2 May 2008 - It's been couple of months since the move back
to NC and finally some time to work on the boat. I needed to make a
patches and also added blocking where the front brace and mast
collar will bolt to the gunwales. I have also added a picture of the
final rudder assembly I opted not to add lead weight to the rudder
but rather us a knob to tighten the rudder to hold it down, but if
it hit something it will just push up. I've also noticed that I
have not updated other work that's been done on the floats so more
to come.
14 Jan 2007 - (30 mins) The christmas tree has been packed up
and needed to be put away, the attic is getting full so I needed to
add some more shelving in the garage. I trip to the home
center for some 2 by 4's also gave me a chance to pick up some
stainless bolts, nylock nuts and washers today so the rudder
hardware could be attached. The framing across the top of the
transom makes for a nice sturdy place to atached the top set.
I'll need to devise a backer for the lower one.
13 Jan 2007 - (2 hours) Another warm weekend in January 70+
degrees. While most of the day was spent at the hockey rinks (ice
and roller) I did have want to take advantage of the warm weather.
I pulled the main hull out from where she is stored under the deck
to work on a problem that had occured during our move. The
rear deck has some issues (see pictures) with delamination. So
I removed the deck and went about the task of removing the latex
calk and paint to bare wood.3 A chisel and sander did the job.
Following the removal process I applied two coats of primer.
I had another partial sheet of laun I was going to use for the rear
deck, but it wasn't looking so good either, so I'll wait until a get
a good one. The wales also had some scuff marks, a result of the
move and from rubbing on the roof rack (note to self "use the
foam blocks next time") so some touch up was done all around.
7 Jan 2007 - (2 hours) What a difference a day makes, 45 degrees and rain toaday, Attached the deck of the second amas, cut holes for deck plates.. No pictures as the look the same as the first :)
6 Jan 2007 - (4.5 hours) Boy what a treat 75 degrees on January 6th. Had to take advantage and do some work on the Trilars. I frabricated the top to the second amas, primed and painted. I also installed the deck plates (screw out kind from Duckworksbbs.com) on the first float. I had never used the plates before but they are neat. I measured to get them about four feet from each ends per plans, and centered and traced the inside and outside of the inner flange. then drilled a hole large enought to fit the blade of the sabre saw and carefully cut out the holes. Then outer frame fits in the hole and the inner plate screws in and out.
I also had time to recess all the screws in the first float, some were about deck level and I could just picture a scratched car roof. Finally today I began tapping the outer seams of float 1 with epoxy and fiberglass tape. See Photos below.
19 Dec 2006 - (1 hour) Attached the top to one float. I first laid a bead of latex caulk around the wales. Then pre-drill holes and using about 50 stainless steel screws I atahced the top. Once 2 or three screws were in and everything was lined up it was a pretty easy task. Finally a quick wipe around the edges with a paper towel to clean up any caulk that squeezed out.
18 Dec 2006 - (10 mins) Ordered four, 4" screw out ports for the float tops from the folks at Duckworks.
17 Dec 2006 - (4 hours) The weather today was upper 60's, couldn't pass up the chance to take advantage. I painted the inside of the second float, and made the top for the first. I made the top from two blanks and trimed to the shape of the hull using the router and a flush trim bit.
As I mentioned earlier the hulls were bowing open so I needed the bar clamps to pull together the sides to keep them straight, they did hinder the router's path. So we needed to mark the underside (my son Cam helping out) and trim with the sabre saw.
I also added a butt block to assing in pulling the sides together along with giving a good solid connection for the two halves of the top. Finally I primed and painted the undersides and set out to dry.
