Mike,

On the NE Dory everything will eventually be in the water. whether it's a knock-down, re-entry, a swamping by a passing motorboat, getting caught in the rain or just washing the boat.

The thwarts help the frames resist side compression forces and stiffen the structure. I'd call that structural.

Varnish is OK until it develops microcracks. It will always do this because it has a different coefficient of thermal expansion than wood, so as the wood flexes the varnish will crack and peel away from it, allowing water in. The only way around this is to constantly be re-applying new varnish. If you're really going to go with only varnish, make it a minimum of 5 coats. 3 is for UV protecting a stable epoxy surface. Do the math and you'll see that it's cheaper to order more epoxy.

As long as that 1 coat of epoxy is thick enough and uniform enough, it'll work fine under primer/paint. 3 to 5 very thin coats will give you better coverage and less waste than 1 very thick one.

Happy New Year,

Laszlo

   I'd look more at waste than number of coats. For example when you mix a batch how much is left over?  How much falls on the floor? How many times do you have to sand down too thick of a batch or crease or other fault in the application?

Non structural..........anything that keeps me from falling in the bilge is structural.

I agree with Grumpy that waste is the big risk.

Depending on how you use and care for your boat, the thwarts may need nothing at all. Bare wood could suffice just as it does on the handles of a set of oars. Wood that stays mostly dry (and is fully dry most of the time) is remarkably durable. It will turn grey, but it won't rot in your lifetime. Just look at any old barn with a good roof and good roof overhangs.

I built my house entirely out of pine (post-and-beam structure, tongue-in-groove interior, 1x10 batten-and-board siding). No paint, stain, or varnish anywhere. The oldest section of the house was built in 1988, and I had to pull off some of that siding to attach the final addition in 2013. After 25 years those pine boards were still almost as good as new. I sometimes wonder if paint just locks water in and keeps wet boards from drying fully.

   But I'd err on the side of putting extra epoxy on the daggerboard trunk and mast step. Those are just the sort of wettish out-of the-way places that are most likely to rot.

I'm not sure were I read this,maybe in the manual or a blog post by John Harris. But the statement was that the Dory kit came with just enough Epoxy for an experienced boat builder to complete the Dory. But a 1st time builder would most likely need more. And to top that off I don't know if they were factoring in the sailing components in that statement. I've said this in another post but my budget is really tight for this build. I originally budgeted $5000.00 for the complete job. That is the boat, sail components, rack for my truck, beach cart, PFD's, and anything else that should pop up. Right now I have spent around $4,300.00. The only large item I have left to buy is the rack for my truck somewhere between $300.00 and $500.00 and our PFD's. So I am running right up to the wall for my budget. Another order of Epoxy will hurt. Now that being said, I am not foolish enough to spend 5K on a boat and then scrimp on the finish work and not have a well built boat when I am done. If I have to go over budget I will just have to deal with the spousal repercussions.

I feel your pain, Mike. Your cost figures are about what I experienced too. And unfortunately I bet you will need more epoxy. I'm sure the manual is correct and an experienced builder can complete the boat with the amount provided in the kit. But I wasn't experienced and I wasted quite a bit. And like you I was also building a lug rig. You want plenty of epoxy on all parts of the sail kit because those parts get more abuse than most other parts of the boat. The rudder and daggerboard can bang against rocks, the trunk of your car, the thwarts, etc. The spars are always rubbing against the mast and clattering down onto the thwarts when the sail is dropped. You will go to a lot of effort in shaping them; it just makes sense to protect your work.

I think you should probably plan on buying another 1/2 gallon of resin and a quart of hardener (setting you back $150 or so). Trust me. The investment will be worth it. The Northeaster Dory is a wonderful boat. You can row it with ease at about 4 mph; under sail it will handle any conditions you can throw at it and move you around at up to 10 mph. It can carry an entire family or take you on a cruise for weeks at a time. It is very, very adaptable. . . . Unless your wife hates the water, she is going to love it too.  

   If you are interested in saving some money, you might consider making your own oars. CLC has some good plans you can purchase, but I developed my own based closely on the well-known Peter Culler design.

Here is a link to my blog where I describe my process.

http://lakenorforkadventures.blogspot.com/search/label/Chesapeake%20Light%20Craft%20Northeaster%20Dory?updated-max=2016-02-09T14:56:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=4&by-date=false

It's a fun project. My oars work very well.

Best of luck,

Jeff

 ".......  The only large item I have left to buy is the rack for my truck somewhere between $300.00 and $500.00............."

The rack on my pick up for two kayaks is about $800 worth of Yakima parts.  I could have constructed a 2x4 bed box frame rack for $100. They are a common sight around here.  Spousal disproval on $$$$ sometimes outweighs disproval on looks.

You can buy smaller amounts of epoxy at your local marine chandleries.  It doesn't have to be hundreds of dollars a pop.  Of course, the cost per ounce goes up accordingly.

I bought a flux-core welder for $150 to build my own $300 rack.

P.S.  I would coat everything with epoxy at least one coat.

