I'm getting old so have patience with me as I learn to use this Blog thingy. I'll try to edit and list thing chronologically on rain or cold days when I can't be outside. In the mean time I am just trying to get things loaded onto it so I don't lose or forget them.

    

I built the bulk of the boat on a jet ski trailer using it as a building cart. I only have 18 feet inside the fenced carport and a longer tongue wouldn't have allowed the gates to close. Before moving the boat to it's road trailer I had to do a bottom job on the boat. I had decided to coat the bottom with epoxy and graphite instead of paint. It would be a lot more scuff resistant and add another layer of epoxy to the several coats and fiberglass already there. Graphite added to epoxy results in an opaque shiny black finish which would go with my paint color scheme. So I blocked up the back of the boat and used a come-a-long attached to the big oak tree to lift the bow.   simply rolled the jet ski trailer out and put a big block of Styrofoam under the bow for safety while I added the epoxy to the bottom. simply rolled the jet ski trailer out and put a big block of Styrofoam under the bow for safety while I added the epoxy to the bottom.

I had a stripped down Aluminum trailer that I had bought a few years earlier. I had gotten a great deal at $500 but it had no bunks. I had lusted after both the Aluminum construction and also the Torsion Bar suspension system. The Aluminum doesn't corrode and the Torsion Bar suspension is a much easier ride over the bumps for the boat. I built a wooden support system out of 4X4s and 2X4s so I could test the theoretical float on/off bunk system I had designed before spending the money to do a more permanent system of Aluminum. I also wanted to get the boat in the water and make sure my self designing didn't end up too heavy fore or aft or too tender from the too-tall top. Using the same procedure for lifting the boat that I had used when removing the jet ski trailer, I rolled the new trailer under the hull and lowered the boat onto it.

So..... off to the boat ramp and the initial splashing. I had to back the van up til the wheels were at the water's edge before it floated off, but it did indeed float off. Not only did the trailer seem to work but the boat floated level like she was supposed to. I had loaded 35 gallons of water in containers and placed it in the stern to simulate the 240 pounds the engine would weigh. I took the picture and then got aboard to see what my weight and moving around would do. It seemed to make little difference if I was fore or aft with regard to the boat being level. However, as I had guessed the top did lean way over when I boarded from the side. Not dangerously so, and the hull itself probably didn't lean much more than other boats, but the roof leaned over nearly a foot. I knew that the 6ft+ head-room was gonna cause that and had hoped it wouldn't be too dramatic. Like a fishing tower, the top will appear to sway heavily even though the hull is not. The exaggerated appearance was due to the height but I had been determined to have standing headroom and was willing to accept it as long as it wasn't to the point of being  dangerous. I guess I'll just have to be careful when tying up where there are tall posts like at the boat ramp in the picture. The thing I hadn't counted on with my "Bubba" rigged wooden support system was that when the boat floated off, the trailer floated up! When I recovered the boat I had to tie lines to the trailer and tie them off on both sides of the ramp to hold the floating trailer while I pulled the boat up onto it.

So now that I knew the basics regarding the trailer system and that the boat seemed to float on her lines I was ready to get serious about adding the expensive parts. First I bought 13 inch tires to replace the dry rotted 10 inch tires. Larger diameter tires are easier on the bearings and span the cracks better meaning a smother ride. It added 1.5 inches to the height on the trailer frame. Then I bought the Aluminum square tubing to bolt to the bottom of the trailer.so I could lower the entire bunk system to and get rid of the wooden supports. Lowering the bunks would more than offset the additional height gained by the larger tires. The net effect would be that the boat would ride nearly 7 inches lower to the ground. That would mean it would float on & off with the van tires well up the ramp and no more wading to the winch. I bolted the new Aluminum to the bottom of the trailer with the temporary bunk system and boat still on the trailer. I took the temporary goal posts off and installed the new galvanized ones. Next step is to take her to the water and launch the boat and remove the wooden parts. Then I'll bolt the 4X4 bunks to the Aluminum cross members and recover the boat. I designed the 2 aft cross members to be long enough to fasten fenders to and to allow tie downs to be attached. Eliminating the wood should eliminate the trailer flotation issue too;-) I'm estimating a couple hours to accomplish the boat ramp modifications.

I'm new to this blog and haven't figured out all the editing stuff so bear with me. You can also tell I am not good at doing daily or even weekly updates so some of the stuff is out of sequence with regard to when it actually was built in the construction timeline. The boat is near completion with regard to the actual construction and needs to be moved to it's road trailer and have the bottom coated with Epoxy and Graphite. So I used the tree out front, a come-a-long and some wood to block up the transom. I lowered the tongue of the building-cart/trailer to make the transom as high as possible. Then using the wood I blocked up the transom and used the come-a-long attached to the bow eye to hoist the bow off the trailer. My bow eye is 6 inches long and goes through 5 inches of solid wood to be able to take the entire weight of the boat.

