite that my hull will never be upside down again.
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Congrats on the flip, and very resourceful on your home-made jig that will help many do the same.
Always good to see your progress.
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Wow, 2 months to flip. Gotta be a record. It took me 11 months! I bet I waited 2 months for epoxy to set up. Good work!
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Killer! Big milestone! And boat! Lol about 50% done with 90% left to finish.. I wish I would have listened when someone told me that... :)
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taping chine to side panels, stringers to bottom and transom to bottom and sides. Lots of peanut butter!!! Wish I was 20 years younger with all that crawling and stooping, fortunately Ms Jones, is much more agile when it come to squatting and crawling around the bottom of the boat.
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Continue to plug along, Awaiting my shipment of okoume plywood for the rest of my build, so focused on my under deck structure. Glued in the aft cuddy bulked support and the aft Pilot House support as well as the auxiliary stringers. Fitted the plywood for the deck and cabin sole and glassed the bottom of the pieces. Also made a mock up of my forward water tank and took it to my local welder Paul Simpson at Simpco welding who will be building my tanks. Given the scarcity of qualified trade people these days feel so fortunate to have someone with 30 years experience building my tanks here in Juneau- thank you Paul. Will have him build my fuel tank once I get the blessing from Brian regarding the size and location- Thank you Brian. Burning through epoxy at a fast rate, so far about 40 gallons, have another 15 gallons coming my way, but will order another 15 gallons.
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You and Ms Jones are making great progress, I see you raised the deck which will be a good thing. I am sure you have lots to think about while waiting for more plywood. So many stages of the build, always changing except the end goal of launching the boat for the first time.
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Continue to plug along, Awaiting my shipment of okoume plywood for the rest of my build, so focused on my under deck structure. Glued in the aft cuddy bulked support and the aft Pilot House support as well as the auxiliary stringers. Fitted the plywood for the deck and cabin sole and glassed the bottom of the pieces. Also made a mock up of my forward water tank and took it to my local welder Paul Simpson at Simpco welding who will be building my tanks. Given the scarcity of qualified trade people these days feel so fortunate to have someone with 30 years experience building my tanks here in Juneau- thank you Paul. Will have him build my fuel tank once I get the blessing from Brian regarding the size and location- Thank you Brian. Burning through epoxy at a fast rate, so far about 40 gallons, have another 15 gallons coming my way, but will order another 15 gallons.
I went through 105 gallons of Aero Marine epoxy
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Built some drain plug sleeves. Used my CNC to boar out a hole in a 2 1/2 thick piece of scrap, filled the hole with resin and chopped fiberglass, after drying, back to the CNC and boared a 15/16 hole and cut out a 1 1/4 OD sleeve. Plan is to glue them in bulkheads and transom to work with standard drain plugs.
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Back at it, was in Montana for a week,so project collected a bit of dust. Finally got my plywood, so was able to rough out my top layers of the shelves, Ms Jones will place some glass and epoxy to the underside tomorrow when I am working, and hopefully install this weekend. It has been sometime since I have made sawdust, kinda of enjoyable.
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Back at it, was in Montana for a week,so project collected a bit of dust. Finally got my plywood, so was able to rough out my top layers of the shelves, Ms Jones will place some glass and epoxy to the underside tomorrow when I am working, and hopefully install this weekend. It has been sometime since I have made sawdust, kinda of enjoyable.
I'll be making a little sawdust this weekend too, but not (unfortunately!!) on a boat ... Now that we've finally landed back on a few acres with no CC&Rs or HOAs, we're restoring the lifestyle that we had in Alaska ... bit by bit. We break ground on the house build next week and the foundation goes in right after. Even though we're still living in our 28x40 shop, we did go ahead and get 4 layer chicks 3 weeks ago ... Planning on framing up the coop that I designed for them this weekend:
(https://www.glacierboats.com/images/coopFraming.jpg)
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looks like the coop-deluxe. I assume you will be putting in wi-fi enabled climate control and entertainment center for your new girls.
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And not just climate and entertainment, but a web-enabled cam to keep an eye on 'em. No need for a WiFi security system though, a handful of geese will provide all the security you need.
However, I couldn't tell...will these be the free-range type? ;D
te
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Worked on my collision bulkhead, used lots of levels, pieces of door skin, hot glue and some patience- not my strong suit.
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I think it is the most complex of the bulkheads, looks like a great fit.
:)
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looks like the coop-deluxe. I assume you will be putting in wi-fi enabled climate control and entertainment center for your new girls.
I don't even have that for myself!
In AK, we had a light on a timer to keep them laying in winter, but I think I'll do nothing this time... days are long enough in the Idaho winter!
I was smarter this time ... nesting boxes outside instead of in (they poop on the roof and more room for roosts is good) and the man-door is 80" tall ... nothing on the deck, easier to go in and clean. Now I have to decide on linoleum ... hmmm....
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And not just climate and entertainment, but a web-enabled cam to keep an eye on 'em. No need for a WiFi security system though, a handful of geese will provide all the security you need.
However, I couldn't tell...will these be the free-range type? ;D
te
Door from coop to fenced-in (including on top) chicken yard behind the shop ... but a chicken tractor and door through the fence into it is coming. Lots of bald eagles and mondo hawks around here, and dogs, raccoons, skunks, foxes. The more natural forage the better ... they love it and you get the healthiest eggs that way. No meat birds this year ... still settling in. I'll get a couple of chicken funnels and at least one round of 25 meat birds next year.
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Anchor well tacked in place. Got anchor well set and tacked tonight. Tried building a platform on the crash bulkhead to hold the anchor well deck, but could not get that to work. Ended up hot gluing some blocks on the boat sides after placing a piece of blue tape there and that heals the outer corners, and another block at the stem to hold the front. My anchor well is 7 inches deep and roughly follows the sheer ( not level as plans suggest) hopefully that will keep my E-Z anchor puller and drum out of my forward sight and not build too big of a water scoop if I take a big wave over the bow. Thanks Brian for taking my panic call to reassure that this was an ok thing to do. Brother Walt flys in tonight, so hope to begin workin backwards on the cabins. Ms Jones glassed the sheer shelves today while at work, and hopefully she will make my anchor well look pretty tomorrow.
BTW- Shout out to Randy for his YouTube channel on his build. Videos are excellent and full of great tips.Nice to have him a bit further along, so I can check out what he is doing before I jump in. THANK YOU RANDY
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Good to see some progress, a bit slow on the forum lately. Hot glue gun has been my favorite jig/fixture for attaching bulkheads or almost anything that needs a temporary hold.
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Great idea in sloping the forward end of the anchor deck upward toward the bow ... will help drain water out through the two drains at the aft end.
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Working on many things at once.
Fitted cuddy sole and support, glassed them, waiting for them to dry
Tacked forward cuddy bulkhead, waiting for it to dry
Coated inside of side panel blanks and bunk blanks, waiting for them to dry
Made my cuddy roof supports out of yellow cedar, placing a 20 inch hatch in the cuddy so had to do some router and table saw work to make a flat area on top of my roof to bed the hatch in, saturated with epoxy, waiting for the pieces to dry
Ms Jones filleted and taped in the aft cuddy bulkhead, and gave the cuddy area one final coat of epoxy, waiting for it to dry.
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RE:
"20 inch hatch in the cuddy so had to do some router and table saw work to make a flat area on top of my roof to bed the hatch in"
That looks way easier than what I did making a flat spot on top of my roof already sheathed roof.
Builders are going to learn a lot from this thread. Great job as always.
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attached cuddy side panels and my hatch frame to the boat. scarfed my plywood for the cuddy roof, hopefully put a lid on the cuddy tomorrow. Got to use a lot of clamps to attach my inner battens to the top of the cuddy side panels. Kinda fun for an obsessed boatbuilder like me.
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attached cuddy side panels and my hatch frame to the boat. scarfed my plywood for the cuddy roof, hopefully put a lid on the cuddy tomorrow. Got to use a lot of clamps to attach my inner battens to the top of the cuddy side panels. Kinda fun for an obsessed boatbuilder like me.
Can't wait to start building another boat myself ... but right now, we're living (and storing stuff) in our big shop while waiting on the house build ... likely not done until a year from ... long lead times and labor shortages are really stretching out the schedule.
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It keeps getting bigger! So cool to see the team Lindy progress.
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Cut out the cuddy cabin roof today, was nice to have the hatch hole to work through. Did not attach as Ms Jones wants to coat it with 3 coats of epoxy before putting it up. Apparently her gorgeous blond curly hair doesn't like epoxy in it, so for marital harmony will not ask her to roll epoxy overhead.For me, being bald, a little epoxy on the scalp is no big deal. Also fitted the bunk sidewalks,and cut out the bunk platform and fitted 2 access hatches. will coat the underside and add a few stiffeners before attaching.
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Vinegar is your friend for removing epoxy safely!
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You two are killing it!
