Rubrail port foreward

It has been a long time since my last post. Since November I have been able to work on the boat at most 1 day per week (Fridays). I thought that would slow me down to 20% of the speed of working on it five days a week, but that was a significant underestimation of the difference.

Most Fridays that I do get out to the boat I’m lucky if I can get 5 hours in. There are errands to run before going most of the time. Then, when I get there, it takes me an hour to get myself oriented, remember what should come next, set everything up, and get to work. Plus, my head isn’t in the zone. It is a lot more work not to make stupid errors. I recently inverted a curve from the spiling to the board I was working on, just because I didn’t think propery about turning around from the boat to the work table.

Then, in December we had some bitter cold weather. Three Fridays it was just too much snow to drive out there. The barn isn’t heated and a couple of times when I did get there it was just too cold to work out there. I thought maybe I was a weenie, but then when Greg visited the boat in early January he commisserated that sometimes he can’t work because of the cold.

Rubrail offered up detail

Nevertheless, I still love it when I can get out there and work. Last Friday I finally got a rub rail offered up that basically fits and is now ready for final shaping and fastening on. It just looks like I’m going to have the pleasure of building extended, and the pleasure of boating delayed, longer than I ever imagined.

Now, the big question is, when will Jeff get fed up with my claim on his barn?

final sheer plank fastened - frames ready to cut

We managed to finish fastening the last plank – the starboard sheer plank. It was fastened amidships, but we got it fastened out to the ends. Then we trimmed the extra along the top edge with the circular saw, removed the cross spalls, and trimmed off the ends of the frames with the Japanese saw.

Wow! It looks like a boat hull now!

We vacuumed out the hull. As Aaron said, the photo down the center line showing the inside is quite a beautiful abstract.

Cleaning out the trimmed hull

It was great to have Aaron out there. The boys always have interesting questions. Everyone who visits the boat is somehow surprised by it. There is something about a traditional wooden boat under construction that invites the imagination.

The shell is ready!

One view of my church

Well, my clergy renewal leave is really over. I attended worship on November 2 with my own church community, and this Sunday, the 9th I actually preached at all three services.

It was indescribably wonderful to be with my people in worship.

Port sheer plank installed

No, the boat isn’t done, something I am both disappointed and glad about. I’m disappointed because I kind of thought I might be able to complete it in two months of full time work. If course, that was due to my absolute ignorance of the complicated project that building a boat like this turns out to be.

I am glad because I love doing it, and going out there on my Friday days off for the next few months will be a joy and a real honest break from the kind of work I do all week.

The church is in pretty good shape. It appears to do about as well in my absence as in my presence, which is good! People seem, for the most part, to be glad to see me again. At least the ones who aren’t glad seem to be following mother’s advice (if you can’t say anything nice…).

See how happy I am?

I gave the congregation my “top ten things I learned on sabbatical” sermon. Honestly, I’m not sure what all I learned on this leave. I know that I learned how blessed it is to have an extended change of pace. I know that I come back grateful and energized by the ministry I am called into. I know that I have a new hobby that I really enjoy. I know that, as beautiful and welcoming as Scotland is to my soul, this place where I live is just as beautiful and even more welcoming.

I expect I’ll go ahead and continue to blog about the boat project here until I get it done. I intend to start another blog to continue commenting on life as a minister and the stuff going on in the world around me. Be sure to offer me your comments!

Port sheer plank installed

Today I finally managed to fasten in the port sheer plank. The scarf joint I glued up yesterday held perfectly and looks great. It took me pretty much all day to align everything and get it fastened in. I also cooked the aft portion of the starboard sheer plank and clamped it in to cool just before I left today. I still have to cut off the frames at the gunwhale and finish the top edge of the sheer plank, but that will have to wait until both sides have the sheer plank on.

That may take awhile. Tomorrow is the last day of my sabbatical, and from then on it will be just one day a week to work on the boat. There is still a lot to do.

When I began this project it was about fulfilling a dream. It was about creating a work of art. It was about exploring the intersection between wood and water, form and function.

I realized today on the way out to the barn that somehow over the past two months it has become something much simpler – making a boat. What was abstract, philosophical, and theoretical is becoming something very concrete and practical. As I have accumulated errors along the way - smeared glue where I didn’t want it to be, patched things that broke, fudged measurements that weren’t conforming to plans, and in a hundred other ways compromised the art and the philosophy – a boat has been emerging.

What was about art and philosophy and fulfilling a dream has turned into a project focused on making it hang together and making sure it will float.

inside with sheer plank installed

It will still be beautiful when it’s done – lovelier to me than any fiberglass or aluminum production boat could ever be. It will still be “my boat” in a way that nothing I simply bought could ever be. It will reflect my personality, my strengths and my failings. But, most importantly, it will be a boat. It will float on the water, move when it catches the wind, row without too much trouble, and provide a context for some very good time with my spouse, my kids, my friends, and hopefully someday some grandchildren. That’s my plan, and I’m sticking to it.

Setup & Sheer Batten Removed

I haven’t been posting often lately because the progress has been slow.

port inwhale installed

Since the last post I have installed the inwhales on both sides. These run from station 3 to 6 and are notched into the frames. I used Meranti for the contrast they will provide to the European Beech sheer planks.

fitting the sheer plank

I have also been forming, bending, and fitting the port sheer plank (in two pieces, fore and aft) which has turned out to be very time consuming. I was going to use 3/4″ planks, but they were way too stiff to bend in. I took them down to 5/8″ – still too stiff! I finally planed them down to 1/2″ and that made it possible (after cooking the ends) to bend them in. Then I could start the process of offering up, marking, removing, and planing the bottom edge to fit the last plank. At least on this first plank, that cycle had to be repeated about three or four times before I got the fit between the planks up to my standards!

planing the scarf joint

I also decided to use a scarf joint on the sheer planks, since they are so visible. This also takes quite a bit of time, and I’m not very confident about how they will come out! I pretty much fit the bottom edge of both the fore and aft planks, leaving extra material on the top edge. Then I carefully marked them while they were clamped to the boat, took them off, cut them, planed the scarf (this wood is really hard!), and glued them up, clamped them and left them for tomorrow.

