Hurricane Boat Anchor has arrived!

 Got some cool boating stuff today. A special USA made anchor from Hurricane Boat Anchors... Its got amazing holding power and some cool capabilities. The most impressive is that it works in 2:1 scope!

This is quite an advantage as many anchors need 5:1 scope or more. This allows for anchoring in deeper water with less line - also less swing.

Getting some progress done on the boat, a little more than a week ago, got the aft cabin panels cut and sealed with epoxy, today I cut and dry-fitted the framing. So happy my oak laminate roof beams seem to fit perfectly.. the jig is working really well..

I did make a slight error.... I accidently made two left panels -- So I had to start over with one side.

 

New Year - New wood!

 Picked up some more 3/8 (9mm) BS-1088 Meranti. I've been getting Dragon Brand in the past.. But I got a new type.. TFT Wood Experts Diamond Certified imported into the U.K. from Indonesia. They seem like a pretty solid outfit.

http://www.woodexperts.com/content/home-page

I noticed it has fewer but thicker plies(5 versus 7).. It looks decent on the end grain and the and the face veneers look better. Tech specs on paper look pretty solid. I was able to get it at the 2018 price by showing my paperwork

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Laminating side roofbeams

 Made another form, the laminate the side roof frames, produced a frame and compared it to the template. It lines up well!

Added bow frames

 Also added a little more bow framing to help support possibly a bow mounted boarding ladder...

Caulking the cabin sole!

Finally got a break from the monsoons and wet weather enough to dry out the boat enough to sand the cabin sole sikkaflex... Its looking about how I wanted .. not perfectly yachty.. but rustic.. but has that boaty nauticalness. I've got a little more to do. some filliing of lows in the caulking.. But so far I am happy enough with the results.

In the process took off a little of the top sealant ... but I expected as such. Hopefully can get a final sand and resealed before the rains come again and it gets a little damp. The water does seep in from the topsides since the cabin is not enclosed.

Flooring on the cabin sole started!

 Another boat update... started the bow flooring... thanks to my dad for kerfing all the boards. I could never bend 3/4" white oak so they needed slight notches the width of a saw blade known as a kerf to make the bend in the bow. Maybe not a best practice... but 3/8" deep kerf on 3/4" still leaves a good 3/8" piece of meat on the bone which filled with thickened epoxy and with all the rest of my build.. I figure should be adequately strong..

The bow floor boards are epoxied in place with the spacers providing a 1/8 gap. Some are missing in picture but I placed them about 6-8 inches apart. I originally planned on clamps to apply pressure but bailed on the idea as I soon found myself in a thickened epoxy mess.

So to hell with it!! I went to tried and true small 18 guage galvanized finishing nails and my air-nailer to hold them down. I figured it would leave smaller holes then screws and then filling the holes when screws removed.. I will fill the gaps and the edges of kerfs half-way with epoxy for stength and then seal the gaps between the boards with Sikkaflex type deck caulking. The tops will be sanded and then divots filled. The edges filleted and possibly a molding applied.

Maybe not how everyone might do it.. but the end results so far has worked for me.

The flat boards will not need to be nailed and I will be able to apply clamping pressure..