10 Dec 2006 - (2 hours) I made a trip to the home center today to buy a sheet of ply (Luan) for the tops of the floats. I had them rough to strips 10" wide to make fitting easier. Then I realized I needed to prime and paint the inside prior to fitting and attaching the topsides. So I sanded flush the wales to the sides removing any excess glue. What followed was 2 hours of priming and painting, with the assistance of my son Cam. Usually I like to work alone but today his help was beneficial, as it seemed to take forever to get every little corner, nook and cranny covered. As can be seen in the photo below I used white primer and I tinted the white oil based paint with some blue making it easier to make no spots were missed. I ran out of paint (as I was using left over from the hull) and time, as the sun sets early this time of year. I was lucky with the weather, mid 50's and lots of sunshine. For the amount of time spent, doesn't seem like I got alot done. Also you may be able to see the bows in the sides of the amas (floats) I think the 1/8" sides are flexing from the stress. I should be able to correct when attaching the tops, but it goes to show, that I don't always have a better idea on how to do this then the designer.
26 Nov 2006 9:30am - (30 mins) Removed the camps from the second wale on the first amas, and guled up the first wale on the second amas. Here are some shots with both wales attached. The bow and stern ends need to be trimmed and sanded.
25 Nov 2006 - (1 hour) Finally moved in here in Richmond VA, and able to have some time to work on the Tirlars. Here the wales are clamped, nailed (air gun) and glued to the amas hull. Never enough clamps. The tops of the amas will be attached to the wales, and also cross beams (akas) will be attched to the amas through the wales which will be reinforeced in that ares.
(1 hour) - The wales for the amas were cut from a 10' and 6' 2x4. They are 3/4" square. Pictured here is the full set neeced for both amas.
4 July 2006 1:00pm - Launch Day - With Kaitlin at the helm - The pictures speak for themselves....
4 July 2006 9:00 am - The rear deck was attached with caulk and galvanized screws - completing the main hull.
2 July 2006 - Added skeg and coated with graphite / epoxy mixture. I first marked a centerline on the bottom of the boat, from the transom and forward 4'. Then I drilled the holes from the bottom in. Next I mixed a batch of thicken epoxy and applied to the skeg and the bottom of the boat. The skeg was then clamped to the boat and holes are drilled from the inside of the boat into the skeg, and the screwed from inside the hull. A batch of epoxy with graphite added was painted onto the skeg/hull.
30 June 2006 - Painted the inside, with "compartment white" (White with about a teaspoon of blue mixed in. This is done so that I can tell when the white primer is covered with the paint. A final coat of white can then be put on top, and it will make it easy to see where the white covers the pale blue. I liked the white on the wales, but the red looks good too, an "All-American" look.
29 June 2006 - 1:00 pm First of two coats of Royal Blue on the outside of the hull, except the transom. The black on the bottom is the graphite/epoxy combination for abrasion protection.
28 June 2006 - 10:00 pm - two coats of primer on the outside of the hull. I have oil based enamel for the boat. Royal blue for the outside of the hull, white for the inside (keeps it from getting too hot). and red for the wale. The rear deck will get some decoration, Kaitlin is trying to find some stars or something to dress it up. Here's a couple of more pictures.
From Transom From Bow Rear Deck28 June 2006 -5:00 pm Spent time with my daughter Kaitlin priming the inside of the hull. I had to make an executive decision to paint with a work boat finish (meaning that not all the the seams have been sanded and epoxy drips etc). With our move in a month I need to get the boat to a point where it will be "finished". While priming I found a soft spot in the bottom of the hull. I peeled off the bad wood and made an epoxy patch, hopefully that will be the end of that problem. Here are a couple of pictures.
16 March 2006 - Here I sit in a hotel room in Richmond VA, 200 miles from my house which is up for sale and my trilars (not to mention my family). I am working 2-4 days/week in Richmond traveling from Raleigh, NC. I've not been able to make any progress. We need to have the house ready to show at a moments notice, so being elbow deep in epoxy just doesn't work. Not to mention the roller hockey tournaments each of the past 4 weeks. This weekend is open so ther might be a chance to work on coating the rudder, leedboard etc. Let's hope.....
5 February 2006 - (1 hour) Superbowl Sunday and comming up on a year from when I started. Need to find a good block of time to make some serious progress, but alas my boys are in hockey tournaments 3 of the next 4 weekends and I will be moving from Raleigh to Richmond in the early summer. Anyhow today I fitted the bottom panel. Then using the hot glue stitching method attached and fileted the bottom. Now both Amas are ready for gunwales and fiberglass tape inside and fabric on bottom. Then tops.
