An Ilur in Hansville

[davidladd]

Hi,
I wasn't sure if I was going to post about my project so I'm already 3 weeks into it. I am a sailor, but I sold my sailboat last year thinking I was done with sailing. But I couldn't leave the sea. I decided to build a small sail/row boat and set my thoughts to a 10' design. Then I decided to go for a 12" design. After watching all of Roger Barnes videos I knew I had found my design. I am building an Ilur by Francois Vivier. I contacted Clint Chase in November and got on his Kit build list. During the wait time I stocked up on tools, built shelves and storage racks, and watched every clinker built video I could find. When I got the kit at 5pm one day I was not prepared to the shear volume of parts. It took 4 days just to sort out space in the garage where I could work. In the three weeks I've had the boat I have:

Assembled the Stem
Assembled the transom
In the process of assembling the Center board case.

I have already made one epoxy mistake. In the transom assembly I didn't get the transom and transom head clamped down tight enough before clamping them together. The result is that the transom head is not flat. It curves up slightly. Since I am doing a boom rig and not a yawl this shouldn't be a technical issue, but only a cosmetic/visual thing.

Here some of the pictures I have taken so far.

[Stiletto]

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the pics. All the best for your build.

[davidladd]

I am learning how to operate in the forum. Here are some more pictures. Because it is still pretty cold where I am in the Pacific Northwest. The only way I can epoxy is to place a radiant heater under my work platform and then drape a tarp over it. It gets plenty warm enough.

[Pete Bergquist]

This will be a good one to follow. You won't be disappointed with Clint's kits. I'm building a CIY16, and so far everything provided has been high quality and spot on the money dimension wise. I have never built before and considered an Ilur, but after some thought I stepped back to the CIY, which I'm finding challenging enough. Best of luck, keep up with the great posts.

[WI-Tom]

I have already made one epoxy mistake. In the transom assembly I didn't get the transom and transom head clamped down tight enough before clamping them together. The result is that the transom head is not flat. It curves up slightly.

I ended up building 3 transoms for my boat, and it's not a triple-ender...

Welcome to the Forum. I look forward to following your build.

Tom

[davidladd]

Thanks Pete, first time boat building is a challenge, but the Ilur was the best choice for me. I’ve tried to get a picture of the finished boat, but to keep from being overwhelmed I try to just focus on the immediate challenge that I am working on at the time. Sailing in the PNW with strong winds and fast currents, the Ilur works best. For me there is also a cultural difference. We tend to sail sloops with transoms. We don’t have the long tradition of dorys and yawls that the east coast has.

[davidladd]

Thanks Tom, if I had another set of transom parts from the kit to do it over again I would. I could look for wood to make a transom, but I’m just not equipped with the tools and wood working skills to do that.

[WI-Tom]

My mistakes were much bigger than yours--making a new transom was the easier way to go for me, as I thought I might finish it bright. Then I painted it anyway, so needn't have bothered--could have fixed the mistake and painted over. The first transom was a temporary one in particle board for the building jig, so making the second (real) transom wasn't a mistake.

There are plenty of other "mistakes" in my boat, but I don't even see them anymore. Neither does anyone else (and for the most part, they never did).

Have you chosen a rig option for your Ilur yet?

Tom

[MoritzSchwarzer]

Welcome aboard, and congratulations on a great boat choice. A very able all-around dinghy by all accounts. And from an engineering standpoint this is absolute state of the art small craft design. Doesn't get much better.

I have already made one epoxy mistake. In the transom assembly I didn't get the transom and transom head clamped down tight enough before clamping them together. The result is that the transom head is not flat. It curves up slightly. Since I am doing a boom rig and not a yawl this shouldn't be a technical issue, but only a cosmetic/visual thing.

I'd say plane the proud side flat with the ply and call it good. Once you're done it won't be noticable for anyone unless you tell them.

[timo4352]

It will be good to see another Ilur come together.
The kit should make things a bit less challenging.
Are the planks CNC cut also?

