Little Egret: an Egret-style day sailer

[Larks]

Mt cleat is actually on the aft end of the centreboard case, easy to reach. My centreboard is steel plate so quite a bit heavier than yours so you probably won't need the 4:1 purchase that I have with my tackle. I couldn't really use the same pin arrangement that you've used so for traveling I have a turnbuckle that I hook from the CB handle to the base of the mast and tighten it up so that it's still a rigid hold like the pin and unable to bounce when traveling and just held by the tackle as it was before.

[johnno]

The cleat I agree needs to be down near the skipper. I think I'll need a shock cord to hold mine down though. I mightn't even need to worry about getting it up..it seems pretty light, and I might just be able to use the handle.

[johnno]

Sunday morning..survived April Fool's...just fluffing around having fun with some details....stem head is located and braced with two bronze dowels epoxied into the stem proper.

Rudder tube collar is rough sanded and on...mast collar is laminated up, but just sitting there for a portrait. This afternoon I will shape it up a lot, and epoxy it on tonight.

Worked out my floor planking..off to the timber yard tomorrow.

[johnno]

Knocked off work as soon as I could, shot over to the timber yard, found some very nice 5 1/2"x 1/2" hoop pine for the boards, and did a rough fit of the first planks before the sun went down.

Because there's some rocker in this floor I've decided I'll hang a cross member below the boards (I'd call it a joist but that's me the architect speaking..don't know what it would be called in boat-speak) which will tie all the boards together (well, the full length of each side of the centreboard trunk actually), and they can then be removed as two entities. I will pin them down to the shape of the rocker (maybe 1" over 10') with a toggle or two attached to the floor timbers. This way I can avoid screwing all the boards down onto the precious floor timbers with top down screws (a nice way for water to work its way into the floor timbers I reckon), and I will have an easily removable floor when I need it.

The hoop pine looks pretty nice. I was wanting it to fade to silver grey. Perhaps I'll stain it light grey, because I'm sure it'll get filthy if I just left it. Or perhaps I'll paint it light grey or varnish it. Dunno.

More tomorrow....

[Larks]

Perhaps a non slip varnish John? It looks like too nice a grain to cover it up, even if you do a whitewash stain under it to give it a bleached appearance?? There are a few industrial non slip varnish coatings about, as an architect you may be able to scam a few sample pots...????

[Gary Dierking]

A sprinkling of salt or sugar onto the final coat of varnish can be washed out the next day and creates a gentle non skid that still shows the wood grain.

[johnno]

Now there's an idea I like...there's a sweet n' sour poetry to it Greg, I like the idea of a bit of limewash too..thanks for reminding me.

[m2c1Iw]

or I could pop up and vanish it for you, I can guarrantee a non slip finish.

[johnno]

Took a while to do this. Scribed out the extra floor boards down the sides, and then bevelled, rounded off and sanded them all ready for finishing. Two more boards to go either side of the cb case, and two more aft of the mizzen mast step, then the cross pieces. Should get some of that done tomorrow I hope. Would be nice to get the floors done by easter.

[RFNK]

Terrific John!

Rick

[PeterSibley]

Very neat ! That hoop looks great too.

[johnno]

More work on the floor boards. Mainly a matter of dry fitting with tack nails, check fit in boat, haul out boards and make adjustments, recheck for fit. Once that's right, then I can move on and add additional under-slung frames to make it good and strong. I think of it as adding ballast in the right place Still got half of the starboard side to do, then move to port. I'm trying to make a little factory of myself by cutting out the frames for the port side as well, when I measure them up for the starboard side.

floor boards tack nailed to frames for testing the fit...towards stern





and towards bow....





then dry assemble whole arrangement...




then shape up the additional under-slung frames...

[Larks]

Neat!!!!! and Impressive!

[PeterSibley]

Echoing Greg ...a very neat arrange. I was wondering how you we going to fit the planks closest to the cb case .

[johnno]

I see that I haven't actually captured that in these pics Peter, but there is a 4" board that runs beside the case, and there's a small board forward of the case beside the centre mast step. They'll probably make their way into the next round of photos. Wasn't sure whether to epoxy the boards to the under slung cross members or screw..in the end I've gone for screwing, but a quick calc makes something like 144 screws. For a start I don't have that many, so I'll need some more, and I'll also be very careful with epoxying them...I can see 140 potential rot points there now that I've started down this path.

[johnno]

Break for Easter, nice time at the shack up in the Sandy Straits, and making lots of plans for a raid up the Fraser Coast once the Little Egret is built.