28 January 2006 - (1 hour) Attached sides to bulkheads for second float. Also brought ends together with stems. I had some trouble with alignment on this second amas, trying to work too quickly. should be able to square things up when attaching the bottom panel. The 1/8" luan for the sides will keep the weight down but is a bit more difficult to get to keep shape.
6 January 2006 - (1 hour) - Filets were applied using epoxy and wood flour. Pictures taken after epoxy had set.
4 January 2006 - (2 hours) - Work continues on the Float (amas) number 1, Stems are trimmed flush with the sides. Then the bottom panel was fitted, trimmed, fitted and attached to the side panels and to the bottom of the bulkheads. I used hot glue to "stitch" the bottom to the sides. I saw this done by Norm Arbham on New Yankee Workshop when he built the small sailboat "Clancey". It was a bit slow, but did work well and did not require any addition holes for wire tie or wire stitching. As I was stitching I applied the duct tape to the seams so the Epoxy filets and tape can be applied duing the next building session.
In the picture above the stems have been trimmed
In the four pictures above the side panels are "stitched" with hot glue to the bottom, then seams covered with duct tape, ready for filets and tape
3 January 2006 - (1/2 hour) - The bow and stern stems are cut long and are attached with epoxy and nails (I used my air finish nailer with 5/8" brads, helps things to go faster. I also used some spring clamps to keep the side panels tight to the stem.
2 January 2006 - (3 hours)HAPPY NEW YEAR- Today's efforts were focused on the floats. I first cut the stems from a 2 x 3 and made four of them (Two for each float) pictured below.
The all important center lines were marked on the bulk heads prior to attaching to the float sides.
The side panels are nailed and epoxy glued to the bulkhead per the locations on the plans. Once the epoxy sets the ends will be brought together and attached to the over length stems, which will them be trimmed to size.
10 December 2005 - (1/2 hour) - Shaped the leeboard with a hand plane and sander.
25 November 2005 - (1/2 hour) - Sanded the rear deck to be flush with the gunwales (sides), also sanded a slight round over on the deck edges.
23 November 2005 - (1/2 hour) - The rear deck is easily fabricated, by taking the a piece of plywood and placing it the gunwales, tracing the shape around the gunawales. It can be cut out using a jig saw.
22 November 2005 - (1/2 hour) - The first picture below is the aft deck frame on bulkhead 12. This will help support the rear deck. I also added the deckbeam by cutting a notch to fit over the stem. It will require some shaping later when fitting the forward deck.
19 November 2005 - (1 hour ) I had some helpers this evening. Two of my three kids were looking for something to do and I asked if they wanted to help with the boat. Usually they say no, but tonight they did. The mission was the upper leaboard guard. First we set the table saw up to cut the 27" x 5 1/4" blanks. My son Cam helped with that. (Plenty of eye and hearing protection). Then my daughter Katilin helped with marking all the lines for cutting. Once everything was cut to spec, they had their best fun. Latex gloves, epoxy mixing and spreading, and clamping. It does take longer this way, while it is much more fun having the help.
16 November 2005 - (1 hour) Tonight I made the three layers of the leeboard. I first made the blanks, 36" by 9" with an extra 4"x4" square at the top of each blank, which was later cut into a rounded shape. I also cut the rounded bottom and top. I also had to cut a new rudder blade, the original has been lost.
24 October 2005 - (2 1/2 hours) Ok so it's been awhile since I've done any work on the Trilars. This weekend I pulled the Trilars down from the garage ceiling to spend some time working on it. I mixed some thickened epoxy to fair the bottom to bilge panel seam on Saturday. Then spent about 2 hours sanding on Sunday. I also took some picture with the new 5 megapixel digital camera, I will post these this week.
