All the side panels installed, we have a boat...

Well, today I got the other side of the boat covered with the four remaining side panels.  All the side panels are now complete.  All of the fabrication and construction on the basic hull is now finished.  Technically, I now have a boat!  If I flipped it over, it would float!

This time I started at the transom and just started installing the panels like I was sheathing a house.  They went on without any issues.  Next up, I have to trim and sand the panels and then get the entire hull bottom ready for fiberglassing.  Soon it will be time to paint the bottom and flip it over onto a trailer!

Tomorrow, trim the side panels off and start fairing and sanding.

Side panels installed and trimmed on one side of boat

I pre-fiberglassed the inside of the side panels with some 6 ounce cloth.  I also made the side support pieces out of some "decent" looking fir 2x4's.  I rounded the 2x4's over and fiberglassed them with some 12 ounce glass I had.

My dad and Kenny helped me do this step.  First we installed the side panel supports.  I put in four supports on each side, 30" apart, starting from the transom.  

I found that my boat had sagged at the transom, and the chine flats were not that flat.  So my Dad came up with the good idea to connect the chain hoists to the transom and put a little pressure on them to take the sag out of the last foot of the shelves that were hanging over the rear shelf jig support.  Then he put a straight 2x6 along the chine flat, clamped it and screwed it. This made boat the chine flat and shelf very straight and fair.

My Dad is a pretty smart guy, and a pretty handy guy to have around!  Still grumpy as hell, though!
See the 2x6 screwed in place in the photo above.

Next he installed the side panel supports.  We epoxied them into place.

Now we had to figure out how to hang the side panels.  After reading the instructions from multiple sources, many times on how to install the side panels, we were all not sure on how to do it.  So in typical Stancil fashion, we just decided to start hanging panels.  It was not the smoothest process, but in the end the panels got installed!  We started at the bow and worked our way to the back.

The next side will be done slightly different.  I am going to start at the transom with a panel level and centered and install them like I was sheathing a house.

After everything cured overnight, and the monsoons went through for the day, Kenny and I went out and trimmed the extra off with a circular saw and router.  Turned out pretty good!

Only one side left....then a final glassing, sanding and painting....then flip it over!
Big thanks go out to my son Kenny and my dad Kenneth for helping out with this portion.

I have to make a trip to Phoenix, so it will be about a week before I start up again.  I could use a break anyway.

Bottom panel installed, transom glued, stem installed and stringers glued into transom

Well, another couple of days of big progress.

I am so glad we built the gantry crane. I lifted the bottom off the stringers and repositioned things probably  20 times.  I never would have gotten it as close as we did without being able to easily lift it with the chain hoists.  It really made it a piece of cake lifting it up and making small adjustments.

So, since the stringers were needing to be glued into the transom permanently, that was up first.  The problem was, I cut the stringer notches into the wrong spot on the transom.  They were 1/2" off.  After some research, I found out why.  In the plans, the dimension for the transom notches are 15 15/16" from centerline.  The problem was the "1" in the 15/16" on the plans was printed exactly where a vertical line on the drawing is, so it looked to me like the number was 15 5/16" instead.  Oh well, I broke out the jigsaw and cut the notch over 1/2".  Then I epoxied in a piece or wood to fill the gap. It really is easy to fix when you make a mistake.  Epoxy fixes just about anything.

After that, we set the bottom panel assembly down and checked the fit of the stringers, the stem and the bottom panels until we had the location for the stringers set.  They ended up being about 5 inches further inside the boat than the original starting position was.  But they fit the bottom panel perfectly, so that is where that were glued.  After mixing up a thick batch of peanut butter, they were epoxied in and are solid as a rock!

 So now we were ready to install the entire bottom of the boat.  First I needed to shape the stem.  I marked where it needed to be trimmed in order to fit the bottom panel properly.   Here is the stem after it was marked for trimming.   A lot of wood needs to be removed.

I got out the trusty Harbor Freight electric hand planer and went to work.  A few minutes later I was standing in a huge pile of Cherry sawdust and the stem was very close.  A quick check by lowering the bottom panel again and it needed a little more.  Finally, the stem was shaped and looking good.  Here is the after picture.  It only took about 10 minutes from start to finish to shape the whole thing.  The hoists and the electric planer made quick work of it.

