Wojtek's maiden voyage

Here are a couple of videos of Wojtek's maiden voyage in his BRS in Poland last week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9s1JlxPIyg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyxNpVpVXHU

I wonder what the water temperature is?

Flipped!

Well I got the second bottom panel glued on yesterday. This afternoon, I was going to wait on some help from some friends to turn it over, but when I picked up one side to test the weight, I just kept lifting and next thing I knew I had the boat resting up on its side. I went ahead and finished turning it. Fortunately, nothing cracked - at least not that I heard.













Then, I noticed a problem. You can see here that the temporary center frame is not quite centered. It looks a bit worse in real life than in the the pictures.










I measured each side from the chine to the keelson. One side measured about 29 7/8 inches and the other side was about 29 5/16 inches. An eighth or less I can live with. But 9/16 is more than 1/2 an inch and this seems like it would result in a severe twist being built into the boat - it may have already happened.

I clamped the bottom of the center frame to line it up with the center of the keelson and this helped. I think that brought it within a 1/4 inch. I don't want to glue the side panels to the bottom until I either fix this or determine it does not matter. I'm gonna need some input from others on this one.

I took the same measurement (chine to keelson) at the bow and stern and detected no noticeable difference - they seem to line up perfectly.

Glued one bottom panel

I shaped the keelson some more to improve the joint between it and the bottom panels. I glued one side using epoxy thickened with cab-0-sil. This was my first experience with cab-0-sil. I have used wood flour (really fine sawdust) and microballoons. The cab-o-sil is supposed to be the strongest and most difficult to sand of the three. It is a very fine powder, very white in color, and very light weight.

I was considering gluing both bottom panels tonight, but after putting the first one on I decided I'll probably wanted to fill some of the gap I left between it and the keelson tomorrow. I thinking I should have put more epoxy in some areas and I will be able to access these while the other bottom panel is off.

Also, I had a comment on my post from yesterday suggesting I put the boat up on saw horses so I could get under it and clean up any epoxy squeeze out. I tried to respond by posting another comment, but I couldn't figure it out. What I was going to say is that if I raised the hull too high, I would have difficulty accessing the bottom of the keelson on the outside of the hull which would make everything much more difficult. On the other hand, raising it enough that I could crawl under and do the clean up should be feasible. I decided to go forward without raising the hull, however.

Second bottom panel rough cut

I cut out and rough fit the second bottom panel. Now I've got to figure out how I'm going to epoxy them to the keelson (the board running inside down the centerline. I was thinking I would just put a bunch of thickened epoxy on the keelson and then set the bottom panels on top of that and put screws in it to hold it while the epoxy hardens. Problem with that is, I can't see where extra epoxy may be needed or where less will be. Plus, I could end up with an epoxy mess on the inside bottom of the boat. Because I won't be able to see it until after the epoxy hardens, this could be a major pain in the ass to clean up.

There must be a better way. I'll have to contact the other BRS builders and see how they proceeded here.

I thought I'd take a better photo of my rowing skiff that keeps getting cut off in the other photos. I need to take that one out for a spin. I still haven't put the finishing touches on my oars.

Dave's BRS 17'

Here are the pictures of Dave's BRS 17'. He's the one in Tampa, FL who's been using his as a motor boat since he built it. He tells me he's going to finish the sail rigging soon. I really like his color scheme. Also, you can see in one of the pictures where he's made floor boards that can be moved up forward of the cockpit to make a large platform. The photo only shows one in place. With the addition of the other, he would have one large flush deck forward.

Today I rough cut one of the bottom panels out. I then took the leftover 3/8 piece and scarfed it to another full sheet of 3/8. You can see those on the table at the back of the shop. One the epoxy dries on the scarf, I'll lay it over the other side of the bottom, straight edge on the center line, and trace the bottom of the side panel onto it with a pencil from underneath. Then, I'll cut to the line.

Yesterday I installed the keelson. I glued it into a notch in the transom and forward bulkhead and then butted it up into the stem. I screwed it to the temporary center frame to ensure that it glued at the correct arch.

The picture on the left shows the scarf joint in the keelson and, although difficult to detect in the photo, the curve of the keelson forward.





These three photos show the rabbet joint of the transom and keelson. As can be seen in the first photo. The bottom of the keelson is not flush with the bottom of the transom. The bottom panels will rest on the bottom of the transom. This will leave a gap between the keelson and bottom panels that I will have to fill with epoxy. It is hard to tell from the photo below, but I did not make this mistake in the stem rabbet. The screws are temporary and will be removed and the holes filled with epoxy.






























This photo shows the rabbet at the forward bulkhead.














Here is the stem.

















In this photo you can see the temporary battens screwed near the chines. This help bring the sides into a fair curve. The piece on the left of the photo is made up of a few different pieces because this is where I had the unfair spot. you can see the glue line of the scarf joint there. I'm afraid that all I accomplished screwing those scraps of wood there was to put more holes in the boat which will later have to be filled with epoxy.

