Getting Ready for Launch

Took the completed 'Ashley Grey' out of the garage today as we are finally going to launch her later this summer. As an early Father's Day gift, my beautiful wife Ashley, for whom the boat is named, had a towing hitch installed in her SUV. I had no idea she had done this and she faked me out big time asking me if  I would check to see if there was 'something wrong'  with the rear bumper area of her vehicle. She videos me while I found the well hidden hitch nicely installed and ready to GO.
Now I need to get a trailer and have decided on the Trailex SUT-500S. It comes to you unassembled but the salesman told me that if I could build a boat then I could build the trailer.
       Today I cleaned and organized some of the boats equipment. Some photos for you!

The Seats Are In! Almost DOne!

Looking aft, this shows centerboard trunk with center thwart and its support knees. The side seats are seen going back towards the rear bulkhead seat. The porthole cover on the rear bulkhead is shown, but not yet installed. This is the one with 6" diameter cover. I chose a clear cover with white ring. The ring will be secured to the bulkhead with clear marine caulking sealant and 1/4" long pan head wood screws. I like the clear cover which allows you to see into waterproofed bulkhead area. The two bulkheads ,fore and aft, are designed to keep the boat afloat if you capsize. While they are not meant for storage ,I think putting cell phones, and other small valuables could go in, the cover screwed back on and there would be no compromise of buoyancy.

The rectangle of seats in the back of the boat. Mid boat oarlock chock seen at top and mid thwart support knee just to the right of it. The starboard support knee is at the bottom of pic.

Shows port rear side seat and it's underlying support strut which goes from  rear bulkhead cleat to underside of mid thwart. Edge of port rear bulkhead cleat to support side seat and strut can be seen.

Another view towards the stern. Name of boat will be painted on the part of transom you see just above rear bulkhead seat. Under the sides of mid boat thwart you can see edges of support risers, support struts(for side seats) and shape of support knees on top of sides of thwart.

Best view I can get in the garage, showing boat from front to rear.  Lawn mower is not part of boat and is NOT my favorite tool. Good view of top of stem and the breast hook behind it at front of boat.

Centerboard trunk and rear seating. Pardon the sawdust. That will be gone  soon. and all inner surfaces of boat will be coated with 5 to 6 coats of high gloss varnish.

Good view of front thwar and it'sangled support knees.

The rear seating. Sailor manning the tiller and mainsheet will sit on either side of this depending upon direction of tack(meaning how boat is sailing with respect to wind direction).

Lots of saw dust on the left,sorry. But a good pic showing seats and knees, and boat from aft to stem. You can see curve of breasthook just under stem at very front of boat, top of pic.

Port side. Rub rail will be a strip of wood that will go on top of outer edge of boat from stem to stern. This is my next project. Combination of the rub rail, edge of uppermost plank, and previously installed sheer rail will serve as surface for cap rail which will be made of 5/16" ash.

Good pic showing detail of underside of port side thwart with its rear bulkhead support cleat, support strut going along underneath of seat towards bottom of middle thwart(which you can't see) where it is attached. Can also see porthole hardware(not yet installed and lowermost stringers on port side.

