Fairing notes

Paul's Simmons Sea Skiff 18

misc. notes

Some miscellaneous notes about fairing,etc.

Building Jig: On the plans for the building jig it suggests finding a "straight" 2x6. Good luck! I knew better than this for being in construction for so long. I would have had to buy a piece of something expensive and still hope it stayed that way thru the seasons outside and PT warps as soon as it is dried. On the uprights I needed PT because the bugs would have moved into anything less. I was also dealing with uneven terrain. I bought 2x4x10' and made a T of it. I used the straight part edgeways to straighten the face that the jig was to be fastened to. 4x4's were definately not straight enough. I set these T's into the ground with a half bag of concrete around each spaced evenly apart. I used a string line to keep the faces all flat to eachother and I used a clear water hose level made from a 20ft piece of that clear rubber ½" hose filled almost all way with water. I measured up to the required height on one post and marked it. Then just use a helper or string one end of the hose on the marked post with hose ends up. Bring your end to the next post and raise/lower it until the water in the tube is aligned with your first mark on the first post.Where the water in the tube is on the 2nd post will be naturally dead level. I did it this way so I didnt have to worry about a string level contacting the other posts. Then just move your end to the next post ,etc. I used this method to cut off the height of the posts and the line that the jig board lined up with.The jig board was then fastened and braced string straight both directions. I cut the same posts after I took the boat off the jig to make the cradle which is still firmly in the ground. I will cut them off below surface when I am done and if I ever need to I can dig them up.

I used Dave Carnell's suggested epoxy/fibreglass taped butt joints for the planking. If you notice on the pictures ,the wide putty areas on the side planks. They are this wide for a reason. The fibreglassed joint,no matter how flat you get the tape is still going to be higher than the plank surface. The trick is to hide it's abruptness. This is easier if you spread this over a wide gradual area. You cant see the butts on this boat. I used a 10" wide stainless steel joint taping knife. A new one with it's edge nice and straight.That and a plasterer's hawk to hold the putty. This works way better than the plastic squeegees and you can use stiffer mix fairing putty which shrinks alot less. I accomplished this with 2 coats. A bed coat and a skim coat. On the first coat I filled the outside edges of the tape and left the center almost bare. On the second coat I made one pass flatly over the center and one on each side of the center pass, going with the direction of the tape on all coats. This makes the joint nearly 30" wide minus the overlaps.The most common mistake with bad butt joints is people tend to lay the knife down too flat and it will flex this way.I stand it up more to use the straight edge of the knife to kind of skreet it off level and flat. Especially on the bed coat. Just lay it down enough to smooth it and make sure you kill the edges with the corners of the blade. Also,after they dry between coats you can read the joint with the knife edge. It will rock side to side over the center of the tape. I sand the center flatly with a good sanding block being sure not to burn the tape. Then read it again with the knife and it should rock less. If you check the whole joint like this in different places you will see where it needs fill.

In most cases,sand the center of the joint nearly transparent so you can just see the glass tape joint. It is already tall enough there and you dont want to add to it. Then sand the whole joint across it's area with a long sanding board with lengthy diagonal stokes in both directions.

I found it much easier to clean the hawk and knife with denatured alcohol before the putty was hard. Easier than breaking it off the plastic squeegee and I didnt have to wait for it to set up.Just scrape the excess off the knife with the hawk and the excess off the hawk with the knife.If you dont get it cleaned off....no worry,can sand it off without hurting the tools. It only takes a paper rag soaked in alcohol to get it all off before it sets up if you scrape most of it off first. I also purchased a 6" joint knife for the screw holes and to aid in cleaning the other tools. An angled 3" knife for corners and hard to get areas.

If you look at the pictures of the bottom of my boat you can see where I have stripes of fairing putty going fron keel to chine. This was because of where the screws had sucked in the plywood a little. Use the edge of the knife to read these depressions and again,it will show you where they need putty. I fount it easier to stripe it like this and let the longboard sander find the highs and lows and fix them all in one pass.I left it a little thicker to allow for shrinkage. these only took one coat. The actual screw holes were filled before it was glassed.