Next it was time to install the bottom.  I sanded down the bottom panel where the stringers were going to rest, and then coated everything with epoxy.  After that, I mixed up a massive tub of peanut butter glue with a heavy dose of micro fibers and spread it all over the transom, stringers and stem with a bondo spreader and a sheetrock mud tray.  Then we lowered the bottom down and I quickly lined everything up.  First I attached the bottom across the transom.  Then I had to force the bottom panel to be centered over the stringers a little bit.  I had earlier drilled a small hole through the keel of the bottom panel and hung a plumb bob down.  Then I could take measurements and the get centerline of the boat centered exactly in between the stringers.  I had to move it over about 1/2" after screwing the transom down.  It was very difficult, and when I had it centered using every body part I had available, I hollered for Tommy to install a screw near the bow into the stringer to hold it in place.  The alignment was perfect.
So, up on top of the boat I climbed and started installed the 2 1/2" screws with the fender washers.  This drew the bottom down tight to the stringers.

The peanut butter was oozing out like crazy .  After getting the bottom screwed down and standing on top the boat for a few minutes like the king of the world, I decided I had to go underneath and scrape up all the oozed epoxy.

This job really stunk, because by this time the epoxy was really setting up.  It was getting thick and hard to remove with the spreader.  After I finished, my hands felt like I had kneaded about 500 loaves of bread!  I had to make bread in the Navy by hand on the submarine, and that was a bear of a job!

I rechecked the alignment again, and the error of the centerline of the boat bottom between the stingers is about 3/32", which I think is pretty darn close.

After the epoxy cured, everything was solid beyond belief!  I trimmed the back of the boat off flush with the transom and it looks perfect.
Before trimming the back of the transom:

After trimming the transom flush:

Finally, I trimmed up the second layer of the from bow panels.  I also cut some relief kerfs in them to hopefully make them easier to install.  We were going to install the panels, but the storms rolled in.  So, tomorrow we are going to install one of the bottom panels and then start glassing the side panels.  Then in the afternoon, hopefully get the other bottom panel installed.

Can you spot the limber hole in this picture?!  Every boat needs lots of limber holes.....

Progress! Gantry Crane, Shelves and Transom Installed

After being in Connecticut for almost two weeks, I got back to the swamp here in Florida and got to work on the boat.

First order of business was to build a lifting gantry crane.  After consulting with my dad and my good buddy Joe, it was decided that I needed to build a gantry crane to move this boat around.  Otherwise, someone was going to get hurt.  Plus getting volunteers to move heavy objects at 95 degrees and 98% humidity is a little tough.

So it was settled on an A frame design.  In typical Stancil fashion, the A frame was designed to probably lift four boats at one time.  So just one should be a snap.  My dad always said, "If stout is good, then stouter is better."

Off to Lowes for a supply of lumber.  You would think I was building a house.

Here is my beautiful daughter Hannah!  She was helping me get the lumber.

What could possibly go wrong with hauling 16 foot long lumber from a pickup truck.  Well, luckily nothing.

My dad came up for a visit, and he quickly designed and framed up a very impressive A frame gantry crane.  We assembled it, hooked up the chains, and then before you knew it, the boat bottom was 10 feet in the air!

 This is my dad, Kenneth.  He really is as grumpy as he looks, too!  Smartest man I know.  Without the things he taught me when I was growing up about building and handyman stuff, none of this would be possible.  He also taught me by example how to be a good husband, father and man.

OK, after the boat hull bottom was out of the way, it was time to lay the shelf jigs in place and install the shelves.  After a bit of measuring that the 3 stooges would have been proud of, we got them lined up and installed.

 Not a bad fit for being 30 foot long, first shot at aligning them!

Next up was installing the stem.  After doubling up a couple of 14' 2x6's and installing a plywood support on the front, the stem was installed.  It was amazing how poor the quality of the dimensional lumber you get nowadays.  We had to twist and shim the 2x6's to get them in line.  But, after a few minutes, the stem was looking good!

 Here is the stem and bow after gluing them up.  Everything fits really nice with the standard angle cut on the stem from the plans.

 Sighting down the keel line, everything is square and level.

 Next up was installing the jigs to support the transom.  There are two of these and they were easy to install.  I just hung a plumb bob down and centered the stringer spacer at the top out.

Now it is time to install the transom.  First I had to cut some pockets out of the transom for the shelves to fit into.  A few minutes with the router and they were ready to go.

I cut the pockets out larger than needed, so I would get a lot of epoxy in there as well.

After that, I called over John and the kids, and we installed the transom.  Perfect 14 degree angle.  We also finished right before a major thunderstorm hit!

 There it is!  Big heavy solid transom!

 The transom is sitting on the shelves, and there are a couple of 2x4 that I cut to support it.

 I got a nice pocket of epoxy in there for strength.  This was a epoxy mixed with Cabosil, wood flour and a couple heavy spoons of ground fiberglass.  This will be a strong joint

Up tomorrow:  I am going to install the stringers and get the bottom of the boat fitted in.  Hopefully I will get the stem shaped to the keel and be ready for epoxying the bottom to the transom and stringers!

Things are moving along really good!