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Cut out the cuddy cabin roof today, was nice to have the hatch hole to work through. Did not attach as Ms Jones wants to coat it with 3 coats of epoxy before putting it up. Apparently her gorgeous blond curly hair doesn't like epoxy in it, so for marital harmony will not ask her to roll epoxy overhead.For me, being bald, a little epoxy on the scalp is no big deal. Also fitted the bunk sidewalks,and cut out the bunk platform and fitted 2 access hatches. will coat the underside and add a few stiffeners before attaching.
... Yeah, and the epoxy helps keep toupes on!
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Was able to permanently install my cuddy bunk top and cuddy roof. Then turned to the less than glamours job of finishing up my under-deck structure. Got my water tank installed, cleats to support my floor and saturation of plywood endgrane. Hopefully install my fuel tank and get the cabin floor installed before moving on to my cabin superstructure. Like having the flat, covered platform to work off of.
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Yeah, having a flat deck to walk on is a real vacation ... no more slippery, dusty, sloped surfaces :)
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One of the best parts is being able to walk on the deck, every step is closer to finished.
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Filled up the belly with fuel and water tanks.
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Were those locally made tanks, or off the shelf? That's a lotta gas... :D ... maybe name your boat "Navy Bean", LOL ...
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That pic makes my knees and back hurt, lots of work goes in "under the deck".
I was wondering about the limber holes, I could have made mine bigger looking back.
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A local welder Paul Simpson made them for me. He has been in the business for 30 years and is a master craftsman. He had lots of good ideas on tank design, including running a pipe on the inside of the tank from the aft end to the fwd end of the tank so we can vent from the front of the tank, and still keep the fittings on the aft end. Tanks are hung from stringers with airflow all around them. Hoping to seal off the fuel tank compartment from the rest of the bilge and put a 3 inch pipe into attached to a bilge blower to provide ventilation. Cabin deck going on for good today.
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I put 2 inch limber holes everywhere except in the fuel tank compartment. I plan on putting a 15/16 inch hole in the aft fuel tank bulkhead so it can drain if any water gets into it, but I can still plug it with a standard transom drain plug, also put a 4 1/2 inch access and ventilation hole that I can open when the boat is out of the water.
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Our cabin has a sole! Placed plywood over my water tank and fwd end of fuel tank. Ms Jones filleted and glassed the seams. 1/2 inch meranti plywood seems plenty strong, will coat with epoxy and eventually, per Ms Jones, will place 1/4 inch teak and holly on the floor for that yachty look. Awaiting fuel hose and fuel sensor, then will build motor well and cover rest of deck next. I think it will be more pleasant building my pilot house once I have the floor covered with a sturdy and flat deck. Thank you all for all the input on the Helm seat. West Marine has a 20% off sale on Springfield seats, so may push the buy button, if I get the ok from Ms Jones.
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Very nice clean install, good time to get out the roller skates. Teak and Holly? wow, wow, wow!!! I cant wait to see it.
Master craftsman at work for sure. I look forward to all the pics to come.
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The main deck is one of the most satisfying things that there is to put in your boat! Humans work best on flat surfaces :)
Teak & Holly! You guys are building a cadillac!
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Messed around with fuel tank fittings most of the day. Tapped and attached my fuel sensor, plumbed my fuel supply line and vent hose into the tank. Initially had some issues screwing stainless fittings into the aluminum tank, but finally coated everything with anti-seize and everything worked fine. Will permanently install aft deck tomorrow, then I can start working on the main cabin.
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Details details ... it takes time :)
Are you planning on launching this summer? I assume you've got a Fall king run in the Juneau area?
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Nope,
Lots of wait time for motors, and I want lots of time to trick out the inside, also have to figure out how to get my 9 ft 4 inch beam boat out of my 9 ft wide door. Hopefully launch next spring.
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Reminds me of the guy that I saw who built a canoe in his 2nd floor apartment then lowered it to the ground through a window ... too long to make the turns for the stairway :)
I wonder if laying the boat over onto one side, e.g. 14 degree layover, the deadrise angle, would make it fit? Roll it out on big dowels or something?
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Worked on the windshield for most of the day, cut out blanks, made marking jig to mark the fwd end of the roof and figured out window sizes, given the minimal wood left after cutting out windows, decided to make the windshield out of 1/2 inch instead of 1/4 inch with doublers around the window. Plan is to leave the okoume bright for this section of the boat. Ms Jones was able to lay 9 oz cloth on the deck. Tomorrow will do final fwd window cut out, start to finish them on the bench, tape the deck to side seams and possibly start on the aft cabin bulkhead.
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I check here every night to see what you have got done, always looks like a pro did it and a lot gets done. :)
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I've seen folks use a variety of 'wood flour' types in order to get fillets to match the color of the plywood ... when finishing bright. Maple or birch flour, walnut, or mahogany ...
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Thanks Brian,
I think the color of the system 3 wood flower matches good enough, however will have to get the ok from Ms Jones. Hit it hard today, finished cutting out the windshield panels and put glass on the outside of them. Ended up leaving 4 inches of room above my cutout for my wipers- thanks Dan for the urgent consult. Ms Jones filleted and glassed the deck to side panel joint. Also was able to cut out my aft cabin bulkhead. Moved the door off center to make it easier to build a bigger table area. Given my lack of patience for detail work, decided to go with a Diamond Sea Gaze door. Was going to try to glass the bulkhead, but was already into 11 hours in the shop, so called it quits for the day.
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Looking good Lindy,
You have a secret shop? More space is better for sure. So far Chuck has the largest shop I have seen for boat building.
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my shop is plugged with the boat and my tools. Weather was good, so moved my bulkhead cutout to my barn, Hopefully use the barn for the cabin roof during the warm summer weather.
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Great progress! Maybe you can swing by and help on my new chicken coop ... the birds are getting too big for the brood box!
Off-center house door? I forget .. did you share a sketch of your interior layout?
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Ms Jones has not determined the final cabin layout, but hopefully with the cabin taking shape we can get it nailed down and share with the group. Given the extra beam the Kodiak offered, it seemed to me that I could plan on 2 foot or so wide counters on the starbord side and 3 foot or so wide area for table on the port side. Given this, it made sense to me to cheat the door starboard a bit. Hopefully it doesn't look weird and is a better use of space, if not, there is always a sawzall.
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I think it will look just fine. Pretty much what I did with the standard GA.
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Offset doors are common and look fine. You can have a larger dinette table and wider extra bunk on the port side too, if you want one.
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Installed windshield and Aft cabin bulkhead this morning, on to honey do list for the rest of the weekend
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Very cool. I like the regular slant on the windshield. I can’t think of a GA that has been built with a windshield like that off the top of my head. You are making great progress!
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Wow! You need a bigger shop...
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The Thanks for the encouragement , I want this thing to look like a 1970's Tollycraft ,or Grand Banks, but move like a 2022 North River with twin 450's while only needing twin 150's
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I can't quite tell ... are the windows vertical, or perpendicular to the cuddy roof or exactly what? Inquiring minds have need to know ... crowded, I know, but a side shot would be cool :D
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Per design specks page 51 part 2,14 degrees off vertical, ended up 100 degrees off the cabin roof not 98 degrees, don't know if bad trigonometry by the designer or a little sloppy work by the builder, I assume the latter.
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Per design specks page 51 part 2,14 degrees off vertical, ended up 100 degrees off the cabin roof not 98 degrees, don't know if bad trigonometry by the designer or a little sloppy work by the builder, I assume the latter.
Looks great! But since it's 2 degrees off, I'd throw the whole boat away and start over ... try to get it right for a change! You can't trust that designer...
:D
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Nope, not going to throw out either the boat or the designer. A "few degrees off" catchy boat name, Kinda like the builder.
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Nope, not going to throw out either the boat or the designer. A "few degrees off" catchy boat name, Kinda like the builder.
I always thought that the perfect name for an Alaskan fishing boat would be the "Frigid Hooker" ... what's funnier than that? :D
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Interesting name, not sure the "fridgid hooker" would catch many fish though.
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No boat work this weekend. First trip of the year .Beautiful sunny day left Juneau, rounding point Couverdin heading west. Fair weather mountains in the distance.
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Spectacular!
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Ms Jones She jigged up a nice one from 150 feet
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The view is like no other I have seen, It definitely is a place on my bucket list ....
Nice size halibut too!
on edit, it does look cold. Brrrr.
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Got back at it. cut out lower cabin side panels,transition shelf and cabin side panels (big pile of sawdust). Installed the lower side panels, and transition shelf, used upper side panels to try to keep shelf level. Will take upper side panels back off and finish them on the bench once Ms Jones's fillets harden up.
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Amazing to see!!
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Outstanding
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Nice work Lindy. Moving quickly. Cool to see the family helping out!
