Boat Den

Helenas simple radiator cover posed several challenges to the newbie woodworker, not the least being: how to cut the many front strips perfectly flush with the sides?

The more I worked on this project, the more I recognized that straight, square lines were critical to the look of the finished piece. I normally like to round-off edges, even just a bit, to to soften them, and because paint and varnish are most likely to crack on sharp edges.

But the look of this cover seemed to depend on nice, crisp lines. I had to saw the ends of the strips off squarely, so theyd be perfectly flush with the sides.

But how? Every time Id tried to saw something -- like screw plugs, for instance -- flush, the saw teeth had scratched the surface all around. I certainly didnt want to do that with this piece.

Strips need to be trimmed flush

It took a bit of digging on my part, but I eventually discovered that, yes, there was a tool for that, and had been for hundreds of years: a flush cut saw.

On most saws, the teeth are bent outwards slightly, alternating to the right and left. This set, helps the saw make a cut that is wider than the saw, so the saw blade doesnt get stuck in the cut.

The teeth on flush-cut saws are not set, so -- theoretically, anyway -- when the blade lies flat on wood, the teeth dont dig or cut into it.

There are expensive furniture-making flush-cut saws, but Japanese style flush cutters are now popular and relatively inexpensive, so thats what I opted for:

The tool of the job: flush cut saw

The flush cut saw makes it easier to do this job without scratching the wood, but not so easy that you dont need any skill to use it. I found it quite difficult to cut the ends off flush without doing some damage to the side, so I taped the side. This lent some protection, but more importantly, served as an early-warning device... when I started cutting the tape, I new I was doing something wrong, and could stop before I did any real damage.

I also didnt try to cut the ends exactly flush... I left about 1/32" of wood protruding from the end... just enough to give the saw teeth a bit of breathing room.

Saw in action. Tape prevents even little scratches.

After the ends were cut close, but not perfectly flush, I used a random-orbit sander with 80 grit paper, to sand the ends perfectly flush. This went much quicker than I expected and yielded a perfectly flush cut with no damage to the sides.

Finished with random orbit sander

With both ends trimmed, I sanded the whole thing with the random orbit sander, first 80, then 120. I didnt think it needed more sanding that that.

After a complete sanding... looking pretty good!

Then I gave it a good oiling, inside and out with linseed oil The wood was very thirsty: it absorbed more than a pint of oil. The next day, I gave it another drink, and it happily took in another cup.

With a coat of linseed oil.

Then it was time to carry it upstairs to surprise Helena. Happy Christmas, sweet heart!

Installed in piano studio

Actually, its not *quite* finished in this photo, because once I had it in place, I realized I forgot to cut quarter-round bits out of the bottom back corners, to accommodate the molding on the floor, but a few minutes with a coping saw solved that problem, and the cover now fits snuggly against the wall. Id also forgot to trim the center post, so heres a pic with the unit complete:

Center post trimmed

So, thats one big project done. Its great to have it out of the shop, finally. Im going to give the shop a good clean up and then start on my winter boatbuild list... and its quite a long one.

Next Episode: Cutting Boards

During my most recent visit with Reuel Parker, which has now been a little over a year ago but certainly doesnt seem like it, Reuel gave me the study plans for an enlarged Egret-styled sharpie.  Based on the original 28-footer made famous by Commodore Munroe in Florida, this 31.5-foot version offers much better cruising accommodations, although like all sharpies, still minimal for its size.  Reuel said it was the most boat that could be built for the money and pointed out that it would be quick to build, trailerable and yet capable of crossing the Gulf Stream and exploring skinny water off the beaten track, like the Bights of Andros, one of his favorite places in the Bahamas to hang out.


I was intrigued, but not ready to start another boat building project so soon after selling my Wharram Tiki 26.  In fact, the reason I was in Reuels neck of the woods in Florida was to inspect a Liberty 28  Cutter that was offered by a brokerage nearby.  I didnt make an offer on the Liberty, and ended up buying my Cape Dory 27 several months later, but Ive pulled out those Egret study plans more than a time or two.  I kept hoping someone would build one, and now it is happening.  A Google search of the design turned up Dennis Woodriffs build blog, started in 2013.  Building in Virginia, he made rapid progress until winter and a move put him on temporary hold.  The hull has been built and turned and he is now finishing the interior, deck and house structures:


I got in touch and learned that Dennis has extensive sailing experience and plans more big adventures when he launches his new Egret sharpie.  Im anxiously awaiting the continuation of the build, and Im betting that once the weather improves we wont have to wait long to see this new Parker design launched.

