Paint Ordered, Decking Ideas

The temperature dropped from the low 90's to the mid to low 60's so I haven't been able to do any epoxying as anything under 70 degrees is not recommended. Instead, I decided to take the plunge and purchase some primer and paint from JamesTownDistributors.com. I ended up going with  2 quarts of Interlux Primer Pre-Kote and 1 quart of Interlux Brightside Light Blue for the sides and Interlux Brightside White for the bottom. Since I will only be using the Squirt for a few hours at a time I decided to go with Brightside for the bottom instead of a bottom paint. I also received some good info from the Glen-L forum about which paints to use which is another reason I went this route. 

For application, I plan on doing at least 3 coats of primer on the bottom and sides. I really want to get a smooth and semi-professional looking finish so I'm hoping the primer will fill in any imperfections and give a good base for sanding. I then figure 2 coats for the Brightside paints should be good enough. 

If I have time this summer, I'm going to do the top decking, but as of right now that's still up in the air. If I'm not able to or don't want to do it this summer then I'll do it next spring; I still want to be able to launch and have some fun on it before it gets too cold. Below I made two designs of the decking I want to do. I'm not sure about the type of wood yet but I'm leaning towards white maple and African mahogany. I also have the hull color scheme I'm going to use, which has the correct color I purchased from Interlux. Hopefully I'll be able to update later this week with more progress. I'll also be pushing the calendar (right side of page) back until it warms up and I can get things done. 

Pulley/Cable Helm and Dashboard

Over the weekend I shaped the dashboard and made a tighter fit against the deck battens. The dashboard sits at a 20 degree angle, and as the middle deck batten is higher than the other two, it was a little difficult getting the right fit. A file worked really well for this process. I also made some support blocking pieces for the dashboard to sit against for added strength. They will be fastened to the coamings at the same time as the dashboard.

Once the dash was in I went ahead and drilled out the hole for the helm. I first sat in the boat and figured out where a comfortable position for the steering wheel would be and then made a mark for it. Once I put the helm into place I realized the wheel was a little too close to center and it would be a strange fit to be steering with two people in the boat. I then made a second hole that fit a lot better and the helm piece is large enough to cover the other hole up.

Next I went about adding height to the transom. It needs to be raised a little less than 3". I cut out some scrap plywood I had that will match the transom, but I'm not sure if that will be strong enough to hold. I was planning to put 2 large screws with epoxy to hold it in place, and then fiberglass as well. Now I'm thinking about finding a metal transom raiser that would be stronger. I'll look online at pricing and make a decision in the next day or two.

The pictures below show the helm and steering wheel in place as well as the outboard (which you can see sits a little low). The second picture shows how much fairing I'll need to do for the decking to fit right, though I'm sitting slightly lower than even with the bow so it's not quite as bad as it looks. On the right on this blog I set up a calendar which will show the fastening schedule I'm going to try and follow. I'm hoping for a splash date in 3 weeks, but we'll see how close I get to that. 

Hatch Sub-Decking and Seating Complete

After a lengthy break from moving, camping, and fishing, I have been able to put some time in again. The hatch sub-decking structure is complete along with the bench which includes the support beams. For the bench I put wood on top of the outer most battens and keel and then put two support beams across those. Once I epoxied those into place I put a coat on the bench board which is 1/4" African mahogany. The bench will not be fastened to support beams as I want to be able to remove the bench to clean and etc.

Next on the list is to finish the dashboard. I'll be really relieved when this part is over because it will be a main focus on the boat, and I don't want to mess it up. I also haven't installed the cable and pulley helm before so I need to get it right the first time. After the dashboard goes in, the pulleys will be next. Then I need to add about 2-3" to the transom to get the outboard cavitation plate in the right position to prevent and porpoising. Once that's complete I'll fair everything down, attach the deck (which will be plywood for now, next year I'll add some veneers and inlay), flip the boat, and get started on painting. Painting should be the last big thing left so I hope the weather holds off this weekend so I can get some work done.

First picture is the bench with a coat of epoxy on it, the second picture is of the hatch, and the third is with the bench in place.

Cable & Pulley Steering

I've been moving to a new house the last week and the garage I'll be doing my boat building work in needs some cleaning out and refurbishing (it has a slight lean that needs to be straightened out). I do have an update on the steering situation though.

 After deciding to go with the cable and pulley steering system I went on eBay and found pretty much everything I'm going to need. First, I bought the steering column which will hold the steering wheel, though I'm not sure if the steering wheel I currently have will fit because its not from the cable and pulley era. It looks like it has may fit but I'll need to take the column apart where it mounts to the dashboard. I'll update with better pictures once I'm moved in to the new house.

Secondly, I purchased some pulleys and the two spring connectors (not sure what they're called) as well as the components that connect to the outboard bracket, minus the actual steel piece. Overall this seems like it will be easier to put together than the Teleflex system. The only con of the pulley system I have read about so far is that there will be some feedback from the outboard. This means if I hit a wave and the outboard moves, my steering wheel will also move.

First picture is of the steering column and the second is of the pulleys and other components. (The second picture is from the eBay posting as there was a problem with the shipping and it hasn't arrived yet.)

Hatch Beams and a Boat Show

The past week or so I have been working on the hatch, which is directly behind the bench. This was probably one of the more frustrating parts of the build as there are a lot of pieces. There are 4 beams width wise, 2 beams length wise, and 4 square spacers that all fit between the coamings. What made it hard was dry-fitting everything, because once you added a support beam, the coaming would get pushed out just enough to make the other beams fall down. I realized the importance of a good fit and one that didn't need to be pushed, but rather placed, into position. I will be fastening the beams in position by twos to make it easier. Hopefully the pictures will do a better job at explaining what I'm talking about. I also replaced the dashboard and was a lot happier with the grain and the fairing I did to make it fit.

I also participated in the 2013 Spring Lake Wooden Boat show this past Saturday and had a lot of fun showing an "in-progress" boat, as well as talking to other boat builders and getting their inputs and recommendations. It was pretty cool talking to other people about boat building who have the same passion for it that I've found. I talked to some people about my steering problem and most of them recommended the cable and pulley system, even though I already bought the Teleflex system. I've been looking at pricing and may just buy the pulley system and get it done with.

Below shows my boat and outboard and in the show, and some of the hatch beams.