Sandpiper "Nemo" new build

[Rik van der Vaart]

Half way the first boat project this forum was found. With Johnno's support this new thread is meant to show progress on this small project. The goal of this project is to finally manifest my dream of building a boat and by starting small, learning about the methods involved. A blog has been maintained up to this point. This forum will continue to follow the progress of Nemo's path to the water.

[jon m]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to watching the rest of your build.

[johnno]

Rik, great to see you here...look forward to watching progress now!

[Rik van der Vaart]

The first epoxy coating on the interior has been done. Coming days two more coats follow. Can't seem to upload pics yet. Some quota overrun pops up when trying to upload a 60k file. Maybe after some more posting this will dissolve.

[johnno]

Can't seem to upload pics yet. Some quota overrun pops up when trying to upload a 60k file. Maybe after some more posting this will dissolve.

Not to sure about that, but I do know you can't put more than 6 pics in a post, and emoticons (smilies) count as pics. Maybe that's it.

[Rik van der Vaart]

I'll keep trying Johnno, in the mean time the blog will continue. I still get the same "over quota" message with one small pic of 67k... I will find an admin to assist.

Got a little scared there about the dangers of using epoxy in my small project. Using all safeguards may still not be enough? But I want to build a wooden boat, without getting sick of course. I haven't had a spot of epoxy get on my skin (yet) and things are coming along just fine. Maybe it is good at this moment to stand still and reflect on the dangers before i become complacent. So the second coating will be put on tonight.

[P-man]

Rik,

don't try to attach photos. they're too small. host them on a website and then copy the location, something like http://photoshop.picture.jpg

then use the image icon in the forum toolbar, choose "from url", paste the location in the window, uncheck the box marked "retrieve remote file and reference locally" and click OK.

hope this helps.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Another try at linking a pic:


There we go! From the blog, I right-clicked on the image and selected "copy image url" and pasted that after unchecking the uploading checkbox in the upload popup form like P-Man said and it works like a charm. Thanks a lot P-Man!

[Rik van der Vaart]

And now for the hull-shot:


This wooden work-boat shows it's "workmanship" a little by the rough spots, all learning from her builder... Next time more 410 filling will be used in the project to fair the hull.

[Full Tilt]

Morning Rik, what is a sandpiper? Who is the designer? What style of rig are you putting on her?
A healthy respect for epoxy is all I wanted to express, not an aversion to the stuff. Be safe, but don't worry too much, good ventilation and a good respirator are very effective safety measures. I particularly try to avoid breathing sanding dust from 'green' (fresh) epoxy and paint dust. Use a fan if you can or preferably, a dust extractor. Replace filters in masks and vaccuums regularly. A sensitivity (allergy) can be acquired by prolonged and repeated exposure, however that is fairly rare amongst my acquaintances. Keep your mask clean inside and out as a lot of particulate accumulates in its crevices. You know the drill, follow the instructions and enjoy the satisfaction of building in a material that when used properly, will outlast the builder.
Mike

[Rik van der Vaart]

After a one day stall triggered by scary thought about possible consequences of epoxy handling the building of Nemo continued.

Sanding paper 80 sanded the interior hull to prepare it for the next epoxy coating. 8 pumps of both containers in the small bucket, mixing it up for 2 minutes, while dressed in full gear, including full face mask instead of just goggles, organic air filter, tyvex suit, ruber gloves and rubber shoes the job was done smoothly. I looked like a warrior scientist waging war against some virus in my blue tent... Washing up after taking all equipment in reverse order I thought about checking on line how others may have perfected this operation.

Not much to show for today in pix. In the mean time the remainder of epoxy is used to cover the seats and other interior pieces.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Hi Mike,
Sam Devlin taught me how to build with the stitch and glue method through his book. He also designed many different type of boats, of which the Sandpiper is just one of the small ones. It can be outfitted with a sprit rig Or a small 2 hp ob. Of course rowing is also possible. I chose the latter two mostly because the effort to make a sail rig which will not be used often seems to be a waste of effort. Here in Aruba the waters are calm but the air is not. So a dinghy with a sail would have a tough time staying upright.
The main reason for this project is to learn how to make a boat. Whether a next one follows or not I leave up to the future. First finish this boat, enjoy her, see how useful she is and let the desire for the second larger one come.
A sailboat between 20 and 30 foot is in the future. I doubt I will be able to build her. But she will have a tender ready.