For more on the Egret 31.5, the description of the design is available on Reuel Parkers site here.

Before I can move forward on the steering system, I needed to finish sheathing the lazarette. The lazarette is the area aft of the engine room and underneath the cockpit. The rudder post and steering gear is located in this room. The room is pretty large measuring about 14 x 7 x 48" high.

While the lazarette is home to the rudder and steering gear, I also have put some more equipment in here. The marine air conditioner that will cool the salon and wheel house will be in the lazarette along with the water heater, freezer, air compressor, 90 gallon black water tank, and generator discharge line ( wet exhaust), and fresh water hot and cold manifold.

When I was welding the boat I framed a level pad for the black water holding tank. Other than that one level area, the lazarette floor follows the shape of the hull.

I sheathed the lazarette with 1/2" B/C plywood then painted on a coat of primer( actually, I had my 16 year old son Conall Jr. paint the room), and three coats of white enamel house paint. Since I was working in that are, I decided to install the light wiring and the conduit and boxes for the various electric equipment. I had already run the wires to the big junction box next to the generator in the engine room so it was no big deal to continue the conduit run in to the lazarette. I decided to install a light switch outside of the lazarette on the engine room AC light circuit ( this will be on an inverter circuit). There will also be two DC lights in that room on a switch.

The lazarette room turned into a little bit of work and I found myself saying " since Im in here I might as well...". Since I had finished the electric conduit and boxs I decided to finish the generator discharge line. I also completed the water line manifold and made all those connections.

The water line manifold turned out to be a nice way to complete all the water lines for the boat. Instead of using "Ts " hidden behind walls, I ran lines for every fixture back to the lazarette. I used a PEX manifold that comes with a nice re usable compression connector that has a shut off valve for each line. I still have to install the lines for the clothes washing machine, the salon 1/2 bath, and the aft deck outdoor shower, but I will have to wait to do that when the boat gets to the launch site. The nice thing about this manifold is that it is easy to expand and will be a breeze to winterize all the fresh water piping from this manifold by some simple valve turning and my air compressor. This was the smallest manifold my plumbing supply house sold with 9 hots and 12 cold ports. The 1" cold inlet goes all the way through so I can feed it from either the top or bottom.

The lazarette is going to be the closet of the boat and I have a feeling it will be jammed with all kinds of stuff. Once I have all the components installed Ill probably fill all the wall space with shelving. Ill wait to install the 3/8 plywood ceiling once the boat gets to the launch site. Im only a few steps away from having the fresh water system complete, and I might head in that direction before I work on the steering and hydraulic system.

This week I got the glued decking laid on the seat tops.


For the most part, I followed Barretts article Glued Decking with Beveled Edging Boards published on Duckworks, with some exceptions.

Instead of using ipe or teak, I used mahogany. I dont like working with ipe.  Its extremely hard, very difficult to cut, it sometimes splinters and splits for no reason, it dulls tools in short order, its very heavy (so dense in fact that it sinks in water) and you have to wear a respirator when cutting it because the sawdust is toxic. Teak is the best choice for this application, but teak is expensive.  Of all the woods that I have available to me, mahogany is my favorite.  Its not too expensive, its a joy to work with.  Usually just the right density - not too hard or soft. Of course it varnishes beautifully and oils very nicely. Epoxy and paint sticks to it like mad.  Granted, mahogany is not quite as oily as teak, and its not quite as hard. Without protection, it may not withstand the abuse and neglect that unprotected teak decks normally endure.  But yearly application of teak oil will provide plenty of  protection, especially for a daysailer that will be garaged.  And oiled mahogany looks good....real good.

