Turning Over

As family and friends gathered at the build site on the evening of 5th October 2017, I felt a little anxious at the prospect of releasing the boat from its jig then turning her over. I had constructed a lifting frame with straps bolted at its extremities then passed under the boat. The contraption was strapped to the bucket of my digger, this provided lifting support whilst removing the jig uprights, temporary battens and packing holding the boat in position. A few tense moments followed, particularly as we reached the tipping point when the upper edges of the planking reached ninety degrees to the floor, a pause in the proceedings enabled a brief rest and a moment to consider the next step, a final co-ordinated heave and she was over and resting on her keel. I spent some time the following day levelling, checking for true and installing supports to ensure that all was spot on before proceeding. Its imperative that the structure be perfectly true, any discrepancies would remain trapped within the build producing a distorted boat.  

This proved to be a momentous occasion for me, I could now fully appreciate Francois beautiful design revealing the graceful lines of the hull. I was bathed in an aura of excitement and inspiration to press on with the build.  

A heart felt thanks must go to my wife Lynn, friends John,Jan,Peter,Matt,Tom and the two Jim's for helping me to turn her over. I couldn't have done it without you. 

Building And Assembly Of Hull - Garboard Sheathing & Painting

The sheathing of the backbone and garboard promoted slight feelings of anxiety at the prospect of handling what were to be large areas of glass fibre fabric, the reality proved otherwise. I prepared in a methodical organised manner trimming the fabric carefully in-situ and smoothing out by hand before applying the epoxy with a wide spatula. This I found easy to handle by not rucking or moving the fabric and effectively dispelling any trapped air bubbles. I worked quickly without rushing and achieved an excellent result.

I then applied a layer of epoxy mixed with phenolic micro-balloons to fill the weave of the fabric and flush out any variations in level where the fabric overlapped. When set, I used an orbital sander to flat the surface off before applying further filler to any indentations or imperfections. A final sanding achieved an excellent result. I cut the aperture for the outboard motor then filled up any remaining holes or imperfections in the remaining planking before sanding the entire hull, finally finishing by hand. I always aim for perfection which of course is impossible, however in doing so a very acceptable result can be achieved which, to the untrained eye looks perfect.

The only remaining job to carry out before painting is the fitting of the keel band. I decided to use a preformed radiused brass keel band for the stem followed by 3 mm flat bar 316 stainless steel for the remainder of the keel and centre board sides. I also decided to cap the sloping aft section of the keel down to where it meets the garboard. I jointed the different sections to withstand any lateral forces that may be applied. They were drilled, countersunk and screwed down with A4 marine quality stainless steel screws on a continuous bed of Sikaflex 291i marine adhesive-sealant.

The finished garboard, sheathed, filled and faired. Note the outboard

motor aperture and the stainless steel keel band - brass on the stem. 

Jointing detail of each section of stainless steel keel band.

Research revealed that the paint system required was to prove more costly and work intensive than I had anticipated. I estimated that there would be periods when the boat is in the water for up to two weeks at a time. It soon became clear that a carefully planned and applied paint system would be required to withstand the rigours of immersion, particularly in sea water. I chose to use Hempel’s paints. Studying their on line product data together with advice given by their technical department, I decided on the following regime. Firstly I applied a sealing coat of Hempel’s Light Primer, a two-component epoxy high build solvent based primer, thinned with the specified Hempel’s thinner by a ratio of 20%. I then applied a further three coats thinned only slightly to assist application. I lightly sanded down between each coat with a very fine paper then sponged down clean to remove any fine particles. I then applied masking tape at 100 mm above the designed water line, measuring up from the jig then joining the marks with a laser level. Another coat of Light Primer was applied and whilst still tacky a coat of Blake’s Under Water Primer. Then followed three coats of True Blue Hempel’s Hard Racing Antifoul, finished by a white 50mm wide band of Hempel’s Hard Racing Boot Top. I also applied the same paint regime to the inside of the centre board case. From the Boot Top up I applied three coats of Hempel’s Brilliant Gloss finished approximately 50 mm from the gunwales to allow for the good adhesion of further woodwork. After completion of the boat I will paint in un-painted or damaged areas before re-coating the planking down to the Boot Top. 