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Yes, it is nice having Ms Jones help out, sure speeds up the process and adds an element of quality control that I sometimes do not have. Unfortunately, she is off to Ireland to take her 90 year old mother back home to visit the extended family, so I am on my own for a few weeks. Today,I made my cabin rooftop beams out of white oak. Uses my CNC to make a template for a pattern cutting bit, and used my router to cut out the beams. Amazing what a sharp router bit will do. I also cut scarfs on my 3 1/2 sheets of 1/4 ply for my cabin roof and coated them with epoxy. We have a stretch of good weather, so I can use my barn for coating sheets of plywood as my shop is full with the boat. My plan is to make a sandwich roof with two layers of 1/4 inch ply with insulation and room for wiring between them. Plan to build right on the top of the boat, and "scarf in place" the pieces of plywood. Would love any thoughts on this idea, also suggestions on what to use for insulation between the layers.
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LIndy,
Awesome job on the roof supports, beautiful wood as a bonus. FishyFish forum has foam roof examples using the pink foam, Dan B used a lot of PVC rigid foam on his build although I dont remember his roof. I used pvc rigid 1/2 foam sandwich on my roof I used 1/2" plywood on the perimeter overhang extending inward a few inches to the interior.
I would have put in solid (plywood) blocking for the light fixtures and radar mound if I knew where I was going to put them.
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With only 1/4" ply on both sides, you definitely want to put thought into where antennas, roof rail mounts, radar tower, interior hand rails (if any), etc. will be, because these will be through-bolted and will compress the sandwich construction, so you'll want solid blocking there. This was a big headache for my build that I wish I had thought through ahead of time better.
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Your cabin looks huge. What did you decide for a ceiling height ?
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Cabin is 11 feet long, 6 ft 3 high. Outside deck is 3 1/2 inches higher, so top of House is 5 11 1/2 off aft deck, kinda short but I am only 5 ft 8 inches. Lots of compromises figuring out how long and how high to make the cabin. As with all things boat, everything is never going to be perfect, so that's why we keep building new ones.
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Got the cabin roof on today, after about 10 hours, 3 1/2 sheets of plywood, and about 1000 screws its on. Scarfed the sheets in place on the roof beams. We will see tomorrow how it all turns out. Overhang on aft deck is 14 inches with the 3 1/2 sheets, will await Ms Jones's return from Ireland to figure where to lop it off, plans call for minimal overhang aft, but boating in a rainforest, a bit may be nice.
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Long day for sure, did you get any help? Looking better every day Lindy!
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Looks fantastic! And I think you're the first to scarf-in-place the house roof!
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Looks great. Your sure moving fast!
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Took all of screws out of my "scarf in place " support pieces, filled the holes, and put a 3rd coat of epoxy on the top of the roof. Happy how that turned out. Installed the 1 inch spacers to accommodate my roof insulation and ceiling wiring. Done with the top until Dan and his team does his wiring magic on the top of the boat. Focused on my traditional motor well in the aft, Cut and tacked in the side walls, decided on minimal aft compartments, just enough to hide the wiring and fuel hoes and maybe the fuel filters. Built a shelf in under the engine well in the bilge to hold starter batteries, assuming the boat can handle that weight aft. Walked the dog, watered the garden and feed the chickens.Done for the day
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how much dance floor did you end up with now that you have your motor well located? If I was living up in Alaska I would have made a longer wheelhouse also, good call extending your WH.
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Dance floor is 6 1/2 feet (6 feet 5 7/8inches per Brians spec's)to the front of the motor well, 9 feet to the transom, there is about 16 inches on each side of the motor well back to the transom.Always a compromise on deck vs cabin space, but I think plenty of room to dance with a 100 pound halibut flopping around or hold a half a dozen Sitka Black tails.
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Dance floor is 6 1/2 feet (6 feet 5 7/8inches per Brians spec's)to the front of the motor well, 9 feet to the transom, there is about 16 inches on each side of the motor well back to the transom.Always a compromise on deck vs cabin space, but I think plenty of room to dance with a 100 pound halibut flopping around or hold a half a dozen Sitka Black tails.
;D ;D ;D 8)
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Dance floor is 6 1/2 feet (6 feet 5 7/8inches per Brians spec's)to the front of the motor well, 9 feet to the transom, there is about 16 inches on each side of the motor well back to the transom.Always a compromise on deck vs cabin space, but I think plenty of room to dance with a 100 pound halibut flopping around or hold a half a dozen Sitka Black tails.
Just put the Halli on top of the Black Tail :)
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Morning work,
Put together the ass end of the boat, traditional motor well, no swim step. After hearing Jason's troubles, there is going to be no Jack on the ass of my boat. Was going to mount it in place, but given how hard it makes it to get into the boat, will wait until I got most of the interior finished before permanently installing.
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Afternoon work,
Cut out pieces for my port propane locker, holds 2-20lb bottles as I will be using propane for cooking and heating. Also cut out pieces for my aft steering station. Got them on the bench, and covering with 6 oz cloth. Got to go back to my real job for a few days, so besides applying a bit a of cloth and resin here and there, will not be able to get much done.
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My preference, especially for the longer versions of the boat, is to have the heavy items concentrated near (or just behind) the center of gravity. Even a 6" manual jack plate helps balance out f'w'd weight ... and they hardly weigh more than a fixed (hole to hole adjustment) bracket. These boats are big enough, and have a big enough payload capacity, to make them pretty forgiving though.
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Aft steering station looks great!
That propane locker looks problematic. Is there a bottom drain 1/2" or larger (inside diameter, so typically at least 3/4" hose) out the port side? It doesn't look like the locker is high enough to allow this while also allowing the thru-hull to be well above the waterline. Here's an article with a good discussion and cartoon of the required parts:
https://www.practical-sailor.com/systems-propulsion/some-propane-dos-and-donts (https://www.practical-sailor.com/systems-propulsion/some-propane-dos-and-donts)
Perhaps you're thinking of locating this whole works further up that wall rather than sitting on the deck - that was sort of the impression I had when we briefly discussed this awhile back...?
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my plan was to drill a hole out of the bottom -outboard side of the locker, overboard. given my 3 1/2 inch raised deck, I thought it would be well enough above waterline to be a constant vent and not fill the locker with sea water. Sound reasonable??
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Yes, that is reasonable.
It's possible (likely actually) that if you put your pot puller on that side, some water will backflow into the propane locker, especially if there's some wind and a bit of a sea rolling. So keep that in mind.
If you're talking about a small, say 1/2" to 3/4" inside diameter scupper, that's fine. If you're planning to run some sort of hose, you cannot put a loop or backflow trap in the line - it has to be pitched to drain out all the way per ABYC. So in this case, I think I'd advocate for the scupper approach.
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Dan ... Just thought I'd say thanks for all the safety and electrical knowledge you provide ... I speak for all when I say you're greatly appreciated around here.
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Great progress as always Lindy!
Can you elaborate on the fish compartment lid? Custom made or stock item?
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Hatch in the deck is an Anchor Marine 24 X36 watertight hatch. It is a beautiful well made hatch which has an elaborate closing mechanism. It is not crazy heavy, but had to sign up for a few extra shifts in the ER to pay for it. Lots of commercial fishing boats up here have them. The one on the vertical wall of my motor well is a large Bomar access hatch.
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An Anchor Marine Agile quick-release hatch! That's a work of art. Haven't actually gotten my hands on one, have eyeballed them from afar though.
Brian, thanks for the kind words. Too many boats have blown up, burned, or their owners have suffered equipment not working properly or being set up so things are a hassle or uncomfortable to use while on the water. I'm motivated to find reasonable, efficient ways to build a safe boat that functions intuitively so their owners (me included) can get on with their adventures without tripping all over their boats. Your hull designs are an excellent venue for my efforts, especially in the hands of builders like Lindy and his team here. Already dreaming of building another boat which is silly. Onward!
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Thank you, Dan! ;) ;D 8)
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Not much progress as summer is full on. Ms Jones has put a few licks in recently, filleting and taping all the seams. She has done a lot of scraping along the way in hopes of making the fairing process go smoother in the future.
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I really like how you did the hatch Lindy. Your boat looks amazing and I cant wait to see more.
Cheers!
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With the good weather I have not been getting much done on the boat. I am building a 16 by 40 foot Stimson bow roof Shed to house the boat when I am COMPLETELY done. Put 2 foot pony walls all around, so hopefully have enough clearance. Tried to us a tall ladder to attach the ridge to the bows, but too dangerous for this old man, so got a man lift, boy did that make it easy to build this tall thing.
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try picture again
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8)
Lindy, that is a shed I always wanted to build, it will be perfect. I am curious about why a short stem wall, I am sure you have drawn it out. I was thinking of painting and narror scaffold walkways around the sides, ladder use etc.
Always great to see what u are up too.
Did you and Mrs. Jones get a chance for black cod fishing?
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You were able to get the Stimson Bow Roof plans? They've been pretty unresponsive ... kinda figured they'd retired or something...
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I had an old copy that I used 25 years ago when I built my first boat.