I decided to go with mahogany for the seats . I was able to get  four 5' boards of  1" thick x 11" wide mahogany, nearly the same color as my okoume planking to do the thwarts and side seats. I was intimidated from the beginning with the idea of installing these seats and definitely didn't want to mess up the boat or the beautiful mahogany boards. So I used cheap 12 inch wide pine boards, some from my scrap pile, some from the original building jig and practiced making the thwarts and side seats with them. Good thing I did. This was no easy task as there were all sorts of curves, angles, and difficult leveling to do to get these right. Plus I had to install seat risers to support everything and these were tricky also, so I used old scrap wood to practice those also. When I had gotten the practice boards to fit well I started with the mahogany, making my measurements carefully, using the practice boards as templates , and making my initial cuts proud of the line so that I could gradually remove wood from the mahogany and get a perfect fit. One thing I have learned in boat building, and forgive me if I have said this before, is that more is better when it comes to leaving extra material on a board you are cutting. You can gradually remove material off a board to make it fit but, cut it too short to begin with, you are stuck because you can't put material back on. So leave your cuts proud of the line and then fidget with sandpaper, chisels,  or whatever to remove what you need to to get the right fit. So first the risers for the forward thwart were made of 2" x2" white oak. Then glued and screwed to the appropriate spot on the inner planking just resting on the stringers and placed equidistant from the fore oarlock chocks to ensure accurate placement per the plans. I made sure the faying surfaces for the thwart were level by using a rabbet plane to remove material from the tops of the risers after they were installed. Then I cut the thwart to length, a little longer then my lines from my pine template and, naturally finding it to be too snug to rest on the risers, , gradually removed material from the ends, also making sure to follow the curves that went fore and aft and up and down. This took a long time because the mahogany is a hard, tough wood to remove material from. When I had it right it was a simple matter to glue and screw the thwart to the tops of the risers. I applied glue to the sides of the thwarts, but did not put screws through the side as there was no need, and that would just serve to violate the planking unnecessarily. After the glue cured I spent hours sanding the thwart down to a thickness of about 7/8" and rounded the seat edges bullnose fashion. Very NICE! I then fashioned the required knee braces for the top of the thwart where it attaches to the sides of the hull, thus giving additional support. These were of white oak and, because they were to be angled towards the exact middle of the boat, needed templates and then much work to get them to fit around the stringers and also sit on the thwart squarely. They were then glued and screwed in, the shape of these not triangular but curved concave in. The middle thwart and risers came next, the procedure easier now that I had the hang of it, plus there was the advantage of having the back of the centerboard trunk serve as central support for the middle of this, the largest thwart. I then made the side seats which were required to be curved to fit the fore and aft curvature of the hull and up and down curvature of the planks. The most difficult task here, besides making the risers, was to get the groove and triangular cut made at the aft ends of these thwarts so that a stringer that needed to be accomodated for, could pass through the seat. I also had to install cleats on the rear bulkhead for the aft edge of the seat to rest on and struts that went from these cleats to the undersides of the central thwart to provide a resting surface for the inner bottoms of the side seats. I made the risers for the central thwarts 2 inches longer than they need to be so that the fore part of the side seats could rest on these same risers. All of this was very difficult, even with the templates . The side seats were then glued and screwed to the cleats on the rear bulkhead, the risers and the struts, all without a hitch, requiring much glue to get the job done right so that the side of these thwarts adhered well to the hull and all faying surfaces. I plugged the screw holes with small oak plugs. Two days after each thwart went in, sanding occurred and I mean a lot of it. I sanded down all thwarts so that there was nice blending of this rectangle of seating that was made by the co-joining thwarts and rear bulkhead seat. All exposed seat edges, where our legs would be going over when in the boat, received nice bullnose curves with the sander. One power sander(the one I started the initial work on the boat with) died during this heavy duty sanding job, but it had served me well for the better part of the 3 years that I have spent on this project so far. Finally, I added the knee braces to the center thwart, made of white oak, this much easier than the fore ones because these just went straight out from the hull towards the center line of the thwart and thus needed no fancy angle cutting or shaping to fit snugly against the hull. These and a simple 3/4" by 3/4" piece of white oak molding to be put on the top edge of the rear bulkhead, between the back of the 2 side thwarts were all glued and screwed in successfully and, with that, the boats inner structures were complete. Next, I have to put on the rub rails,  and molding strips along the lower edge of the top planks, then do the fine carpentry involved in installing the cap rail. Will be back to describe those ventures once done. Until then, enjoy the newly added photos showing the things described in this post. An early Spring 2011 launching seems eminent now!

Finishing Touches-cleats, hardware, centerboard tie down

I hand made four 5" wooden cleats out of left over mahogany from the thwarts.  I put one on each side of the mast partner. I chose this location for these two so that I would have a mooring cleat towards the bow and also either of the 2 cleats could be used as a back up to secure the main halliard if the cleat on the mast breaks. I used 2.5" stainless screws and oak plugs to cover the screw holes.  I did NOT use any glue to install these so that if they break I can replace them easily.

Here you can see the square insert site on the inner stem that will accomodate the mast tenon. According to boat building and maritime traditions I installed a coin in the bottom of this tenon hole...a 2012 mint US penny. I glued it and covered it with epoxy.

