It is just a Stick

I have spent more than a week working on my side bumper rails.  Sure they look like a couple of sticks attached to the side of the boat but they are much more than that and very challenging to build.  When I think that I will just go down in the basement and a make something up in a few hours I should know that I am just day dreaming.  On the surface it looks like it will be an easy task but with a boat, there are curves everywhere and this was no exception.  The side of the boat has a curve up and down, along the horizontal axis with a nice twist.  Now the chore was to mount a straight bumper rail just at the right location.

The first thing I did was take my time and that paid off by building a stand to hold the wood into position.  Every time I put the wood back into position it was in the same exact spot.  Then I only had to measure, mark, plane, cut, and sand for two full days to get it fit just right.  I am very happy with the results.

I decided to epoxy T-nuts into the bumper rail making hard points so I could bolt them on from the inside of the boat.  This way I could pull to rail to the side of the boat making a perfect joint so I could clamp, caulk and epoxy them into position.  One trick that worked out well was to put wax on the bolts so the epoxy would not stick to the bolts while I was setting the hard points.

Now that the bumper rails are done, it is time to start working on the steering linkage.

Zip on Floor Jacks - Seat install

I have done a lot of work on my "Zip" boat project since the last time that I made a post on this blog so I will attempt to give you the rundown. The big milestone was on Christmas Eve when I had most of my brothers, son-in-law and nephews over and they all offered to help me lift the boat and it's cradle so we could place the floor jacks under it. Once everything was raised 12", there was enough room to put the 40hp motor on the transom. I needed to get that into position so I could start to figure out how all the steering linkage and electrical wiring would be connected.

Some of the other things that I have been working on were mounting the battery switch into the rear seat frame, making boxes along side of seats to hide wiring, steering cables, shift control box and of course a place for an afternoon beverage.

I have also built the seat bottoms and backs and started the upholstery project.  I really wanted to get the foam seats glued up to them so I could sit on in the seat and feel if the position of each on was correct.  I am so glad that I did because when I built the seat frames I thought that everything fit just right with enough room to remove them when I wanted, but I was wrong.  The seats did not fit after gluing up the foam pads on the seat bottoms and backs.  Ten minutes of trimming saved me major headaches if I had found this out after the fabric was put on them.

Whats next....fairing the top deck, and getting the steering control linkage figured out.   Begin the wiring process and having a lot of patience when things don't go just right.

Cutting Holes and Getting things done

I was able to work on the boat a lot this week and over the weekend.  I don't really have much to show for all the work that I put into this part of the project but a few things were real milestones.  Most of the week I have taking everything apart I previously fabricated so I could epoxy and glue them.  These items included the seat box frames, seat bottoms and backs and four side panels.  If you notice in the pictures, the interior of the boat is gutted.  The reason it is empty again is:  That is the process you need to go through when building.  You fabricate and then take it apart, epoxy it and then reinstall it.  It is almost like building several boats because you end up putting things together and taking them apart many times in the course of fabricating.

The seats are gone to the upholstery shop.  I ordered my own fabric and fabricated everything that I wanted to have upholstered and I found a real talented lady about a mile from my house who is taking on that part of project.

I spent a good part of the weekend cutting holes in the instrument panel for the instruments.  I will have an RPM, fuel gauge and a volt meter in the dash.  The biggest project was to cut a 2 1/4" hole and (3) 5/16" holes to mount the steering wheel.  I have been waiting a week for the 20 degree mount and it finally came in so I made a trip to West Marine to pick it up.  I did not have the correct size hole saw so I also made a trip over to my brother Joey's and he loaned me his.  A couple of 1 1/2" holes were needed in the bulkhead to route the steering cable and the rough mounting and fitting of Teleflex rack mounting system was complete.

I also mounted the bilge pumps and made a box to house the battery.  The battery drops right into the box and it is very secure.  I always worry about accidents and the possibility of sever weather so I added tie downs for budgie cords if needed.

Proof of Concept - Boat in the Kitchen.

You Sure it Will Make it out of the Basement?


A good friend of mine who is building a "Squirt" boat in his basement asked me to come over this weekend and help get his boat out of his basement and into the kitchen.  His name is Art Atkinson and you can follow his blog and watch his progress.  He is really building a piece of artwork.

