Emerald Marine

Emerald Marine Shop Party!!!

2010-10-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago we had a crazy, rockin' party at the shop--and it was so fun that we decided we just had to do it again.

October 1st, in celebration of the new improvements to the shop office and out new lofting floor, we pushed all the machines off to the edges, put down a stage and invited our favorite local band Spoonshine to come and give a performance in the Big Blue Room. It was a fantastic party!

The boys played their hearts out as usual, and there was plenty of time to boogie down.. . .

The DE25 is now finished!

2010-09-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a chance to update this blog for a while because of computer problems, but here are some pictures along the way of the completion of that boat we had been building:

Here she is with the forward cabin, roof and windscreen assemblies being cut and fit and assembled:

The cockpit area looking forward at the fuel-tank boxes which double as cockpit seats:

Inside the cabin looking at the dinette to port and the galley flat and cupboards behind the helm station to starboard:

Inside the forward cabin looking up at the beams:

DE25 Part 4

2010-04-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

I really didn't take so many pictures of the sanding, the longboarding, the fairing. If you've ever done it yourself, then you don't need to be reminded of the wretched misery and woe. And if you haven't done it, then far better that you should walk the green fields of Earth, untroubled in your innocence.

Here we are, flipping the hull right side up so that we can commence work on the interior.

Right-side-up and empty, she looks really big. We next will repeat the process by filleting, taping and sheathing the entire inside of the hull with layers of biaxial fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

Now the stringers and the bulkheads go back in, trimming them to fit where needed to work with the newly added fillets and layers of glass and tapes.

The taller bulkheads that weren't used in the building jig are also ready to be fitted. This one will make up the back of the cabin.

DE25 Part 3

2010-04-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

As long as you catch the epoxy while it is cured to the "green" stage, you can trim the excess cloth pretty cleanly with a sharp blade. I found my slick, a traditional shipwright's tool that looks like a giant chisel, to be useful here even on this very much non-traditional boat.

Speak softly and carry a big chisel! :-)

I added an outer stem to the design at the owner's request to jazz up the profile a bit. The purple color you see here is from a first skim of microballoon fairing compound as we get ready to longboard her fair.

While waiting for epoxy and fairing to set up hard enough to sand cleanly, I built a jig to lay up the cambered foam-core roof panel.

DE25 part 2

2010-04-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

The panels were draped over the building jig and wired together to hold them in alignment.

Layers of 12 oz biaxial FG tape and epoxy are used to fasten the panel edges together at the bow. . .

Along the keel. . .

And at the transom. . .

The entire boat was then sheathed in fiberglass cloth and extra fiberglass tapes to reinforce and protect the joints at the chines.

The DE25

2010-04-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is a Jacques Mertens design called the DownEast 25 that is being built on commission. We obtained a CNC package of cut parts to facilitate our construction.

We start by gluing up the full-length panels that will form the hull. The specified butt joints were made using two layer biaxial tape on either side of the seam.

Next, laying out the station molds along the leveled strongback frame. Some of these are temporary molds, and some are actual bulkheads that will eventually be incorporated into the boat.

And then they are erected and slotted into alignment in egg-crate fashion using the same stringers that will later be incorporated.

Casting a Bronze Nameplate

2009-12-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a few shots of casting a custom builder's plate for a new boat. It's fun and easy!

First, carve yourself a pattern and make a petrobond/olivine sand mold inside your casting flask:

Next you melt some silicon bronze alloy in a crucible, and then pour it into your prepared sand-mold:

When you break open the mold and pull out the part with tongs. . .

. . .don't be surprised if it catches fire again once exposed to a fresh source of oxygen. This is perfectly normal.

Now you just have to cut off all the sprues and risers, clean off the carbonized residue and give it a good polishing.

Next you'll need something to mount your builder's plate on, so gather up some cedar and oak and whatnot, and make one of these.

The final step is to screw that plate on with matching bronze screws. There, now that wasn't so hard, was it?

Gangplank

2009-12-04T12:27:00.001-08:00

In progress right now is this project: a stern gangplank for a boat that will be moored stern-to, Mediterranean style. The walking surface is made from 12mm marine ply, sheathed on both sides with 6oz FG cloth and epoxy for a durable, low maintenance surface. The side beams and framing are made from sapele lumber.

Here a couple of shots showing the pieces and how they fit together. The cross-frames are mortised into the beams which have been dadoed to accept the plank:

And here are a couple more after the first coat of sealer has been put on so that you can start to see the lovely grain of the wood. You're looking at the underside here where the frames come across to stiffen and support the walking surface. Because this side will be very visible when the gangplank is hoisted up vertically, we need to be sure that the underside is pretty too.