Back into it today, but at a leisurely pace I must admit. Began work on the port side floor boards. Nearly finished, at least in terms of setting it all up. Once I've got all the members fitted, then I'll have to unscrew all the floors, prep them and put it all back together again once it's properly painted.








Sorry Peter, forgot to take a clear picture along the side of the centreboard trunk again. Tomorrow.

[Larks]

Very nice yet again John. Mind you, I'm a bit surprised that you came back to do some work on her, it must have been ideal fishing weather up at the shack??? Glorious weather here and I can't say that I managed to get much done myself, other than mowing the paddock, building a "cat carrier" for a neighbours "bar warming" present and making up a template for the cabin sole.

Drunk too much beer Sat' night at the bar warming (built under his house) and too much last night with one of our groups of visitors, thankfully the next lot have postponed until tomorrow so we had a bit of a recovery day today.

[RFNK]

I'm counting three mast holes. What am I doing wrong?

Rick

[johnno]

I'm counting three mast holes. What am I doing wrong?

Rick

What have you been smoking Rick???

[johnno]

Actually your eyes are not deceiving you..it's sharpie reefing. You can slab reef either sail, but if that's not enough, you can also drop either mast, and move either remaining mast to the centre mast step, for two more increasingly substantial reefs...nice huh

[johnno]

Very nice yet again John. Mind you, I'm a bit surprised that you came back to do some work on her, it must have been ideal fishing weather up at the shack??? Glorious weather here and I can't say that I managed to get much done myself, other than mowing the paddock, building a "cat carrier" for a neighbours "bar warming" present and making up a template for the cabin sole.

Drunk too much beer Sat' night at the bar warming (built under his house) and too much last night with one of our groups of visitors, thankfully the next lot have postponed until tomorrow so we had a bit of a recovery day today.

Sounds like a great Easter Greg! I had three days of celebrations..drinking Nicuraguan rum, playing guitar with a bunch of other musos, keeping Poona (the little drinking village with a fishing problem) rocking and up late, and indulging in some great cooking.

I did not however, partake of any fishing activities myself, as Easter is the occasion of the annual Poona fishing competition, a time when both I and the fish 'head for the hills'!! I did drop down to the mullet throwing competition (dead frozen mullet in case anyone is concerned) to see the maximum toss of 45 metres. Not my bag..I was only there looking for the local plumber to do some emergency work at home..not easy to find a plumber on Easter Saturday when the fishing and mullet tossing competitions are in full swing. There'd be enough lead hitting the bottom of the Sandy Straits over these four days for the whole of Gary's pour!

And yes, there were more mullets worn by the audience than being tossed

[Duncan Gibbs]

Hmmmm... Kulcha eh? (I'm really getting into Joyce of late!)

Nice floorboards John! That Hoop Pine is nice stuff. I have some 15mm thick 200mm wide planks off the saw and it's strong and stiff.

I've been covered in sawdust all Easter.. But more about that elsewhere...

[johnno]

This does seem to be taking forever...and it is.

Last night I painted all the boards with an exterior stain..two coats all round.

Today I unscrewed all the boards (190 screws in all), then epoxied both the boards and the under-hanging timbers before re-screwing them together again (190 screws all over again), and then filled over the screw heads with epoxy filler. I guess I'll sand tomorrow, final fairing of screw heads, and then recoat with the snow-gum exterior stain one more time. The stain will be an annual maintenance job from now on.

I want to move onto to something else!
boards screwed down....

back view....


and screw heads filled....

[Duncan Gibbs]

Looking good John! I have but one question though: Are these boards able to be lifted from the garboard of the boat at any time to access under them?

[m2c1Iw]

Interesting...stain works over epoxy? I'm unsure how to treat mine, non slip vs durability that is the question.

[Larks]

They look like they've come up wonderfully John. Nice colour.

[MiddleAgesMan]

It looks like I'm too late since you say you have epoxied the boards to the underside of the assemblies, but that is a big no-no. When a piece of timber is glued across the grain of another piece it's guaranteed the wide piece you are trying to stabilize is going to warp. What happens is the board will take on moisture or give it off, causing it to swell or shrink. The side with the batten epoxied across the grain cannot swell or shrink so the board warps.

We used to make simple flush doors for cabinets, stiffening them with battens across the back side, top and bottom. Those battens were waxed before attaching with screws to allow the glued-up panel to expand and contract without warping.

[johnno]

Looking good John! I have but one question though: Are these boards able to be lifted from the garboard of the boat at any time to access under them?

