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I noticed the same thing building Boreal: the sheer clamps aren't in the material list. Like you, I went with 19mm square and it seemed to work out well. How's your build coming along?

-Andrew...

Thanks! That should work fine. It sounds like the racing (especially this one) is relatively casual.

Despite my complete lack of photo proof, I've been enjoying sailing my Beth in varied conditions. I'm hoping to soon borrow a waterproof camera to clamp to the mizzen and get some action video.

My...

Aha! I was wondering why that might be. I figured it had something to do with the mainsheet and thought maybe it was sheeted to the tiller, but that didn't seem right and I thought I remembered it...

That is a good idea - I'll keep that in mind if I do have a problem, but for now since it's already bolted up I'll just see how it goes. If it does cause any damage I figure I can use a forstner bit...

Oh thanks, that's fantastic! Those photos answer a lot of questions.

Could you explain in more detail what you mean here? Are you talking about the end lashings like this?

http://www.storerboatplans.com/GIS/Lashing%20sail%20corners%20to%20spars.jpg

I'm currently...

Wow, that sure looks like a lot of boat for the size. Looks like a whole lot of fun, and what a great paint scheme :U Definitely some national pride there.

So close, so very close.

After carefully rounding over the ends and fiberglassing it all, I realized that I need a flat top on the rudder so I can mount the steering yoke. Oops... I contemplated...

That looks like a fantastic trip. Interesting how much of an impact we've had on the land over the years. Those weirs are really a rudimentary form of locks on a canal.

I've always found it neat...

Looks like a fun day! The boat looks great, and it sure looks nice and sunny. I hope it's the start of a good summer of sailing.

I know the feeling!

Despite distractions I've been making progress. More painting, painting, painting.

Painting the underside of the deck was a special kind of fun. Lots of tiny little corners...

Make sure to check what materials is used for your ports to ensure you don't get any reaction between the sealant and the plastic. Polysulphides aren't recommended for use on ABS or a bunch of other...

I did a bit of searching and was horrified to find that there seem to be 7 Home Depots in your town (!!), but I found a few places that sound promising

Solid fir, possibly plywood:
Berry...

I think you should look around for a real wood store - try and find somewhere that caters to actual woodworkers instead of homebuilders. You might also be able to get plywood shipped which I think...

Thanks for all the comments!

Actually just Douglas Fir, but they look very similar. This Fir has very tight grain: 30+ rings per inch, although that apparently doesn't really matter when it comes...

Thanks Mik, I'm sure plenty of credit is due to the designer.

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90% done, 90% to go seems to be the name of the game. I've been making progress, painting,...

At last, I have some exciting different pictures!

I experimented to see if primer alone would be enough to fill the staple holes but it really isn't so I filled them with epoxy. This went quickly...

Well, it's about time I updated this, although there isn't much to say.

I quickly decided that I don't like sanding fiberglass. Even the tiny bit required here seemed to send itchy fibers flying...

I'd agree with the sandpaper recommendation. I usually use 220 grit but the latest stuff I bought seems to clog up very quickly so I've been using 180 and I can't tell the difference. The scratches...

It seems to me that you could very easily experiment by just clamping a board in place and seeing how it works. It sounds like you're not really looking for more righting moment, just easier righting...

Give them a scrub with a wet "scotchbrite" pad (like this) and it'll wash off any amine blush and give the surface a slightly roughness ready for finishing. It will conform to the surface so you'll...

That's really strange. How long had the epoxy been curing for? I wonder if it wasn't fully cured or something? Might be too much clamping pressure but if that were the main problem I'd expect it to...

Robert, I used google to translate your blog and it seemed to make sense. I like the block tied to the masthead - I could use the sheave cut into my mast to do the same thing.

I'm glad to hear...

I've built a couple quick dinghies out of exterior grade fir plywood and for anything that takes more than a few days to build I'd definitely spend the extra for real marine plywood. I went with top...

Well, there's good news and there's not so good news.