[davidladd]

I’m using the boomed lug rig. I’m used to having a boom and I’ll be sailing solo so this rig best suits me.

[davidladd]

Yes, I am using a complete kit from Clint Chase. Even with a complete kit there is a lot to do for a first time builder.

[davidladd]

Planing down the proud side of the transom head is a way to fix it but it might diminish the thickness of the transom more than I would like. I will probably just live with it the way it is. No one other than an Ilur owner will know the difference.

[MoritzSchwarzer]

it might diminish the thickness of the transom more than I would like.

It looks like it's maybe a millimeter at the outer edge. That's basically nothing. But you're right, it won't make a difference in the end.

[davidladd]

I've started the process of glassing and then graphite coating the inside of the centerboard case. The 2x4 frame around the case halves are protecting the wet epoxy surface from the tarp i still have to drape over whatever I am epoxying. Its still cold here in the PNW so I have a heater under the tarp to bring it up to temp.

[davidladd]

Hi MoritzSchwarzer,
I picture of the transom head doesn't look like there is much of a tilt, but it's actually between 4-5 mm. I could plane that off, but the transom head has a sculling notch. I'f afraid if i plane off 5 mm that it would weaken the transom head too much. If it wasn't for the sculling notch I probably would plane off the high side and build up the low side. But, as I said, having the tilt probably won't even be noticeable to anyone else.

[timo4352]

Hi MoritzSchwarzer,
I picture of the transom head doesn't look like there is much of a tilt, but it's actually between 4-5 mm. I could plane that off, but the transom head has a sculling notch. I'f afraid if i plane off 5 mm that it would weaken the transom head too much. If it wasn't for the sculling notch I probably would plane off the high side and build up the low side. But, as I said, having the tilt probably won't even be noticeable to anyone else.

These things have a way of working themselves out.... you may find that down the road this might work to your advantage for the sculling angle or something....then you can tell folks you planned it that way!

[Gruds]

If the transom is bothering you that much, I'd run a thin saw blade down the joint and have another go. After you have cleaned it up, you will only lose a few mm and you could even add a thin piece back in, if that was a problem.

[minuteman]

Beautiful choice of boat. I've sailed with a few and they are as fast as they are stylish. And the kit will get you there sooner.

Thanks for taking the time to start the thread. I'll be following with pleasure.

Kenny

[davidladd]

Thanks minuteman, I honestly couldn't build this boat without the kit. As a first time boat builder it's already hard enough even with the kit. I spent the whole day just epoxying on the mast stem cleats and the Centerboard inside posts and spacer.

[callsign222]

This is such a lusty boat. It's going to be worth the effort. Take your time, read, ask questions, read again, armchair-build, and it'll be a nice job (but remember "perfect" is the enemy of "good enough" and you want to go sailing, I can smell it from here!) and before you know it, you're going to be off into the brine. She sails like a much bigger boat, stable, quiet, fast for 14'. A real gem. Great choice!

DSC01277.2 (1).jpg

[minuteman]

Holy Cow, David! I just looked up Hansville - you do need a boat! What a fantastic location. When I lived in WA all of my sailing was on Lake Union.

When I built my Navigator I was about the same experience level as you. The Ilur looked great but without the kit it was beyond my comfort level. Just keep plugging away and it will come together. You're in a good location because with a little heat you can epoxy most of the year, if you want to.

Kenny

[davidladd]

Hi Kenny, Yes, i do live in a pretty good place for sailing. I had a 27' pocket cruiser sailboat for 15 years and sailed all through the San Juans and Canadian Gulf islands. Every year i went out for 3 to 4 weeks and explored. Mostly by my self, but my wife went with me once (3 weeks together on a small boat), my son went out with me for 10 days, and last year my 13 year old grandson went out with me for 9 days. For some reason I can't really explain I sold my boat last year. I thought I was done with sailing. But it didn't take me long to miss the sea and I started looking for a small sail/row boat to build. Once I found the Ilur I knew it was the one for me.

