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And thus the work proceeds;
the two tackles hoisting and lowering simultaneously;
both whale and windlass heaving, the heavers singing,
the blubber-room gentlemen coiling, the mates scarfing,
the ship straining, and all hands swearing occasionally,
by way of assuaging the general friction. —Herman Melville

Ahoy,

You have thought that we were lost at sea. You may have even wished such, but never wish upon a star that moves in the heavens. Always fix your dreams on a fixed star.

Gale force winds at work have kept us from working on our boat. Doldrums and neglect added helping hands as well. Yet, we worked through them all, and are nearing the painting prep phase of our boat. Here, then, is a status report—


Peel-Ply is appealing
John Teetsel had recommended Peel-ply for our boat, and we took him at his word. After all, the finish on his boat is remarkable, and as good as you will find.

John kept asking me about applying Peel-ply, and I kept telling him I would do so. I never had the heart, however, to tell him I had mislaid the stuff. Eventually, we found the Peel-ply, and I can tell you, it was right where I had laid it. We covered our hull, and began to work—





This was our first attempt, and we were following a little different approach from what John had done, but undaunted, we pressed forward. After the epoxy had cured, we sanded our surface—





The look was promising. In total darkness the finish looked great, but even close-up, the finish seemed respectable, respectable enough to keep Bill Olney from bad-mouthing my boat, or so I hoped. Here is a close-up—




Perfecting imperfections
In some areas, however, small pits or airpockets had formed, so we began working to remove the imperfections. A thin coat of epoxy did the trick, but there's another trick I must share with you though. If you look carefully, you will be able to see the coated imperfections—





When applying the final coat of epoxy, we found that if you stablized the roller (keep it from turning), the finish is much smoother, glass smooth in fact. I would like to tell you that we discovered this trick all on our own, but the fact of the matter is that incompetence on our part had epoxied the shaft to our roller and so, we could not turn the roller, even if we had wanted to do so. I would rather tell you that it was all parcel and plan, something we had deliberately thought out beforehand. I wish I could say that, but I cannot. Here's is how the imperfect areas now look—





Let'er Rip!
We still have some work to do on the keel. The transom also needs some attention. For these areas, we will use a much cheaper version of Peel-ply. Miss Pat has recommended ripstock nylon from her favorite fabric store. I will take her word for it, and follow her recommendation. Yes, you can tell that I have been married for a number of years. I think ripstock nylon will work just fine.

Our next step is to apply the primer and then paint. Oh, yes— I nearly forgot. We had a new recruit. Claims to be an experienced salty dog. A puppy sure can change your life.





You can bad-mouth my boat; just don't bad-mouth my dog.

One other point, Miss Pat read this posting and insisted that I stop exaggerating. So, here is the disclaimer or correction, the errata. Miss Pat did not in fact recommend the ripstock nylon; an epoxy supplier did that, but the story sure sounds a lot better if I say Miss Pat recommended it.

I was just wondering WHERE OH WHERE you were Dr. Jim !!! And LoOok - you've glassed yer whole hull. hock: hock: hock: NICE job ! Looks great!

The puppy is cute...Petra was that small once :wink:

a.

Good to hear from you again Jim, she's coming along nicely. I remember mentioning my favorite epoxying tools to you some time back, two of which are the roller and the squeegee. With your roller bound up and used with a light touch, it effectively becomes a squeegee. Way to adapt your skills, big guy.

It's amazing how the fuzzy little varmints get into our souls. They live to please and enjoy our company, suffering form all the same flaws and ills we do. They are excited to see us when we return home and depressed when we have to leave. The can have phobias, mental illness, heart disease, arthritis, some are very out going, others kind of shy, but all manage to love unwaveringly, forgive quickly and bask in the joy of life with their human. They will pick you as much as you did them and will attach to your sound, smell or mere sighting, defending until their last breath. Noble beasts they are, we could learn a lot from them. Congratulations, it a cute little thing.

Good afternoon,

Thanks for the nice welcome home. Yes, it has been a number of weeks since I last posted, but hopefully, I'll be able to progress more consistently on the boat.

Thanks, too for the nice comments about Miss Sheba. Dogs have a nice way of endearing themselves to you, don't they? Adla, we'll probably be seeing you in April, I guess. By then, the hull on my boat should be painted, and the boat set upright once more. We're looking forward to your next visit. Be sure to bring Minnie-me along, if you can.