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Short stem wall was to give me the necessary height to fit the boat into while keeping the thing 16 foot wide ( 10 foot 3 inches). If you want the plans, I can send them to you. I don't think I will be building another one in 25 years. No black cod yet, lots of halibut, few Kings, waiting for my buddy Peter to get done crab fishing and we will long line for them in his boat. Once my new boat is done, I will be able to set slinky pots for them, but need lots of line as they are down 1500 feet or so.
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Are those king crab down that deep? Or snow crab? You're going to need a good davit and hauler!
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King crab are about 250 feet deep up here. Black Cod are at 1500 feet deep, and recently people have been getting them in these collapsable light weight "cod pots". The commercial boys are also using them for black cod as the whales have became very efficient in sucking off the black cod of long lines when they are halled up from the bottom.
I am planning to put on a discovery bay pot puller on the boat.
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Nice ... I've never tried the black cod that you're fishing for. I just looked them up, and the Alaskan ones are 1000-2000+ feet down. Off the Oregon coast, I've caught what locals call 'black cod', but it's not the same at all ... smaller, quality not as high, and they're the top 100' of water or so... rockfish territory.
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It’s the season guess. I have watched several videos of these sheds being built and been making a list of places to try to get plans as well. Where I am I don’t know for sure if I would be “allowed” to build one with or without a stamped plan
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It’s the season guess. I have watched several videos of these sheds being built and been making a list of places to try to get plans as well. Where I am I don’t know for sure if I would be “allowed” to build one with or without a stamped plan
Hey ... Just for my library, I just bought the Bow Roof shed plans .. $25 w/shipping. Their website is now modern and easy to use!!
bd
UPDATE: The 'old and defunct' website for the Bow Roof Shed plans is still online ... the NEW WEBSITE is: https://bow-roof-shed.com/
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Knocked out the 16X 40 shed today with the help of Ms Jones and young Ms Ord, they were monkeys crawling up and down the structure. I am impressed how solid this thing built out of 1x3's is. Guess the Romans knew what they were doing when they designed the Gothic arch. Need to do a big clean up of my shop than hopefully back to the boat, although still lots of summer fun that needs to happen before that.
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So Mazing to see it going up!!!9
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Lindy, how big are your spacer blocks?
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spacer blocks were 2x3's the top and bottom were 7 inches long, the others 4 inches long. I cut down a 2x4 to 3 inches for these.
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Back on the boat a bit today, made head bulkhead and figured out our bathroom layout. Ms Jones taped a few interior seams. Took a while to get up and running after a 6 week or so hiatus on the boat. More family, more fishing for the next few weeks then will be back on the boat project with more intensity.
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Back on the boat a bit today, made head bulkhead and figured out our bathroom layout. Ms Jones taped a few interior seams. Took a while to get up and running after a 6 week or so hiatus on the boat. More family, more fishing for the next few weeks then will be back on the boat project with more intensity.
Yup, the next couple of months are fishin' time .... :)
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Freezer full of Halibut and Salmon, so back at it. Getting my interior roughed out. Started on the port side, put a 30 inch wide head/shower bulkhead in first just fwd of aft bulkhead, then a 25 inch wide space to accommodate my Vitrifrigo DRW double drawer fridge/freezer. Forward of that, I made the dinette/seating to the dimensions that Brian outlined on drawings 000b-e on book of drawings for primary hull structure. All seems to fit nicely in my cabin. Waiting for my Bentley seat, then will work backwards on the starboard side to accommodate the captain's seat, sink, stove, kitchen cabinet and hanging/electrical locker.
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Looks huge!
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Looks huge!
It is! Wait until they take it for a spin ... rides like a Cadillac!
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Roughed in the captains seat, no suspension but Ms Jones is asking for a cushion seat. Not sure where the steering wheel and controls are going to go yet. Off for a few days, so hopefully will be making a few things happen.
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Are you putting a shower in there too?
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Yes,
Sink faucet has a shower head, will glass the whole floor and put a drain in it so we can shower.
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How much water can you carry?
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think about 40 gallons, so will have to conserve, but after dealing with 20 years of calcified poop and pee and the smell of stagnant sea water that comes along with saltwater flushing heads, I will carry a few blue jugs of fresh water on longer trips!
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You should be able to do quite a bit with 40 gallons
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Your boat looks great. I traveled with a friend that has a salt water sprayer mounted at the galley sink, it is part of the wash down system. We saved a lot of fresh water by using it.
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Started working on my "Prince Rupert Bulwark" Did not have any 3/8 inch plywood, but had some scraps of 1/2 inch left over from my cabin sides, so ran them through the surface planner and made some 3/8 inch plywood that would bend around my sheer deck. It worked great, first time I have run plywood through my planer, love the Byrd spiral cutter head. Made a bunch of blocks tilting out 5 degrees to hold the bulwark, think I will really like the look and hopefully thew will keep the boat a bit dryer in big seas. Hopefully some finished pictures in
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Can't wait to see the bulwark on the boat ... I wish more folks would put one on. Same with raised coaming around the cockpit ... very classic
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Yes lots of photos please! Gonna look awesome, I love that look. I was going to extend my sides up more but decided to forgo the extra work. Sure love the look though
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The bulwarks look cool. That said, I think they're impractical. I'm frequently nosing up to a beach and jumping off the front end, and a bulwark there would be cumbersome for hopping on/off under the rail. On the back deck I frequently have shrimp lines etc. being pulled up over the gunnel, for instance after I grab the buoy and pull some slack in then cleat it off before rigging the line through the pot puller. I have UHMW rub rails along the top outer portion of my gunnels, so the lines rub on the rub rails. With the bulwark back there, you'd have to figure out how to reinforce the top with some kind of rub rail, plus then just the simple act of putting a fender and dock line on would be cumbersome without more thought. Finally, I'm always walking all over on the back gunnels and the bulwark would take away valuable foot space. Anyway, here's a vote for smooth, clean gunnels. Great thing is that building these ourselves everyone gets what they want!
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I see your point on the rear bulwarks, and will probably not put them on, opting for UHMW on the rear gunnels.
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Got my seat and was able to get cabinets started on starboard side. Per Brian's plan, left 44 inches for helm seat. Will put House batteries under helm seat. Aft of that, the sink with hot water heater under. Aft of that have a galley cabinet, galley stove and then finally a 24 inch hanging locker.
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Looking great Lindy, you guys are really ripping (as per usual)! That Alaskan Kolsch is good stuff too! :) Curious what your plans are for your house bank...
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Per Dan Bocca's advice I purchased 2 200 AH LI Kilovault batteries. Should give me plenty of power to hang on the hook for a day or two.
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You have the biggest pilot house yet, and it's going to be very-well accommodated ... a real live-aboard Kodiak!
Oh ... and it's looking awesome too! First-class work!
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Per Dan Bocca's advice I purchased 2 200 AH LI Kilovault batteries. Should give me plenty of power to hang on the hook for a day or two.
Awesome, that's what I put in mine too. Capacity for literal days...
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No pictures to share, got all cabin bulkheads in and Ms Jones just finished 3rd coat of epoxy on them. Busy sanding and faring. Push to get areas finished to a point where we can begin the plumbing and electrical. Dan Bocca has graciously agreed to come down from Anchorage in November and help me with the wiring. Knowing my skill set and temperament, It will be great to have the expertise and help. I am certain the end product will be much safer. Thanks Dan!
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No pictures to share, got all cabin bulkheads in and Ms Jones just finished 3rd coat of epoxy on them. Busy sanding and faring. Push to get areas finished to a point where we can begin the plumbing and electrical. Dan Bocca has graciously agreed to come down from Anchorage in November and help me with the wiring. Knowing my skill set and temperament, It will be great to have the expertise and help. I am certain the end product will be much safer. Thanks Dan!
Dan's awesome ... should write a book!
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Nice progress! Looking forward to being part of the team.
As far as writing a book....Nigel Calder already did! You just hafta read and study it for a couple years to really get a grip on it all. Incredible resource.
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Progress,
Bulwarks- scarfed all pieces for bulwarks together , scribed them to the sheer line,cut to 7 inches tall, and cut out holes for hawse pipes. Mounted to sheer deck with 5 degree out-sloping blocks every foot in the front and 2 foot further aft. Made a slit in the block, so I could adjust the bulwark to meet my sheer deck edge. Will tack on the inside, and cover the outside with a 12inch wide layer of 9 oz glass tape, starting from the top of the bulwark draping down the side of the boat after placing a fillet on the outside.
Question for all- Any recommendations for size and type of deck cleats?? Also where should they be mounted in relation to house pipe holes??
Cabin- All bulkheads are installed and covered with epoxy. Sadly everything except the second layer of the roof and Visor is made and now Ms Jones and I need to do some serious sanding, faring and painting. Given that Ms Jones is head of the Quality Assurance department, I will need to slow down a bit!