One thing I learned building the first boat - which you can see on the right side of this photo - is that no matter what, I will end up having holes to fill later so there no need to worry about screw holes now. Using screws instead of clamps can be a real time saver.

You can also see the tape measure I have nailed to the stem. I have to continually check the boat for twists because it is not yet rigid enough. It still tends to shift when I'm working on it. Having the tape measure nailed into place allows me to quickly check the measurements from the stem to each corner of the stern and make any adjustments needed before epoxy dries.

I have been using left over wood flour from my first boat project to thicken the epoxy when gluing joints but I am almost out of it. I have ordered cab-o-sil, epoxy, and fiber glass from B&B Yacht Designs, but it has not gotten here yet. This restricts my options a bit as far as what I can do next.

I am going to try to shape the keelson and cut the bottom panels to shape today.

More small bits

Thursday I scarfed the plank for the keelson and notched the transom and forward bulkhead to receive it. I will have to dry fit it and make some adjustments before gluing it up.

I also fastened battens to the hull just above the chine. These are temporary and help to bring the side panels into a fair curve. After the bottom panels are epoxied, these battens will come off.

I had to use some scrap wood I had as the battens and I did not have any that would go the full length of the hull. I had some about 14' I think and they seem to do the trick very well except there is one area near the stem that the batten did not reach and is not fair. It's where I have a scarf joint in the plywood and it sort of caves inward a bit - the result of an imperfect scarf. I think I can add another short batten there and fair it out - I'll figure this out before I attach the bottom panels.

Small setback

I was going to shape and glue the keel batten - a board that runs down the centerline inside the bottom of the boat - today, but my board is only 14 ft and I need 16. I found the other two feet in another piece that I was going to scarf to the 14 ft piece, but it's too warped. I'll have to wait and go to the lumber yard and get a better piece. I was too tired to do anything else, so I called it a day.

My friend Wojtek sent me a picture showing how the bottom panels go on. I didn't think they were stitched on while the epoxy sets, but they are. That's a bit more work than I anticipated the bottom would be. Not bad though.

Some progress

Yesterday I glued the joints that I had temporarily fastened. It took a while to get the boat level and straight. My floor is not level - just the ground with plywood laid on top. To get it level I just put a level across it at the transom, the temporary center frame, and then the forward bulkhead. I made adjustments by putting blocks of wood under the boat where needed. Then I had to check for twists. I did this by measuring from the bow to the right corner of the transom, then comparing that to the measurement from the bow to the left corner of the transom - if they are not the same, the hull is twisted. You obviously don't want to glue a twist into the boat. If there is a twist, and I I one, you just grab the transom and twist it in the opposite direction. It took me a few tries, but I finally got it. Putting a nail through the end of my tape measure finally stopped me from having to walk back and forth to the front of the boat to set it on the tip of the transom every time I compared left to right.

190 1/2 inches from the bow to each corner of the transom, on the bottom. Level and straight, I epoxied the joints.

Today I scarphed and glued to pieces of 3/8 plywood which will make up one half of the bottom. What's left from those two pieces after I cut the panel out gets scarfed and glued to another piece of 3/8 in. panel to make the other bottom panel.

Next: fit and glue the keel plank. This is a board that goes straight down the middle of the bottom of the boat. I have to put it in before installing the bottom panels.

Cruising waters

Although my first expedition in the boat is not in sight, it will likely be around Winyah Bay and North Inlet. Here is a google map. I also plan to go further south, towards McClellanville, SC.

As I said in an earlier post, I've never sailed, so this will all be a learning experience for me. Someone told me the other day that they once went sailing in Winyah Bay and were making pretty good speed as far as the wind. When they looked at the shoreline, however, they realized they were actually being pushed slowly backwards because of the force of the current. I'm pretty sure he was sailing in a displacement type boat. My hope is that the planing abilities of the BRS will solve any such problems.

community of boatbuilders

One thing you learn quick when you get into building boats like this is that there is an entire subculture of amateur boatbuilding out there. Wooden Boat Magazine, their online forum, many other online forums, many books, etc.

Other builders are always eager to help you with advice. When I first started looking into building one of these, I contacted the designer to see if there were any builders close to me. Turns out, someone just around the corner had built a Core Sound 17' - the sister to the BRS. I called him up on the phone and he showed me his boat. I'm hoping he's going to take me sailing now that the weather has warmed up. I'm also hoping he can help me with some things like building the rudder.

I have found two other builders of the BRS 17 - one in Florida (Tampa area) and one in Warsaw, Poland. The builder in Florida has been using his as a motoring fishing skiff. He has yet to complete the sailing rigging on the boat. He has sent me some pictures of his boat and I'll post them if he gives me permission.

The builder in Warsaw is named Wojtek and hopes to make his maiden voyage in his BRS this week. Here is a photo of his boat:

Here is an account of a couple's cruise in a BRS 15' in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico: http://www.smallboatforum.com/PDFfiles/BeachCruisingBaja.pdf

It has some good pictures of the boat and is quite a testament to the design.