Yep Duncan, the two panels lift in and out separately, and go in and out quite easily. I had to work out the board layout so that they could do this: fit the hull shape neatly but also lift in and out without getting fouled on the centreboard case or the deck.

[johnno]

Interesting...stain works over epoxy? I'm unsure how to treat mine, non slip vs durability that is the question.

Mike, I've put the stain on first, as I read on the West site that I could epoxy and glue over water-based paints and stains. If it doesn't stick, then it will solve the potential problem MiddleAgesMan has raised I guess

[Rainmaker]

Yep Duncan, the two panels lift in and out separately, and go in and out quite easily. I had to work out the board layout so that they could do this: fit the hull shape neatly but also lift in and out without getting fouled on the centreboard case or the deck.

Boat is looking fantastic Johnno. Are you going to fix the floor boards in somehow, or they just going to sit in loose?

[johnno]

Boat is looking fantastic Johnno. Are you going to fix the floor boards in somehow, or they just going to sit in loose?

Thanks Rainmaker. There's actually a little rocker required in the floor, so the plan is to screw both sides down around about the mizzen mast step area, or alternatively to pin it down with a toggle. This will put the required rocker into the floor, but will also prevent it falling loose if I tip it over. The side frames stop it from twisting anywhere. I think I like the screws idea best but the toggle would let it come out any time without a screwdriver. We'll see.

[Rainmaker]

There's actually a little rocker required in the floor, so the plan is to screw both sides down around about the mizzen mast step area, or alternatively to pin it down with a toggle. This will put the required rocker into the floor, but will also prevent it falling loose if I tip it over. The side frames stop it from twisting anywhere. I think I like the screws idea best but the toggle would let it come out any time without a screwdriver. We'll see.

Thanks, I'll be watching to see what you decide. The toggle idea might be useful to me in the future. Good luck with the remainder of the build, looking forward to the launching photos.

[johnno]

Okay, the last of the flooring, bar the toggles when I get around to that. All painted up now, and sitting pretty in the boat for a photo opportunity or two. Now it's onto the cockpit coaming. Having wrestled the 1/2" thick (thin) stringer into position, and likewise the lower portion of the cockpit coaming, I didn't fancy my chances with a member twice as thick.

So I bought an oversized length of 1" hoop pine, and spent a goodly hour or two marking off the sheer adjacent the coaming on some shorter pieces of old scrap, then transferred it to the hoop pine. First pass was close but not close enough, second try has it about right. It has to be bent with some force laterally still, but as you can see in the pics, virtually no need to bend it in the vertical plane.

Tomorrow I'll fair it up a lot more, but a curvature on the top and then mark out the port side shape on the second timber. Should be a bit faster the second time around.

Still not sure how I'm going to fix it in place as the coaming below the deck line is only 1/2" thick. Perhaps I might have to put some blocks up in behind it to take a few locating screws and screw up into the new upper coaming from below?

Floor boards first then coaming in second post...

[johnno]

.......coaming rough cut and dry fitted. You can't really get a good feel for the fairly severe shear in these photos. Tomorrow I might take a pic of the coaming lying flat to give a better feel of it.

[timo4352]

The floorboards look great. Have you given any thought to the comfort factor of hiking out relative to the hieght of the coamings? That's something I'm already thinking about, and unsure about on my build.
Tim

[Lewisboater]

Just a small observation but I am not seeing any way to drain that mast step...is it not visible in the photo?

[johnno]

The floorboards look great. Have you given any thought to the comfort factor of hiking out relative to the hieght of the coamings? That's something I'm already thinking about, and unsure about on my build.
Tim

My version of hiking out will be to have a very large dense plum pudding or two, plus a couple of rum bottles attached to a long oar which I can dangle out the windward side when required!.......

Otherwise, I've judged it by eye, leaving it high enough to inhibit deck water coming over it, but not so high I couldn't cut it from a single economical piece of wood, and not so high as to be uncomfortable when sitting on the rail. In addition I'm going to have a bum-sized dense foam pad the same width as the side deck and a tiny bit higher than the coaming, possibly one, or perhaps two tied on each side, which will do away with the coaming-under-the-old-man's-knee syndrome. I figure I might well spend a fair bit of time on the rail, but only sea trials are going to tell. I might even be able to drop them over the side, if I leave a bit of extra in the attachment line, and have them double as fenders.

[johnno]

Just a small observation but I am not seeing any way to drain that mast step...is it not visible in the photo?

Yup, it's here ......

[Larks]

My version of hiking out will be to have a very large dense plum pudding or two, plus a couple of rum bottles attached to a long oar which I can dangle out the windward side when required!.......

