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The diary of building the Outboard Skiff 15 from bateau.com
Finishing & Rigging
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Monday October 13, 2003
Woody is finally assembled! I wish it was sanded and painted too, but I guess that time will come shortly. The only thing I have left to do (for assembly) is to attach the mount for the center console. Will get that done tomorrow night. You can see by one of the pictures that I got the center console done also. I got that put together yesterday. I think a real time saver is to draw out the pieces on the sheet of plywood and then seal over the pieces. Cut the pieces out after the seal coats. It's worked great for the gunwale & console. I only did the inside of the console and bottom of the gunwale because it would have been difficult to seal after it was installed/assembled. I drew the console Friday night and put on a coat of epoxy. Saturday, I put on two more coats . Sunday, I cut out the pieces and glued it all together. I also got the rest of the gunwale installed. A little bit of sanding to ease the edges (with the aid of a round over bit and a router), three coats of epoxy and she's ready for primer. I ordered the paint last week so it should be here by the end of the week. I let the boat site next week so the epoxy can fully cure and then start painting.
In hindsight, I should have presealed a bunch of the plywood sheets before cutting especially with all the 1 1/2" stringers. Sealing one side of a sheet and then cut them out. It was a pain sealing all the individual pieces. Oh well, I guess next time (HA!, Homey ain't going to play that game for a while).
Monday October 27, 2003
Finally, I don't have to look at wood or epoxy resin anymore! I did a lot of sanding last week and it paid off. The boat is finally primed and hopefully this coming week and next weekend she can be sanded (again, and again ,and again) and then painted. I sprayed the primer and it went on real nice. It's amazing how much brighter the garage is when the boat has paint on it as opposed to the dark wood color. I walked out there today to finish cutting in some primer and was amazed that it was so bright. I actually like the color of the primer and had I know that, I would have bought clear coat instead of paint. Oh well, the paint color should be pretty close anyway. Now I can really have fun with all the rigging.
The first two pictures are after epoxy sealing and lots of sanding and the last picture show the difference a few coats of primer makes. I put a total of 4 coats of primer on.
Wednesday November 12, 2003
Woody is finally painted except for the hatch covers & center console. I will be painting them shortly. I just finished sanding the faring coat of microballoons tonight and need to add a few coats of resin to finish it. I didn't have enough room in the garage to paint everything at once (imagine that) so the little pieces will wait. The painting went pretty good. I finally broke down and bought a new spray gun. The old siphon feed gun I had wasn't cutting it anymore (especially with water based paint). The tip was made of steel and rusted big time. I did manage to clean it good enough to get the outside of the hull, rub rail & gunwale painted. After that, I tossed it. I got a real nice gravity feed gun with a stainless tip. Much easier to use with water based paint. Took a bit to get used to though. I painted it over two weekends. The outside then the inside. I am glad I did that. It would have taken way too long to do the whole thing in one weekend. I t came out pretty good. The no skid I sprayed on the inside looks real good. I got a can of real fine no skid powder from West Marine & sprayed it on. I didn't like the no skid I ordered from System Three (a first disappointing product from them). It was too course. Anyway, while the epoxy cures on the center console, I will start rigging this weekend. By the end of Thanksgiving I plan to have most everything installed except for the steering and control cable for the motor and ahve it fit on the trailer.
I can't believe it's almost ready to play with. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I am. When viewing the picture, remember the hatch covers have not been painted. It's way to easy to tell but I didn't want you to think the paint job was that bad. Also, the last three pictures didn't come out too well. For some strange reason my camera had a few dust particles on the lens .
Thursday December 4, 2003
Only a few more weeks til the launch. I finally got the center console and hatch covers painted. I have a bunch of the hardware installed and only have the big stuff left (steering, engine controls & electric panel). Should be able to get that done in the next few weekends. The official launch date is December 26. It was a little easier than I thought mounting Woody on the trailer and installing the motor. I used a hand operated winch (with the aid of a power drill) to lift the boat to set it on the trailer and to lift the motor to set it on the boat. It worked much better than anticipated. All in all I think the paint job came out pretty good. I can not believe how solid the transom is with the motor on it. This weekend I will run the fuel line and vent and next weekend start mounting the controls. Three weeks from tomorrow and the big float test happens. Can't wait.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
The day has finally arrived. I can't believe woody has actually made it to the water. On Wednesday December 24 I did the float test and shake down cruise and was extremely pleased. The boat looks good in the water and moves right along. With two people and a full tank of gas, we topped out at 35 mph with a prop that has too much pitch. Was only able to get 3500 rpm out of it. Need to do some prop testing. I figure with the right prop, I may be able to hit 40 mph. Not too bad for a little 15 footer and a 50 hp motor. For a 1980 motor, it ran so good. I was very impressed. The boat planes very well, handles great and is very dry. December 26 was the official launching and had a good crowd on hand. We fooled around in the Indian River with my brother-in-law's 22 foot Pathfinder. Everyone wanted to ride in Woody so we had to stop at a park along the river to give rides. Got some real good action pictures then, but need to get them developed first (didn't want to risk using the digital camera on the water).
All I have to say is the last year and a half has been worth it and I am extremely satisfied with the results. Have gotten many compliments. It's great when someone ask you what type of boat that is and they hear "homemade". They can't believe it. Thanks to Jacques for all his help and one great boat design!
This page last updated Sunday, December 28, 2003.