Paul, I had a chance to look over your design in Duckworks. Wow! Really looks great! You seem to favor the mizzen setup. What is your thinking here? Why mizzen? I know you once mentioned such to me about my boat. Share with us, if you will, what happens with a mizzen. I'm thinking hammock and quiet Florida afternoons.

In the meantime, let me continue with a short report on how the ripstock nylon worked out. I can tell you— this is the way to go with your epoxy! Ripstock nylon is relatively inexpensive and should be readidly available at almost any fabric store. Here is a photo of our Riccelli-designed keel—



I have not yet sanded the surface, but as you can see, we're talking smoothie. The bottom hull looks rough, but it is not. It is not near as smooth as the hull or keel, but then again, only the fish will know. What may look like rough areas in the photo are either reflections or underlying layers of epoxy.

Let's take another look at the ripstock nylon and see how it did. This time we'll zoom in with the camera so you can see just how well this fabric actually works. Here is the photo—



Remember that you are looking at pine, not plywood. The glue joint between the original keel and the Riccelli add-on is immediately discernable. Everything is smooth now, and on the same plane. In fact, if you rub your hand across the keel, it would feel like one solid piece of wood.

Please believe me when I tell you that I had my doubts about ripstock nylon, but I'm a believer now. I hope you give it a try on your project as well. I rather think you'll be quite pleased.

Let me caution you, however, about one element that will give you some problems. If the surface is flat or relatively round, you'll be fine, but when there is a sharp curve, such as the stem, or front of the keel, you'll have some problems. What worked best for us here was to work in smaller areas or sections. You don't want to force the ripstock nylon to follow the shape of the wood. If you put the fabric under tension, you will simply create folds and airpockets for yourself. So, just remember— keep the pieces small if the turns are sharp, and you'll be fine.

Best of all, your finish will be uniform and your sanding almost non-existent. Give ripstock nylon a try and let us know how it works for you. In our case, it worked as well as Peel-ply. In fact, I think that it even worked better. It certainly was a lot cheaper.

One other point. Cut your fabric to approximate shape. Wet the wood with epoxy, and then drape the fabric over the wetted area. Add more epoxy to the surface of the fabric and work out the airbubbles by hand, by squeege, and by roller. You may have a few imperfections, but these will be few and easily repairable.

Good luck with your epoxy!
Good luck with your boat building!

Looking real nice Jim. Glad to see you posting again. I wish I had tried that nylon trick, sounds like it worked very well for you. Keep posting

Keith

Beginning to look like you may be ready for paint. Exciting time for you I'm sure. I know that I'm excited that you are making good progress again. Was afraid for awhile that Acadameia had claimed you and buried you with paperwork.

Glad to see that you use a peel ply or nylon to finish out your epoxy. Makes a big difference in how easy it is to get ready for paint. Keeps that sanding at a minimum. And yes, you handled the curves very well.

It is going to be looking great.

I Like the new poooch too!

Thanks for the kind words about Kestrel. The mizzen was installed at the client's request. His sailing area requires many reefing options, the mizzen provides additional sail area (mizzen staysail and mizzen) in light wind strengths and will be doused when wind strength increases enough to warrant moving the CE (Center of Effort) forward to relieve the helm. The boat is equipped with a centerboard which permits very shallow draft (slightly less then 8") and was also a sailing area requirement. Other necessities where the bottom plate was of fixed width because of the stock available, the need for thick plating material because of welding difficulties and floating logs in the area, engine in a well, the list goes on. One of the elements of custom design work is to figure out what the boat and client will need. A boat intended for the San Francisco Bay (heavy winds) will be considerably under canvassed if used on the Chesapeake Bay (light winds). Kestrel's home sailing waters have a large tidal range (over 10'), so taking to the bottom in skinny water was necessary, or you'd have to walk hundreds of feet, in the mud, at low tide to get your boat. Original thoughts were twin fixed bilge keels, but the centerboard won out in the end, because of the extreme shoal nature available. The board case doesn't intrude into the cockpit that much (a few inches at it's aft end) because I raised the sole as much as I could to permit the cockpit to self drain.

Back to the mizzen. Typically a rig gets divided into sail sizes that are manageable as the sail area increases with boat length. Dividing the rig up in small craft isn't usually necessary as the sails can be handled easy enough. Divided rigs (ketches, yawls and schooners) aren't as efficient as single sticked boats, but to many folks eyes, much better looking. Generally, I don't like to see divided rigs on boats under 30', but there certainly have been many exceptions to this rule. My issues with dividing small boat rigs are; it hurts efficiency, adds considerable complication and expense, which are things I don't think are necessary on small craft. I've seen 23' schooners and even a 17' square rigged mini ship once, but they were "cute" contrivances, more for the aesthetic then practical.