The plans call for a frontward,side mounted console and this is fine but I chose the center console because my being off to one side to counterbalance the throw of the engine would only work if I was by myself.Mostly will have a friend with me and since they are all heftier than I am,the weight would still be on the port side so it made sense to me to center the console. As far as the boat healing from side to side for it's narrow bottom. We have fished out of canoes and jon boats so this has to be WAY better than that. Just like with a motorcycle,if the person that rides with you knows how to lean when you turn so that the ride isnt awkward. By nature and being used to the boat,when one has a fish on and has to be on one side, the other person will automatically compensate. I really dont see a problem with this. Seems to me,as the boats become roomier,we just tend to carry more junk. 8 fishing poles for 2 people? How many people empty an "ice chest" FULL of sodas? We know how much we need for a day. I always see the big coolers after the trip 2 days later with a half case of drinks floating in warm water or brought back home.A gallon of water and a couple sandwiches go a long way on a day trip. Why bring the house? Whatever happened to the "fishing" boat? Now they are cargo ships. 20.00 is a good price to pay for a day of fishing,not 200.

Plank Laps:

I followed the plans suggestion for the smooth sided transom and planking ends being rabbetted to nothing instead of notching the transom for the planks.But I did make the laps show all the way to the ends of the boat. From the rear and at the bow ,you can see the laps but just slightly.I didn't like the way the hull faired from the disappearing laps. It fooled with the eye even if they disappeared at the right points in respect with the bow and the stern. So as I was sanding and fairing the hull,I put a thin layer of fairing compound in the ends of the boat and sanded the plank lines back in with the long file,being as the boat was to be sealed with epoxy anyways. They are just slight but I like the look better.

I would also like this boat with a rabbetted stem. I think that opposing line at the front of this boat would look nice. Even if it was faked. If it was just carved into the planking ends at the stem over solid ply it wouldn't crack or have to be treated like a traditional seam but it could be if you wanted it to look like a real one.

Plywood:

I chose meranti ply for this project because it is going to live on the trailer. I have scraps of meranti and plum creek doug fir plywood that have been sitting on the ground. 3 years for the meranti scrap and 1.5 years for the piece of fir plywood. The wood lice (termites) have made a home of the fir play and have not touched the meranti.The damage is through 2 plies of the fir and only minor scratches on the bs1088 meranti. When cutting the meranti ply it has the same odor as cigar box cedar or spanish cedar which is why I think the lice dont like it. The fir has delaminated around some of it's edges and the veneers are somewhat wrinkled. The meranti is still intact.Don't waste your money on the fir. It is garbage. Even Meranti 6566 is worth using for about the same price as fir. The meranti had not one void in all of the sheets I purchased and the surface veneer sanded easily and took epoxy well. The fir needed so much fill/fairing work,I could have bought the expensive sapele ply and still been way ahead.I have really had it with the fir in all finishing respects and will only use mahogany lumber and meranti ply from now on.

Sheer Decks: I have gotten several emails asking how I did the sheer decks.I made knees at the same angle as the fair curve on the top of the stern. This,with the coaming rail added about 2½" to the sheer height. Took away that low sided feeling somewhat and I feel it makes the boat saltier and feeling a little more substantial while standing yet it still doesn't take away from the profile of the boat.The sheer decks are 6" wide to forward of amidships and then taper to 9" at the front. This is very strong done this way and I liked the look of it. I didnt care for the narrower 4" version in the plans. I wanted room for flanged rod holders not to be crowded in there.

Plywood do's and don't: I spent so many months,maybe years before I started this project worrying about what plywood to get.Then I spent alot of months till I could afford the best within my means.Still skeptical the whole time wondering if I made the right choice.Was I going to build a piece of junk?Have it rot before my eyes,maybe?I am happy that I chose the lesser BS1088 Meranti as it still exceeded anything I had ever installed in a house of custom considerations. I have had some scraps that have been sitting outside for 2 years and beyond without anything on it and it is just now starting to turn silver. No delamination,minimal checking and even the small pieces on the ground are still pretty much unscathed. This was my crude experimentation as to what went into my boat.I found no voids and although a little splintery on the cut,well worth the savings over the premium mahogany plywoods.The meranti is moderately durable compared to the more expensive okume which is a non durable species of wood? I'll take the cheaper,more durable wood and the few pounds extra in weight.I'll just go fishing with skinnier friends. :)

The 3/8ths Doug-Fir ply I used was crap in comparison and I sure paid the difference in sandpaper. Not that it was a bad choice for the sheer deck and I am confident it will hold up in that,being it is fibreglass/epoxied. On my boat,the sheer deck is a structural component and I felt the tougher DF ply would be good here.The grain telegraphed through the fibreglass cloth and I had to put quite a substantial coat of epoxy to be able to sand it fair.Many hours on the longboard there.I would not use it to weather,without a fibreglass skin.

All said and done,with the maintenence being casual,I feel that this has turned out to be a quality,solid boat,better than I could buy.

Dell Dimension Coupons