This is a larger 7.5" cleat that is also made of left over mahogany. It is secured to the inner stem just above the fore bulk head seat with 3.5" stainless screws.. I will use this to secure the anchor line or a painter line. This location for a cleat for these applications was suggested by Arch Davis. Thanks again, Arch. One thing I'll say over and over is to CALL or eMail  Arch with any questions as you build his boats. I would have made a lot of mistakes had I not taken him up on his free advice he gives to his customers.

I placed the other two mooring cleats on the fore side of the mid thwart braces. This location gives you a place to put a second mooring line on either side of the boat and is also in a spot where it won't get in your way. Try to make your own wooden cleats like i did...they're not hard and they add  more character than a  metal cleat I think.

Heer's how I'll keep the centerboard in the 'up' position. This  18" bungee cord is just right for securing the board up.  I will use the same cord to keep the board in the 'down' position by securing it aoround the centerboard handle and to some screw eyes installed under the mid thwart.

This shows the bungee cord securing the centerboard in the up position.

A close up of my artistry showing part of the boat's name. I used the same  off white marine paint that covers most of the hull.

More of the the hand painted name as it approaches the front badge.

A view of the square tenon at the base of the mast that will fit into tenon hole in stem...shown earlier with it's 'good luck penny'.

Finishing Touches-My Wooden Boat Dream Come True

              It has been a rough 2013 Winter here in Central Virginia in more ways then one. The cold and the snow events continue on until late March. Just last night we had 3 inches of snow and windy, blstery cold weather, Some of the flowering trees are late, some have flowered and are struggling. In like a lion and out like one too.  I am hoping April will usher in the type of weather we are accustomed to this time of year. In 1976, during my first year at U.Va., we had average temps of 75 during March and even had a peculiar heaat wave where temps went above 90 for the entire first week of March. My room mates from the now ethereal 240 Balz Dormitory Suite and I hitched a ride down to Virginia Beach where one of the guys lived. That was yours truly, a Boston boy's, first encounter with the beautiful waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the mid Atlantic Coast. We took Chas Jett's family wagon down to Hatteras for an overnight camp out on the beach just north of the Haterras light house. I had my first attempt at surfing on Charlies mega board and didn't fare too well so I resorted to body surfing. A most peculiar phenomenon was discovered where if you swam just 20 yards north of the sharp bend in the outer banks where the Hatteras Light House was the water was 65 degrees. If you walked past the light house to where you were 20 yards south of the bend, the water turned a deep crystalline blue...the Gulf Stream....and you were able to immerse yourself in 75 degree water. Imagine that! Just 40 yards of beach and the water went up by 10 degress and looked tropical. In the first week of March. 2 weeks later, I stayed at U. Va. during Spring Break while the beautful weahter persisted in central Virginia. During that week U.Va. won its first , and to this date, only ACC basketball tournament while in my hometown of Boston a blizzard raged on dumping some 2 feet of snow on the ground. It was during that week that I fell in love with Virginia forever.
              So if the weather had cooperated like it did in 1976, the Ashley Grey would have been launched by now. I will present the launch of my boat some time in May I hope . For now, some additional photos of finishing touches to show you.
                 

The last Phases of building the 'Ashley Grey'

The 'Ashley Grey' on her mobile platform, out on my driveway to give me room to  hoist the lug rig sail that I have laced to the spar and lashed to the boom. I have just rigged the mainsheet for the first time..there is a double block attached with a metal bail to the back of the boom. The main sheet has a single block attached to the end by an eye splice. The becket on that single block has a bridle reeved through it which, in turn is attached to each corner brace at the transom. the rig is simple to set up and take down. The main sheet goes from the single block on the bridle up to the double block  at the end of the boom and back to the single block then up to the double block on the boom again. The tiller will fit under the rope bridle, making solo sailing easy (I hope!).

Here are the bronze horn shaped oarlocks purchased fromShaw and Tenney, from whom I  purchase 8 ft. spruce oars(they are beautiful..can't wait to row this boat! The oarlocks fit nicely in the sockets and can be removed when not in use or to move to the other rowing station at the fore thwart.

The 'Ashley Grey' with sail hoisted. I was spendng that day adjusting the lashings and the position of the block on the spar so that the sail will be at an ideal position.

A view of the bow, sail hoisted...the boat looks like it is aching to get in the water like
an Olympic swimmer at the starting block.  We are so close 'Ashley Grey'..so close. Just need to finish the rudder, attach some fittings and assorted hardware  and touch up some of the painted and varnisged areas.