The PROOF OF CONCEPT - The million dollar question?  Will it really come out of the basement?  Art wanted to build in the basement because that is where his wood shop and all the tools are located.  But will the boat fit around all the corners and up the stairway and through the kitchen.  So, before starting his project he made a jig that had the dimensions of his boat and the jig fit so he started building.  Fast forward, a year later he now he has a hull and really did not know if his new boat would make all the turns.

Art is to the point in his boat building that he will need to start working on the deck.  If he was going get that boat out of the basement the way he planned then now was the time.  The boat is lighter now than it will be when finished and if it does not fit up the stairway and into the kitchen then into the garage and finally outside he would have all winter long to plan an alternative option. 

Check out his wife's Kitchen....Yes, Art Atkinson built every little piece and it is so beautiful it has been featured in magazines.  Did you notice the padding on the glass cabinet.  This is what we were faced with at the top of the stairway.

 

Well, as you can see......Art's planning was perfect.  No problems, the boat fits up the stairs and we were able to get it into the kitchen.  We were all smiles and so was his wife Vicki.  She said, OK take it back down in the basement and finish it.  So, that is what we did, we took it back down in the basement and Art will continue to build.

The moving crew from left to right....Bill, Ted, Art, Rick and Brett.

Making Progress with the Interior

I have been working long hours and finally feel like I am making progress.  The floor is now behind me and I am onto boxing out the interior.  My first step was to make two boxes out of Mahogany along side of the seats.  These boxes will serve several purposes.  They will help in the finished look of the interior, be used as mounting supports and cup holders and they will also hide some cables and wires.  They were very time consuming and took me more that a week to build.  The inside wall of the boat is curved from front to back and sloped up and down.  Need I say, there are no square corners on a boat unless you build them. 

My next step was to figure out where everything was going to be placed.  This includes the instrument panel that houses the fuse panel/switches.  I started with a $50 piece of wood and put in a slopped instrument panel 5" in front of the one in the photo above.   Once I realized that I wanted more room in the pilot cockpit I discarded that panel ( after 4 hours of work) and now I am going with my original frame as the instrument panel/dash and I will tilt just the steering wheel 20 degrees for comfort.  I wanted to position the fuse/switch panel in the right corner so I needed to make a mount for it.  It does not look like much but this little guy took me an entire evening after work to design and build.  I will epoxy it to the existing frame/instrument panel and when it is done will look like one piece of material..

 Next, building the seat bottom frame boxes, seat bottoms and backs.  The seat bottoms and backs are removable and sit in the frame box.  I still have another day of work on the seating but the rough fitting is done.  I think I spent almost as much time thinking, measuring, and designing as I did building the seats.  I will not fasten the seat boxes into position until my upholstery is done and the steering wheel is mounted.  I want to be sure that the seating is comfortable and in the correct position.

Like I mentioned above, the seating is rough fit so my next project will be to finish them up.  I need to drill a couple of drain/air circulation holes in the seat bottoms.  I need to router all the edges on the seats so the upholstery will not tear from use.  The final thing for this stage will be to make some templates and cut out four insert panels that will be upholstered on the right and left side of each seat.

The floor is installed

I have finally completed the floor installation.  The rear floor area was milled to 1/2" X 4.25" Ash and that weight came in at 17 lbs.  I am pleased with the look and now it will be time to move forward.

What is next?
This afternoon I will make another trip to the wood mill to pick up a few more Mahogany boards.  I will then start to make the bumper rails and boxing in the seat areas.

Taking some Weight Off

I have been working on the floor of the boat.  I made this floor from 3/4" ash and installed the two front sections.  The three sections are made up from front (under the deck), the main cockpit area and rear passenger cockpit area.  I really like the looks of the floor but the weight of the floor has bothered me.  I just had to know, so I put the floor from the under the deck and the main cockpit onto the scale and it came in at 72 pounds.  I went to the table saw and set up a dado blade and was able to shed 8.5 pounds off the weight.

Now my plan is make the rear cockpit floor from 1/2 inch Ash.  The span is not as long and I don't think the planks need to be as thick.  I will need to take the rough Ash that I have planed to 3/4 in, down to 1/2 in for the rear floor.

Yesterday evening, my brother Gary joined me for a few hours and were able to fit all the blocking and supports for rear floor. 

It continues to surprise me how long some of the little things take to make.  Once again it was great to have my brother help me with measuring and fitting.  It is also nice to have someone around so you can run ideas back and forth and come up with a better plan.