Love Bugs are an natural part of boat building in Florida at certain times of the year. They can be ignored but sometimes become an integral part of the boat when you do. Epoxy has virtually no smell to me but it is a super attractive smell to Love Bugs and they flock to the area where fresh epoxy has been applied.  I tend to ignore them in the preliminary coats of epoxy (they sand smooth) but wait till their short season is over before doing a final epoxy coat or paint

I decided to "not" include a closed storage area under the seats. I wasn't sure if that space might be usable as part of the sleeping arrangements or not and figured I'd leave it open from the front. I can store the Porta-Polti under one and slide a milk crate storage box under the other if needed. I built a Bolger Microtrawler a few years ago and got spoiled with the standing headroom in the Pilot House and the open doors right beside the seats. I like the open jeep feeling of having the seats and doors like this.

Pat Johnson's "self designed" 1/2 Fast Cruiser

I'm getting old so have patience with me as I learn to use this Blog thingy. I'll try to edit and list thing chronologically on rain or cold days when I can't be outside. In the mean time I am just trying to get things loaded onto it so I don't lose or forget them.

A few years ago someone asked me if I wanted a free boat. I immediately replied "no way" because I didn't want to end up with another "project" I hadn't chosen myself. Still I was convinced to go look because it was supposedly wood and looked neat. The boat was outside in the weeds and had been for some time. Initially I gave it a quick glance and wasn't ready to wade into the weeds for a closer look. Then I noticed what appeared to be solid wood under what had appeared to be a completely rotten boat. So I waded in and took a closer look. I was surprised to find the boat's bottom, planked diagonally with 5/8 inch mahogany was in like new condition. Evidently someone had attempted to rebuild the boat but had either died or lost interest after doing a really good job on the planking. The rest of the boat was a complete disaster and barely recognizable as the boat it once was. I decided I would take the boat home and see what I could salvage from it. So we hooked a rope around the stem and drug it out to where we could lift the front up high enough to get it onto the trailer and then lifted the back and shoved it unceremoniously onto the trailer. Once home I shoved it into the back of my shop lot and left it for a while till the weather made it reasonable to do a closer inspection. It was obvious that the entire boat above the waterline was not even worth salvaging as a pattern much less any usable wood. Upon further thought I decided I would cut everything above the re-planked hull off and see what was left. I did that and found the ribs, stem and entire bottom were in very good shape even though it had sat for a long time out in the weather. I loved the shape of the hull's bow and couldn't bear to destroy that work of art. A friend helped me flip the hull over and I sanded and applied a layer of fiberglass just to stabilize it and left it that way for the winter.

It sat like this for almost 2 years while I did other things. I'm pretty much convinced that it was originally an old (1940s?) Inboard Chris Craft Runabout. I'm kinda sorry I didn't take any pictures of it before I cut the top off so I could possible find out for sure what it was. Originally I had planned to covert the entire boat to firewood so hadn't though it was a picture I would have needed. Anyway in the early part of 2014 when the weather had warmed enough to do outside work comfortable (about the 1st of March or so), I pulled it out of the back and thought about what to do with it. I figured whatever I built on the top of it the hull would perform pretty much as it was designed to do as a runabout. I decided the first thing I wanted to do was deck over all those ribs that would have been a bear to work around. So, after stabilizing the ribs I turned the hull into a 16 foot paddle board using 1/2 inch plywood.

At this stage the only accurate thing to reference for symmetry are the 2 exposed fore and aft runners from the original boat. Everything from this point forward used these runners as the reference point. I assumed that these runners from the original boat were designed to be level with the water when the boat was floating. The engine mounted directly to them and I assume the decking was attached to them as well.

Once the Paddle-board was complete it was much easier to visualize building something on top of it. Unfortunately with only the 2 for & aft 2X6s from the original hull and no plans everything would have to be built without the benefit of the experts like I usually get with plans. However, I have build 30+ boats prior to this one. While most had been smaller open boats, one had been a Bolger Microtrawler that was similar in complexity and size. I settled on a sleep-aboard cruiser with a pilothouse. I was spoiled with the standing headroom Pilot House and full sized bunks in the Microtrawler and was determined to not have anything less in this new build. I moved the hull to a jet ski trailer that I could use as a building cart that would fit into my carport and still allow me to close the gates.To begin with I fiberglass clothed a few sheets of plywood on both sides and then cut one into two exact halves 2 feet wide and 8 feet long. I butt-joined them using three layers of fiberglass cloth on each side of the joints. I built a temporary jig/frame on the Paddle-board to help attach the 2 sides. The original hull would be the lower chine and the plywood I was attaching would be the upper chine. I would allow the "line-of-the-chine" from the original boat to determine the flare of the plywood I was adding. When you bend plywood it basically only bends in one direction. Consequently when you attach it to a sweeping upward hull, the sides have to flare out to accommodate the upwards curve of the curved chine and allow the plywood to bend upward without having to twist. I'm sure there is a more nautically correct term than "Line of the Chine" but I don't know what it is.