A favorite view of the boat showing the stem, the planks merging into the stem via the gains I cut during the planking process. The fairness of the lines of the boat are shown here nicely, and I am damn proud of those...as Arch Davis, the boat's designer emphasizes, the fairness of a boats 'lines' is what makes or breaks the beauty of the wooden boat. I am so glad Arch convinced me to build this particular boat......I was going to build the 'Laughing Gull' but Arch, despite being very fond of his design 'Laughing Gull' told me that I would enjoy this boat more in terms of the building process itself, its looks and, ultimately, it's performance. While the boat won't be launched for a few more weeks, I can attest to my satisfaction on the first two points.

The centerboard caseis shown, minus the center board. I made the centerboard a little too thick and with the fiberglass on it it was binding when I tried sliding into the down and the back into the raised position. So I took it out and shaved the centerboard down about an eighth of an inch on each side and tapered the edges a little more sharply. I fits and moves perfectly now and I just have to re-apply clear coat and fiberglass to the board. Even though it is thinner, the fiberglass should give it adequate strength while sailing. I still have to install the hooks and get the bungee cords Arch recommends  to hold the board in either the up or down position.  You can see the rear hatch cover is finally installed...I used marine caulking to seal it, 3/8th to 1/2'' stainless wood screws to secure the outer ring. I am glad I opted for the clear removable center cover as opposed to the white one. It is kind of cool to be able to see into the bulkhead compartments.

The main mast fits perfectlyinto the mast partner. The bottom of the mast has a squared of tenon that fits into a square opening I carved out of the inner stem. I found out, just in time, that you are supposed to put a coin of sentimental signigigance in the socket for the tenon at the bottom of the mase. I went to the bank and got a brand new, uncirculated, shiny copper penny, minted in 21012. This sits in the tenon peg hole in penny sized circle I carved out and then coated it all with clear coat epoxy. This is, according to boating folklore, supposed to bring good fortune and happy time to the boat and its owners. It can't hurt! And the boat, no matter what its condition, will always be worth at least a penny!

The jaws of the boom are in position with the sail hoiisted. There are two varnished wooden parrel balls with the parrell  rope threaded through them and thensecured througha blue cam cleat I installed. It holds perfectly. You can see where the sail is lashed to the boom as well.

The afft seat and the main sheet riggging. The bridle line goes through 3/8" holes drilled through the corner braces and then knotted underneath. I need to tighten down the bridle once I have the tiller in place so that the end of the boom is 16" above the tiller.

The halliard line is secured to the wooden cleat on the mast. I put a thin strip of fiberglass with clear coat epoxy on the cleat to strengthen it.

The mast with cleat and boom collar installed.

The boats name, painted on in script with same off white paint used on hull.
I like the yellow trim and wo it contrasts against the blue sheer plank.

This is a block with a spring like mechanism on it, allowing it to be flexible. It is mounted  on the spar, about one third of the length from the front of the spar. The halliard is rove through it and around the mast then lashed to the end of the front of the spar, thus creating a parrell line to hold the spar against the starboard side of mast. It is seceured with lacing rope that go through holes in a baseplate on the blocke and through two holes driled in the spar. It works very well. I could
have screwed the basepate on but was afraide that these could pull loose under high tension or due to breakage of the wood.

Completed rudder case(just needs few coats of varnish, has
tiller inserted .  I used left over 1/8" birch plywood that I had used to make the sheer plank badges
to  "decorate" the upper and lower parts of both sides of the rudder case.

Instead of an all white bulkhead hatch, or all black, I chose, for about the same
price, a hatch that had a clear plastic cover. I used short stainless screws and water proof marine caulking to install the hatcth rings. Do not try to install entire hatch with cover on while using the caulking....even a little of the caulk material will permanently smudge the clear plastic removeable plate. While the fore and
aft bulkheads are there for flotation purposes, I do plan on storing things, like cellphone, wallett, keys
in a plastic bag and then put that in the fore bulkhead and thus protect things of high value.
These bulkheads are not truly meant for storage though.

Rudder and removeable tiller assembly, I was in the process of preparing the pintles and gudgeons the dy I took this photo.

Rudder case showing decorative birch panels that were simply glued on.