On the other side of the coin, a divided rig opens many sail hoist and reef options that a single stick boat can't offer. Many boats can be "balanced" under sail arrangement (suited to conditions) and self steer for long distances, permitting the skipper to go below and grab another beer, with little regard for the helm. A hammock or tent (or both) can be erected between the poles for the comfort of crew and owner or to keep rain of the deck and cockpit. The after mast can hoist a staysail, which can provide a lot of down wind power, particularly in light or moderate wind. These things are strong callings from the divided rig, that can be difficult to cast aside. Kestrel has 8 reefing options and can fly four sails at once. With a topsail and cutter rig upgrades, 6 sails and much more salty to mosts folks. How's a sloop going to compete with that.

Good afternoon,

Six sails on a small boat! I have enough trouble in handling one sail. I guess, though, we might be able to have four sails on our boat, if we include the topsail you've been talking about, Paul. Sounds like a great adventure to me!

I went out and briefly looked at the boat once more. I just can't say enough about ripstock nylon and how it affects what we try to do with epoxy. To be frank, if you're planning on building one of these boats and intend to use epoxy, you need to take a long look at ripstock nylon.

Yesterday, I was a believer in ripstock nylon; today, I am an advocate. At the risk of overkill, let's take another look at what's happening with the finish on our boat. Here is a detailed close-up of the transom.



Remember you are looking at wood planking, not plywood. The planking, of course, is under stress, with some of the planking having to conform to a compound curve. All of the planks are shiplapped joints, but as you can see, at times the joints are filled with epoxy as well.

If you look closely, you should be able to make out some of the imperfections. I suspect all of the imperfections will sand out or fill with varnish. You might also be able to see traces of the texture of the fabric as well.

From a short distance, however, all minor imperfections vanish. Here's how the transom looked on this rainy morning. We'll let the epoxy cure for a day or two, and then, begin sanding. Painting is just around the corner. By the time Adla and her dog get here in April, neither of them will recognize the boat. At least, that's our hope.

I almost don't recognize her now! She looks GREAT!!!

My dog and I will be there soon - She got a life vest today. I bought a double x and it barely fits her chest.... :? She can swim but I feel better with a life vest on her!

See you and that FINE SHIP very soon!

a.

Good morning,

Here's a question about Spar-Varnish. Can you use it on areas other than spars? I mean in this age of specialization, if there is a spar varnish, there ought to be a transom varnish, a deck varnish, and a stem varnish as well as a varnish for this and another varnish for that.

We varnish this week, at least, the transom!

Our use of ripstock nylon on the stem left a little bit to be desired. In fact, I would recommend against trying to use it on anything with sharp curves, and obtuse angles. We tried several approaches; none of them worked. I spent Friday afternoon, and all day Saturday, sanding and removing epoxy.

It looks better now; so, we'll start again— this time without the ripstock nylon. On the transom, on the keel, on the hull— the ripstock nylon was a ripping success; on the stem, a ripping failure.

As long as you don't put the fabric under stress, you'll be alright, and the ripstock will do you proud. Any stress, though, will mean you will have a lot of heartache and stress. I may be exaggerating a little, but anywhere you have a sharp curve or cove, the ripstock nylon will not be able to lay flat enough to work its magic.

For Steve Hunt's benefit— the ripstock nylon we bought at a local fabric store carried a warning label—

Warning
Not to be used with epoxy on a Stevenson Pocket Crusier, or anything resembling a Pocket Crusier, especially if said Pocket Cruiser is being built by a Buckeye.

I admit that I was amazed to see such a warning label. In Minnesota, marshmellows must carry a warning label telling people that if you put too many in your mouth at once, you could choke. Just the other day, a computer part I ordered include a small object as part of the packing, and you guessed it— another warning label: Warning: Do not eat. Now, why would anyone ever think that such a small packet might indeed be a delicous morsel? I have met a lot of strange people in my life, but never one that confused a small computer part for popcorn kernel.

Bill Olney has reportedly said that any posting by Barnacle Jim ought to carry a warning label. At least, I think he said something like that. I would agree with what Bill said, whether he said it or not.