This is my last week on sabbatical. I return to church this Sunday. From then on, boat work will be Fridays and maybe the occasional Saturday) only.

Gluing plank 6 butt joint

Planking, planking, planking. Greg really enjoys this process. I’m getting there, but it is so mysterious. And I’m still struggling to find a good technique for making the butt joints. Each one gets a little better, but I’m still not happy with them and now they’re all done.

Today I put on the last plywood plank on the port side. The last plywood plank for the starboard side is ready to put on tomorrow. I’m actually glad to be nearly done with the plywood. And I’m extremely relieved to know that I managed to get all the planks without running out of plywood, despite ruining the first pair.

last plywood plank installed!

Today I actually removed the sheer batten on the starboard side so I could work on the butt joint for the last plank there. Tomorrow I’ll remove the other sheer batten and maybe even the setup plank (that wide board that goes from the bow to the stern along the top of the frames). The frames sure aren’t going anywhere now!

I need to go shopping for hardwood for sheer planks, rub rails, thwarts, braces, and floor boards. I’m looking forward to working in hardwood again. Eventually I’ll also need lumber for the mast, yard, and oars, but that can wait for a month or two.

Doug and Linda Cruikshank dropped by the barn today to see the boat and say hi. I really enjoy it when people come by. I miss all my people in the church! Two more weeks and I’ll be back with them all. I’m looking forward to that.

A runner installed!

On Friday, October 10th I finally installed the port side runner. It was sort of the third one I made. The stuff you saw all nicely clamped up in the October 8th post pulled apart immediately upon removal from the clamps on the 9th. They had been clamped up for about 18 hours – which should have been plenty for epoxy that is supposed to cure in one hour. Suffice it to say that I am unimpressed with a certain brand of epoxy adhesive. Let’s just say it doesn’t “lock tight” as it is supposed to!

delamination

That was Thursday morning, so I planed the lamination strips down to clean them up – roughed the gluing surfaces with sandpaper (maybe that was the problem?) and epoxyed and clamped them up again. I also put three screws through the laminations (destined to be left in). This time they were in clamps by 11:00 am. I went on to spile the 4th planks and cut out the front pair.

solid Meranti runner

On Friday morning I came in and unclamped them (this time it was about 21 hours of cure time). They seemed to be holding, but as I began machining them and finishing their shaping, they began to pull apart at the ends and even between the screws. Aaaugh! So, I took some of the 7/4 Meranti left from making keel and stems, spiled out the shape of the runner on it, cut it out, and then split it in two with the table saw. Viola – two nice runners after some machining and finishing. Unfortunately, a chunk of wasted Meranti, both in the original lamination pieces and in the significant trim from cutting the curves out of the 7/4 Meranti. By the end of work on Friday I had the port runner installed (bedded with adhesive caulk and screwed through from inside).

plank adjustments!

Today I installed the starboard runner and cut out the aft pair for Plank 4. Unfortunately, when I offered them up to the frames they didn’t have enough droop from station 8 to the stem. At the stem they were 1/4″ high relative to Plank 3 – way too much to just ignore. I decided to glue enough plywood onto the bottom edge of the ends of the planks to reshape them to make them work. Needless to say, I’m not using the unnammed epoxy. These are glued on with a waterproof polyeurathane glue. It seemed to bond very well. Of course I will be shaping these some more!

I went on to do a few piddly little things like epoxying over the runner screw heads inside, had a beer with Jeff (of which I spilled half!) and then came home early – it seemed like one of those days.

I realized as I started to form them that I wasn’t sure whether they should actually run along the seam of the planks (which makes a curve relative to the keel) or set them parallel to the keel. Ultimately I decided to run them along the seam.

two runners clamped up

They have quite a curve to them – way too much to just bend the wood (unless maybe they were steamed). They are 1″ thick on the surface that fastens to the hull and 1 1/2″ sticking out from the hull. I decided to make them from 3 pieces of 1/2″ X 1″ Meranti. I spiled the curve from the hull, layed the curve out on my workbench, fastened clamping blocks, epoxyed up the strips, and clamped them into the curve.

Tomorrow I’ll be able to do final shaping and fasten them to the hull. I’ll be bedding them with Dap adhesive caulk and screwing from inside the hull with stainless steel screws.

closeup of clamped lamination

It was a beautiful day today – almost frosty when I went to the barn, and with a slight ground fog as I drive out through the valley. The sun broke through almost immediately and the temperature ended up at about 60; warm enough for comfortable work but practically no bugs! Actually, the yellow jackets were out today, but they pretty much depart if I wave my hand.

bow beginning to show

For the past two days (Friday an Monday) all the work I was doing left nothing much to take pictures of. After a dental appointment, I arrived at the barn at about 10:00. The four boards making up the third plank for each side were pretty much ready. I began glueing, clamping, and fastening the port side and finished that at about 1:00. After lunch, I did the same for the other side and finished that at about 5:00.

It continues to amaze me how each time I clamp in a board, it seems to fit differently. All of these seemed to line up perfectly at every point when they were “offered up” after cutting out but before they were machined. When I clamped them on for fastening, there were minor variations at the station lines and the angle of the plank at the stem rabbets. These deviations were not substantial enough to be a problem, but still – where did they come from?

Plank 3 fastened in

Now that the 3rd planks are all fastened, it really begins to look like the bottom of a real boat!