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My deck cleats are 8" open-leg stainless type. I've found they're a lot more convenient with 3/8" dock lines, as the 5/8" I had to start with fill the cleat up really quickly. 1/2" dock lines would work fine too I'm realizing. I placed a standing D-ring about 12" away from the two primary cleats for fenders, which frees up the cleat. I'm happy with this arrangement. You could go to 10" cleats and larger dock lines, but you start taking up more precious foot space on the gunnel....
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What Dan said. I used 6” cleats and they will be adequate but I should have gone bigger.
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My 2c FWIW
I think I used 10"
You can use undersize rope for a cleat just have to put an extra wrap.
Cleat size has a relationship to rope size.
from Boatus:
"Generally, manufacturers recommend just slightly under one inch of cleat for every 1/16-inch of line diameter , which means you need a six-inch cleat for 3/8-inch line, an eight-inch cleat for 1/2-inch line, and a 10-inch cleat for 5/8-inch line. Using larger cleats for larger lines adds both weight and expense, but what would be the point of using 3/8-inch nylon line, with a breaking strength of cleat you attach it to can't withstand the same or greater load?"
https://boatus.org/findings/16/ (https://boatus.org/findings/16/)
Great video on cleat hitch size:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqsF72xNSU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqsF72xNSU)
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Nice reference for cleat/line size. Just measured to verify mine are 8" and they are, and they're fine on my 28 ft GA......might be a hair small for the 30 ft Kodiak. I would recommend 10" cleats and 1/2" or 5/8" dock line, and be sure to keep the area around the cleat free of nonskid. Put one cleat right at the front seat so you can set fenders and lines from inside the cabin - I do this frequently. For the one aft, think about where your shrimp and crab lines will be running when you're setting them out - my cleat is all the way aft, and interferes with the line running out. If I had it more forward, it would avoid snagging coils of the line occasionally.
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Progress'
Inside- Ms Jones did final fairing and covered all with one final coat of epoxy, soon most will be grey with primer. I attempted to put drain in the floor of the shower, but was having a hard time getting my pilot for my holes to get through the floor, not realizing that I was drilling a 1/4 inch hole in my fuel tank, OOPS!. Was able to tap it out to 5/16 and screwed in a bolt with a bunch of thread sealant on it- fingers crossed it doesn't leak. Moved a bit further to the gunnels and got the drain in. Clearly one of my most stupid moves on the build so far.
Outside- Faired the joint between the bulwark and sheer deck and covered it with a 12 inch wide piece of 9 oz tape while it was still wet. This worked great and Bulwark is rock solid, still have to fillet and tape the inside of the bulwark to sheer deck seem
Shop-Spent 4 hours mucking out the shop. Some people have a very clean shop, and do not get much done, others have a shop so dirty, its hard to do anything. I strive for the happy middle ground but usually end up with a very messy shop. Shared a picture of my scrap pile outside my shop- mostly old patterns and small pieces of plywood.
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She's really coming along, looking awesome!!! love the scrap pile, looks like very little waist so far.
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Yep,
Not much waste, besides the kit Chuck provided, I used 26 sheets of 1/2 inch ply, 16 sheets 1/4 inch ply and 1 sheets 3/4 inch ply. Will need to buy a few more sheets of 1/4 inch ply for cabinet drawer bottoms.
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Paint,
Ms Jones took one for the team today, spent 8 1/2 hours putting primer on the inside of the cabin and the deck inside panels.
According to the boss, lots of work but more pleasant than sanding or rolling on epoxy.
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All that work and still smiling! I'm impressed! But, did you tell her about the HVLP Detail Gun that you 'thought about' buying? :o ;D ;D ;D 8)
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I have never figured out spray guns, but will send Ms Jones into the paint store for one of them. This 30 foot Kodiak has lots of acreage that needs to be primed and painted, so it would be helpful.
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If you decide to spray, read the System 3 directions and online guidance carefully before buying a sprayer, and let the folks know it's water-borne! It's tricky to spray. Some have had to run the hose through a vat of ice water and other such shenanigans to get it to work correctly. Good luck, this is a major milestone!!
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Or roll on Alexseal. I’m very happy with my paint job
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Ms Jones went to the paint store and picked up a Graco cordless electric sprayer. Having never used one before, she clogged the filter and nozzle as she had some little chunks in the paint. She mixed up some more paint and was off and running until the batteries died. She gave up and went back to the roller. Needless to say she was a bit frustrated, but did appreciate the possibility of a more efficient way to throw paint on the boat. We will try the sprayer again in the future, as we are escaping the Juneau fall rain for a bit and doing a bike ride from Pittsburgh to Washington DC.
I did order my window and door package from Diamond Sea Glaze. Got quotes from DSG and Motion, Motion windows were 6K and after wrangling with DSG there quote was 7.2 K. Went with DSG as I have them on my 20 year old sailboat which I took to New Zealand and are impressed in how well they took the big waves I encountered and have held up. Splurged for a door which set me back 4.5 K, but I am certain it will work great and be easy to install. Oh well as they say BOAT stands for "BOut Another Thousand". Still much cheeper than a Tupperware or recycled beer can boat.
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If you decide to spray, read the System 3 directions and online guidance carefully before buying a sprayer, and let the folks know it's water-borne! It's tricky to spray. Some have had to run the hose through a vat of ice water and other such shenanigans to get it to work correctly. Good luck, this is a major milestone!!
True ...
I wouldn't use an airless for much other than fences, and if spraying S-III or similar, the typical big box store entry level compressors aren't enough. S-III gives the specs for sprayer, and the right sprayer needs a fair amount of air flow (CFM) ... can't remember the numbers, but typically the cheapest 80-gallon 2-stage (not 1-stage) compressor will typically fill the bill. Best if you get one rated for 100% duty cycle too. Better yet if you get one made by companies associated with professional work such as Ingersol-Rand. Follow rules for cleaning and dehumidifying your air supply too. Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't too bad to get set up and then you'll be set up for life. And ... it's fun!
I sprayed S-III primer and paint with a compressor that was just below spec, and it worked, but required skill. Another hint is to make sure the whole boat and shop are at the same, correct (per paint specs), temperature ... else the spray will dry too quickly and be rough or will dry too slowly and may run and drip. Follow the rules and it's not difficult. And yes, for those nooks and crannies in the interior, a quality detail gun is handy.
Brian
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Ms Jones is throwing down pain today. Groco airless puts down a nice coat, but burning through lots of paint. Definite learning curve for the sprayer, but Ms Jones is getting the hang of it.
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Wow!
(She looks ready for the Zombie Apocalypse too!)
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Ms Jones is Fearless!!
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Took a quick trip down to Juneau to see Lindy and Mrs. Jones and start laying out the electrical system. Lindy and I began by setting the position of the captain's seat, then laying out the helm cabinet which Lindy efficiently built and Mrs. Jones filleted and glassed the insides of the cabinet. Then we moved to laying out the house batteries, then solving several problems with the start battery layout, then we laid out most of the AC system. I inventoried the considerable pile of electrical parts and related equipment, noting the handful of things we're still short of. There's zero chandlery in Juneau so we have to order everything or I get in Anchorage and fly it down. Reminds me of my years building water treatment plants in Bush Alaska. Anyway, they're great people, we got along famously, and drilled a LOT of holes in the boat! To be continued in a couple weeks.
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Wow ... I've got nothing but respect for you guys. Nice of you to go to Juneau too. That's a beautious boat, no matter what angle you look at it from!
Brian
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Brian, compared to the GA 28, I feel the extra foot of width the most, allowing an actual 4-person dinette. I really notice the width on the back deck - it feels luxurious compared to mine. The extra 2 feet of length seems like it mostly went into the cabin, with maybe 8" or so extra length on the back deck. From the side I noticed it seems a bit deeper than mine too, but that could be visual from the high bulwarks, not sure. Anyway, it's a fabulous design, I think it's the best thing going in this size.
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Why thank you, Dan! Realistically, the boat's waterline beam could be about 2 inches wider ... to really optimize the boat. I would do that with slightly wider/taller bottom panels and add another 1/2" to each chine flat. I was conservative when I designed the boat, e.g. waterline at the transom is about an inch high (stabilizes the boat), but now that there's a lot of them out there and no bad habits have come forth, I'd be comfortable letting the boat float an inch higher... even more in a 'heavy' version where the builder knows up front that a lot is going into the boat (serious campers, charter boats, light commercial).
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Stupendous work! Have you decided on an engine (engines) size?
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DJ - they're going with twin 175 Yamahas. Same weight as the 150s. All electric steering level 4. Whenever that becomes available!!
Brian - very interesting about your waterline calc, and I can see why you hesitated on that. On a project like this, he's got a big 5.1 cubic foot 2-drawer fridge that weighs 121 lb, a porcelain head that weighs 62 lb, anchor winch, stove/oven, pot puller, downriggers, full plumbing systems, twin propane tanks, the works, so would have qualified for slightly wider chine flats. That's something for future builders to keep in mind. In actual use there would be no difference, just maybe slightly better mileage and perhaps lighter handling?
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DJ - they're going with twin 175 Yamahas. Same weight as the 150s. All electric steering level 4. Whenever that becomes available!!