[Rik van der Vaart]

While on the subject of safety and epoxy this is a good article any newbie should read.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Another coat covers the previous epoxy layers. The last one makes me feel like another milestone is reached. Considerable inside fairing is still to be done but after the seats and deck have been placed. The interior panels will be coated with two more epoxy layers tomorrow and the day after. Tomorrow the brackets for the deck and seats will be placed. The weekend may see the fitting of the seats.

[Rik van der Vaart]

After figuring out how to clamp seatbrackets 6 " below the gunwale and transom, woodflour filled epoxy was smeared and clamped betweet the inside hull and the plywood blocks. These will function to carry the downward force of the stern seat. Also the bow deck will have support to brace itself to. No mechanical fasteners were used. I assume the epoxy bond is strong enough. The panels still need to be epoxied before they can be fitted.

Looked at the Eider design, an updated design of Sam Devlin's first sailboats, today... What a beauty. Will it be my next boat? She seems perfect for me. Both to sail and to build next.

[Full Tilt]

Hi Rik,all this time I've asumed you were working under cold, cloudy skies in The Netherlands, and now I read you're writing from Aruba! I am very jealous! Good to see you making constant progress. By 'seat brackets' do you mean cleats? Cleatstock is square section lengths that are attached to the hull along the edge of the seat to provide something to attach to. Will you be installing access panels in the seats? I lined one of the thwarts in the Anna J with foam and glassed it in to create a hidden cooler. It holds nine cans of Heineken and a bag of ice. Enough for an average daysail. I take it you're already a sailor and aren't looking for a sailing dinghy, too bad, a sprit sail would really be fun on Nemo. I don't like gas outboards anymore since buying the Torqeedo. It would be perfect for your little boat, clean, quiet and efficient.
Eider looks like a bigger version of Nemo. Not bad, but not much of a challenge considering how easily your first boat seems to be coming together. You might get more satisfaction from a plywood lapstrake design. I think they can look very nice and make for a strong, seaworthy, traditional hullform. Check out the pilot schooner in this months WoodenBoat.
Looking forward to seeing some more photos of your build.
Mike
.

After figuring out how to clamp seatbrackets 6 " below the gunwale and transom, woodflour filled epoxy was smeared and clamped betweet the inside hull and the plywood blocks. These will function to carry the downward force of the stern seat. Also the bow deck will have support to brace itself to. No mechanical fasteners were used. I assume the epoxy bond is strong enough. The panels still need to be epoxied before they can be fitted.

Looked at the Eider design, an updated design of Sam Devlin's first sailboats, today... What a beauty. Will it be my next boat? She seems perfect for me. Both to sail and to build next.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Mike,
Thanks for you feedback. I do mean "Cleatstocks"; my boat-building vocabulary is as much in learning as are my boat-building skills. Yes, the temperatures here are much better for epoxy curing then the Netherlands. The electrical motor seemed more complicated than a very simple gas engine. I got the 2hp air-cooled honda for Nemo. I am a sailor without a sailboat these times. Had a Catalina 22 Sport for many years until we had to part. But the sailbug has never left me and now I have a new bug, sailboat-building. But first I have lots to learn about that. Hence Nemo. But I intend to use her as the tender for the sailboat(s).
I will check out the pilot schooner in WB. I love schooners, don't know why. I love lapstrake also. I start to feel confident that with the skills of plywood and epoxy I can build just about anything. But the beauty and utility of a sailboat together will define my choice.
Thinking more about your cool-box suggestion: The stern compartment will have a hatch so anchor and other stuff can be stored there. The stern seat will have two small hatches for access. The center seat will be completely sealed to function as a flotation chamber. I will fit some wood 1x1 such that a small beer cooler can put kept on deck without shifting around. A small red bimini will be set on Nemo for sun protection. A very quick visual concoction was made a while ago:


Will post pics soon.