About two years ago I scored an entire truckload of mahogany for free. A guy in Seattle was performing a major remodel of an old home. He had removed all the wood trim from around the windows and doors, which had been painted over, and was giving the pile away for free as firewood.  He said he didnt know what kind of wood it was, but it looked like it might be mahogany.  It was.  After I got the pile home I scraped off the paint and a good friend of mine ran the entire lot through his thickness planer.  The end result was hundreds of dollars worth of beautifully clear boards with nothing but a few nail holes to fill.

Most of this mahogany has now become a part of Ellie.

One mans firewood is another mans yacht.

Installing the decking

It made sense to me to begin by installing the perimeter of the decking, then fit the interior to it. So I began with the area around the footwell, proceeded forward along the centerboard case, then around the outside edges.
From there I started laying planks from the sides of the footwell outboard. As I resawed the boards in half I  would lay one strip port and the other starboard to keep the grain colors and plank lengths symmetrical.
Here I am using Soda Clamps to hold down the planks. These are inexpensive Soda Clamps made by Shasta, but I find they work every bit as well as the name brand clamps made by Coke and Pepsi, but at a fraction of the price.

The front seat, rear seat, and sections along the centerboard case were easy because all the planks were the the same length.  Its true what they say.  You never have enough clamps. When I ran out of soda clamps I had to resort to using paint cans.

Another deviation from Barretts guide.
She laid her entire deck down using nylon spacers and then glued it down with sikaflex.
I epoxied my deck down a few planks at a time. I found that two Popsicle sticks gave me just the right gap.  I would cut a few planks and lay them in place using the spacers, then remove them, brush epoxy on the plywood underlayment and the underside of the planks, set them back in place, clamp them with soda clamps and finally remove the spacers and allow the epoxy to cure.
The seats will eventually be oiled with Dalys Seafin teak oil.  The hatch covers have already been oiled.  Now that the deck is laid, the next step is to sand it all flat and fill all the gaps with black Sikaflex.  That will be the subject of my next blog post.

Until then, here are some more photos of the progress to date.

Spent quite a while sanding and filling and fairing the lead keel into the hull. Spent a whole day dusting and vacuuming the shop to eliminate as mush dust as possible.  Then I hung a polythene tent over the hull to prevent any further dust from landing on it.

I heated up the hull by using an infrared panel underneath the hull.  Then tack ragged the hull.  Afterwards, I applied two different types of primer - one which is specified for under water which looks like silver paint and the other primer an aluminium primer for the top sides.
I applied 3 coats of primer and lightly sanded in between.
 Next I applied a top coat of Hempels Brilliant Enamel.  The first coat went on very watery - I had thinned it about 10%.  It ran and sagged and looked awful!  So I lightly sanded it back and applied a second coat un-thinned this time.  It dried to a nice shinny colour, but the finish was poor - t looked like leather!  So I called the Hempel technical department who suggested my paint was probably stored too cold before use.  They suggested I store the paint in the house to bring it slowly up to room temperature and not to thin it during application.  I have been using high quality brushes, so its a bit disappointing getting such a poor finish.



With Brians help, I have since sanded down the second coat to a flat uniform finish and am pondering how to apply the top coat.  Im thinking that I have too much a differential in temperature between the hull (about 15degC) (which is heated from underneath) and the ambient temperature 10degC and the paint which was probably a few degrees lower again.

More trial & horror!

In between, I steamed some ash again to make a new tiller - the first version was unsatisfactory.  I found I had a lot of spring back because the wood had probably cooled too much before I had it bent onto the formers.  So I re-steamed it, and to my surprise it straightened out completely and then bent much more easily onto the former.  I havent yet unclamped it, but Im hopeful for a better result.

Weve mentioned the Baltic 83 before but in passing. Shes special enough that we think she merits further discussion. Only one boat was built to this design. The boat was designed in conjunction with Baltic Yachts with styling and layout by Tor Hinders and naval architecture (hull shape, appendages, structure and rig design) by S&S. This was our first collaboration with Baltic of Finland.

The hull and deck were constructed of fiberglass with a balsa core as are the structural bulkheads. She was launched in 1987.

Heres an article from Yachting magazine by writer Jack Somer. Please double click for bigger view.


Heres a presentation plan.


And some interior images.