Brian - very interesting about your waterline calc, and I can see why you hesitated on that. On a project like this, he's got a big 5.1 cubic foot 2-drawer fridge that weighs 121 lb, a porcelain head that weighs 62 lb, anchor winch, stove/oven, pot puller, downriggers, full plumbing systems, twin propane tanks, the works, so would have qualified for slightly wider chine flats. That's something for future builders to keep in mind. In actual use there would be no difference, just maybe slightly better mileage and perhaps lighter handling?
About a thousand more pounds in payload. Get on plane quicker (it already does get on plane quickly), and yes, maybe a couple tenths of an mpg more.
To do it, you'd loft the chine lines on the bottom panels about an inch higher ... leaving a little extra wood at the bow so you can use a batten to curve nicely to the new point. Then, similarly, the outer chine lines on the chine flats would get lofted a half inch wider. Same thing at the bow to define a new point. Pretty easy change and you could even go a tad more ...
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Progress,
Ms Jones is wrapping up all of the taping and filleting. Once you think you got all the seams, another one pops up. Put the engine well in place, makes it a bit harder to get into the boat but Dan suggested we put it in to help with big wiring push next week. Took the boat off of the building jig and dropped down to the floor. Without the brow in place, it is 2 1/2 inches shorter than my shop door. Still 9 ft 4 inches wide ,and got to get it out of my 9 foot wide door. Still have a building jig to give away for anyone in the area building a GA, could also be used for stringers. Snow is coming, so may need to take it apart.
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Looking really good! I admire the endless perseverance! GA builders are a unique breed...
Looks like your cockpit deck has some arch to it? Might be the camera lens, but an arch is good ... water runs to the sides and out the stern. Not that you get much water in SE Alaska! :D
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Trick photography, no arch but lots of slope going aft. Yes, working hard to get er dun by spring. Should make it assuming my engines and controls show up in the next 6 months or so.
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Trick photography, no arch but lots of slope going aft. Yes, working hard to get er dun by spring. Should make it assuming my engines and controls show up in the next 6 months or so.
Really like how your boat's turning out ... the styling is perfect :)
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While Lindy and Ms. Jones are cranking away, I've been deep into design and sourcing parts, trying to think of all the little electrical details so we can begin the first big electrical push next week. Knowing there's no marine store in town puts extra weight on the design/ordering aspect. My design brain is pretty saturated and I'm itching to hang some gear!
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A lot has happened in the last 2 1/2 days! Lindy and Ms. Jones ran ceiling wires, Ms. Jones insulated, and they set the roof top in place. I've placed the majority of the major electrical equipment and finished most of the big wiring and set the AC panels, heat control, and propane sniffer control. It's a pleasure working with these two - they're cooperative, productive, and have a positive attitude!
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I know some folks here are interested in electrical details so here are some notes to go along with the last photo above of the main positive part of the DC system, starting from the house batteries, which are Kilovault 2400 HLX+, my choice for most cost effective well-built lithium battery with BMS communication via bluetooth:
1. ALL lithium batteries MUST have a class T fuse immediately following the battery. ABYC allows for a 7" length of unprotected cable from the battery bank to the class T fuse (in this case 300A). So my first layout task is always to make up that 7" cable and then decide how to orient the class T fuse holder. In this case, the main cable is 3/0. The class T fuse is necessary because it's the only circuit protection available that has a high enough AIC rating to handle the huge amperage spike that can come out of a lithium battery in the case of a short. Read about AIC in Nigel's book!
2. Attached to the unprotected end of the class T fuse is an ATC fuse block, which may seem unintuitive. However, as mentioned in Nigel's book, any ATC fuse under 30A will effectively have a huge AIC rating, so I always take advantage of this as a place to land my solar, battery monitor shunt power, etc.
3. On the protected side of the class T fuse are: 2/0 lead to main system battery switch, 3/0 lead to inverter/charger battery switch, and a 2-banger MRBF fuse block for the battery to battery chargers from each start battery (this boat is running twin 175 Yamahas).
4. The main system battery switch has two sources and one output. The primary source is the house battery bank. The secondary source is one of the start batteries in case the house battery BMS shuts down and you need power to get to safe port (this happens!!). The output post has a lead to the 100A anchor winch breaker, and another 2-banger MRBF fuse block - one fuse for the main house DC panel, and another for the aft helm DC panel. There is a jumper from the anchor winch breaker to the 60A pot puller breaker that is the same 2/0 size as everything upstream of it up to the class T fuse.
5. The inverter/charger has its own dedicated switch for an IMPORTANT reason you can read about in Nigel's book...suffice to say any time you work on the inverter, especially it's output AC system, you should have this switch off.
For those interested in the AC system, here goes:
1. Shore power comes first into the 30A ELCI breaker panel at top left (this is required and you can read all the good reasons why in Nigel's book).
2. From the ELCI breaker, power goes to the AC-in section of the inverter/charger.
3. The AC output of the inverter/charger goes to the main AC panel, which has a master 30A breaker and 3 circuits (water heater, galley outlet at bottom left, and dinette outlet)
4. The inverter/charger control panel is at far right.
This is going to be an awesome boat!
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Lindy asked me to post a couple photos from my 2nd trip down the past 6 days. We set most of the major equipment that has electrical involved, Lindy did some plumbing, and I finished the major layout/wiring of the start battery system and transom negative/ground/bond bus and one engine connection. Vendor sent the wrong breaker for the second engine steering so that will come in January on the 3rd and hopefully final electrical push. Ms. Jones was sanding and faring like crazy most of the time, so stay tuned for some painting pictures after the new year! The start battery area is very small and particularly challenging to lay out but I finally figured it out. Only a couple crimps left and all the 1/0 through 3/0 wire will be installed. Thanks to Lindy and Ms. Jones for all the great dinners and for the opportunity to be part of the project!
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A note to new builders: I estimate it's taking me about 40-50% less time to install the wiring compared to my last job similar to this, because Lindy left the countertop and cabinet fronts off, leaving me with full access to the wiring areas. In addition to being faster, it's easier on the body, so I highly recommend running as much wiring as you can before countertops and cabinet fronts.
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Man, what a beautiful job designing and integrating the electrical on this project. It's seriously a work of art how clean and well thought out everything is. Great work! Thanks for sharing.
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Man, what a beautiful job designing and integrating the electrical on this project. It's seriously a work of art how clean and well thought out everything is. Great work! Thanks for sharing.
Exactly what I was going to say! The electrical work (in addition to the boat of course) is a real work of art!
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Thanks to all who have given Ms Jones and myself support and advice during our build. Special thanks to Brian for his excellent and comprehensive design and plans, Chuck for his superb CNC cutout hull kit, and Dan for taking on the wiring of our boat. It is truly a great community.
Lindy
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Thanks to all who have given Ms Jones and myself support and advice during our build. Special thanks to Brian for his excellent and comprehensive design and plans, Chuck for his superb CNC cutout hull kit, and Dan for taking on the wiring of our boat. It is truly a great community.
Lindy
Thanks for the kind words, Lindy. All the best to you and your own today and always too...
Brian
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Thanks to all who have given Ms Jones and myself support and advice during our build. Special thanks to Brian for his excellent and comprehensive design and plans, Chuck for his superb CNC cutout hull kit, and Dan for taking on the wiring of our boat. It is truly a great community.
Lindy
Thanks so much! Building one of these magnificent boats is soooo much easier with help from people on this website, one big happy TEAM!!!
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Dan is doing an outstanding job on the wiring, clean and well thought out. Arguably the most thought-out design that is sure to give you years of trouble-free service.
Can't wait to see more.
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I just want to say thanks for taking the time to post the details of your wiring and other build projects. I will be making my boat better using the information you have provided.
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Got word my twin 175 Yamaha motors are in. waiting for Helmaster electronic controls, need to get cracken to be ready for launch in the spring.
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Both engines!! Awesome. Crossing my fingers for controls asap. Have gone over the electrical design again and feel solid with parts for Jan trip. Jordan is studying the design and getting prepped. Lot of progress will be had in January!
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Not much progress through the holidays, but was able to mount my pot puller, beginning work on the visor. It is last big building project for the boat.
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Working on the visor, followed Brians plans and it worked great. Unfortunately since I did not make my boat shed door big enough, I will have to wait to permanently install until after we get the boat out of the shop. Love the look of the boat, classic BC trawler with go fast engines, much different look than the standard aluminum boats that are so common up here. Ms Jones is closing in on the outside fairing, and we plan one final coat of epoxy and then on to paint and primer. It has been a busy year in the boat shop, and hopefully we will be on track for a spring launch. Thanks to all for your advise during the past year. Dan Boccia and a helper are coming down from Anchorage in late January and will knock out most of the electrical, so hopefully some more boat porn for all after they arrive.