[Full Tilt]

Mornin' Rik,
It's 'cleat' or 'cleats', but if you're referring to the squared off material before cutting it to length, it's 'cleatstock', no S.
Are you in your spaceman suit today? Must be pretty hot 'down island'.
The Honda will be a nice little engine for Nemo, however as far as simplicity is concerned, you're mistaken about electric. The Torqeedo is a self-contained unit, with two moving parts , less complicated than a cordless drill. How many moving parts in a 4-stroke Honda? Oil and gas in a dinghy eventually will end up in the bilge. By 'complicated' I think you mean 'cheaper'. The Torqeedo weighs under 20 pounds and has too many advantages to list without de-railing this thread.
About storage and flotation, I think you'll want to keep anchor and rode forward to counterbalance the weight of motor and driver. Weight is always best centralized in a boat to allow the bow and stern to rise for waves, however to trim the boat, the heavy movable stuff needs to be forward. I wonder if your stern seat wouldn't be better utilized for flotation, as thats the end with the motor? I use a folding grapnel style anchor, which fits into a 16" length of ABS plumbing pipe with a threaded cap. I use the outside of the pipe as a reel to store the rode which I keep right forward. The lid of the icebox is a circular, flotation
chamber access plate, with O-ring and the glassed in foam insulation adds to the buoyancy. The thwarts have hinged mahogany tops. If I add something to a boat, in order to justify the addition, it has to have more than just a single function.
Still haven't got this months 'WoodenBoat'? I'd be going crazy. I agree with you about schooners, however the 'Swansea Pilot Boat' in the mag, isn't the 'Bluenose'. I only referred to it for the construction method. I prefer masts to be parallel.
Happy building,
Mike

[Rik van der Vaart]

Bon tardi Mike,

I feel like I am de-railing this entire forum with my beginner/amateurism English-boat-speak. I appreciate you correcting me.
Around 2003 I subscribed to Woodenboat. Read many books on boat-building. I often hid them from sight just to avoid the feeling of wanting to make one. The circumstances of my life simply did not allow me to build one at that time. It too nearly 10 years to actually start making a boat. Since this start I read everything about boat-building in a very different manner. My look at boats has changes daily. Never thought that would happen. It is not Nemo, just everything about boats and making them. It is as if a big lingering volcano of interest has popped open inside of me.
The WB magazine takes its time to get to me. But when it does I read everything cover to cover. From the letters to the launches. I often see my boat in that last section, in my mind.
The Torqeedo weights about as much as the gas engine, but is silent I assume. But it is a lot more expensive, especially to get it here to me. I'd have to double the price to include shipping and import duties here. I know I know, I should have bonded up some spars, make a hole in the deck and a foot support, sowed up some sheets and stop whining... Maybe I'll end-up doing that if my future schooner project does not happen.
The front hatch is exactly for the anchor. I found a very nice small SS folding anchor also, same as yours. The watertight tubes I made for emergency stuff also go there. I did think about making the stern seat as a flotation also but figured that the small hatches are watertight and if push comes to shove, I detach the motor and let it go down without the boat. The center seat will give about 27 kilos of flotation, which is quite a bit.
I read the posts on the non-parallel masts of the 28' pilot schooner. The design did not spark me up. The hull did. And don't you think a jump from a 8' dinghy to a 28' lapstrake schooner is too much of a stretch? I have never even made a spar! Lapstrake is the nicest looking. It is even covered with fiber and epoxy, that I know a little about now.

"Bluenose"... That is something incredible. Canadian sailing pride to the max. Those were ships...

Do you have pics somewhere of Anna J?

[Rik van der Vaart]

All panels have been coated at least once with epoxy. The last parts to be cut were cut. Flotation chamber is moved to the sterm since both Mike and I thought it be better to have it closer to the motor. The two small hatches in the center seat will provide access to some storage there. The cleatstock fit perfect for the stern seat. I do not dare to release the clamps from the bow cleatstock for the deck since the slight curve may spring it loose.

The vinyl lettering for Nemo from iBoat came in as did the reflective liner. That will put on as last item.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Fitting, shaving and sanding the inner gunwales together with my 4 year old help was a joy today. She held them strongly while I used my low angle plane on them. The choice not to use my router nor the orbital sander but do do it manually not only was due to her presence but also because the desire to build Nemo with my hands as much as possible. The finishing phase is nearing quickly as all the woodwork is now done. Fitting, filling and finishing the interior is left to do.
Bought some Manilla rope since it begged me to pick it up. After looking at all the beautiful wooden boats, some tradtitionally rigged, the brown rope drew my attention. I spliced and eye in it to see if I remembered how to do it. After a few tries the results were satifactory. My future sailboat will have traditional rigging, using traditional materials. I am not gong to build a wooden boat and not use the ropes that look best on it. So some wooden cleats and blocks need to be constructed after Nemo is done (soon).

[Rik van der Vaart]

"Wie sturen kan, zeilt bij elke wind" translates to "One who can steer, sails with every wind", although I suspect the word "steer" is not the correct word, but you understand the meaning. The many parallels between sailing and life in a short sentence is nice.

I saw the next boat on John Brooks' site, it is the Somers Sound 12 1/2. I am in love.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Stern seat vertical panel, inner gunwales and bow vertical panel were tabbed with filled epoxy in place yesterday. Nemo is starting to look like a real little boat now:


The streak on the starboard hull is caused by trying to sand off an epoxy drip out of the outer gunwale. Me walking away from the project after an epoxy job to avoid breathing fumes, also results in these issues. I think I will just fair it a little and repaint.
The deck, stern seat, center set with support panels and breast-hooks are dry fitted:


Started using the 403 filler adhesive filler. It works very easily, spreads nicely, just have to be very careful mixing it because the fibers are very light and will either blow away or jump out of the mixing cup.


Filling all gaps with 410 and adding a fiber tape with unfilled epoxy should beef up the structures plenty. Still quite some work to do before finishing her up.

[Rik van der Vaart]

The vertical center seatpanels are set with epoxy... But I think the gaps between the panels and the bottom of the hull turned out a litle too large. They will be filled with 410 tomorrow. Breasthooks are also glued to the transom and the stringers. Left the clamps on the gunwales for fear of them releasing. Will give them one more day. Panels glued yesterday were filled with 410 today. I wonder if another layer of epoxy is needed over the faired surfaces to make them waterproof... Or will the paint job take care of that enough?
Next is fitting the two seats and the deck and filling all gaps and "fairing" interior surfaces, followed by painting.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Spent 2 hours filling the gaps of the center set vertical panels. The gaps were pretty large. They were filled with the 410 but I do not have a good feeling about the strength of the bond to the hull. I will tape the insides of the panels to the hull tomorrow. That should give adequate support without much need to cosmetic touchups. Inner gunwales will then also be epoxied since only the side which got glued were covered. All the clamps are removed from the gunwales.
Lessons learnt today:
1. use blue paint tape along the to be filled areas. Saves time and leaves much neater finish so less sanding.
2. Find out how to get a panel to fit nearly perfect along a not so straight surface of the inside of the hull, filled chines being the culprit
3. Use thicker than the thinnest blue tape for lesson 1. Makes it even easier to fill the corners.
4. Most work is on the interior. After the hull was done, I thought, that's it, I am done, faster than what the designer said, haha! I am such a professional... Yeah right. If it was that easy... 2/3rds of the projecthrs are spent on the interior, and this is a dinghy! It is a peanut... One tenth of any decent sailboat, one hundreth of any small cruiser.

[Breakaway]

You are moving right along!

Kevin

[Rik van der Vaart]

Thanks Kevin.

Just finished listening to Jule A. Miller's Voyages in Desperate Times, about the Eastern Sea Frontier... What a story!

[Rik van der Vaart]

Center and stern vertical supports for the seat panels were taped and epoxied for strength.


After this the tapes will be faired and top seats placed, glued and screwed to the supports.

Deck looks crooked because it is... it as not been fitted yet.

