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Todd Steffes: Hi Marty, it has been really fun to see your progress and the boat looks great! I do think it is worth taking the time to fillet the joints to the full 1/2″ as this is an integral part of the strength of the boat. My boat has taken a lot of pounding over the past six years, but she’s stayed very true in good part to the thick fillets.
Peter Urbani: Hello and Welcome Marty! I agree with Todd about fillets. Don’t be shy about adding as much strength as you can. Weight is not really an issue give or take a pound or so. Boats in the 110-120 lb range are still very fast. with a bit of wind and some chop on the water you want to be thinking about holding on and not “Sweet Jesus did I skimp on the Epoxy”? LOL
Marty Calon: Thanks for the input! We hope to resume work next weekend. It proceeds in fits and starts with our logistically-challenged arrangement, but it will eventually be finished. I’ll plan to reinforce the thinner fillets, and make sure that the rest of them are wide enough. I’ll also take some pictures and post them in my next message. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to attend any of the races and meet some of you due to work schedule and other conflicts.
We’re now doing the tedious job of filleting, fiberglassing and epoxying the 20 small interior sections inside the hull. Cutting out the fiberglass pieces requires care and patience because the cloth is so limp and the loose weave means that there will be loose strands no matter how careful we are. I cut out the patterns and the fiberglass cloth panels on my living room floor yesterday.
Marty Calon: We got about 40% of it done today, but I think that we made the epoxy fillets narrower than they should be. I might put a second layer of fillet on them for the next work session, or not. They’re certainly less that the recommended 1/2-inch width. Is it worth the trouble or should we just move on?
I’m glad that these sections will be enclosed and invisible, or nearly so. It’s a sloppy job between the loose strands of fiberglass and the expoxy, and it would have taken twice as long or longer to do it neatly.
No pictures today, not much new to see.
We finally resumed construction this past weekend. Stitching was checked and re-done where needed, and alignment was checked and looks good.
We stitched in the transom. It’s bowed out slightly in the center, as described earlier, but it’s nothing that some sanding or routering and epoxy can’t fix. I did a test fit of the transom brace and it’s a snug fit in its slots.
Here are a couple shots of the heavily-wired bow. I think that the pieces are close enough in alignment that we can proceed. The hull separates about 3 to 4mm for a few inches at the front, but I don’t see any easy way to persuade it to come together. Epoxy will fill the void.
Comments on the adequacy of this assembly are welcome. Note that we have not yet started aligning and straightening the hull, which we’ll attempt after the transom is fitted. There are several areas where we’ve already removed and reinstalled stitches to get better alignment.
After the transom was laminated, it bowed out about 1/4 inch, enough that I was concerned about how it would fit. It’s been sitting on a board and weighted with four bricks on each end for about six weeks, to persuade it in the other direction. Today, we took off the bricks, and it’s now close enough to straight. The theory is that the uncoated back side (outside) of the transom absorbed more moisture during the recent humid, warmish weather in Maryland and expanded. It’s now colder and drier, which
might have helped. Jack is going to coat it with epoxy (in the house), and hopefully that will stop the bowing.Jim Schmicker: Hi Jack, As I am sure you know we have an active group here in Annapolis with eight boats. If you want to chew the fat about building one of the these boats just drop a message here in the forum. If you would like to see my boat (or any of the others) we can make that happen too. I hope you like sanding! Welcome aboard.
Marty Calon:
Here’s a post-holiday update. We did some more assembly before the holidays, more or less had to stop when the temperature started going below 60F due to epoxy considerations. Here are the three amigos, Jack, Jim, and Marty.
Kim Granberry: Fun that you will be including the rest of us in your project. Where are you located and what type of engine are you looking for. Best regards for a successful outcome.
Marty Calon: We’re in Baltimore and Annapolis. We’ll need a 6-hp motor, beyond that we don’t know. We knocked together a 2 by 8 foot work table yesterday from a piece of scrap plywood and some 2 by 4s. We also decided the color scheme would resemble the the Ducati in the background, or at least be red and we’ll try to work in a white stripe. The deck will stay natural wood. All subject to change, of course! The next work session will be to build the stands for constructing the boat, maybe this weekend.
Stephen Brendlinger: Hi Marty, welcome to the forum, I hope you have a great experience building your boat. If you have questions, post them here and I am sure someone will help you out. Two warnings: #1 – these boats can be addictive. #2- there are unscrupulous persons associated with this club that will be happy to sell you a motor that runs great but is really, really slow. LOL
Marty Calon: Thanks for the warning, Stephen! We’ll make sure that we only get a fast motor! Today, we worked a few hours repairing Jack’s belt sander and setting up the building jig.
Find out more details and register for Skuas on the Lehigh here
and if you haven’t already seen the TV coverage by WFMZ, Channel 69 from last year’s Skuas on the Lehigh event, check the 2 videos out here:
http://www.wfmz.com/news/69news-at-sunrise/mini-powerboats-race-on-the-lehigh/534413558
http://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/racers-chart-a-course-for-the-lehigh-river/534832064