22 July 2005 - I haven't had/made much time to work on Trilars, altough I've had some good time kayaking with my kids in our *sigh* plastic kayaks. We spent a week in June at Topsail Island NC. Great beach for swimming, while we kayaked on the bay side. 5 mini trips that week. I also had my six year old daughter out for her first paddle on Lake Crabtree a local lake near the Raleigh/Durham airport. Meanwhile the weather has been in the upper 90's and over 100 in my garage, I don't even want to try and mess with epoxy in this tempature. So building my have to wait until temps come down a bit.
31 May 2005 - (1/2 hour) Epoxy and clamps to attache the stern two wales.
30 May 2005 - (1 hour) Cut four, 1" by 3/4" strips for wales. I will use two, 8' lengths on each side. This is a very clamp intensive part of the project. I will glue the two wales starting at the bow today.
29 May 2005 - (1 1/2 hours) I decided to glass the inside seams as well, the plans to call for this and sometimes for paddling boats weight is a consideration to not do so. As this boat will also be sailed I determined to go with the added strength of taping the inside seams and the bulkheads.
28 May 2005 - (3 1/2 hours) covered bottom of the larsboat hull, and the applied 2 coats of epoxy graphite.
23 May 2005 - (1 hour) Lofted and cut the 2 pair of side panels for the floats. A pair of sides are made from one 19" by 12' blank which I made by butting a 7' and 5' lengths of 1/8 plywood. The plans call for 1/4" but I thought I would try and save some weight. The two blanks were stacked outside to outside and the sides cut. This will ensure each pair is a size match.
07 May 2005 - (1/2 hour) Sanded and rounded control arm
17 Apr 2005 - (1 hour) Cut out the three layers for the control arm which will attach to the rudder cheek. Glued the three layers together with epoxy.
10 Apr 2005 - (1.5 hours) I spent today marking the shape on the ends of the bottom panels. did the two shorter ends first and used them as a pattern for the longer bottom panels. Next the long and short panels will be connected with a butt joint.
The first picture shows lofting the shape onto the panel, in the second picture the panel is marked and ready to be cut. The third picture shows the end product. The two short panels were clamped together and cut at the same time.
The first picture shows the first cut panel used as a template to mark the longer bottom panel, and the second show the long panels cut as a pair to shape..
Each bulkhead is laid out with it's framing sticks, then attached with gorilla glue and nailed with 5/8" brads with an air nailer. The ladder made a nice drying rack. The Gorllia glue does expand as it cures so a couple of cleaning passes with a rag helps keep the overflow to a minimum.
09 Apr 2005 - (2 hours) I spent a couple of hours attaching the framing sticks to the bulkheads for the floats.
03 Apr 2005 - (1 hour) Cut out framming for bulkheads that are used to construct the floats. I also installed some hooks in the ceiling and now have a flying Larsboat hull.
02 Apr 2005 - (2.5 hours) I recieved my pintles and gudgeons on Thursday and the graphite and cloth Friday. Today I glued up the rudder blade and rudder cheek. I used slightly thickened and clamps and battery weight. Once the epoxy had set up I faired the rudder blade on both sides and rounded all the other edges on the blade and cheek. To fair the rudder I first marked a line 1" in from the edges that will be submergec then used a belt sander and random orbit sander to bevel to the line.
Here I used a battery for clamping pressure. Once the epoxy has set up I marked the bevel to lines. Finally the rudder blade was shaped.
Here the rudder cheek was glued up, then the corners rounded and sanded.
28 Mar 2005 - Order a set of pintles and gudgeons, some graphite powder and some cloth for the bottom of the main hull. I ordered from Duckworksmagazine.com as they had a good selection and good price.
26 Mar 2005 - (30 mins) Spent some time sanding inside fillets, and laid the fiberglass tape / epoxy in the inside seam for the bow.
25 Mar 2005 - (1 hour) My clan is back from their trip to Pittsburgh, time is a little harder to come by. Today I did trim the sides and bottom. I also did some additional filleting/patching. I also spent some time grinding and sanding on the inside preparing for taping the interior seams. Also my daughter was putting in some sweat equity, as she and I will be the primary paddlers when in the Larsboat configuration (see photos below)
1st phots shows the nicely trimmed transom, then my daughter, and finally, one of the challenges of some epoxy overage.