Next step to come: The walking surface will be coated with KiwiGrip non-skid once all the varnishing has been completed.

adze work

2009-12-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Making parts for a really big boat is like making a great big three-dimensional sculpture. This is a replacement part for the bow of an enormous wooden fish scow.

Start by chopping the chunk of wood roughly to length with the good ol' indoor electric chainsaw:

Next is a two-man job, using the shipsaw bandsaw to cut the rolling bevels. One guy steers the wood through the cut while the other mans the handwheel to crank in the changes of angle along the way.

After using the chainsaw again to cut kerfs down through the waste to make it easier to see where we're headed, it's time to break out the adze and get to workin' old-school, yo!

We return to the 21st century now as the power plane comes out for the last few licks down to size.

And here it is, a complex yet graceful shape, ready to take to the shipyard for the final fitting in place.

Repairing a Bad Planking Butt-Joint

2009-11-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

This 1940's era Bill Garden designed sloop had a problem with a bad plank joint. This boat was iron fastened using yellow cedar planking, and the ends of both planks at this particular seam had deteriorated as the fasteners went south to the point where refastening through a new butt-block wasn't an option.

The solution was to remove the bad ends and scarph in a new short piece to fill in the area. The scarphs were cut so as to leave the feather edge ending where it could be backed up by a frame, and new butt-blocks were placed behind the scarphs so that the whole assembly could be bolted through and through.

Here we see the scarphs after cutting and planing to shape and after pre-drilling the new fastener holes, but before plugging the old fastener holes through the frame with trunnels. The patch was bedded in 5200, and then the seams caulked up with a strand or two of cotton and seam compound. I'd show you a picture of "after", but there's no point since you can't even tell where it was under the bottom paint. :)

re-framing Fairweather

2009-10-27T10:45:00.001-07:00

Fairweather was launched in 1941, and has had a few adventures since then. The story is that she was drafted by the US Government in WWII and tasked with patrolling Icy Straits for enemy activity. Her most recent adventure has been the repair by sister-framing of 72 of her ribs. We had to remove the old, battered ice-sheathing and a few planks to get access to the broken frames.

The new frames were laminated in place, using seven lams each, plenty of epoxy, and just about every c-clamp we own.

Spalted alder jewelry box

2009-10-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I had a few small scraps of some lovely figured spalted alder left over from a furniture project, so I made a little jewelry box out of them and donated to the Friends of the Forest benefit auction. The Anacortes Community Forest Lands are a wonderful local resource, and Emerald Marine is always proud to support them.

Little Chief

2009-07-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

We built this Herreshoff Columbia tender as a fancy row boat and a surprise birthday present.
Her back bone and transom are mahogany, and her planking is red cedar with a mahogany sheer strake.
The thwarts are book matched sapelle, and she is copper riveted through steamed oak frames with clench nails in the laps.
She was a joy to build!

Initial mold setup

Lining off the planks with the battens

Lining off at transom

Patterning for the third strake

Planks are run off the transom and then cut to length

First three pairs of planks

From the stern...

From underneath...

Six pairs in

With only one left to go-the mahogany sheerstrake

Fitting the breasthook

Skeg and transom-final shape

Steam-bent ribs

Finished

Fulmar is for sale

2009-04-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Andy & I have decided that even though we really like our Oughtred Fulmar daysailer, we really ought to turn her over to a new family that can give her the use she deserves. We each have a bunch of other boats that are requiring our attention so it is with some reluctance that we are putting Bree up for sale.

Iain Oughtred designed Fulmar Sailing Dinghy
Modern epoxy/plywood glued lapstrake construction
160 sf gunter sloop rigged
Built-in flotation compartments
Can accept small outboard
Suitable for dinghy cruising as well as daysailing
LOA 16’8” Beam 5’10” Rigged Weight 390 lbs
$3500 without trailer, add $500 for Calkins trailer

Emerald Marine
703 30th street
Anacortes WA 98221
360-293-4161
emeraldmarine.com

Berth remodelling

2009-04-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of a recent project, the conversion of an athwartships double berth to a pair of fore and aft singles. The double was uncomfortable and somewhat unwieldy; not only was it not properly aligned with the axis of roll, but it also required that the inside occupant had to clamber over the full width of the berth flat to get in and out. (This is the port forward hull of a large power catamaran)

The conversion required cutting through the forward bulkhead and creating a new bulkhead and flat extension up into the forepeak. A laminated ring frame was made to reinforce the cutout in the existing bulkhead. A new sole, some removable shelves and cubbies, and new headliner panels with the appropriate access hatches had to be made. The wood for the the fiddle rails and ring frame are cherry, to match the exiting wood trim. New carpeting for the sole and a pair of new foam mattresses will finish her off.

