Now that I've seen the light .... (light boat I mean)

I'm at an interesting point in the evolution of this project - and having Robert and Eliane build her boat first puts me in a unique position. Usually, the person driving a project like this builds the first boat, and had to figure out "refinements" and "what they would do differently next time" either on-the-fly or after the fact.

First off, there isn't much I'd change on Eric's basic design. It is pretty damned good right now!

Since the boat hasn't hit the water yet, and it hasn't seen usage (and abusage) by the target sailors, we don't really know if it is up to the task yet. Having Thomas at 100 pounds walk around on the unfinished deck without ventilating the plywood was a seriously good step.

The build process worked out well in terms of speed (great!), level of skills needed (again very appropriate), and quality of result (spectacular!). There was a minimal (but still some) amount of judgment needed to work through fitting things.

As anyone involved in product development knows, variances and tolerance problems tend to magnify & exponentiate the closer you get to the final product. A little deviation at step one can make step twenty a nightmare. Robert's build didn't show major final assembly problems when the cockpit was assembled, but there was a bit of hand-fitting and customization done to the final panels.

Here are my thoughts so far:

• The angled stringer used inside the cockpit on top of the floor worked out fine in the end, but the angle cut didn't exactly match the curving cockpit sides perfectly. I'm going to rout a quarter-round on the cockpit floor stringer before install. I know many builders may not have a router table, but I do. I'm also going to undercut the angle on this (the exposed floor stringer) a little more to compensate for the changing angles of the cockpit sides. The normal assembly sequence is to glue and screw the stringer to the floor before putting the floor into the cockpit, but I may try dry fitting the floor, dryfitting the stringer, marking the best placement and screwing the stringer in there instead of following the edge of the floor panel.

  Postscript: I've been thinking about this and if I opt to use epoxy, I'll just fillet this as per normal, instead of fooling around with the stringer. Eric and I talked about this fit today, and he's going to alter the CAD files for the next build to make this section a little easier to assemble. He also said the cockpit side panels need to be fitted before dryfitting the floor - with the foam behind them. This forces the side panels into the right position

• Eliminating the foredeck is a go for me
• I'm going to construct a mildly arched mast support thwart / mast partners to replace the deck. The arch will increase the distance between the step and the vertical support location, better supporting the free standing mast. If the partners were placed level with the cockpit rail, there would only be 6-8 inches of mast captured - not enough in my opinion. With an arched support it will increase this to 10-12 inches. Much better, although it will create a problem stacking hulls or inverting the hull on a roof rack.
• I may put a small vertical support in the center of the transom bar, so that my son won't break the transom bar easily by falling on it, or dragging behind the boat.
• I'm thinking I will make the outer laminations on the cockpit rail (sheer clamp) 1" deep instead of the 3/4" used in Eliane's boat. The extra 1/4 inch would be inside the boat, and it would allow me to rout a large quarter-round bullnose on both the inner and outer faces. I'd be a little concerned about the 3/4" and routing too much - I don't want to affect strength - just hiking comfort. The other thing that falls out of this is that the laminations will have to be done with glue & clamp - without the screws, as router bits aren't happy routing the heads off brass screws! I'm also contemplating using 1/4 inch layers and alternating dark and light layers - and exposing the finished wooden rail with varnish.
• The boat is so beautiful, it would be a shame not to spend a little more and have it last ten to twenty years. Some 4oz glass and an epoxy layer on the outside may be worth considering - keeping the current construction method in place for the basic hull.
• I will be pre-painting / sealing all the bulkheads, frames and inner boat hull before assembly to limit damage in the event the hull is holed. I know this will add a pound or two, but it is an ounce of prevention type choice.
• Both Eric and Phil simlutaneously and separately suggested the idea of oarlocks, and this will require placement of a support block under the rail inside the boat if flush mount oarlocks are fitted. I'd want to go with flush mount ones so they didn't get in the way of hiking. Phil suggested a small seat that fit in the daggerboard slot, creating a small skeg for directional stability while rowing. Great idea.
• Thomas has suggested that we also create a way to attach my little 3hp Evinrude outboard to the boat (currently on long term loan to a friend as auxiliary power on his clinker-planked vintage catboat - Hi, Frank!). I've got some ideas, although I'd rather he sail
• When laying out the plywood sheets for the CNC cutting (or manually cutting them with a jigsaw), flip both of the side panels (inside and outside) so that the "good" side of the Luan plywood is different on the two panels cut of each. This will prevent using one "bad" side out of each panel. If your don't mirror image the two sides, one of your exposed sides will be pretty rough.

I'll keep on adding to this list and put it up for community discussion and debate. I've given Robert admin access to this blog, so he can add feedback as well.

The one hard choice to be made is the value of added craftsman beauty (subjective) versus minimizing cost. The other hard choice is the incremental cost of making this a ten to twenty year lifespan boat.

I think the optimal mix may be keeping with the construction method Eric designed for the basic hull, and then seeing how to minimize the additional cost of creating re-sale value to the next generation of kids after Thomas is done with it.