Detail of tiller tenon inserted into rudder case opening. PerArch's suggestion, i rounded off the upper and lower parts of the front of the opening to lesson wear and tear on the tiller tenon.

Side view of oak tiller.

Rigged up...almost ready to be launched. I spent a number of days
tampering with the rig in order to figure out how to set it and take it down
efficiently and safely. It got quite easy after I  figured out a routine.

I put more tensionon the boom lashings and slightly altered the position of the spar block
to rid the sail of these wrinkles. I am a bit of a perfectionist...probably why it took me 5 years to build her
I always spent a lot of times thing things through and carefully studying Arch's plans and bookand using
books on wooden sailboat rigs as reference. 

For now, I will accept the fact that when on a starboard tack or broad reach with sail swung to
starboard that the mast will prevent the filling of the upper front corner of the sail. If I find that it really hinders sailing, then I'll probably install a dipping line. 

Starboard view. The centerboard is in the centerboard case as I was trying to
trying to figure out how much length of the centerboard goes below the boat when fully
let down.  I advise that when you make the centerboard, use oak..I used two lengths of red oak surrounding one length
of white oak. I side glued the boards and drilled holes to insert pegs to strengthen the bond. Finally take off enough material on each side of the board so you can apply fiberglass cloth on each side. Remember, the centerboarsgi
must be able to endure high tension and forces without breakage. . Make sure your board doesn't bind either as you move it up or down. Better to know this before you hit the water because the water will cause the wood to swell some.

My youngest son Max, having just graduated as a mechanical
engineer from Virginia Tech, holds the boom on a windy day.
His math and physics skills came in handy  when figuring out
the positioning of items in the rig.

Sail on port side. Mast  and parrell on starboard side. 

The final touches and rigging of the sail

It's now July 14th, 2012 and the 'Ashley Grey' is just weeks away from being launched. I spent considerable time adding hardware and varnish to the mast, boom and spar. I also fine tuned and fiber glassed the centerboard and refined the outer hull's paint job. I am happy with the off white color of the hull with the
sheer plank painted marine blue and the side molding and badges painted yellow. I painted the name of the boat towards the front, just behind the front badge in off white. I abandoned my original plan of putting the boat's name inside of the transom...who would see it? Most recently I 'bent' the lug sail onto the spar with lacing rope and attached the foot of the sail to the boom both fore and aft with lashings. It was a thrill to raise the sail for the first time and see the spar go to the correct angle and the jaws of the boom come up tight to the mast collar. The halliard was rigged so that it went through the  sheave at the top of the mast went back to a block lashed to the spar and then was wrapped around the mast and tied to the fore end of the spar. The aft part of the boom was rigged by placing a bridle on it with  a double  block attached to it. The main sheet, the line that controls the boom and, hence, the sail, had a single block attached by an eye splice at one end. The becket on this block was rigged to  a bridle, which was simply a line that was rigged across the top of the transom , with enough room for the tiller to emerge beneath beneath it. The mainsheet thus controlled the movement and position of the boom.

The Sailing Rig

The ' Ashley Grey' with her new mast being prepared and fitted. No varnish on it yet, in this photo,

The boat shown fromthe stern. The transom looks dark because of the shade

The mast being fitted , mast partner not seen as I was in process of making it and had to have mast postitioned perfectly before I could make the partner, which is the structure inside the boate that hods the mast up. The base of he mast has a 1'
square tenon thaat fits in a 1" square hole I carved out of the inner part of the stem. It's hrd to see it, because it is so slight, but there is about a 5 degree rake to the mast, meaning it tilts backwards ever so slightly.

Am now getting the components of the sailing rig finished. I chose a Lug rig because of it's simplicity and ease of set up and take down when out in the water. I am using a tung oil based varnish for the mast, boom and spar and will put on 4 or 5 coats, well buffed between coats. This will give these components a lasting, shiny translucent amber colored finish. Then I'll spread out the sail on the floor and begin lacing it to the spar and mast . The halliard will run through a slot at the top of the mast, inside of which is a sheave. The halliard will be attached to the spar at both ends and then wrapped around the mast aided by a thimble . The spar can then be raised or lowered to set or take down the sail. Pictures of this, once complete will make this easier to understand, but it really is quite simple. The rest of the running rigging is just the main sheet system which I'll describe in my next post. Enjoy these latest photos!