Building And assembly Of The Hull - Clinker Planking & Lead Ballast

Before the strakes were fitted, I took the opportunity of sheathing across the inside face of the joints in 300 gsm twill woven glass fabric in epoxy. When set, I filled and faired the surface before sanding down flat. I considered it easier to carry out this operation whilst the strakes were laid flat sooner than after fitting. The laying down of the planking required no steaming; it was possible to gradually bend them into position with various clamps and temporary screws fitted with plywood washers beneath their heads. These were set at approximately 100 mm centres. Before fitting the following plank, I found it relatively easy to sight down the hull and plane the bevel on the previous plank after it had been glued down. The planking process progressed steadily without any undue complications. I increased the dimensions of the bilge keels to help hold the hull clear when beaching, these I manufactured in hardwood glued with epoxy and screwed from the inside with stainless steel screws.

It required some careful consideration of how to install the 80k of lead ballast which is designed to fit into the keel. I made a template of the radiused aperture and from that constructed a mould made from the plywood off-cuts; I then stiffened this by screwing down to an off-cut of the material used to construct the jig. I considered that casting the ballast in one pour would be difficult to melt and handle, I therefore created five compartments by inserting aluminium separators to produce ingots of approximately 15 kg. The inside of the mould was then liberally coated with two coats of Sodium Silicate Solution to prevent the mould from bursting into flames. I then constructed a temporary fire enclosure and melted the lead in a cast iron crucible. The combined weight of the lead and crucible was heavy but manoeuvrable. When all had cooled down I simply broke the mould apart to reveal the shaped ingots. I had constructed the mould 2 mm over-size to allow for contraction and cleaning off the face to ensure a perfect fit into the keel aperture; any variations were taken care of by the continuous bed of epoxy in which they were set.  The keel was finally capped and closed in hardwood.  

The purpose built hearth with a fire of wood and coal.

Pouring one of the ingots. I stiffened the aluminium separators by inserting temporary plywood spacers; these were removed before pouring the next compartment.

The lead ballast glued in place ready for closing. I was particularly careful to ensure that there were no cavities within the compartment, epoxy occupied all spaces.

The completed keel before the closing hardwood false keel cap was fitted.

Building And Assembly Of The Hull - Backbone

The backbone is required to be assembled on a true flat surface. I again resorted to a brick layers line stretched tight between two support timbers, I then inserted a number of further timbers adjusted in thickness to the line to take account of any floor variations. The 100 mm support timbers provided clearance to enable insertion of G- clamps along the length of the backbone. The gluing of the backbone is a time consuming task, good organisation and an ability to work fast is essential. Even with the centre board case section previously prepared and sheathed, it required a further four hours to apply the epoxy, assemble and clamp the several layers that make up the backbone.

Applying epoxy before assembly of the backbone.

The backbone clamped on a plane and horizontal surface to ensure against  distortion.   

I realised that the centre board would require periodic removal and servicing at some point in the future. It would be necessary to remove the stainless steel spindle to allow the centre board to be lowered. I came up with the idea of fitting two O-ring sealed screw type stainless steel bungs on each side of the centre board case over the centre line of the spindle. This enables easy access to the spindle beneath the companionway step within the cabin. 

O-ring sealed screw type stainless steel bungs on each side of the centre board case.

Prior to bevelling, I laminated the false hardwood stem onto to the stem of the backbone to ensure a perfect fit when fitting later. Note the sheathed strake joints to the right of the picture.

Building And Assembly Of The Hull - Structural Plywood Parts

On 29^th March 2017 my wife and I drove the 570 mile round trip to collect the machine cut plywood sheets from Jordan Boats near Taunton in Somerset. Although a lot of time is saved by opting for  CNC cutting, there is still a considerable amount of time required to release the components from the sheets with a saw, plane the projecting tabs of plywood flush with the surrounding profile and clean and fair all the edges. Buying the pre-cut plywood sheets in this manner if referred to as the ‘kit option’, although I would suggest that this is a slight exaggeration. A kit suggests that you might simply assemble the parts which is not the case; a lot of work is still required to produce the finished components ready for assembly.

I experienced problems with some parts not lining up correctly. Alec Jordan had made some errors when programming the files which revealed itself as misalignment on two transverse bulkheads. I contacted him to outline the problems and to his credit he immediately responded, took full responsibility and re-supplied the parts without delay.  I would therefore not hesitate to recommend his services to others due to his prompt action in rectifying the mistakes. 

Loading up the 29no CNC cut plywood sheets at Jordan Boats

Components released, cleaned and faired. I rolled the jig over and used the bottom as a bench for assembling and gluing.  This proved particularly useful for the planking which requires a long flat surface. I dry assembled all parts before gluing to be certain everything fitted and lined up correctly. The planking was glued up in pairs with polythene strips laid between the layers to prevent sticking to surrounding surfaces. A batten was screwed down over the joint to provide a clamped flat joint.

