A Seil in California

[The Jeff]

Must have missed your previous update, but she's really looking good with the decks on!

[pez_leon]

If you can use the same pattern for both sides,I'm truly impressed.Re-sawing that depth of plank is no mean feat either.

If you saw the work in person you might be less impressed. The planks are over 50 mm thick, so there's plenty of room for error in resawing down to 18 mm. My planer is putting in a lot of work. And a few boards have a tiny spot or two that is a mm too shallow.

Any symmetry in these planks is a credit to the kit and not really the builder. I'm glad to hear you say that I shouldn't expect a perfect match between them: one of the frames was at least 5 mm off between the starboard and the port outside planks, meaning that I must have put it in a bit out of square. I'm not losing sleep over it.

[pez_leon]

Must have missed your previous update, but she's really looking good with the decks on!

Thanks, Jeff! I'm glad to hear you enjoy these posts. Sometimes it feels like sending pictures into the void, not knowing if anyone reads these.
How's that Long Steps coming along? Any plans for an outdoor shelter?

- James

[pez_leon]

If you are planning for trips in the Delta most of the ground there is mud. Thick, sticky, smelly, mud. Stowing the anchor in the boat while allowing for drainage and at the same time keeping the cockpit clean is a challenge...

Nothing like local experience. Thanks, Rick, for the relevant considerations. I'm going to make arrangements to store the anchor under the floorboards in the cockpit, which might at least contain mud to the bilge. (Maybe). I suspect I'll rework the details after launch.

Mud rowing - what a thing to look forward to.

- James

[pez_leon]

Here's where we are today:



This cedar was milled and gifted to me by a beloved uncle. Some of those knots are bigger and rougher than I'd like, but at this price I'm not about to complain! Rather than fret about it, I have been telling myself that even the worst board can serve as a good template for a new one someday.

[The Jeff]

Thanks, Jeff! I'm glad to hear you enjoy these posts. Sometimes it feels like sending pictures into the void, not knowing if anyone reads these.
How's that Long Steps coming along? Any plans for an outdoor shelter?


- James

Yeah, sometimes you post something and you're not sure if anyone sees it or cares. But every now and then someone tells me my build thread helped them out so I figure it's worth it. Nice looking benches!

I'm still slowly converting the hand drawn plans into a 3d CAD model so I can get a better idea of what all the parts look like and see how much plywood to buy. The instructions say 21 sheets, but I'd like to reduce that if I can with careful cutting.

I don't plan to start the build until towards the end of the year. My wife has a giant list of home improvement projects for me to do before I start on the boat. So far I've knocked out a breakfast nook and table, board and batten wall, redecked the dock, and made some built in shelving. I'm about to start regrading our yard and hopefully changing the weeds into grass. Oh and Henry's one year birthday is coming up so I have to make a video of cute pictures and clips to play in the background during the party... The list is endless!

Long Steps is definitely going to have to be an outdoor build. My garage is 19'x11' and was just big enough for the First Mate. Now I've got a lathe, milling machine, CNC router, and rolling tool chest in there so it's pretty full. Part of me wants to make a bow shed for the build, the other part says just copy your Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort Lady Liberty $15,000 Payout Memorial Boat Shed.

[dbp1]

Not only are these threads helpful in the moment, and provide entertainment for the rest of us, the thing that is wonderful about this forum (and so different with, e.g., Facebook groups) is that it is searchable going back decades. I find so much information on old threads. So post for the person who is building a Seil ten years from now: they will probably study every single post here at great length...

[pez_leon]

I hear you on the "honey-do" list, Jeff! Mine has been building and building as a push to finish this boat.

Part of me wants to make a bow shed for the build, the other part says just copy your Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort Lady Liberty $15,000 Payout Memorial Boat Shed.

I took another good hard look at my (admittedly very functional) boathouse and thought about your application. I think I'd recommend building a proper bow shed. My basic tarp works for me for a few reasons you might not share. It's built into such a tight spot between a tall hedge and a retaining wall that both long sides are at least partially screened from rain. And here in California, the rain is so seasonal and predictable that I can always get out to throw a tarp over the boat itself before a bit storm. I can even plan weather-sensitive work like varnishing and painting for weeks when I can be sure of a clear sky. I think that folks blessed by more frequent, less predictable rain might find the whole thing pretty frustrating.