All the best for the new year,
Lindy and Colleen
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Progress,
Ms Jones finished sanding and fairing outside of boat and is slapping on primer. I am working on interior stuff, installed sapele and white oak floor in cabin. Was going to use teak, but at 45 bucks a board foot, went with sapele instead. Working on head door frame also. Ms Jones wants an oval door, so made lots of scrap today trying to get it right.
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Put the epoxy away for a bit and pulled out the woodworking tools. Milled 3 inch wide Saple into tongue and grove 3/8 paneling and used it to make my head door. Took several tries and created quite a scrap pile making the oval head door. Ms Jones finished priming the entire boat, so she is waiting the necessary 48 hours before painting
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You sir are a master !! Cant wait to see more.
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Can’t wait to see that masterpiece this summer when I come through Juneau.
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Having a great time 6 days into an 8-day trip to complete as much electrical/electronics as possible with my friend Jordan assisting me - he works solar during summer so off-season boat electrical work is right up his alley. The energy around this project is what makes it stand out to me - both Colleen (Ms. Jones) and Lindy working on various aspects of the project, friends stopping by to see the progress, family coming up to help, and hiring us to do the electrical, there's just a lot of buoyant people energy involved that I really enjoy.
We've set all the DC panels, all of the equipment in the helm except the Yamaha CL5 computer which is still hard to get, completed the big wiring and much of the field wiring. We're continuing to hook up field equipment such as the fuel gauge, shower sump pump, etc. More pics of detailed installation will be coming in the next few days.
The first thing I typically do is get the inverter/charger working so we can plug a 120V cord into shore power and utilize the outlets in the boat for the heat gun and shop vac, which saves having a lot of cords cluttering the job up, plus it's a critical system that's nice to have out of the way. This also allows us to charge the house batteries. Even with just a 12 AWG cord plugged into a 120V outlet, we were getting 100 amps of charging current into the 400 AH lithium battery bank! Next up we wire all the lights so we have better lighting, then we focus on setting panels and other equipment, then longer wire runs, etc. There's definitely a logical flow that works most efficiently.
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Finished the vast majority of the electrical system in the last 8 days. It's so hard to resist tidying all the wires up, but there are still a couple more to go and tidying now will just be work wasted. Now Lindy will continue working on brightwork/interior details while Ms. Jones continues painting, then they have to figure out how to get the boat out of the shop, get engines hung, and maybe sometime in April we'll install the electronics, finish the electrical, commission everything, and splash it! Was very glad to get most of the Yamaha equipment for the helm area to help with layout.
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The complexity amazes me ... definitely worth it to hire a pro like Dan ... wow!
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No doubt! I thought I had a lot going on. Soo much detail.
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Working on interior, hung head and locker door, made table, working on countertops, next task cabinet face frames.
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Amazing build quality Lindy, a true master at wood working you are. Thanks for sharing!!
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Dang, your boat is going to be high brow Lindy! You guys are doing great work, I love it!
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Ms Jones added a little e color
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Looking so good and progress is amazing to me. Ms Jones works and works, kind of like the energizer bunny!
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Thanks for all the comments,
yep it would be impossible to put one of these thing together in a year and a half without a Ms Jones!!!
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Your efforts really show in your posts. You are going to have one nice looking rig shortly. Thanks for detailing your build :)
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Love the brightwork. Going to be nice.
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Progress,
Worked past few days doing all the plumbing. Tried it out today, no leaks! Toilet would not flush, scratched my head for a while and realized that I put the joker valve in backwards. Turner her around and wallah, poop was a flying!. Went to DMV and got my Alaska boat registration- Thanks Chuck for the Hull identification number. Ms Jones has been doing yoga in the cuddy cabin, put up a layer of foil covered hull insulation and is working on the hull liner, likely finish that tomorrow. Still lots of stuff to build in the cabin.
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Sweet! Verrrrrrrry smart getting an HIN from Chuck - that's going to save you a ton of hassle with insurance.
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I hope Ms Jones has a fan to blow fresh air her way, those fumes are toxic.
Looking good!
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Sweet! Verrrrrrrry smart getting an HIN from Chuck - that's going to save you a ton of hassle with insurance.
I can only supply HIN's to the kits I sell. And yes it will make getting damage coverage on the hull much easier.
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Another plug for a Kit from West Coast Boat Works:
Saves time, makes a more accurate finished product, probably doesn't cost much more given the price that Chuck charges for the plywood and gets you a no hassle HIN number.
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Got all windows and hatches installed, working on UHMW rub rail, Ms Jones finished headliner in Cuddy cabin and is working on cushions, Brother Walt is building Cabinet drawers and doors. Starting to look like a boat. Love the Diamond Sea Glaze windows, bit more than the competitors, but quality is excellent! Hoping to pull it out of the shop by the end of March.
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Cannot believe your progress. Looks so good
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BEAUTIFUL!!!!
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yes beautiful for sure! I like the railing, was it fbbed locally?
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Railing was made by local welder Paul Simson. Beautiful stainless work for sure.
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Lindy, I'm curious about your insulation under the hull liner. What product did you use there?
Thanks
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Thermozite Thermal-Acoustic . I found it on the sailrite website, but bought it cheeper from another place. It was hard to cut but worked out well and was easily attached with spray adhesive
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Very sharp looking. Trim...... I will try some of the Thermozite on a project I'm doing here. Cheers
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Thank you!
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Hey there, nice build! I've got some questions about building in Juneau... Any chance we could meet up and discuss, and maybe I could check out your build?
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happy to meet up, working on the boat all week, give me a call 907-723-1460
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Ms Jones and I have been plugging along, lots of interior woodwork made , sanded and now being varnished. Still hooking up hoses, installing hardware and that kinda stuff. Still hoping to cut a hole in the front of my shop and get her out around April first or so.
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reformatted - totally a yacht in the making here!
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Progress,
Sorry if bad formatting, computers are not my strong point.
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Resized to see the whole thing - looking awesome Lindy!
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thanks Dan
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Wow, Wow, Wow!!! Looking soo good, most spectacular interior I have seen and the aft door looks bullet proof. Amazing Job.
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I'd like to hear more on that pilot house door ... looks bullet proof!
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Diamond Sea Glaze 360 series. Gorgeous door, custom built but unfortunately 4.5 boat units.
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Top notch, gorgeous. My wife is watching....... :)
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Diamond Sea Glaze 360 series. Gorgeous door, custom built but unfortunately 4.5 boat units.
Yikes! BUT ... on a par with the quality and style of the rest of the boat!
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$4.5 boat units!! Haha!! Love our new official currency :)
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Looking so good. Your going to have a fun summer!
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Wow, you are quite the cabinet maker. I showed my wife your cool back door. All she said was "NO!!!"
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Got the boat out of the shop today! Took off my shop doors, cut a 3 inch notch out of each 6/6 posts holding up my door frame.drug it out, one inch to spare on each side and an inch on the top. Used a crane to lift it onto the trailer. Quite a tense day, but all worked out well. Boat weighs 5,400 lbs without the engines. Not the lightest build, but I got a lot of stuff in it.
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Wow! Congratulations! Great to see your big BEAUTIFUL BOAT out of the shop and on the trailer! You'll be proudly cruising the big water soon!
5400# does seem on the heavy side ... still leaves you around 2500# capacity though and that should do ya. Keep in mind that the CG is about 1/3rd of the way forward of the transom, which means 2/3rds of the boat is forward of the CG ... easy to move the CG forward on these 'camping' boats that have a lot of stuff in them. Continue to try to keep weight as far aft as you can, burn forward fuel first, twins (heavier in combination) are heavier than a big single, and motor brackets move weight aft. What are you doing for power again?
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Stupendous. You win the prize for building the biggest boat in the shop space available award. 😂😂. Loving the boat
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Twin 175 Yamahas, 1100 pounds of motors. Going on April 11 th
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Interesting that the Kodiaks seem to have a tendency to get a bit bow heavy, whereas my GA is transom heavy and I'm always burning aft fuel first and stowing as much gear forward as possible. Perhaps that's because my build is so light with the foam-core cabin and minimal gear/cabinetry/no inverter/AC system...?
On future builds with twins it would be easy to add weight at the transom by putting the start batteries (which still have to be heavy AGM 55# ea) in aft transom lockers and the house battery bank could even be put in a back deck locker with some creative design on the front end of the project.
Anyway, congratulations on this major milestone, that was definitely a big day!
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Twin 175 Yamahas, 1100 pounds of motors. Going on April 11 th
Oh good ... that'll help balance out the boat.