All jointed surfaces were first wetted out, including large surface area laminated components and then allowed them to soak. I then applied a further coat of epoxy mixed with Silica to both surfaces, rolled to achieve an even coating before assembling with stainless steel screws where appropriate then  clamps. All screw heads were counter sunk, filled with epoxy filler and sanded off flat as the work progressed. I figured it would be much easier to carry out as much fairing as possible whilst the parts were in a flat level plane. I also rounded all exposed corners within the boat to provide a user friendly surface and minimise the risk of injury in the unfortunate case of a fall.

The centre board case has a 20mm diameter hole to carry the spindle of the centre board. I had concern’s that this was a lot to ask of the plywood with the potential for wear and the possibility of water ingress into the inaccessible case. I considered the idea of inserting a brass bush for the spindle to rotate in; however I wondered if the two different metals may react and corrode in sea water, I therefore contacted the architect to express my concern. He agreed that may be a problem and offered the following solution; bore out the plywood to around 40 – 50 mm diameter and fill with epoxy mixed with fibres, drill this out to accept the spindle. I thought this an excellent idea and devised the following method. 

To accurately maintain the centre of the 20mm spindle bore, I screwed a sacrificial piece of board to the outsides of the case with a layer of polythene trapped between. I then passed a 20mm auger through the pre-drilled holes in the plywood case and drilled into the board. After marking the position I removed the sacrificial boards and opened up the holes in the case to around 45mm using a hole saw. I considered the horizontal score marks made by the saw would provide a good key for the epoxy. I then replaced the sacrificial board and polythene separator exactly to the marks and inserted a short length of 20mm plastic conduit wrapped in plastic packing tape to achieve a clearance dimension of 21mm diameter. After wetting out and leaving to soak, I filled the remaining void with epoxy mixed with micro fibres. Two days later when fully hardened, I removed the board and extracted the conduit to leave a perfect hole exactly in the original position. I further reinforced this by sheathing over in 300gsm twill woven glass fabric soaked through with a thick layer of epoxy, providing a tough water tight seal to all surfaces within the centre board compartment. When assembling the back bone a further layer of epoxy was applied and rolled out to provide an even coating.

The completed epoxy spindle bearing sheathed over in 300 gsm woven glass fabric. When set, I cut through the fabric and trimmed it back to the edges of the hole. A further coat of epoxy was applied before the closing of the centre board case

Building And Assembly Of The Hull

After receiving the plans, I spent several days fully familiarising myself with the construction. The hull is an interlocking plywood structure, requiring 31 sheets if using patterns to manually cut out the component parts or 29 for CNC cutting. I contacted Alec Jordan of Jordan Boats, an approved agent of Francois Vivier, he has a computer controlled router that can handle the process and was able to submit a quotation for the supply of the plywood accurately cut to the architects design profiles. Following careful consideration, I decided that despite the fact that CNC cutting was the more expensive option, I would take this route. This avoids the necessity of purchasing the patterns from the architect, saves an enormous amount of potentially boring cutting time with a jig saw and provides a more accurate component profile. An order was placed.

Study of the plans revealed options in the planned order of construction. There are many parts of reasonable size that can easily be manufactured at any time in the workshop. Alec Jordan had quoted an estimated time of around a month to supply the router cut plywood sheets, I therefore decided that I could constructively use this period by starting the build process.

I began by building the jig on which the boat is supported and constructed. This I built from sterling board supplied by my local builder’s merchant. The standard size boards were not wide enough to span the base width, I therefore grooved the edges of the base boards then glued on tonged extension pieces cut from the waste of other sheets. This worked very well and produced a very strong flat base making good use of the available material by minimising waste. I used a total of seven sheets. I planned to use the base of the overturned jig as a large flat bed, to assemble the large boards and components prior to any assembly of the hull. I realised that the structure would be heavy and difficult to pick up from the floor, I therefore routed three pockets in the outer layer of the vertical sides to act as hand holds. This feature worked very well allowing two people to roll the structure over without too much difficulty. 

My priority for the current year was to assemble the hull over the course of the summer to allow satisfactory curing times of the epoxy. Smaller more manageable items could then be made up in the heated workshop over the winter period; however I was keen to make a start whilst waiting for the plywood to arrive so I decided construct the tiller from existing stock held in the rack.

The Jig

Hand holds cut into the outer layer of the jig sides

Prior to assembling the boat I levelled and made true the jig. Stretching a taught brick layers line along its length, I was able to raise the Jig where necessary with glued wedges to take account of any variations in the concrete floor. To achieve level in the transverse plane I used a spirit level. 

