The making of a hard dodger

This is not an easy project.

It is well beyond the "small boat project" range. And yet, it is so well executed that I couldn't resist drawing your attention to it. Mike of s/v Chalice has tackled the creation of a hard dodger. And he has done it in yeoman fashion. Pay particular attention to the tools and tooling that he creates in order to do the actual project work:

• A rib glue-up table
• A buck for gluing up the roof panel
• An adjustable jig to support the roof panel in place in the cockpit while supports are created
• A rolling gantry (!)

Given Mike's proclivities, I'm sure that this is not an exhaustive list.  Tho creation of the tooling and tools took perhaps as much time as the project itself, the result shows that this time was well-invested.

Yeoman work indeed.

What follows is a combination of two of Mike's posts (I wish there was a third showing the completed dodger).

The Hard Top / Hard Dodger. *Part 1*

So here we go. This was spread over about a year. First I made the actual top piece, then the bottom rail was made right on the boat. Then I built the gantry crane to set the top piece up there and join the two together.

I started with a table to make the mahogany ribs that are internal to the top.

Made with OSB, filled with thickened epoxy, sanded, then clear coated with epoxy again to give a nice smooth surface then waxed about 8 times so the glue would not stick to the form.

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

Next a large form was made that matched the same curve as the ribs. I did not take pics of that part. I have a few of the actual glue up of the top piece.

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

There is a layer of 1/4" luan on top and bottom. Mahogany ribs with 1/2"foam panel between them with solid Mahogany about a foot around the edges.

I used plastic nails to nail the first layer to the form. This allowed easy removal and sanding. I used a cheap Harbor Freight 18Ga. nail gun. Worked great and saved about $300 from buying a Italian gun made for them.

Later I cut it to shape and glassed it top and bottom.

From July 21, 2016

From July 21, 2016

---

The Hard Top / Hard Dodger. *Part 2*

So now we have the top up on the boat. I built an adjustable jig to hold it so I could get the right height and location. Here are some pics with the process of fitting the top to the bottom rail I had made earlier.

By the way, this was the most difficult part.

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

Starting to look good. I think.

From Update_July 20, 2016

Looking lean and mean.
Dirty boat.

From Update_July 20, 2016

Ok now we have it together (barely). So let's lift it off and to the ground.

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

From Update_July 20, 2016

On the work horses for final assembly and finishing.

From Update_July 20, 2016

Merry Christmas!

May the peace and quiet joy of Christmas be with you and your loved ones. Merry Christmas from the crew of Eolian!

DIY Drama - Big Hole in the Boat With a Storm Coming

A while back, Dana aboard s/v Rubigale (good news - s/v NoName is now s/v Rubigale!) had to deal with a problem while looking a storm in the teeth...

Being a boat owner without unlimited funds usually means learning to do many of the repairs yourself. As a brand new boat owner with no experience in this area, I have been chipping away at tackling things I have never done before. I started with my very first oil change, and with instructions, a hand pump and 2 hours, I managed it without incident. A few small woodworking projects  and installing blinds ensued, but nothing very exciting.

Weepy Barometer with Old Water Staining

Since our first big rain, several months after I bought the boat, I have known there were leaks on the starboard side. I usually found them coming from the headliner above the shelf behind the settee.  Three stubborn dribbles continued to occur with heavy rain, or water over the bow. Once I even saw water dripping from the screw hole in the barometer which is mounted above the other leaks, making me realize my problem was higher up.  I naively applied Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure to everything I thought suspicious. I re-caulked the toe rail with no effect. I had the mast boot replaced, which stopped the dripping into the head, but the starboard leaks remained. The base plates on the shrouds were re-bedded when the rigging was tuned and I hoped for the best. Just in case, I re-bedded the Charlie Noble, having seen water from there in a windy rainstorm. A scorching dry summer in Seattle didn’t allow me to test the changes for some time.

In early August we finally had some rain. Not the typical plant mister rain, but real rain. The three little rivers on starboard showed up on queue. The barometer cried. The chimney was dry, but it wasn’t a windy day. BUT! a new clue appeared. Drops of water came from one of the screws of the forward starboard aluminum window frame. BINGO!

Corrosion from the Leak

I had never re-bedded a window before, and I didn’t have the slightest idea what the internal anatomy of a window frame looked like. However, I had a friend that had just done this project on his boat and he emailed me detailed instructions. I bought what I was told was needed, and he even stopped by to make sure it was the same type of frame and prodded me to take the inner frame off to get a better idea.

Gap in the Sealant

Not only did it become more clear how the windows were mounted, and that this should be a doable project for me, but it was very clear there was daylight coming through the forward edge of the caulking and it was an obvious leak source.  It was also obvious that whoever had cut the hole for the window did not have the steadiest of hands. The cuts were undulating and erratic, and at one point the inner frame barely covered the cut.

Slow Process of Prying the Window Loose

My first job was cutting through the bedding compound from the inside, then going outside and trying to lightly pry the frame from the compound and the boat, millimeters at a time with two flathead screwdrivers. The top and forward edge (leaky side) came loose easily. The aft and bottom took forever. I was starting to sense the frame coming out as I could hear the bedding letting go slowly. I had a vision of a small victory dance on the dock with the window in hand.