[Full Tilt]

Hi Rik, you mustn't have a day job to be working so fast!
I was wondering about the round holes in the seats, are you putting sealable lids on them so they will provide flotation? You're going to be discovering the wonderful world of sikkaflex pretty soon. You'll need it for bedding hardware.
Before installing the fore deck, is there enough meat in the stem for a hole for the painter. You might want to epoxy in a small, fitted block in the V of the bow, for the hole to be drilled through and to provide some strength for towing. Lower tows better.
Happy sanding,
Mike

[Rik van der Vaart]

Hey Mike,
Hahaha, this is my relaxing, working with my hands on a boat. Rest of the day I am mostly on computer working numbers. It is an hour a day, steady progress is the name of the game. And i have to keep up with Johnno...
Yes, the two holes in the center seal will have seal-able lids. The stern seat is completely sealed off and functions as flotation also.
The 3m 4 and 5200 is ready for bedding the hardware. Painter is not part of plan, but could be. Will fit a block in bow V for now without fitting a painter. The deck cleat is meant for towing and anchoring. This is set with ss bolts and washers to the 1/2" ply deck which is epoxied to cleat stock, also fastened with ss screws into the cleat stock and from the side through the gunwales.
Thanks for advice.
Happy sailing

[Rik van der Vaart]

The trailer, motor and bimini arrived today. Motor fits perfectly although i need to make a thicker area on the transom so it has something beefier to push against. Did not do anything on Nemo today because of unpacking and reading motor manual.
These purchaes cost a multiple of the boat's materials. But we knew that. She is coming together...

[Rik van der Vaart]

Deck, center seats and srern seat were glued in place with 403. No mechanical fasteners were used, just a bunch of heavy weights to hold down the panels.
Two pieces of 12x6x1/2 were fabricated and glued to the transom to beef up the area where the engine will be mounted.
Will tape the deck to the vertical support panel and tape that panel to the inner hull so that the pulling forces on the deck will be transferred to the hull without pulling off the deck.
Filling the gaps, fairing the taped areas and then painting of the interior can start.
I forgot to sand the transom, which has already been painted before the engine mount enforcement was glued to the transom. So now i am not sure if the will stay put. There will be no particular force on the glued piece since the engine will clamp it to the transom anyway. Just hope it will not fall off.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Thought that I could speed things up now I see the finish line... made a large batch of epoxy (you can tell what's coming) with 410 so the filling of all the corners and unfair surfaces a could be done. I put all of it in a plastic bag so I could cut it's corner and push it out into the corners. All went well until the plastic bag and its content started feeling very hot in my hand... The filled epoxy all of a sudden went rubbery and it was very tough to work with. The contents were quickly spread to the corners to reduce the volume in the plastic bag as much as possible. Then this was cleaned up and made reasonably fair. It did fill all the big gaps well.
The lesson is to stick with small batches and be patient with the process. When this project is done I will miss working on it so there is no reason to rush.
I hope the epoxy will be OK after it sets.

[Rik van der Vaart]

No pics today because there is nothing to show. The final phase before interior painting is filling the tapes and other gaps resulting from amateuristic boat building. More and more of these quality issues pop up after previous bigger issues are covered. The perfectionist in me is relentless even though he knows he is eating humble pie with this project.
I cut a spreader in half so all spots coild be reached easier. The two speader, one in each hand works real well, like when drywalling.
Touched up some sanded spots on the hull with the left over paint. No problems there.
But how can the rounded corners be sanded better? And the 3 plane corners? There must be a secret method because i cannot reach those half inch round corners... Any ideas?

[Rik van der Vaart]

Same actions as yesterday except using less epoxy since the gaps are getting smaller and less in quantity. Sanding with 120 now instead of 80 is also indication of last sessions of filling and sanding. Maybe one or two sessions left before first paint coat. Getting closer to the water!

Fitted the engine on the bracket and it feels strong. The transom does not wiggle at all upon moving and tilting the engine. The forces get sent straight to the entire boat.

Need to fit two small feedstock on the inside hull under the gunwale where the oarlocks go. These are an inch or two longer than the gunwale. This could also be done at a later stage. Some small elastic nets against the inner hull to hold small items will require similar cleatstock to be epoxied to the hull.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Basta with the sanding. It is a workboat, a learning project, I want to get on the water! So the first coat of paint was slapped on the interior. The deck was not planned to get varnished but a good section of it was unblemished so I taped a triangle section to varnish it together with the seats. Gives a very nice wooden touch especially with the SS hardware to be mounted.