[davidladd]

I am finally getting closer to finishing the center board case. I've wet sanded the graphite impregnated epoxy on the interior surfaces to 400 grit. I forgot to tape off the areas where the mating case forward, aft, and mid top spacer will epoxy mate up to the other side case so i sanded and cleaned up the graphite as best i could and put another layer of neat laminating epoxy over the graphite to give myself and cleaner surface to use Gel Magic and epoxy the case halves together.

[davidladd]

Time to shift gears. With the centerboard finished its time to start putting the strongback together so I can use it to start epoxying all the scarf joints (keel, clamping battens, hull planks, and anything else that needs to be scarfed for the hull work phase.

[stromborg]

Your boat is coming along nicely.

One more thing to add to your glue-up list is all of your spars. If you wait until later you'll just end up having to work around the hull. Having the spars around during build means you can fuss with them while waiting for epoxy to kick off on the main boat and you won't feel rushed to get the requisite 8 coats of varnish on.

[davidladd]

Hi Stromborg,
You are absolutely right. I’ve already wondered how I would find the room to work on the overturned boat and still have the strong back in the garage to epoxy up the spars. I’m just anxious to get on with planking. Also, my mast is a birds mouth and I’m not sure I want to tackle that whole thing right now. I will add the lug yard to my to do now glue, but I can’t do my boom now because I don’t have the material yet and I’m not sure when I will get it. After I glue up the clamping battens, keel, false keel, and, lug yard I’ll se if I’m feeling confidant enough to do the birds mouth mast.

[davidladd]

To help keep the scarf joints flat and true I decided to make a bomb proof jig out of double 3/4 ply. The clamping battens and the keel were epoxied up yesterday.

[JasonD]

Looking good! I will be following with interest.

[timo4352]

That scarfing jig is a good idea.
I don't know why these simple things like this don't come to me when needed sometimes.

[stromborg]

A birdsmouth spar is actually pretty easy once the pieces are milled up, you also want a really long flat area to set up the jigs. On the other hand, once we've cleared past social distancing I'd be happy to run out to Hansville and give you a hand.

[davidladd]

Thanks Steve,
Bainbridge has done very well in your social distancing. North is up to 32 cases. I appreciate the offer to help. By the gov’s phase chart we could be doing social distancing until the end of May or longer. Once I get all the other scarfs done I’ll start on the birdsmouth. Scarf the staves first (they are in 8’ sections), then work on tapering them. I have to make the glue up stands too. Once all that is done I’ll see where we are in the social distancing process.

[davidladd]

While the epoxy on the false keel scarfed is curing I'm using the wait time to get the lug yard pieces ready to scarf together and cleaning up all the molds and bulkheads. All the plank land notches on the NC cut forms are left with a radius and need to be square cut. I got that tip from watching Geof Kerr's Glued Lapstrake Plywood Boat Building series on Off Center Harbor. if it wasn't for all the videos on Off Center Harbor I wouldn't know what to do.

[stromborg]

This is the set up I used for one of the many spars for Marianita. The staves do a pretty good job of lining themselves up in a straight line but having a nice stand helps. Wrap the alignment blocks with packing tape wherever epoxy might drip out. I probably end up with a hose clamp every 24-36". The epoxy will chip off easily later.

[davidladd]

Hi Steve, Thanks for the pics. You have made yourself a professional spar making workshop. I'm always glad to see how others do a project. Instead of using circle diameters on the alignment blocks you square cut the notches to the spar diameter at their respective stations. It doesn't look like you left much clearance on the notch sides so the staves are held in alignment better. I see you used string to get the longitudinal center line for the alignment blocks. Did you adjust the height of each alignment block to get the spar center line level or did you just let the spar slope down with its taper? Also, i'm wondering what epoxy you used? A question I have is whether to use gel magic (I would probably use a cartridge tube so I could get epoxy on the staves without having to mix up so much), or did you do a mix up using West, System Three, etc. and fillers? Getting all the epoxy needed on the staves seems like a job in itself.