24 Mar 2005 - (2 hours) More epoxy work today, I removed the temp forms and filled those screw holes. Then I gave the outside of the hull a coat of epoxy, looks nice, have a look below. The next steps include attaching the gunwhale, filleting the inside seams where the temp forms were. Taping the inside seems and possilbly a coat of epoxy on the inside, at least in the areas at the bow and stern that will be covered with deck.
23 Mar 2005 - (8 hours) Epoxy Epoxy Epoxy... I completed the filleting on the inside of the hull. Flipped the hull back over and removed the cable ties, and did some filing/sanding of any epoxy that found it's way through. One disadvantage of the cable ties, if one (being me) doesn't take care with the duct tape there can be some areas where the epoxy can get through. So maybe it's not so much he cable ties as it is operator error. We do all know that this is often the case :). Next I nicely rounded the outer joints with thickened epoxy, followed by the fiberglass tape. This is something I still can can get better at. I still don't get enough epoxy on the tape to make it "disappear". Next time I'm going to have to do some research on how to do this better. Here are some pictures.
In the first picture you can see the "high tech tools of filleting. I bought a pack of the blue plastic puddy knives for .99 and rounded them at the sanding station, a couple of spreaders and a plastic spoon and kinfe.
22 Mar 2005 - (10 hours) First I attached the bottom. This is fairly straight forward witht the exception of wiring the very tip of the bottom panel to bulkhead 4. As you might be able to see in the picture I wired it the bulkhead and pulled it tight to the bottom of the limber hole cutout. When I was fitting the bilge panels I then realized it actually needs to sit where the bulkhead would have been if not cut. Next came the challenge of fitting the bilge panels. It is amazing how hard they are to work with until they are trimmed to fit. The trimming took the most time today. It takes a combination of jig saw, plane, file and sanding block to "ease" them into shape. Once they do fit they become much easier to work with. I used cable ties to do the stitching of the hull, this is the first time I used them and it worked really well. You do need to drill a slightly larger hole then if stitching with wire. They are much easier to pull the panels tight. Once the stitching was completed the seams are all taped with duct tape to keep the epoxy filets from dripping through. Next I had the hull turning ceramony (with a toast and a diet pepsi). I ended my work night around 10pm by fileting the aft 3 compartments.
Fitting the bottom panels, the third pictures shows how I had pulled the bottom panel too far down. This very evident when I tried to fit the bilge panels. It was easy to fix by loosening the wire tie.
At this stage the panels are trimmed to fit, in the next step they are wired together with cable ties.
I started stitching at the bow and worked my way aft. The third pictre shows a filler piece I made where a gap was just too big.
Here the seams have been tape and the hull turned.21 Mar 2005 - (8 hours) Today I completed cutting out the panels for the main hull. I made the stem using my sanding station. The stem is really too small (it's a 1" by 2" triangle) to try and cut on a saw (one could probably use a small razor saw or such as well). I had started the morning by completing the framing of all the bulkheads. The side framing sticks on the bulkheads required bevels. The boat also went 3-D today as I was able to attach the side panels to the frames and bulkheads. This is my fourth boat building project and I am still amazed as I get to this point how well Jim's plans go together, and they are almost self aligning. Here's some pictures.
Above: the side panels are first attached to forms 7 and 9.5 with drywall screws, the holes will later be patch with thickened epoxy. The assembly continues out from the middle by attaching bulkhead 4 and 12 with nails and epoxy. (I used my air powered finish nailer, what a time saver). This is followed by forms 2 and 14 attached with screws and finally the transom and stem with more epoxy and nails. (Note that form 2 was a challenge with it's square framing, and I found that the sides of the form can not be flush with the side panels. I set it in place clamped with some gaps between the sides and frame. Then drove in the screws.)