Otherwise, I've judged it by eye, leaving it high enough to inhibit deck water coming over it, but not so high I couldn't cut it from a single economical piece of wood, and not so high as to be uncomfortable when sitting on the rail. In addition I'm going to have a bum-sized dense foam pad the same width as the side deck and a tiny bit higher than the coaming, possibly one, or perhaps two tied on each side, which will do away with the coaming-under-the-old-man's-knee syndrome. I figure I might well spend a fair bit of time on the rail, but only sea trials are going to tell. I might even be able to drop them over the side, if I leave a bit of extra in the attachment line, and have them double as fenders.

Actually a couple of those flat blue foam rubber fenders have proven their worth in bum comfort in the past, probably just the right thickness to sit outside that coaming, you could shape a few to suit and as you say, just let them hang over the side as fenders or hang inboard as back rests.

[Lewisboater]

Ahhhh....So!

[johnno]

Ahhhh....So!

Now I should have realised that there was something very prescient in your post, because having shaped up the starboard coaming, scribed off the port coaming for cutting out tomorrow, and epoxied the starboard coaming in place, I have just realised I have forgotten to make the two drainage holes (fore and aft) which let the water trapped by the extended coamings drain out onto the side deck. Oh dear. I can do the port one tomorrow, but this hole is really an inverted 'U' shape, a bit like a mouses entry door in shape, and will be difficult to make flush with the deck, and angling towards the centre of the boat. The stuff of dreams tonight methinks.

Anyway, main thing is the first coaming is on, and it went on fairly easily. It's frustrating how flat it looks in my pics. perhaps I'll take a side on one. BRB. .....

Let's see what tomorrow brings when I take off the clamps. I think I can see how I can screw up into it from the underside of the deck quite easily up for'd but I'll have to get into the airtight compartment aft to fix that end. The lateral force in the centre of the coaming is not too bad and I think the epoxy will deal with that, or maybe I'll just put one screw up through there, and another two at the one quarter points.



and showing the shear...

[johnno]

Okay, so now I've got both coamings on, screwed up from below, and time for some shaping.......



First pass at it, and I keep loving the lines of this boat. You can see in these pics a little better the amount of twist and bend in that coaming. The little low angle plane seems to be able to deal with the concave sections if I close the throat up and angle it sideways to get the shortest amount of the bed onto the board. Lovely feeling planing off 3 metre long single spirals of shaving.

If I can fit it in between rain showers, I'll cut the forward and aft sections of coaming this afternoon just to see how it looks.

Rough first pass at shaping.....

[Larks]

You obviously dreamt up a solution for cutting those coaming drain holes.......a long drill bit???

[johnno]

Nice end to the weekend...I'm happy with the curvature on these. First one I made was too flat, so I tightened the radius somewhat. Slightly complicated intersections and I got the stern one right. The forward one was close but then I cut just too much away by taking a bit off both sides. I'll either redo it tomorrow, or remember it's painted white and can be filled. I'll know it's there though, even if it's hidden by paint. Better take the deep breath tomorrow morning and do it again.

Greg, I put some plastic down to protect the deck, drilled a small hole in from both sides, then gradually used a larger bit, and finally some sandpaper. Then of course I tried to drill them before hand on the other side. Didn't work as well because there was no surface protecting the bottom edge, so got a less than perfect exit hole both times. It was almost better doing it in place. However, I have now learnt another woodworking lesson...never drill or cut a hole without some sacrificial material around it.

[m2c1Iw]

Nice, it is amazing how a curve transforms a space.

[RFNK]

Looking terrific John!!

Rick

[PeterSibley]

Sea trials ! Sea trials ! Sea trials ! Sea trials ! Sea trials !

Excellent John !

[johnno]

A day sorting out the joint between the side and fore and aft coamings (not sure what the fore and aft coamings are really called) and then doing some of those jobs it's easy to put off...in this case, all the epoxy fillets which should ensure a strong and water-resistant joint, and which should avoid ponding and hopefully increase the longevity of the construction.

In this case the coamings are checked into each other just enough to give a lock. In the end I found the two 1/16th" shavings I'd sawn off each end of the forward coaming, and epoxied them back in place. It was a 'save a forest' and a 'save me from insanity' move, which meant I didn't have to cut out another forward coaming.

When my brain was working, I put some tape down before the filleting, when it wasn't I just made a bit of a mess.

[Duncan Gibbs]

Brilliant work John! I'm looking forward to the launch. Well done!

[Tim Marchetti]

she really is looking great, and getting close to splash time too