[pez_leon]

The seat that covers the lazarette is in and, despite a world of good advice received on another thread, is hinged off the transom. I am almost embarrassed to go back there and report I disregarded all their good advice. I figure I can easily rebuild it in the side-by-side configuration if this is unwieldy.

Those clamps are holding a few cleats to support the center of the seat. These 18 mm boards are quite springy otherwise.

Before I can build the floors a few more bilge-level details need resolved. I glued an elbow into the centerboard case for the bilge pump plumbing and some chocks to hold the anchor:


Those chocks look minimal but feel substantial. I plan to run a small fillet around their base. I think I will screw a toggle into the top of one so that the anchor can be firmly dogged down. It should be held in place by the floorboards alone, but redundancy will be reassuring when it's all cattywhompus in a capsize.

[pez_leon]

Rigging continues. This is my first time doing all of this stuff: no one should take any of this as prescriptive.
The sheet will connect to the sail with a soft shackle with a captive ring:


I have never had occasion to tie a double Matthew Walker before.

220px-Matthew_Walker_knot.gif
I found the dog holes and holdfasts in my woodworking bench very useful for applying tension to the work:


The whipping took ages. Pleasant ages, listening to a great book in the quiet of the late night, but ages nonetheless. I can't imagine sailors spending so much time on this back in the day. Maybe I should be using thicker whipping twine?


- James

[pez_leon]

[wend]

looking sharp!

[pez_leon]

The mast thwart went in this weekend leaving precious little woodwork to complete before painting and finishing. Off the top of my head all that is left is to:

1) Trim and temporarily affix the centerboard cap
2) Fit two or four more cleats to support the midsections of the otherwise very springy floors
3) Fit turnbuttons to hold said floors down in a capsize
4) Profile the edges of the gunwales and transoms
5) Round over a few last spots on the plywood frames, and
6) Make and mount oarlock risers

Yesterday I knocked out a mast partner from some 5/16" dyneema, leather, and offcut cherry. (The espresso can serves as the mast for the purpose of the mockup)

[pez_leon]

I suppose that leather is as much a fig leaf to vanity as it is chafe protection.



The dyneema is spliced in an endless loop:



As per this tutorial:

[pez_leon]

Just below that mast partner is a normally-decked-over section of the bilge intended for oar storage. It's the space right in the middle of this picture:


When I slid the oars into place to check the fit I couldn't help but notice that a good deal of room remains below them. Under way this will be a wet, cold spot with narrow access. Perfect for six good friends.


For the purpose of household discussion, this space is now "the spirit room". I hope to furnish it with safe, easily accessed bottle storage. You can see the first attempt in that picture. The plastic clip holding those bottles by the neck is a hose storage product called "Gecko's Toes".

We had one in our garden. I liked it fine but my wife never warmed to it. Replacement with a conventional hose holder provided an opportunity to promote the gecko toes to permanent on-staff beer safety expert 1st class.

For a while this seemed a breakthrough solution to the problem of beer storage on sail and oar boats. The bottles were well retained, I think even in the event of a capsize, but I could still wiggle them out with a few deliberate twists. The plastic would be very easy to glue to the sole.
But after a few hours work on the floors and a few of those beers, I found with great consternation that the gecko toes work both as a bottle holder and a bottle opener. Those plastic ribs have a way of getting under a bottle cap and loosening it, sometimes with remarkably little motion.
The experiment thus concluded with mild disappointment and an urgent need to drink two more beers before they went totally flat under loosened caps. Not a total loss.

Public Safety Announcement: Avoid the temptation of off-label use of this particular garden product to store beer in your boat.

I am still after a clever way to secure bottles in the spirit room.

- James

[Hugh MacD]

If you're willing to limit your bottle sizes, you could put a stop at the base of the bottles to keep them from working the cap down to the Gecko's Toes. Perhaps two stops to accommodate different bottle sizes?

[rgthom]

A beer locker, that will be a popular boat on a group cruise. For holding cylindrical things I keep finding uses for the rubber pole grips sold by Duckworks: https://duckworks.com/seadog-rubber-pole-storage-clips/
There's a bunch of sizes, I've got them holding oars, e-flare, flashlights, and a pole for running lights.

