Ch18/Golden Eye #2

Posted by RonC on Aug 24, 2004

Some general observations on the construction process of the Pygmy Golden Eye and the Chesapeake 18.- pt 2

We finally got all of the panels for both boats glued up, mid last week. Had company over the weekend so we got started late wiring up the Golden Eye. Finished wiring it up last night so tonight we�ll start with the epoxy.

The Golden Eye parts were all cut to perfection. Just by butting up the two pieces of each panel, it produced the correct offset for the panel. Had to cut each but block individually but that was not a problem. As I mentioned in my earlier post, due to the butt blocks we had to do the panels individually.

The Ches 18 went together just like the other two in our fleet. Laid out the panels, stacked them, epoxied them up all at once. After the sheer panels were cured, I trimmed 1 inch off of the top in order to lower the deck a bit. (goodness, the CH 18 is a BIG boat) Drilled my preliminary holes and she�s already to we wired up.

My $ 0.02 on the butt joints vs the scarf joints: I like the looks of the scarfed joints better than the butt joints simply because you don�t have the �bump-up� caused by the butt blocks running perpendicular to the hull, right in the middle of the cockpit, but this is only apparent on the interior of the hull, outside all you see is the nice thin line where the panels come together. IMHO, the butt joints are easier to put together, with less chance of error by 1st time builders. That being said, the scarf joints, if properly laid out produce a �nicer� joint.

Ron C

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