BUILDING A SKERRY Days 11 - 15
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Offerings to the Spirit of "ET Bugaboo" Days 1 - 5 : Order, Instructions, Clean garage, Glue panel scarfs Days 6 - 10 : Glue outwale sections, Sand scarfs, Measure for frames, Drill wire holes, Sand & taper outwales Days 11 - 15 : Cut gains, More wire holes, Wire Panels, Insert frames Days 16 - 20 : Fix "gap" problem, Glue Mast Scarf, Sprit Scarf, Skeg Halves, and Centerboard Handles, "Tab" Glue Seams Days 21 - 25 : Remove Wires, Glue Seams, Clean up Seams, Shape Stem and Stern Days 26 - 30 : Glassing and coating the exterior Days 31 - 35 : Breast Hooks, Rails Days 36 - 40 : Rails (cont.), Skeg Days 41 - 45: More epoxy, Fiberglass & coat interior Days 46 - 50: Install Seats and Centerboard Box Days 51 - 55: Still doing the Seats and Centerboard Box Day 56: Making it rowable Day 57 - 60: Sanding the fillets, Making Spars, Figuring out the rudder Day 61 - 65: Rudder and Dagger Board Day 66 - 70: Rudder (cont.) Day 70 - 75: Dagger Board Slots, Partner "Adapter", Install Mast Step Day 76 - 80: Sewing the Sail, Adding Lead to Daggerboard, Floorboards Day 81 - 85: Floorboards (cont.) Day 86 - 90: Floorboards (cont.). Foot Braces, Sanding, sanding, sanding,... Day 91 - 95: Finishing Day 96 - 98: ...and more Finishing, Rigging
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Day 11 (3/19/03) - 1 1/2 Hrs: The Rabbet Plane arrived two days ago. However, I've had a bit of a head cold and haven't felt up to working out in the cold garage. Today, I couldn't put it off any longer. After work, I went out and cut the gains in the #1 and #2 panels. These are 20" long, 3/8" wide, "ramped" rabbets that allow the stem and stern sections of the panels to fit properly. If you've never used a Rabbet Plane, I would recommend a trial run on a piece of scrap wood. I didn't and went a little wide on my first gain. But, this will be on the outside of the boat, which I intend to paint, so this minor blemish will not be seen.
Day 12 (3/20/03) - 1 Hr: Tonight, I finished the last remaining gain and realized that all of my gains are a bit wider than what was intended. I'm sure I measured for 3/8", but I must have a tendency to widen the cut as I make passes with the Plane. Oh well, as I mentioned before, these will be on the painted outside of the boat and will be easy to hide. I then drilled holes along the top, stem and stern of the #1 and # 2 panels that will be used for wiring. With a little help, I placed the #1 panels into position next to the bottom panel, just to see how the fit is... looks good!!!! By this weekend I should have something resembling a boat.
Day 13 (3/21/03) - 3 Hrs: The fun has begun!!!!!!! Tonight, after using the plane to put a 45 degree edge on the stem and stern of the #1 Panels, I wired them to the Bottom Panel. I started at the bow and drilled the first few holes, to match up with the holes I had drilled on the edge of the Bottom Panel. that were 3/8" from the bottom of the first #1 Panel. I loosely wired these holes and continued with the next few holes until I reached the stern. I repeated this process on the other #1 Panel. I found that I have a 1/4" gap at the lower stem where the #1 Panels meet, and a 1/8" gap at the lower stern. I should be able to fill these gaps with good size fillets and being that it's the #1 Panels, the inside of these sections will be covered by the "air tanks" and both inside and outside will have layers of fiberglass covering the gaps. I hope the #2 and #3 panels are a better fit, since I won't have the luxury of hiding any "problem areas". After the #1 Panels were in place, I wired the 3 frames to the Bottom Panel. These are very tight fits and spread the #1 Panels out wide. At first, I thought it seemed "unnatural" and that I was at risk of breaking a panel, but they took the shape of the frames, quite nicely.
Day 14 (3/22/03) - 5 Hrs: Using the same method as wiring the #1 panels, I attached the remaining panels, forming a beautifully shaped hull. I have to say that the lines on this boat are something. But, now it seems like the #3 Panels are too short. They are missing the stern by almost 1/2". I'm hoping that this will be remedied when I tighten all the wires, tomorrow. However, if this is happening because the #2 Panels are too long (a possible result of the decision I made on the scarf spacing back on Day 6), then I may have to shave the ends of the lower panels at the stern to make a clean fit. After all of the Panels were loosely in place, the next step was to wire the panels to each of the 3 Frames. This required drilling two wire holes to match up with each hole already drilled in the Frame.
Day 15 (3/23/03) - 4 Hrs: Thanks to a neighbor with young children (who had him up bright and early, as did my daughter), I was able to flip the hull over and get an early start. I checked the Stem and Bow for "plumb'ness" and then tightened all of the wires. Apparently, the gaps I mentioned are not going to go away. The good news is that I was able to resolve the original problem I had in the Bow. I did this by removing the wires at the stem and bottom/#1 panels back to the first Frame. I then planed the front 10" of both sides of the Bottom Panel about 1/8". Now, the Bow looks good. I'm afraid the Stern is not going to be so easy to resolve. I think I am going to have to shorten the #2 Panels which will probably change the shape of the Stern. I wouldn't be overly concerned except that the rudder is shaped to match the shape of the Stern. I guess I could reshape that, if it comes down to it. I tool the wires off the Stern, but that's as far as I got. I want to think this one through before I commit.
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