More Scarffing

Since the main cabin bulkhead is more than 4 feet tall, I had to scarf another part of a sheet on. I used the same method I had done a month before when I made the strips for the freeboard extension. It just took a bit longer to sand the bigger area but it turned out really nice. I glued it up and soon had a nice scarf jointed sheet.

Main Cabin Bulkhead

Here's a couple pics of the cabin bulkhead being dry fit into position. The cardboard strips are just there to give a very rough mock-up of the cabin top shape. (Yes, I know the strips are crooked--even Denise pointed that out to me--it's a ROUGH mock up!)

A Handsome Transom

Hey check it out, it looks like a boat now! I think it looks pretty sweet raked back like that. Right now it's just tacked and taped into position.

Missing In Action?

Yeah, Yeah, I know... It's been a long time since I've updated this blog. Life has been pretty busy lately. Besides the usual (kids, little league, wife, yardwork, home projects...) I've been racing "Magic Juan" on Wednesdays which takes up quite a bit of my free "sailboat" time. I also hauled MJ out and re-did the bottom and got her ready for the big 'Round Whidbey race.

The racing has been going quite well. We usually end up placing near the top or losing in a most spectacular fashion (death rolls and spectacular spinakker episodes) The problem with the San Juan 24's is the narrow stern--which means no form stability. As the wind builds, the boat doesn't plane but starts to dig in and roll back and forth. Usually, we can keep it going in the direction we want but sometimes, if the wind really gets blowing, it can get pretty ugly! So this is one reason I'm so excited about Vertigo. She should be much more stable with the wide transom and the hard chines. When the wind builds, I look forward to taking off on a plane, rather than starting to roll as we push more and more water. On MJ, it seems we are hauling when we hit 7 knots, I can hardly wait to see what a downwind run in the double digits looks like!
These are the things I daydream about! So, all these excuses and daydreams...Have I gotten anywhere on Vertigo? Yep. Slow but steady progress will see this project through. Check out the next posts....

A Wee Modification

Well, I thought I had one more fillet and then I could start with a couple bulkheads. But not quite yet. My plan is to eventually do some distance racing with this boat. Things like Round Whidbey, Northern Century, Southern Straights, Swiftsure,..etc. All those events require PIYA class 2 certification. I was going through the requirements and found that I need 2.2 feet of freeboard at the stern of the boat. Vertigo's freeboard is 3.5 inches too short. The only thing I can figure is to add on to the sheer to increase the height. So I scarffed some plywood strips together, did some marking and cutting, and now have a couple sheer extenders I will attach to the hull. This will increase the freeboard at the stern by just over 4 inches. Now I will be able to do the races I was hoping for--plus if I ever need to make an escape for Hawaii, this could be the boat!

Today I attached the port extension. For years, I've been collecting clamps--dozens of clamps. Denise had been wondering what for and frankly, I didn't really know either--just knew I needed them. Today a great mystery was solved and I now know what all the clamps were destined for. Besides, it makes things look pretty official and boat builder like to have lots of clamps on everything!

More Fill-Its

Well, its official: The fillets on my boat are not pronounced like a cut of meat but are pronounced "fill-its". (Thank you Scott!) Now I can sound like a real boat builder when I talk about my project. So I now have 4 out of 5 fillets done. I have run out of 6" tape and Fiberglass Supply didn't have it in stock. I tried at West Marine--they had the 6" tape but wanted four times the price Fiberglass Supply sells it for. Since my wife has me on a budget now, I figure I'll try back with FS later. Anyway, the fillets are strong and the tape is looking good. I'm very confident the seams are now as strong or stronger than the panels. This is going to be a strong boat. I'm really enjoying this project, just wish I had more time to work on it!

Mmmm....Fillets

Ok..so I'm not sure if its pronounced "fillet" like what I order at a steakhouse or "fill-it"--so if someone knows, please set me straight! Anyway, however it's pronounced, I now have one on my boat. The fillet is just a smoothened bead of thickened epoxy laid in a joint where two panels come together. Tonight, I started on the keel joint. I mixed up the epoxy and thickened it with plastic fiber and microbeads. I then glopped it into a ziplock freezer bag. By snipping off a small part of the corner of the bag and then sqeezing, I was able to lay a nice controlled bead. I then shaped it with a radiused putty knife making a nice smooth consistent bead. After this started to set up slightly, I put a 3" wide layer of cloth down. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the fiberglass place to pick up 3" tape so I cut a 3" x 25' long strip. As I wet out this strip of cloth, the cut edge started fraying and causing a bunch of work to keep it from being a mess. I got the edge cleaned up but from now on will only use the glass "tape" to avoid the fraying edge. I then layed a 6" tape over the 3" to give me two layers of cloth over the fillets. Once again I used papertowels over the whole laminate and then rolled it. This soaked up any excess resin and gave me a nice tight, consistent finish. Turned out really nice and should be very strong.