CRACK!

Then I heard another sound.  CRACK might be the sound of victory on some circles (lumberjacks, chiropractors, gladiators), but it was not a good sound for me.  Yes, I cracked the glass at the one area that the wood pinched the frame inside. I got the frame out, cleaned it up, cleaned the old compound off the boat, and taped plastic inside and out. It was a weekend, and apparently no glass places were open. The drama was starting, because I was leaving (with the boat) for over a month in 15 days (10 business days), and most glass companies had shorter workdays than I did, so getting the glass there and back would be a challenge. I did research, left messages, called friends, went on rushed lunchtime field trips, only to be told “at least two weeks”.

I was starting to panic, but with some footwork help from my friend John, a place was found that could do the job based on the photos I texted him of the glass and the frame. It happened to be one of the places I called Saturday, but hadn’t yet returned my call. They gave an estimate based on the photos and size, and quoted a twenty four hour turn around. I drove the frame there on Wednesday (my day off), but wasn’t sure how I was going to get it back again in time since they were closed on weekends.  John agreed to take possession on Thursday, and the plan was to install Saturday. Then we got the forecast.

Summer Storm

The storm was coming early Saturday, and it looked ugly. Rain and 25-35 knots of wind. It was great news for our wildfires, but bad news for a boat with a big old hole. I didn’t think the plastic on the inside and the shower curtain taped on the outside were going to make the grade. I was worried. John came through again and he and Lisa brought the new window around the time I finished work.

The job went faster with three pairs of hands. I grinded a bit off the areas that pinched and re-cleaned the surface. The window was dry fitted and the inside from secured lightly while the outside surface was taped off. The window came back out and the portion of the frame that fits against the hull was given a healthy bead of 3M 4000 UV. As John fitted the frame back in, I started re-attaching the screws on the inside frame loosely until they were all in, then tightening them all a little at a time like putting a tire back on. Finally after the screws were all tight, we got to work scraping off the excess sealant and cleaning any mess with denatured alcohol. Once that was finished, the tape came off, and the job was done.

Taping to Avoid a Mess

Applying the Sealant

Putting the Frame Together

At about 5 am the following morning, what was described as the strongest summer storm in Northwest history hit. Gusts of 40-50 mph were recorded.  It is being called a mid-latitude cyclone. Read more.

I awoke at 8am to a text…”how’s the window?”  Honestly I was afraid to find out, but the bilge pump hadn’t come on so I figured it couldn’t be too bad.  I crawled from the V-berth and inspected the window frame-dry. The three rivers that ran down the wall beneath it-dry. The barometer-weeping like a willow. Oh well, three out of four is pretty good in my opinion. The barometer leak will wait for another day. I have a few leads and a lot of work, but at least I didn’t have a huge hole in my boat during the biggest summer storm in Northwest history!

There’s a Big Hole in my Boat!

Photo Credits: Lisa Mize – Sunrise Photography by Lisa

Lexan vs. Acrylic

This post originally appeared on Windborne in Puget Sound

---

If you are replacing fixed ports on your boat, you will be faced (or should be faced) with the choice between Lexan (a trade name for polycarbonate) and Plexiglass (a trade name for polymethylmethacrylate, aka acrylic).  Here are some features of each which might help you decide which to use:

• Plexiglass is transparent to UV radiation.  That means that anything inside the boat will be subject to UV degradation if the sun shines thru the window.  That also means that UV radiation passes harmlessly thru Plexiglass without having any effect on it.
• Lexan is opaque to UV radiation.  This means that it protects the boat interior from the ravages of UV.  But because the UV radiation is stopped by the Lexan, that means the Lexan is subject to the damage that it is preventing on the interior.  UV damage to Lexan causes it to turn yellowish brown and craze (millions of tiny surface cracks).  The effect is that your view eventually is destroyed:

  

  Lexan window after 7 years

• Plexiglass eventually crazes too...  But after a much longer time period.  However it does not turn brown or discolor.
  

  

  This Plexiglass port is 38 years old.

• Lexan is often touted as the "bullet-proof plastic":
  
  

  Property	Unit	Polycarbonate	Acrylic
  Tensile strength σΜ at 23°C	MPa	60-70	80
  Flexural strength σbB	MPa	90	115
  Impact strength acU (Charpy)	kJ/m2	35	15

  Sources:
  
  • Lexan 9030 Sheet Product Datasheet
  • Plexiglas GS Product Description
  
  In tensile strength and flexural strength Plexiglass is stronger than Lexan.  Plexiglass is weaker than Lexan only in impact strength (resistance to penetration by a quickly moving sharp object). 
  
  These comparisons are made on virgin material in both cases.  I have no data, but all that surface crazing has to act as stress risers and therefore crack starters - much earlier for Lexan than for Plexiglass.
• Lexan is two to three times more expensive than Plexiglass.
• Lexan is less scratch-resistant than Plexiglass

So, as in many things in life, the choice is not as clear (pun unintentional) as it might seem at first blush.  As the midway carny says, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

I will say tho, that for Eolian, we have chosen Plexiglass whenever it was available.