If I had done what I had read about filling, using a rounded something to fair the corners, all the time, I would have been done much sooner. The stern seat fill on the port side is near perfect. The rest is a good example of poor workmanship. The methods I use to make the fillings were different, trying out what works easiest. The process of filling includes the sanding the next day. This was minimal with the rounded fillings so this is the preferred method (as I was told by many people before).

The starboard gunwhale is smooth while the port gunwhale shows a gap between the inner and outer sections. You can see my learning path on various sections of the boat. I wonder if the still rough areas can be patched with filled epoxy the day I want to attempt cosmetic fixes. Should be possible with some sanding of the paint. That will be another project. First on the water.

The reflective stripe will be attached along the masking tape which gives me a nice baseline. The vinyl name can also be attached to the bow. Getting close...

[Rik van der Vaart]

Second layer interior brightside polyurethane is spread out. Could not resist and taped the half inch reflective stripe right under the blue masking tape below the gunwhales. She is starting to look very nice. I have accepted the roughness and ugly spots as mine. What matters is that Nemo will be safe on the water. Sturdy she is and I think we will have a blast on the water with her.

[johnno]

Well done Rik, nearly time to start checking the forecast and tide times.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Just a pic today:

[Full Tilt]

Congratulations Rik!
Post more pictures please.
Mike

[Rik van der Vaart]

The bright areas get all the attention now with 3 layers of varnish to protect against our strong UV rays. Deck, mid-ships seat and stern flotation/seat received the first layer.
Port side of hull received vessel name also.
After bright works are done the hardware will be fitted.

[Full Tilt]

Are you thinking of painting the bottom Rik? White might be nice and if you store Nemo upside down, it would reflect some of that Aruban UV.
Mike

[Rik van der Vaart]

Had Nemo inspected today and received the registration papers this afternoon. The registration numbers are on route.
Assembled the trailer last night so we have means of transportation to the water. Will setup the hitch/ball on the car tonight.
This Friday we are scheduled for the launch of Nemo.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Are you thinking of painting the bottom Rik? White might be nice and if you store Nemo upside down, it would reflect some of that Aruban UV.
Mike

You have a good point Mike. Nemo is so small and will easily be trailered, cartopped or beached and not be left in the water but store at home so UV exposure will be left at a minimum. Maybe in the future. I just want to get to the water asap...

[Rik van der Vaart]

Droused with beer on the bow, Nemo took me and after some passengers for a nice ride.
She is very small... But for her function as tender, very capable. With three adults, we had no problems with waves. She can carry lots of weight. I forgot boats always look larger on the dry than on the water.
Pics will follow soon.

[Rik van der Vaart]

With beer on the bow, off to the sunset:

[Rik van der Vaart]

After taking Nemo for some sculling sessions, which did not work out due to a to short oar, i have been busy converting Nemo to a sailboat. Putting a 2hp engine behind her was a stupid idea. I wanted to get on the water and then an engine was the fastest route. But also the noisiest. So a blue tarp sail of about 25 sqft for a sprit rig and a sportier 50sqft one for a standing lug setup. I intend to use the same sprit boom and mast for the lug rig as well. The mast is being fabricated from 3 planks and will be 9 ft long, 6 cm diameter. The sprit is 6 ft long and 4 cm thick. Testing what works and how she sails before committing to a dacron sail is the plan. A barndoor style rudder and a leeboard with 3 lbs lead built in will track her, hopefully, windward. We are expecting very bad weather in the coming days so i may not get her on the water for trials this weekend. But i may just go anyways, just to checkout how she looks with sails.

[Full Tilt]

Try two oars.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Hahaha, yes i will. Oarlocks will be placed together with the sailrig mods, just in case the mast ejects or something like that. Good fun.

[Rik van der Vaart]

Shaved the 6cm diameter mast today into a rough round shape. Tapered off the last foot and a half to 3 cm. i may cut that so it tapers only to 4 cm to look better. And to lower the mast some. It is not very heavy but if i hold it 45 degrees or more i wonder if it is not way too heavy for nemo. Maybe this mast building is not a good idea. Or the solid wood mast building... Maybe i should try and make a hollow mast instead... Naaaa, difference in weight will be next to nothing for this spar. This solid spar will have to do.