Good news: got the blank for the foils glued up. I finally gave the squeegee a shot and found it worked very well. I could stack the various...

That's a good point. I'll do a test hoist and see how it feels and then switch to a block if it's too much work.

Me neither! I'm really looking forward to it.

Bit more progress: got the chine fiberglassed. As part of the same operation I also filled all the screw holes using a syringe. This worked great and...

Yeah, that's a good idea. I used a forstner bit and usually there's no problem but that sap line through the middle of everything weakened it a lot.

As promised, here's some pictures.

The rudder is a fairly complicated part: tapered in one direction, curved in another, with a pivot hole that needs to be square to the sides and a projection on...

Life sure gets busy sometimes. Right now I'm trying to finish this boat, replace 2 pairs of headgaskets and a steering rack in a third car, make a double bladed paddle for my canoe, put another coat...

Warmer days definitely sound worth waiting for. Over here we're getting one or two nice days, but still lots of wind and rain which make building a lot more appealing than sailing.

This looks...

I built a geodesic aerolite canoe (Geodesic AiroLITE Boats - ultra lightweight SOF canoes and boats; plans, projects and tutorials) and it came with some paddle plans. What it does to get curvature...

It looks like a canoe! Glad to see you got the epoxy issues worked out.

Are you going to add any more spreaders before gluing? It might just be the photos but it looks to me like the ends should...

You're right, it looks a lot better in these new photos.

How long until you get YuanFen out sailing again?



I managed to get a lot of work done today, starting with trimming the gunwales....

Mik, I sent you an email. I'm andrewkbarclay@ google's email service (I realized there is no way to find my email from my forum account).

Progress continues at a good pace. I actually just ran out...

That looks like a pretty nice finish to me! As long as it's reasonably flat (which it looks to be) it would probably look totally fine once it's varnished. Give it a decent sanding with a hard...

Sure does!

Any progress on an updated centerboard plan? I sent you an email a while ago but never received a plan. It's getting mighty close to time to make foils.

Thanks for the comments!

I've been distracted by other projects so I haven't made much progress lately, but I did manage to pull out all the staples and trim the deck. Trimming went fairly quickly...

I've had similar experiences with epoxy in cold weather - plastic sheeting and lightbulbs are a big help. One thing I always do is glue up a couple scraps with the leftover epoxy. That way I have...

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it.


After weeks of putting it off, I finally glued the deck! Everything went much more smoothly than I was expecting and I'm really happy with how things glued down....

Progress continues slowly. I haven't done anything for the past few days after I somehow managed to hurt my neck moving the boat out of the garage to test-step the mast.

The second coat of paint...

Well I sure didn't make my thoughts very obvious there.

What I meant to say what I think the roller would be a lot more effective with warm epoxy than cold, wheras a squeegee will probably work...

Those are some helpful tips. I'm definitely going to try the squeegee method next time. I wonder how big of an influence temperature has one the various methods. I can see a roller working a lot...

Paint! Finally! What an exciting day it is (or was, yesterday).

After my 2 hour quick dry primer finally dried after 96 hours I sanded it all silky smooth. I think another coat of primer would...

Well, I got the inside primed. 48 hours later it still wasn't quite dry enough to sand, and in the mast well it was actually still wet to the touch. I think this is due to lack of ventilation and the...

Yeah, I didn't actually get the bowls. I also use old yogurt containers. I've sometimes picked up official plastic mixing tubs when I didn't have any yogurt containers but I've found that they...

Pretty sure it doesn't stick to silicone. I was looking at some silicone bowls yesterday that are advertised as suitable for mixing epoxy
Flexible Silicone Bowls - Lee Valley Tools

If that brush...

Neat to see someone else's build. I did the carlin laminations in 2 stages as well and found it worked very well.

I take it the young man in the background has been keeping you busy? I bet he'd...

We'll continue by posting more photos of essentially the same thing!

I continued sanding for another couple hours and got to a point I was happy with. I then vacuumed out all the dust, wiped...