[Aryoch]

Your making fantastic progress - much faster than I went. It's looking really good.
I still haven't decided where I want to keep an anchor - At the moment it's an old milk crate with anchor flogged from the other boat - but not ideal. So watching your fit out with lots of interest!


I have been installing a pump in mine this week.
Decided to put it under the stern sheets after lots of deliberation and leaning on the gunnel thoughtfully.

14634A69-EE4F-4DAA-95DA-1129A5E69C60.jpegB1A49950-C915-4CE9-B85D-8820BF0B7F75.jpgD642C8AB-99F0-4F70-99D7-EC498041E9A9.jpg

(I managed to ship some water into her a week or so ago and had to lift a floorboard to get to it to bail - so motivation!)

[Toxophilite]

Lovely work. I really like the knotty benches.

[pez_leon]

For holding cylindrical things I keep finding uses for the rubber pole grips sold by Duckworks: https://duckworks.com/seadog-rubber-pole-storage-clips/

Those clips look like just the ticket for frosty cold secure beer. I bet they have them at Whale Point in Richmond. Thank you Rick!

If you're willing to limit your bottle sizes, you could put a stop at the base of the bottles to keep them from working the cap down to the Gecko's Toes

Also a great idea. I'll see if I need to get this creative or if Rick's grips solve it. Thanks Hugh.

- James

[pez_leon]

(I managed to ship some water into her a week or so ago and had to lift a floorboard to get to it to bail - so motivation!)

Thanks for the kind words, Adrian! I think my pace of work increases with the spring weather. I am getting excited about a launch.
I like the ergonomics of your through-bulkhead pump installation. I'm curious to see the plumbing! I wandered the PVC and ABS isle for a while before chancing on fittings that sort of matched up. I don't think it'll stand up to great pressure, but don't think it will have to.
Seeing your boat is always super helpful. If you get a minute I'd love to hear more of your impressions on sailing and rowing.

James

[pez_leon]

Lovely work. I really like the knotty benches.

The knots are growing on me, too. (Metaphorically growing). I think book matching the planks helps them read better aesthetically. The wood was milled and gifted to me by a beloved uncle, so the price can't be beat and it has a family connection.


- James

[pez_leon]

Last night I laid my router down at nine and, equally unwilling to stop work and to bother the neighbors, looked for something I could do silently.



These tan tags with one eye splice are reefing nettles. The bitter end will be passed through the grommet, around the rolled sail, through its own eye, and then tied with a slipped hitch.
In my overzealous over-research I somewhere read a screed against nettles left permanently in reef points. Apparently aerodynamically disastrous and, what's worse, lubberly. No possible progress to windward, guaranteed sinking, dogs marrying cats. While I can't claim any personal opinions on the matter it does seem like a few of these in a convenient bag somewhere near the mast step should make tying in any reef pretty straightforward. Roger Barns recommends this in his book and says that the ties are remarkably handy in all kinds of uses.

I am having a tough time making conventional splices in this small Raid Braid (because I don't know what I am doing) so I experimented with removing the core and making these light-duty ties from only the cover. As I don't know what I am doing take none of this as prescriptive. I found that an eye formed by burying a single fid length of cover in the cover held up fine to all the force I could apply with the fourfold purchase. It did seem like those same eyes might eventually wiggle loose, so I whipped and lock stitched them near the neck. I also tested these ties in the way they'll be actually used. I formed them into a basic loop with the tail tied to the eye with a slipped hitch. When a lot more force than they'll ever see in use was applied, the slipped hitch.. slipped. A lot. But the eye doesn't move.

The unused cores (white in the picture above) made nifty continuous spliced loops. Worked a treat, but definitely needed lock stitching to stay in place. I'm not sure what use I have for them. I just hate to toss good line.


James

[stromborg]

In my overzealous over-research I somewhere read a screed against nettles left permanently in reef points.


James

I'll be leaving my nettles in place, mostly because when i need them the last thing I want to worry about is how to stay in the boat while grabbing a handful of flapping sail to stuff a nettle through an eye. Last summer the bit of line I use for the second reef clew went missing, getting a new one rove through the eye while standing in a pitching cockpit was no fun.


Not my boat (yet, I'm working on fixing that...) you really want to defend calling it "lubberly"?

I hear you about laying down the power tools. I've got a bunch of metal to pass under my grinder right now. Knowing how irritating I find the symphony of leafblowers in my neighborhood to be I have been trying to confine my efforts to middle of the day.

