BYYB Forums

I have lost count of all the outdoor projects that I have made out of CDX over the years, most of those were dog houses, so I can testify to its durability.  Yes you can build a weekender out of the stuff, but it will cost you more in the end.  The worst case scenario is that you fall in love with your boat like I did and have to fight to keep her alive. 

Filling all the voids and knot holes with thickened goo is pretty expensive.  I use one of the cheapest epoxies out there and it ain't cheap.  On my current  build I am getting ready to open my fourth three gallon kit at $200 a kit, and I'm no where near done.  To make your boat last long enough to get good at sailing it you will have to glass the entire exterior top and bottom.  That eats up lots of goo even on top quality ply.  Even if you do that, delamination probably will be a big problem.  I used MDO, BCX and ACX to build my weekender.  I regret using the BCX because it delaminated on me right away even though I glassed it. 

If you are trying to bring this project in under a price point, you would be better off to do what I did.  Use up whatever you can that you already have laying around.  I used up some 30 year old lumber that I had laying around as well as built my own hardware for most of the job.  I also used construction glue on joints that would never see the water unless in a catastrophy.   I used titebond on some of the topside stuff, but it let me down in the end.  John Welsford is a big fan of using exterior house paint to paint the interior of his own wooden cruiser.  Some use exterior porch enamel to finish the outside of their boats.  It is cheaper and pretty tough, but won't last forever.  I agree with you that I don't want to build an archealogical artifact, but I also don't want to spend all my time doing maintainence when I could be sailing. 

Al

Hey Al - I was looking at some pics of your weekender (still my fav BTW) and I was wondering, how did you get the "blonde" looking finish?  What did you use etc?

Thanks for the compliment.  She is still my favorite too. 

I used Rustoleum topside paint for the colored bits, and Minwax spar varnish for the bright work.  I'm assuming what you are referring to as blonde is my bright parts.  Everything that is varnished on my boat is white ash except the drop boards, they are CDX.  I used to be a musher and I built my own sleds as well as some for sale.  The best wood for dog sleds is white ash, so 35 years ago I traded for a pickup load of straight grained clear white ash for bending into sleds.  The leftovers from that had been a stumbling hazard since then and I decided to get rid of it by using it on my weekender.  I love working with ash because it is strong and pretty rot resistant, but mostly it is fantastic for bending.  It also carves easily and won't dull your tools quickly.  I can no longer get white ash because it can't be moved from where it was cut without first being kiln dried, and I want rough cut 5/4 green wood.  If you can get your hands on some without going broke, you can get the same results.  On my current build I am using some really nice doug fir for all my bright stuff.  I am not a big fan of it, but it is the best I can get locally. 

Duckie didn't come out the way she is by forethought, she came out mostly  by coincidence. 

Al

I built my Weekender in 2010 in just over 3 months. It was basically one of my first woodworking projects. I didn't know the differences in plywood at all then and just bought what was the least expensive. My regret today is that the side planking was done with luan. The lumber yard told me it was Philippine Mahogany. When I did the boil test years later on a piece of left over scrap it fell apart fast! You can see my boat on the builders section of the Stevenson web site on the last builder's page.
Having said all that, The boat has spent every summer moored in the water and has spent 2 entire winters moored in the Carolina's.
I still don't understand why I have had no problems yet. I guess I've been lucky.
There is an article somewhere about Chris Treelor's pocket cruiser ( let me know if you can't find it ) His boat was made from packing crates used to ship Volvo's to Australia. It was used as a live-aboard and cruised 500 miles off the coast. At one point the only thing holding it together was duct tape and peat moss as the polyester had delaminated. This boat was also built in 30 days. The latest owner completely restored it for $900 an it's still sailing!

One of the best things you can say about quick and dirty builds is that they will get you on the water fast.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing.  You can assemble a weekender pretty quickly.  I assembled mine in 60 days.  I had to take a break from building for 90 days after that to get a new hip, so I wasn't in the best condition for the assembly.  After that I found that I really liked boat building,  so I slowed down and took my time trying to learn how to do the best job that I could.  Learning by doing worked out for me pretty well and I am now reaping the benefits of that on my current build. 

I think that you should satisfy yourself on this project.  If it doesn't work out, don't complain, just take what you learned and move forward.

Al

This is the very interesting article: www.stevproj.com/Treloar.html

New question - the forward bulkhead is supposed to be at a 93 degree angle from the hull bottom, but mine turned out greater than that. Choices are to take my router and trim some of the deck joiner it attaches to so the top will move closer to the bottom ( decreasing angle) and/or extending the stringers on the hull bottom to move the bottom of the bulkhead back also decreasing angle. It seems pretty important because it sets the rake of the mast. Anyone dealt with this? Thoughts?

How much of the deck joiner will be removed to get it right? Size of joiner?

Joiner is a 1x4 and I was thinking of removing about 1/4 inch or so

Maybe up to 3/4 depending on angle gain I get.