the bulkheads are installed on hull #2 and I just finished the beams. It’s been a rainy cold fall, but I’ve been lucky to fit most of the work I want to do inside the garage. I’m still trying to finish as many of the little bits before winter comes, to make way for the hulls in the yard next season.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
The cuddy is completed enough to get it out of the garage:
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| From fall 09 |
And the beams are underway. I have all the panels scarfed and I special ordered some 20′ lengths of clear vertical grain douglas fir. Very nice stuff.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
I’ve also got the bulkheads ready to install and we’re heading to the shop this weekend to see how it goes.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
I know this blog isn’t exactly boat building central, but I wanted to publicly state how happy I’ve been building a Richard Woods designed catamaran. Being an inexperienced builder, I was afraid I’d get into problems and not know where to turn with questions. I had heard from other sources that Richard is excellent with support, and that made me much more comfortable jumping into this project. I’m a couple seasons into my build, and I can say that I’m thrilled with both the plans and the support that Richard provides. On buying the plans, my expectations were that the designer would be available to clarify things in the drawings if I didn’t understand what they were asking for. Richard’s drawings are plenty clear in the first place, so I’m not even sure that kind of support has been necessary. He has, however, gone above and beyond by giving me the kind of building advice and support that only a person who has built many of his own boats can give, and that kind of direction can be so hard to find, when you don’t know whose ideas you can trust.
We just spent 2 weeks working on the second hull and I’m feeling good about the progress. The center line and inner stem all are all glassed and the bulkheads are nearly ready to be glassed in. Working on this hull has been a lot like rebuilding a puzzle that you’ve already completed. You already know where every thing goes and how it fits together. It’s just a matter of executing it properly. Being that it didn’t look any different than the other hull and the fact that I was putting in a lot of hours this trip, I never got around to any new pictures, but we’re going to go up again for a short trip and I’ll probably get some then. Since I have a hard time posting without pictures, I’ll include this one of me taken just before I returned to my non-boat building job…I like to call it the boat paying for job. You may wonder what it has to do with boat building, and the obvious feature is that I temporarily have much more facial hair (no time for shaving while at the shop), but if you look closely, you’ll see what this project is doing to me. The gray hairs have made their way from my scalp to my face. I knew going in that this was going to take years to complete and I’m still prepared for the huge amount of work ahead of me, but I’m pretty sure these short intense trips up north are removing years from my life. I guess I better get some more wheat grass growing, so I can bank a few more years up to even the score. I’ll make up the rest when I’m sitting on board under the stars instead of under an airport.
ok, not really, but Ethan has been very into his wooden swords, daggers, and shields. He’s even been making some of his own. When we practice sword fight, it’s a good way that I can hit him with a stick and not get in trouble with the authorities. Kidding again… mostly. :)
For the first part of the trip, I glassed the bulkheads in and did some work on the side of the starboard hull that was easily accessible. Moving the hull off the forms was the most stressful event of this project so far. I knew it was going to be difficult to get it clear of the forms, but with 9 lifters and a couple tries we did it. I think the boat survived far better than my nerves did.
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
The rest of the trip to work on the hulls was mostly uneventful. I’ve got the second half of the port hull foamed, sanded and ready for fiberglass.
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| From summer 09 |
I don’t know if I’d call it a launch, but I did indeed take the dory out for a little spin today. I wanted to check everything out and see what worked and what didn’t, before I took Ethan or anyone else out. I’m glad I went out alone; it took some getting used to, but all things considered, it went well. The boat sails in the lightest breeze. At times, I couldn’t feel any wind on my face, yet I was still ghosting along. It all may have been a bit easier if I actually remembered the rudder. I steered with an oar off the transom and it was quite awkward.
The boat also rows well, but the 5 1/2′ oars I borrowed were way too short, so when make a set of 8 footers, I’ll be much better off.
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| From Dory |
First off – yes, this is one of those posts where the author realizes how long it’s been since he has posted and then promises to be more vigilant in the future….
Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve updated the progress on the catamaran building. Honestly, there hasn’t been a ton to report. I finished up the building season last fall and while I could’ve got another month of work in the garage, the falling temps and early nightfalls had me a little burned out on building, so I decided hold off work until spring. Well, spring came along and I was raring to go. Most of what I’ve done so far has been cosmetic work on the cuddy. I did glass the outside last fall, so I’ve just been fill-sand-repeat ing for some time. I also built the locker tops and did a ton of clean up work inside. When the weather has been nice, I’ve been outside trying to finish work on my 12′ sailing dory, so that’s slowed the progress on the cuddy somewhat. Slow cuddy progress or not, I’m so excited to be able to take the dory out soon. I’ll be sailing again!
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| From Dory |
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| From Spring 09 |
we had a little impromptu pumpkin carving party tonight. Here’s Heather’s latest creation.