In the absence of detailed measurements to construct the elegant bow shape of the tiller, I transposed the profile by scaling off the drawing to produce a plywood template. Strictly adhering to the architects design and given dimensions, I strengthened the glued layers by cutting a groove into each half then inserted a Sapele tongue. I also spliced in a short length of Mahogany at the ball end of the tiller purely for aesthetics. I used seasoned Ash for the remainder from stock that I had felled in our woodland some years previously.

The tiller before gluing showing the component parts.

        Plywood template on the left.

The Building Site

I am in the fortunate position of owning a fairly large agricultural building that only required a little re-organisation. This building is situated close to the house and is fitted out with a fully equipped joiner’s workshop, an ideal location for the build. Further advantageous features include a solid level concrete floor and large double sliding doors allowing good access.

The building site. Note the full size hull pattern reared up the back wall.

Which Design

My overriding desire was to get this project right and not rush into it. Experience has taught me to spend plenty of time considering all aspects and to mull over the many options. Over a period of months I produced a mental wish list of characteristics of which I wanted the boat to achieve:

·         An aesthetically pleasing classic wooden sailing boat design constructed using modern methods.

·         To be able to go lake and coastal cruising with a crew of two adults and two children.

·         To have a small cabin to enable a few nights away, prepare food in a protected environment and somewhere to retreat in poor weather.

·         To be tailerable, easy to launch and recover.

·         To have an outboard motor discreetly mounted on the centre line as opposed to a bracket on the transom, easily removable and room for stowage on board.

·         To have a retractable centre board that did not compromise the cockpit or cabin space.

After months of systematic research and investigation into designs, modern materials and methods of wooden boat building, I discovered a design by Francois Vivier that really caught my eye.

Beniguet - a trailerable classic gaff sloop rig with a small cabin was the pocket ship for me.

I initially purchased the study plans which enabled me to study the lines and understand the construction. In doing so I could therefore be absolutely certain that this was the design to satisfy my wish list before committing to buying the full plans. I also contacted the Architect directly, striking up a dialog in order to answer or confirm various queries. I then went through the tedious process of estimating the cost. This proved both time consuming and informative, mainly due to my lack of understanding of the terminology and where one could purchase the various materials and myriad of fixtures and fittings. 

Another important consideration was the location of the build site. We live in a remote farmhouse situated in the hills accessed by a steep and difficult access track. The geometry of one particular bend is very tight and I needed to be sure that I could tow the boat around this obstacle. To confirm if indeed this would be possible, I constructed a full sized outline pattern of the hull from 25 x 100 timbers, attached two steel brackets at the estimated trailer wheel axle centre line, bolted on two bicycle wheels and a further forward projecting timber to enable a towing eye to be fitted. I was then able to tow the pattern to confirm that I would be able to negotiate the convoluted track access.

Following many weeks of estimating and research, I arrived at the conclusion that I could successfully fund the project and was willing to make the considerable time commitment of man hours required to build the boat.

I purchased the full plan set. 

My background

My Father had an underlying passion for boats and owned a wooden sailing dinghy whilst he was posted in Egypt for four years during the 2^nd Word War. When I was young, the result of his influence meant that we were always messing about in boats which, in my later teenage years, inspired me to begin building a wooden rowing boat. Unfortunately due to financial restrictions and space constraints I never completed the project. However years later after serving an apprenticeship, I set up a small business as a self-employed joiner. I came to the attention of the owner of a local chandlery who subsequently invited me to work in his boat yard, initially building pontoons then carrying out repairs to all manner of different craft. During my time there I purchased a rundown plastic hulled boat which, eventually morphed into a modest restoration project, providing an interesting and informative insight into boat construction, propulsion and lots of fun. I progressed with my joinery business which later expanded into constructing extensions and carrying out alterations on domestic property. After 45 years of being a builder and joiner I am now semi-retired. Whilst I do not consider myself as anything other than a potential amateur boat builder, I feel I have a good skill base and background to enable me to construct a decent boat.

Dad (port side facing camera) sailing Bunty in Egypt

For the past twelve years, I have lived on the fringes of the English Lake District. Following a trip on a Windermere cruiser, I realised that the easy access to the Lakes are a valuable unexplored local resource, allowing one to view the beautiful Cumbrian scenery from a different perspective. This stirred past yearnings and prompted a desire to build a traditional wooden boat, the time was right to launch into my Second Nautical Period.