Slow progress

Today, my friendly reader(s) , I accomplished very little. Rough double at work means I got home later, didnt have ambition, and was just generally tired and hungry. Sob story...

I have discovered a minor measuring error in the stringer upright. Should be an easy fix and back underway when the two new sheets of ply arrive to start the jig. I did however get some stuff around the house realigned, and clamped up the true (motor supporting) transom:




At least something got done..........

Tomorrow, a row with my bride, mountain bike with some friends, and back to work for a shift sunday. I will have 3 days next week with which to build, and am in hopes of having the jig somewhere near built by next friday.

More when it happens!

E

Reparations, Disintegration, Redemption!

Alright, the world is restored to its normal splendor. Windsor made good on the price difference in the wood (a free sheet of 10mm ply is a nice fix), and on top of that a friend bought the remnant 6mm sheets that had been cut (thanks Chris). So then, back to our story...

I was able to use the cut pieces as templates to cut the correct ply. Thus saving HOURS of laying lines again and having to re-establish the right layout. Pretty handy. So for the first two sheets, I decided to recut the stringers and the C frame. Stringers went great. Now about that C frame.

I cut it, measure twice, etc etc, like a good little woodworker. I stand back. I grab my camera to bestow the newest progress to the blog readers. I notice an "error". I had done the following math, and you will see the problem:

1050 x 2 = 2010 Hm, no.

1050 + 1050 = 2010 Hm, still no.

&*%# ))@#*%& ))()^$#@!@%#^. And the camera case goes flying....

I discover that 2100 is a better answer to the above. Anyone still trying to figure out the title of the blog "A complete idiot....". And thus I prove the axiom measure 4 times, cut once idiot.

I would swear, but this is a "family" show, and its tougher literarlily (is that a word? Google it) to come up with adequately descriptive ways to express anger.

Well, as it turns out, I can fit the transom template inside the disproportionate C form, so thus the redemption begins. As I feel a bit better the next day, I get the remaining stringer pieces cut, a new C frame, and both transoms. Excellent! I feel so good about myself I throw together a strongback with kiln-dried Doug Fir 2x6's. Nice and square, but a little curve in one board that lifts the corner. Looks like I will be taking my measurements from the concrete floor instead of the strongback boards.

To the photos!

The second C frame:




The stringer/motorwell sides (jacques Im gonna talk to you about this measurement):




Der strongback:



An idea I have since Im using a metal tape to measure my form locations. I marked my origin dead-square on both sides with a T square and a scrap piece of teak. I then cut a notch on the OUTSIDE of the line (away from the center) so that the tongue of the tape measure has a place to park and makes the measurements uniform. Please hold your applause until the curtain.

Good idea or bad? YOU BE THE JUDGE!




On our next episode, gluing up the stringers! And possibly, setting the forms!

Dont hesitate to post comments!

E

And the issues begin...

So I go to pick up the second round of ply from my local supplier Windsor Plywood, and discover that the 9mm ply I was supposed to recieve turned out to be 6mm. As such, I didnt realize that until I had 2 stations and 2 transoms cut. All of the work accomplished up to now may be for naught. I am getting ahold of the designer on the builder's forum ( http://www.bateau.com ) to see if I can utilize any of the pieces cut. Beauty eh?

Not a huge concern, but just a big hassle. They are cutting me a deal on 2 more sheets of ply to replace the 2 screwed up ones, but whatcha gonna do. At least the guy was willing to work for me. Its a constant struggle with a little of this and a little of that, but the boat always seems to come together.

On the flipside, I am stoked to be seeing some sawdust on the floor, as any self-respecting boat type should be (unless you bought your boat with termites).

To make myself feel better, lets have a look at my first ever project (thus the not-so-fair sides) the Glen-L Tubby Tug. Good plans, easy to build, made tons of errors, and it still floats/cruises around/fishes with the big boats. Im driving, and a friend with his kid helped launch. I hadn't added trim yet as this was the shakedown run and was put back on the hard for a couple weeks following.



And one of the fleet getting used by the neighbor kids out behind our house. Tug with trim added, one WACKY LASSIE in blue ( http://www.alaska.net/~fritzf/Boats/Wacky_Lassie/Wacky_Lassie.htm ) and one CHEAP CANOE in green ( http://www.bateau.com )



Ahh, happier days.

E

In the beginning...

How very thrilling, my own blog. Just another space for a blithering idiot to post pointless information for those who are entirely too enthused with other's lives instead of their own. Ah well, at least I have a purpose for this (somewhat). Bear with me in the beginning, I will be learning the ropes of this blogosphere as best I can.

I have started building a boat designed by Jacques Mertens-Goossens down in Florida by the moniker NINA. It is a 22 foot lobster / picnic boat in the style of a handful of different boats. Those that are familiar with W.M. and John Atkin will see a tremendous resemblance to NINIGRET, which is why I decided to build it.

Mindless banter aside, here is the info:

A link to the boat designers page:
http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=LB22

Gorgeous boat eh?

So after ordering a lovely $450 of marine ply, off we go!

Today included putting down lines on the ply for the internal frames and cutting a few out. I have just a few main frames and one stringer cut (except the small plans error that was found earlier by another builder, thats tomorrow's project). As this boat is a stitch and glue design, it will be built on a very basic strongback using the frames as a mold. Ingenious little bit of design that both JMG and Sam Devlin use.

Laying lines:




Using a batten hung around nails makes the nice fair curves of the deck camber:



Frames A, E, F, and both transoms:




As far as I got, as well as a glimpse of the shop (garage where my truck used to be so happy, dry, not icy, stayed clean, and loved me more than it does now):




My mission is to keep this as up to date as possible, be mildly informative, mildly entertaining, and a good resource for those building Jacques' designs. Please don't hesitate to post any questions (if theres a way to get ahold of me, I have to look on this thing) or request different images if there is something you want to see.