Quite honestly, there have been about as many Great Alaskans running stern-heavy as there have been that run a little bow-heavy. This is one of the trade-offs. Lightweight boats (for their size/weight versus weight of cargo and onboard stuff) are going to be a little more of a teeter totter versus big heavy glass boats such as a SeaSport or Orca etcetera. Recall that displacement/boat weight is the NUMBER ONE killer of high gas mileage or efficiency on the water. This boat design is light on purpose ... combined with the monohedron hull form and optimized aspect ratio, it gets double the gas mileage compared to any other boat in its class. Of course, there's that weight trade-off ... you benefit from keeping where the CG is in mind (about 1/3rd of boat length forward of transom) and try to keep the heaviest items as close as you can to that area ... the 'green zone'. Items in or near the CG, plus or minus a few feet, have less leverage over the boat's CG (shorter moment arm) than items further from the CG ... like Dan said, if you build lightweight forward, you might want to keep your batteries and tanks a little more forward of the CG and perhaps avoid large heavy motors or use a single rather than twins. The opposite applies if you go heavy forward, easy to do in the more 'live aboard' accommodations boats ... try to lay things out to keep as much of that forward weight aft as you can and consider balancing out the boat with a heavier motor, twins, or slightly longer motor brackets (or hydraulic jack plates instead of a light simple bracket), or put batteries under the splash well etc. An option that I've mentioned before, as well, is the movement of fuel tanks to behind the aft pilot house bulkhead by adding saddle tanks under the gunnel on each side. This is also a way to gain extended range for the boat even if you do have the end-to-end under-deck tanks as shown in the plans.
It's just a matter of keeping all weights considered as you design them into the boat. Both the standard Great Alaskan and Kodiak have proven performance even if the trim was/is a little up or down from 'perfect'. All that have been built have been amazing boats ...
Brian
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Congratulations "Team Lindy" What a day for bringing out your boat, beautiful sight for sure.
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If you drive that boat as fast as you built it you will burn the paint off an the water.
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Motors on electronic steering works, test drive tomorrow.
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I bet you don't sleep. That's better than Christmas.
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Awesome! Are those the yamaha digital actuators? If so, where'd you get them? I have been waiting for the one I ordered since March of 2021... O.O
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yes all digital helmmaster controls, got all parts except waiting for CL-5 display. Got all in a engine/helmaster control package from Rocky's Marine in Petersberg AK.
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Oh man, that's awesome... I am jealous! Post some details about how they operate when you try them out. I do like my hydraulic steering for a stop gap but I have to imagine the digital ones are going to be so much more precise and seamless. I have a CL-5 I will trade you for one! :P
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Getting close now.
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SPLASHED TODAY,
Boat slid off trailer no problem. Sits a few inches lower than I hope fore, but aft scuppers still 1 1/2 to 2 inches out of the water. We nailed the for/aft trim, with the gunnel being within one degree of level. Do have a bit of a STB list, and may need to move my hot water tank to the other side of the boat.
Boat got up and went although seemed a bit over propped. Got 5800 rpms out of the engines ad was cruising at 38.8 Knots. Backing down to 4000 rpms I was cruising 25 knots. Fuel consumption was 1.9knts per gallon. Hopefully that will improve with a different prop.
Back to the boat shed, plan on raising the bottom paint. Need to add the brow, and Dan is coming in late April to finish up the wiring. Big trip planned for 1st week in May.
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Congrats! Boat looks fantastic, sounds like it runs and floats that way as well! Well done!
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Lindy - I very carefully plotted your waterline against the 3D CAD model to estimate your bow trim ... I'm impressed. Looks like your boat trims dead level at rest - An inspiration to others that you CAN build a large pilot house, darn-near live-aboard boat with very complete outfitting, and still get the trim correct. Considering that these boats are light for their size and that 2/3rds of the boat (and all of the house) is f'w'd of the CG, this is saying a lot. Congrats on a job well done!
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Thank you Brian for doing all the weights and balancing, it worked out perfect. Your ongoing help through the project has been invaluable. We finished the brow in my now empty shop, strapped the 8 ft by 14 foot thing on my pickup, front end on the hood and back end on the side of the bed. Had to put Ms Jones in the truck prior to putting the brow on as it was impossible to get in the truck after it was in place. It was quite a site going down the road to my friends boat condo. With the help of another friend we were able to set it back in place and glue and fillet it on in place. Now have to do some touch up painting and move it back to my outdoor boat shed for radar, and antenna's.
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Thank you Brian for doing all the weights and balancing, it worked out perfect. Your ongoing help through the project has been invaluable. We finished the brow in my now empty shop, strapped the 8 ft by 14 foot thing on my pickup, front end on the hood and back end on the side of the bed. Had to put Ms Jones in the truck prior to putting the brow on as it was impossible to get in the truck after it was in place. It was quite a site going down the road to my friends boat condo. With the help of another friend we were able to set it back in place and glue and fillet it on in place. Now have to do some touch up painting and move it back to my outdoor boat shed for radar, and antenna's.
That would've been great fodder for a video! ;D And the brow (visor? curbing?) looks great ... can't wait to see it on the water. Very classic beauty ...
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I have to say out of all the amazing different GA's I have seen in the past few years Team Lindy's wins my #1 pick. So well thought out from bow to stern. Love the extended pilot house...well done, everything looks first class!!!
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Electronics, solar and nav lights on roof done!
Renogy semi-flexible solar panels remain my top choice due to their warranty, physical size/watts ratio, and quality. It's the only Renogy product I care for. Fastened with 3M 5952 VHB tape. The antenna on port side is a cell booster.
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Wow ... what PROFESSIONAL work!
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This is really setting the bar high. Awesome work, so well thought out and well executed. Well done!
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Completed bilge wiring today, along with aft negative/grounding/bonding busbar and engine/electric steering connections. Yesterday we finalized the aft helm station which turned out super clean. Joystick only for under 1000 rpm maneuvering, docking etc. Yesterday we also finished running all the wires we need so the rest of today I'm going to be cleaning up wire bundles, making terminations, and anchoring cable runs. Still a bunch to do but we're getting there!
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Well I am calling the boat done. Dan finished the electrical, launched today, off to the outer coast tomorrow for some King fishing. Few minor issues to deal with but most systems are go. Likely will have to move my hot water tank to the port side to help with my list, but now is time to enjoy this thing. Thank you all for your help, support and encouragement during the build. It was great fun to build the boat and be part of this group.
Lindy and Colleen
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These two are an amazing team! Very cool being part of this project. Have a great trip!
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Congratulations Lindy and Colleen!! So cool to see this build from start to finish, I hope you post updates and pics from your adventures. You both deserve a round of applause!
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I see that the most important stuff is onboard ... a head and a couple of downriggers!
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That red sure looks good!
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Got the boat out for a real test ride. Went west to Cross Sound/Elfin Cove. About 80 miles each way. .Gorgeous spring weather. Boat preformed very well. Had it fully loaded for the 5 day trip with full tanks of fuel and water. Efficiency was 1.9 nautical miles per gallon. Boat cruised nicely from 20-25 knts (3500-4000 rpms) without any significant change in fuel consumption. Cabin was cozy with ample heat and no sweating despite getting some frost at night. Still have a STBD list, so will move my water heater to the port, and will put a 22 gal water tank on the port and that should fix that issue. Dan's electrical work was amazing, could sit on the hook for days with all the creature comforts,and not run out of power. And by the way ran into 4 nice King salmon.
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That is a good size fish and such a fantastic view, I am in awe.
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Had my marine survey done and they valued the boat at 364,000. No major issues with my build, they wanted me to add a high water bilge alarm and fuel shut off near my engines. If I do the math, I believe that I had put 200,000 into the build. This includes about 250 hours of expert electrical work by Dan and his team. Given that I knew I was going to save money building the boat myself, I did put the highest quality components in the build I could find, this included Yamaha motors with electronic controls and Diamond Sea Glaze windows and doors. In Juneau, I was also hit by exorbitant shipping costs. I am certain that the boat could be build much cheeper down south if one were to chose different, less expensive, components, and were not having to deal with high shipping costs. Regardless, Not only do I love my boat, how much of a boat I got for the money I spent was a huge value. Furthermore it was great fun to build it.
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What a beautiful boat! I'm not surprised at what the appraisal came in at. Just for comparison I now have about 125k in my 31' Kodiak as she sits today in the attached photos. My appraisal came in at 225k but that was before I even had motors on. There was an allowance added for the motors but I'm pretty sure it would appraise higher today. I've added a lot of equipment needed for fishing in Mexico.
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I thought my boat appraisal would be much higher than it was. Mine came in at $150,000. I have spent $120,000 on the project, with top shelf everything, no DSG windows. I know she cannot be replaced for that amount today!
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Beautiful boat, Todd ... really like the color and stylish visor too :)
As for appraisals, they vary a lot ... each appraiser seems to be significantly different than others. If you want to carry more insurance, I'd find an appraiser in a different 'neighborhood' and get a second opinion ...
bd
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Beautiful boat, Todd ... really like the color and stylish visor too :)
As for appraisals, they vary a lot ... each appraiser seems to be significantly different than others. If you want to carry more insurance, I'd find an appraiser in a different 'neighborhood' and get a second opinion ...
bd
thanks BD. I’m very proud of her. I like the color a lot. I also dig the different design on the visor too.
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Agree ... the visor is awesome. I really "connect" with your boat ... exactly the way I'd do it ... beautiful!