Once the temporary framing was complete I joined the 1/2 sheets of plywood to form 16ft X 2ft long sides, adjusted the temporary jig to accommodate the width of the plywood sides and attached them to the frame and them fiber-glassed them to the bottom.

One side attached and one to go.

I then added the Bulwarks to the top of the front side pieces (I call them "Bad Ass Boards")to help deflect spray that might otherwise come over the bow.

You'll notice in later pictures that the wide gap at the top is pulled together and filled making the front of the boat a full 5 inches of solid wood and fiberglass. I want the bow to be bulletproof and the bow eye to be able to hold the entire weight of the boat.

It was at this stage that I installed one of my most important parts used in all my boats. I mixed some epoxy with some of the ashes of my Dad and my good friend Horace Johnson (No kin to me) and permanently attached them to the hull below a planned panel that would cover and protect them. They'll be boating with me every time I go out! I'm not sure they get along all that well but they sure stick together regardless of what happens!

Most of the temporary frame was removed and I began to install some of the structural components (furniture and strategically placed parts to support the sides)  I also installed some of the false bottom parts that would also serve to support the side panels. All of these false bottom compartments serve as flotation should it ever be needed.

These watertight compartments add a tremendous amount of structural support to the sides of the boat. Not only are the sides fiberglass taped to the bottom but also to these compartment tops and the deck. Plus there are vertical supports and structural furniture bulkheads attached to the sides as well.

At this point I added some of the decking so I could tie into it with the pilot house part of the build. You will notice the transom area is left wide open and only help apart with a temporary 2X4. The boat at this point is just a little over 16ft long. That is about all the length that I can get into my carport and still be able to close the gate. I plan to add an additional 2 feet to the length but want to wait til I get the rest of the boat finished first so I can store it under the carport as long as possible. I will have to store it beside the building after I add the 2 feet. Plus is makes the boat a lot easier to get into and out of with the transom off.

I added the rub rails and now it's time to go vertical.

Trying to get everything square and symmetrical is difficult if all you have to go by is the 2 fore & aft 2X6s from the original boat. I use a lot of scrap wood temporarily screwed to various points to hold things in place while the epoxy cures. I also use some homebrew to calm nerves from all the "self design stress".

Self designing may sound cool but having to dream up and then figure out each piece takes a long time and I was starting to feel like it would never end! Still, the pieces continued to go on and the boat began to take shape. I wanted to have as much room as possible in the V-birth area so I raised the deck in front of the Pilot house enough to be able to sit up without bumping my head in the morning. I installed a hatch in the raised portion so I could get to the anchor/Sampson Post without having to get outside the boat.The boat is long and narrow and I knew it would be hard to walk around the pilot house without the boat tipping way over so I needed a way to do the work from the fore-deck without trying to climb around the pilot house.

I like the idea of a bow sprit to run the anchor line through so the line is held away form the painted sides. I also like the nautical look of a Sampson Post so I added these to the front of the boat and heavily attached them so they could take the strain if I anchored in heavy seas. The boat will weigh around 1500 pounds but the front is pointed and the bottom has a pretty good V shape so there shouldn't be too much stress on the bow sprit and no hard jerking motion from the waves.

I decided to fabricate sliding pocket doors for the pilot house thinking they would be better than the standard swinging doors for keeping the water out. I also installed a drip edge on the top to keep the water away from the windows. I put a Sampson Post on the front for the anchor line and a hatch through which I could duck and stand up in to reach the Sampson post without having to go outside around the pilot house. I put rub rails on the sides. added seats in the pilot house, extended the roof to back of the boat, a couple of storage boxes and began to paint to protect the epoxy from the sun's UV rays......Oh, and I extended the boat's length by 2 feet to a total of 18ft. The beam is 6 feet.

I'm gonna need a bigger carport if I ever build a bigger boat. I had only a couple inches of room at the top and virtually no extra room for the length.

I decided I wanted steps on the back of the boat to be able to get into and out of the boat without having to climb a ladder or roll/wallow over the side so I did something a little different....By adding 2 feet to the length while leaving the transom at the original location I gained the additional flotation without pushing the weight of the outboard further back. That should help keep the boat more level and also add the opportunity for steps to board on each side of the transom.

More to come