Re: Making the boat light

Posted by Howard on Jul 22, 2004

ditto every item folks have here...a couple others...

- definitely go without the nails. you need to use the packing tape that had fibre strips in it to really hold it properly and you need to have enough tape to wrap the tape completly across the deck and around the bottom chine to ensure it will hold. building without nail really allows you to significantly reduce the size of the shear clamp. both width and depth...easily 1/2 wide X 3/4 deep with only 1/2 inch actually glued to the sides (glue it a 1/4 inch proud of the deck) and still round out the bottom inside corner with a 1 " radis router prior to stitching.

- do a careful job of fitting all pieces and planing the shear clamp. wood is lighter than epoxy...so if you leave less gaps...less epoxy.

- mask the inside of the boat up the side of the shear clamps and attach to/lay plastic inside the boat when you attach the deck...attach the deck right side up and do not invert until the epoxy has cured. this way...any excess epoxy on the inside ends up on your mask/plastic and can be pulled out when you make hatch openings.

- use micro-balloons to fill any voids. (do not use for structural elements). good example is fill all wire holes wih micro balloons, the inevitable little voids you will get between deck and hull. it is also much easier to sand.

- in the thick part of the coamings, (the two spacers, drill out and remove excess material. the coaming spacers at their widest are way more than adequate.

eliminate the hip braces and carve from foam any side support you need.

eliminate the tracks for the foot braces by custom sizing the forward bulkead exactly to the right position (this is a bit extreme in my view...becuase your boat now has no adjustment.) but a pair of foot braces and peddles weighs almost a pound).

use simple rope grab handles...they require you to drill the hole for the rope (which removes material) and the rope with the knot is the lightest approach for handles.

each of the above is good for a couple ounces (foot braces is more)...which may amount to another pound or two or three..

additional savings can be had if you consider the light-build kit option from clc where for another chunk of change they swap 3mm for 4mm thick ply for the sides. but then you have to treat the boat a bit gingerly.

fully concur with everybody about making sure all your glass works is very tightly done to prevent any bumps or runs. if you get one...take the time to sand it back fair.

let us know how light you end up.

hs

In Response to: Making the boat lighter by Homer on Jul 21, 2004

Replies:

• Re: Making the boat light by Terry Mcadams on Jul 22, 2004