[nrs5000]

Great to see all the progress you are making, it brings back fond memories for when I was in the home stretch of my build. The boat looks great!

[pez_leon]

[pez_leon]

Up next:

1) Profile/radius/transition the edges of the transom and gunwales. I am really looking forward to this


2) Install oarlocks. I ordered the same Duck-Trap open top sets I like so much on my other boat but just heard that they are out of stock with no reliable estimate of when they'll come in from the foundry. The current plan is to make up my own oillite sockets as per Rick's excellent plan. I think I'll probably end up buying these Buck-Algonquin oarlocks... if I can overcome a current mad impulse to scale the project up whitewater hardware. My total inability to come up with a real need for the big expensive hardware does not tempter my covetousness one bit.

2.5: Varnish transoms and gunwales. On the bench, varnish thwarts, tiller, tiller extension, and centerboard cap. (Pre-drill holes for CB pennant & cleat before varnishing).

3) Remove all timber floors and benches; sand to 100; oil with Deks D1. Also oil spars and cleats while I'm at it.

4) Prep interior: Roundover remaining rough plywood frames; sand all surfaces; drill to mount rigging (mostly tack downhaul)

4.5) Paint interior. Waterborn alkyd paint, color "nimbus": 1465-nimbus_fa372073-e7b4-4e41-8cc5-63d8805f2092_240x.png

5) Move to trailer

[pez_leon]

6) Install hatches

7) Install rigging

8) Go sailing?

So much for not thinking too far ahead!

- James

[dbp1]

Looking close (and good!)

[rgthom]

A caution on the oarlocks and sockets. The bronze and brass ones are usually cast and not post machined. The shafts and sockets have casting taper, different makes may not go together snugly and they may not fit at all or be very loose if you do go with the precision made Oilite sockets. The Buck-Algonquin oarlocks say to use only with their sockets. I have found two oarlocks with precision shafts:

1) Thomas Foundry oval, from Fisheries Supply: https://www.fisheriessupply.com/thom...ar-locks/80415
These are very nice but I do not see any in open horn.

2) Douglas Oarlocks, from Duckworks. These are the open type designed for feathering type oars with collars. I had to file down a few burrs to get mine to fit in the Oilite.

I bought some open horn type from Duckworks as backup, not sure which ones. They fit in the Oilite but are loose and clanky.

Gaco oarlocks are also precision made but I have not tried any.

EDIT: Just noticed the Sawyers. They look to be post machined, but are a bigger 5/8" shaft.

[pez_leon]

A caution on the oarlocks and sockets... Just noticed the Sawyers. They look to be post machined, but are a bigger 5/8" shaft.

This is exactly the enabling behavior I want from this forum. Looks like I have no choice but to splash out for the nice hardware and build 5/8" oarlocks using 5/8" oilite bushings. Thank you Rick!

- James

[pez_leon]

1) Trim and temporarily affix the centerboard cap
2) Fit two or four more cleats to support the midsections of the otherwise very springy floors
3) Fit turnbuttons to hold said floors down in a capsize
4) Profile the edges of the gunwales and transoms
5) Round over a few last spots on the plywood frames, and
6) Make and mount oarlock risers

[pez_leon]

And yet somehow, the to-do list hasn't gotten any shorter.

[The Jeff]

Really looking good, 80% done and only 50% still to go! How long before you put a kid on each oar and you sit in the back with a drum?

I meant to thank you for the thoughts on a tent vs a more weatherproof structure, but as usual lately life has an annoying habit of getting in the way and I forgot about it. I think you're right that a tent might not work out so well since we can get a thunderstorm every afternoon at times in the summer. Perhaps some sort of lean to on the back of the house could work.

Those cornering tools look super handy. How do you like them?

[Toxophilite]

Looks great. I agree with stromberg that having the nettles in the reef grommets is fine and far easier. Often when you want/need to reef having it be as easy as possible is the best course. If I remember correctly traditional nettles were often sewn into the sails.
Certainly having a handful of 'gaskets'(I think they're called) is very useful for bundling up the sail when down and lashing various other things.

Now I will expose my ignorance and ask what are those excellent black corner rounding planes/knives called. I want some! where do you get them. I usually do that sort of thing by eye and do a nice job but those look very handy.