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

Grumpy, Yakima racks are ridiculously expensive. Yes they are nice, I guess you get what you pay for in that respect. 2X4 racks are common around here as well, and I have seen a few nicely done ones. I have actually thought of this but not from pine/fir. Oak would be the wood of choice from what is readily available here in Idaho. I guess I could use pine/fir and coat it with Epoxy to make it weather proof!!

CaptainSkully, I would like to own a welder. I haven't welded since High School, but I don't have 220 available in my garage. I think I will just stick with a commercially made rack that I have confidence will last. I was looking at racks from a somewhat controversial source, Harbor Freight. They sell truck racks for about $150.00. Harbor Fright is a real crap shoot for quality. I wish I could see one in person to see what it might take to beef one up to do the job. Then a little HF wire feed welder might be a good investment.

My Forney FCAW is 110V 20A, so you can weld from a decent household outlet.  It's very well-rated for a hobbyist welder with no shielding gas required.

   On racks, there are some nice ideas on racks on the web.  I used one for a loader for my skerry.  I already had Thule bars for my CX-5, but needed a way to get the skerry up and down solo.  The trial unit I built from scrap lumber and left over epoxy/fiberglass.  Also, see if you can make contact with a welding shop locally.  If you get the right guy, you can get welding done for very reasonable sums especially if you design it carefully and do the cutting and fitting yourself.  

On epoxy, I don't know about. the NE Dory, but the kit for the Skerry had just enough epoxy IF you did it all right and didn't waste much.  Needless to say, I wound up buying an extra quart!  I plunked down for the Mas from CLC, because I'm local, and I've always had good results from the Mas.  I had a batch of West cook off on me in a spectacular fashion, and I swear I had the mix right.

I would definitely get at least a seal coat on everything, and that really means 2 coats, since the first, thin one will have to be sanded somewhat and that means it'll go through somewhere.  I used the rest of the epoxy to good purpose, epoxy coating my mast and spars before varnishing them.  If you have some coated and some not, the first coat of paint or varnish will look different on the uncoated vs. coated. 

I used the PreKote under my paint, and they are not joking about having to topcoat ASAP and keep it dry.  Weather (cold) forced me to wait a couple of days on my hull topcoat and most of my first topcoat wound up getting sanded away because it failed to adhere to the primer.  I wound up painting the inside w/ Brightsides right over the sanded epoxy.

I'm ambivalent about PreKote. I used it on the exterior of my Peeler Skiff and though it fills well, it's awfully soft (not to mention it's ability to suck moisture out of the air). I did not use PreKote on the interior and after 2 years in the sun on the saltwater there is no sign of the BrightSides separating from the epoxy resin. My guess is that the BrightSides adheres  very well to the resin which in turn provides a harder, more durable base for the paint.

I used a marine bondo-like putty to fill dents an other irregularities on both the interior and exterior of the boat, so the finish is just as smooth both in and out. I used a flattening agent in the BrightSides on the interior but have a glossy finish on the exterior.

Just one man's opinion.

Cheers,

Dick

���I agree with the assessment that Prekote makes for a softer finish. Sadly, mine is the outside of the hull that is the soft side. Which means the bottom gets all kinds of scratches on nearly every landing. Not just gravel or concrete, but even sand beaches can remove paint. I flattened the outside paint just a little and it helps hide my mistakes nicely. When I have time I'll strip the outside and repaint but will just patch with leftover paint for now. It still looks great on the water from 10 feet away.

Back in December I was worried about running out of epoxy before completing the boat. I have officially mixed the final batch of epoxy for my Dory, well at least for the boat itself. I have yet to begin work on the primary sailing equipment. As I was pumping out the last 2 pumps for the last batch of epoxy, the pump on my resin started to sputter.... Exactly enough epoxy in the base kit for 1 boat. They could not have been closer. Luckily for me I took all of your fine advice and I have a half gallon order waiting in the wings so I can continue working on the Sail uninterrupted.

 Mikeflys said, " Grumpy, Yakima racks are ridiculously expensive. Yes they are nice, I guess you get what you pay for in that respect. 2X4 racks are common around here as well, and I have seen a few nicely done ones. I have actually thought of this but not from pine/fir. Oak would be the wood of choice from what is readily available here in Idaho. I guess I could use pine/fir and coat it with Epoxy to make it weather proof!! "

My Yakima racks or pieces of them have been reconfigured onto four different vehicles without any "cut and paste", refabrication.  

I'm in Florida. The rod racks/ dividers in the back of my pick up are naked pine and going on fifteen years. The painted pine (not PT) dog ramp into the brackish river is going on two years.  Don't sell pine short. It does its job.

I've seen some creative racks of PVC pipe. If wood, why not pressure treated? 

Cartopping a NE Dory could be a whole 'nother thread. I'm hoping to car top mine. My van is 78in wide, the dory has a 56in beam and I have rails 48in apart. The rails are rated for 150lb so Mike I'm eager to know what the final weight of your hull is. CLC says around 100 lb.

Should all be do-able in theory! 

   Built 4 clc boats working on 5th so far I've had to buy extra epoxy on all of them.if you can eliminate waste there is enough   to complete the kits as directed however easier said than done. My advice,don't skimp on epoxy,eat ramen noodles for a week  and buy some more