Above I have cut out the side panels. I cut matching mirror images at the same time. This clearly saves time, and ensures two identical pieces. (It is important to make them mirror images)20 Mar 2005 - (6 hours) Another good building day. I put the framing sticks on the 4 forms. I used Gorilla glue. I had not used it before and had some that I had bought a while back. It seemed to work well. Also to speed things up I used my air nailer to attached the sticks (3/4" square) and then used a battery as clamping pressure. I did use clamps to hold the work until I nailed them in:
I also lofted the bottom and side panels. I also was able to cut out the bottom. I found a nice trick to hold the panels for cutting. I placed my extension ladder on my saw horeses, this made for a nice platform.
19 Mar 2005 - I had most of the day to work on boat building. I completed cutting out forms / bulkheads for the main hull and for both of the amas pictured below: ( 6 hours)
Not the limber and ventalation holes in the bulkheads. I used hole saws in my drill press to cut those. Then used the sanding station to ease the corners. As I think back to my first boat I think all the tools I had included a circular and jig saw, drill and some hand tools. Having more tools does make many things easier, higher quality, faster and more fun.
I also lofted and cut out the rudder blades (2) and rudder checks (4) :
I also applied the butt strap to the two sheets that I will be cutting for the main hull bottom and sides. (Picture to follow)
13 Mar 2005 - Made a trip to the home center today, picked up 3 sheets of 5.2mm Luan and 3 door skins (1/8 inch 32 x 86 luan). I will use the door skins to deck the Larsboat and for the sides and top of the amas (the trilars floats).
12 Mar 2005 - Completed bulkhead 12 as pictured (20 mins)
10 Mar 2005 - Cut the blank for bulkhead 4, just haven't had much time or warmth in the garage over the past few days. I should have some time this weekend, and have some time off scheduled for the week of the 21st.
06 Mar 2005 - Cut the blank for Bulkhead 12, and drew the shape to be cut. (20 mins) Turns out the sawtable was christened with a bottle of beer and ended up in the driveway to dry in the sun. (So I am told, funny this usually happens to the boat after it is built)
03 Mar 2005 - Cut out Form 9.5, only had about 30 minutes to work today.
01 Mar 2005 - Purchased a 4'x4' sheet of 1/4 exterior Sande ply to start on the bulk heads, forms, transom. I had Lowes cut into a 19" x 48" and 29" x 48" to make it easier to work with. I like to use this slightly heavier ply for the bulkheads and forms. I will use 5MM Luan or 4MM Marine ply for sides bottom etc. I cut out the transom and Form 14 tonight in about 45 mins including setup and cleanup.
28 Feb 2005 - Plans arrived in the mail - only had about 15 minutes to look through. There are 2 sheets for the Lars Boat main Hull and 2 pages of specifications to assist in the building. There are 2 more sheets for the Tri-Lars and an additional 2 pages of specs for building. Also included was a 5 page instruction pack on "Making a Sharpie Sprit Sail". I was hoping that I might be able to use my forms from my Toto, because of the similar hull, but the plans call for the decking which requires form 2 to have a top triangle and the other froms and bulkheads are in different places on the hull so are different dimensions. Not really a problem bulkheads and forms are easy to make, at least easier then cutting the bottom and side pannels from the joined sheets.
23 Feb 2005 - Order plans from Duckworksmagazine.com, who in turns sends the request to Jim Michalak to ship the plans.
18 Feb 2005 - Decided to order plans for the Larsboat and Tri-Lars. The primary reason is that my boys (now 9 years old)
had purchased (sigh) kayaks last year so we could get out on the water and fish. As far as plastic kayaks go our Wilderness systems
Palimcos and my Pungo they are easy to cartop and have gotten us back out on the water. Last year we also did some local camping,
and my soon to be 6 year old daughter joined us one night and loved it. So to do any Kayak/Camping trips I need a boat I can take
Kaitlin along in. I am also missing sailing very much, so I thought the Tri-Lars could fulfill to needs at this time. I also picked up a 42 sqft
mylar sail on Ebay recently with will be the first sail for Tri-Lars. It may not be enough sail area, but we can go from there.