February boatbuilding--a new tender!

2009-02-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

It turns out that I need a new ship-to-shore dinghy to replace the old one which is too small now that my puppies are actual full-grown dogs. I have tried out a wide variety of different tenders over the years, trying to balance out the conflicting requirements of being lightweight and easy to tow or store, being inexpensive to build, being strong and sturdy and being a decent rowboat.

Here is a list of the tenders I have built or have used so far:
1) 12' Cartopper dinghy.
A stitch & glue Phil Bolger design. This boat rowed fine, but is not laid out very well for ship-to-shore duties. An okay boat, but somewhat compromised by the simplifications required by the building technique.
2) 7'9" Nymph pram.
Another Bolger--essentially a Cartopper with the pointy bit cut off. Adequate, but not beautiful.
3) 7'9" Eastport pram.
Designed by Chesapeake Light Craft, this pram is built plywood lapstrake and incorporates built-in flotation chambers making her unsinkable. A very pretty boat compared to the angular stitch & glue shapes.
4) 11' Shellback dinghy. My brother built this Joel White design. It's built glued lapstrake and very attractive. This one is big enough to be a pretty good rowboat, but shares the problem of being a little too big and heavy for my purposes.
5) 8' Shoebox punt. This is one of Bolger's famous square boats. It went together in nothing flat and cost less than $50. . . .and I'm afraid I have to say it was by a good margin the worst towing, worst rowing, pounding, splashy, ugly and least likeable boat to use in the whole list. I wish I could have that fifty bucks back.
6) 7'8" Lapstrake pram. I built this boat traditionally with copper clench-nailed cedar planking over steambent oak ribs. This is the most glorious form of woodworking from a pure craftsman's standpoint, and this boat turned out gorgeous and was delightful to row and tow. Everywhere we went, people would come walking down the dock just to take a closer look at her. The only problems with this little gem were that, like all traditional wooden boats, she requires a higher level of care and maintenance to keep her happy than I really wanted to spend on my ship-to-shore tender. I have several larger boats that need love and attention already, and I've decided that the sailing canoe--which will live under cover when not in use--is a better candidate for traditional construction than a utility boat that will live out in the open at the marina.
7) 8' Acorn dinghy. This Iain Oughtred design was built traditional lapstrake by Andy Stewart. This is a gorgeous boat and could be built glued plywood lapstrake to reduce maintenance and weight. The 10 footer version was a strong contender for my next boat. . . . .

. . . .but I have decided that the best choice for my new boat was to be another pram instead. The pointy end of a really small tender simply doesn't provide as much useful space for the length of a boat and is less convenient for stepping off the end of the boat onto shore. That pointy bit is also harder on the topsides paint of the mother ship when you're not looking where you're rowing. The rounded, dish-like shape of a properly designed pram makes for very easy towing in rougher waters--less affected by cross waves and chop than a hard-chined hull--and the shape and reserve bouyancy of a correctly proportioned bow transom is essentially immune to the rooting and broaching that a stem-dinghy can exhibit when it gets surfed forward by following waves.

My favorite boat for the money from that preceding list was the Eastport pram. . .but I need a little bigger boat overall. My solution: I have stretched the basic lines of the Eastport, which was designed for construction from 8' long plywood sheets by a whole foot to use the oversize occume marine plywood panels that we can get from Edensaw. I increased the station spacing by 112.5% and re-lofted the curves to get my new plank shapes. This new 9 footer should have all of the great characteristics of the 8 footer that I liked so much while providing that extra stability and buoyancy that I need to get Katie and me and couple of wiggly Springer spaniels safely to shore all at one time.

2009-01-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

. . .and here are a few pictures of the one I started the weekend after Christmas.

This boat is planked with Port Orford Cedar, copper clench-nailed,and will have riveted steambent frames. Here she is, hanging over my bench, waiting for my next free weekend:

2009-01-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

The latest project I've been working on in my spare time is a traditionally built, lapstrake sailing canoe of the type that was popular in the late 1860's.

This is a picture of the first on that I built nine or ten years ago: