Original inspiration for building "Spartina". Picture borrowed from 'Classic Boat' magazine.
Sail Plan
The boat shed.
Lofting onto rough grade plywood. Should have painted it first. Too easy to make mistakes when the lines are indistinct.
First attempt at scarfing, 4 thicknesses of 1/2" ply stacked and fastened together, roughed out.
Finished scarf.
Some of the molds. Cross spalls to be attached.
More molds and the stem pieces on bench.
Attaching molds to ladder frame.
All molds on ladder frame. Yet to be properly leveled and aligned.
More of the molds.
Molds all aligned and blocked for rigidity.
Was unsure initially how to attach garboards to bottom which is two layers of 1/2" ply. Went with a version of number 4.
Trimmed bottom layer a bit smaller than upper layer to form rebate. This shows the gap that will need to be filled as the garboard is fitted.
Further towards stem the angle and therefore the gap becomes greater. Thickened epoxy was used to attach garboard and fill gap.
Showing bottom temporarily attached to molds with rebate for garboard.
Bottom attached to transom. Poorly lofted transom showing gap that needs to be filled.
Bottom board to stem joint. Yet to be glued.
Initial attempt at lining off. Only first layer of bottom sitting there.
Template of garboard. Only made template of this first plank. Remaining planks spiled to shape.
Garboards being shaped on bench.
Garboards trialled for fit.
Garboards dry fitted.
Showing twist in garboard. Took some persuasion to get them in place.
Garboards glued in place. Used drywall screws to temporarily hold them in place. This is where any mistakes in the molds shows up with dips and hollows on the edge of the boards.
Next attempt at lining off now that garboards are in place. Needs to look ok from all angles.
Bottom and garboard attachment at transom. Bevel line is visible on garboard. Used 3/4" bevel which works out at about 7/8" actual surface area once bevel is cut.
Second plank going on. Plank lining off marks shown on molds and stem.
Second plank from different angle. Slight hollow in bow sections obvious. Plywood mold is permanent bulkhead, which could have been left out until hull completion.
Third plank. Some creative clamping needed in hollow section.
Third planks attached. Bevelled laps on both planks to reduce apparent thickness of planks.
Joining planking material at an angle in an attempt to reduce wastage. Don't know just how effective this was. Spiling batten for planks is under the power cords. Used pieces of thin plywood screwed together.
Fourth plank going on.
Fourth plank.
Fourth plank at transom.
Fifth planks attached. Bevel on plank just visible. Starting to look like a boat.
Bevel on starboard side planking finished and given a couple of coats of thinned epoxy. Port bevel a work in progress.
Hmmm. Maybe the bevel needs a bit more work.
From down the blunt end.
Planking bevel at stern.
Sixth plank going on. One to go.
Sixth plank.
Cutting a plank to shape
Finishing off bevel on plank. Used electric planer to rough out bevel. Glue lines in ply blunt the blades of both electric and hand planes real quick.
Final plank pair beveled and ready to hang.
Planking complete.
Planking complete. Transom bracing removed.
Outer stem being laminated in place. Packing tape visible between inner and outer stems to prevent inadvertent sticking.
Outer stem laminations. Made from cypress. A bit soft but thats what I had available at the time and it is very rot resistant.
Stem shaped and fitted and entire boat given a coat or two of thinned epoxy.
Hull being lifted off molds.
Taking molds out from under shell of hull. Working on my own here, difficult to get any higher.
Hull off molds. Mold timber used for lots of other projects.
Two of the larger molds modified to make rolling frame. Hull is very flexible at this stage.
Rolling hull. 7' beam becomes apparent here.
Over she goes. Will sit on padded remains of ladder frame until completion.
Almost there.
Just need to get rid of rolling frame.
Inside at stem. Lots of excess epoxy to remove. Used heat gun and chisel mostly.
Most of the excess glue removed. Bulkhead taken out until structural components like inwhales fitted. Epoxy glue lines at forward end of the bottom are repairs to voids in inside layer of ply.
Routing cb slot.
Cleaning up cb slot.
Lofting of the partial frames/seat supports.
Epoxy fillet of bulkhead. Inwhales fitted.
Starting the framing.
Mock up of cb case to see how it fits. Doesn't go all the way through bottom of boat.
Centreboard case dry fitted together. Bed logs either needed to be cut out for pivot pin or made larger. Probably would have been neater to make larger bedlogs. Used thickened epoxy with high density filler for pin bearings. Then used 3/4" copper rod for pivot pin. Copper plate used for pin cover.
Another view of one half of centreboard case.
Inside of cb case. Washer of thickened epoxy used to prevent side play of centreboard.
Final frame/bulkhead being fitted at rear of cb case which is not yet fixed in place.
Main bulkhead showing hatch framing and epoxy fillets. Remaining frames yet to be filletted.
Mast step with Dynel coating.
All frames in place. Some filletting to go.
Framing from the stern.
Carlins and seat framing in place. Needed steam box to get carlins to take bend.
Steambox. Made from ply that was used for lofting.
Carlin to framing joint. Used glue and screws.
Framing from transom.
Framing and filletting complete.
Rudder and Centreboard made and shaped.
Centreboard case fitted with flexible sealant. Just need to turn boat over and attach with screws from underneath.
Turned back over. Hull is now rigid but much heavier.
Inside of cb case is coated with dynel in epoxy. Case intentionally does not extend all the way through bottom. Will glue hardwood strips approx 1/4" x 1/4" into gap.
Close up of CB case fitted.
Case attached with bronze screws.
Just visible are the hardwood strips in cb slot. Bottom given another coat of epoxy before dynel sheathing.
Start of dynel sheathing of bottom.
Wetting out.
Trimmed to cover bottom and garboards.
Overlap of Dynel at transom.
Just need to fill the dynel weave with thickened epoxy.
Preparation for painting
Primer coat.
Finished paint job.
Completed paint job. Not as good as I would have liked but painting is one of the jobs I dislike.
Turned back over for the final time. Starting to cleanup and paint interior.
Inside painting complete.
Scarfing side deck pieces in situ.
Deck removed for painting.
Deck removed and painted in preparation for permanent fixing. Glue lines left unpainted.
Deck all glued up but yet to be trimmed.
Deck fitted. Glued and nailed with bronze ring shank nails. Seats fitted. 1/2" ply used for seats. Needed to run multiple grooves to half thickness along bottom to make them conform to the slight curve athwartships.
Making template for coamings. Complicated shape with rolling bevel on foredeck.
Coamings fitted.
Deck and coaming fitted.
Deck and coaming structurally complete. Mast partner leather being fitted.
Forward end of coaming with misaligned screw plugs. Lots of sanding of epoxy runs to go before finishing.
First dry fit of birdsmuth mast. Using Hoop Pine, which is about 20% heavier than Sitka Spruce. Over cut birdsmouth was used to lay 6 x 50lb tensioned braided fishing line for strength. Don't know what difference it has made but it weighs almost nothing and the mast hasn't broken yet.
Trial fit of mast staves. Cut some octagonal support pieces for inside the mast to allow for easy assembly.
Glue up of mast. Glued with epoxy, half at a time using non stretch tape and hose clamps.
Mast glue up.
Two halves of the mast, one on the floor, ready for cleanup and reinforcing. Boom and gaff on the bench behind.
Reinforcing of upper mast at gaff jaw area.
Tapered reinforcing in way of deck partner and boom jaw areas.
Completed mast, rounded off and varnished.
Laminating solid boom from Hoop pine.
Boom glue up complete. Just needs to be rounded off.
Practically finished tapered gaff, jaws to be attached.
Gaff and boom jaws. Gaff jaws laminated from spotted gum.
Rudder hardware made from heavy plate copper and rod. Subsequent brazing has annealed fittings but still seems strong enough.
Lead insert in centreboard. Used bronze nails inset around perimeter and poured molten lead.
Lead insert in rudder.
Lead melting apparatus. Used old tyre weights.
Rolled out of shed for first time on rollers to try mast fit.
Rolled out.
Rolled out for first time.
Rudder fittings and traveller. Traveller temporarily fixed in place. Used bronze coach bolts to through bolt to backing plate.
Mast trial fit. Had to enlarge hole in deck about an eighth of an inch to allow for leathering.
Another shot of mast fit.
Inside painted and cleats attached to cb case. Cleats made from hardwood from the firewood pile.
Rub rails fitted. Some paint touch up needed.
These are the basic pieces of the block blank.
Glue up of block blank. Then cut into sections.
Block blanks.
Construction sequence of blocks.
Roughed out pulleys. Still need a bit of work and the holes enlarged.
Pulleys cut from chopping board.
Completed blocks. 3/8" copper rod axles.
Hardware fitted and deck partner leathered. Brass strip along edge of foredeck. Polished it then varnished it but should not have done so as water inevitably found it's way under the varnish and tarnished the brass. It now looks a splotchy mess and needs to be redone.
Hardware in place.
Traveller rigging.
On custom trailer for first time. Home made jamb cleats on traveller mounts.
Hatch cover in forward bulkhead. Eventually modified stern bulkhead and made similar type hatch for flotation in stern. Found out the hard way that it holds a lot of water when tipped over.
Hatch covers front and rear.
Mast support for travelling.
Rudder fitted to boat.
Sails raised for first time.
Sails up.
First not very pretty attempt at reefing.
Launched in Pumicestone passage at Bribie Island.
Sailing in Brisbane river.
Downwind.
Passing under the Gateway bridge. Brisbane river.
Sailing at Clontarf.
Nice breeze with a reef in the main.
Comes about quickly. Some untidy ropework.
Leaving the boatramp.
