Front Transom Inside

Front Transom - Inside
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

This is the front transom from "inside" the boat. Again, the purpose of this round of work was to fillet the front and rear transoms. If you notice at the top center of this pic, the thickened epoxy dripped. Why??? Because we were too lazy to run to the store for good duct tape. we used package tape instead, it didnt hold, and the peanut butter oozed through. This will cost us a lot more work in the long run, when its time to sand.

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Mounting the Front Transom

Mounting the Front Transom
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We hit another milestone by getting the front transom mounted to the jig.

This process needed to be even more precise than the process of mounting the rear transom. With the rear transom, we needed to make sure that we were correct on two axes... think X,Y axis from geometry class. When we mounted the rear transom, we had to make sure our measurements were consistent on both the X and Y axes, or the whole boat would be off.

When we mounted the front transom, we had to make sure that we had correct measurements on all three axes... think X,Y and Z axis from trig classes.

This accomplishment took a lot of thought and planning. We had to make sure the transom was at the correct angle. If the angle was too small, the boat would have a flat front, and woldnt plane correctly. If the angle was too big, the bow of the boat would be too low, potentially allowing water to come over the bow. In order to accomplish this, we cut pieces of 2x6 to the correct angle, and screwed these pieces into the transom. We then screwed sections of 2x4 onto these 2x6s. The 2x4s would be then screwed into the jig frame on the floor.

In the accompanying picture, you will also see that we screwed a second 2x4-and-2x2 section onto the back of the 2x6 angle pieces, and the 2x2s stick up a little more than 6 inches from the center of the bottom of the front transom. This is because the reference line is 6 inches below the point of the transom. (Remember, were building this upside-down for the moment, so thats why the 2x2s are pointing up.) We used two pieces of 2x2, set in equal positions relative to the center point of the transom, so that we have two points of measurement, to ensure maximum accuracy.

Next, we rough-set the transom onto the jig frame, and clamped it to the jig, so that we could tweak our settings, setting the transom in place permanently with screws. After clamping the transom to the jig frame, we used a level and a tape measure to ensure we had things absolutely accurate. We checked the height using the laser level, making sure the reference points (marked on the 2x2s) were accurate relative to the reference points on the rear transom. We checked the distance from the rear transom by measuring the distance from the front to back on both the left and right sides. We made sure the transoms were centered correctly by measuring from front-left to rear right, and by front-right to rear-left. We knew we were good to go when we verified that these measurements were the same distance.

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Front Transom Overhang

Front Transom Overhang
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

The overhang on the front transom is more pronounced than the rear transom. Again, the hull extends past the front transom.

Though this makes for a bit more work, Id rather have the pieces measure too large than too small. Its a lot easier to cut away the excess than it is to build on a piece thats too short.

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A Nod to the Designer Architect

In my last post, Dr. Howdy has (quite rightly) recommended that I give some credit to the designer/architect of this fine boat. Greg purchased the plans from www.bateau.com. I will work to find out more about the individual who designed this boat and will post as the designer deems fit.

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Patched Front Transom Gap

Patched Front Transom Gap
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We went around the entire boat and patched all gaps, holes, gouges, and so forth, with thickened epoxy.

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Question Comment from a reader

The following is a comment from Squid, a member of the forum at www.bateau.com

The picture Squids referring to is shown earlier in the blog, but you can click here for a direct link to the picture.

---Begin original comment---
[S]hure looks like a flat bottomed boat at the transome end. How do you think it will handle in the chop and wind. I know they have wind in Iowa. I am interested in building this boat but will wait till you have yours done and can tell me how it handles. Squid.
---End original comment---

This is a valid point, and one that I honestly hadnt considered. But even if I had, this boat actually belongs to my friend Greg, so I didnt have much input on which plans were actually purchased. Im just the first mate. (Call me Gilligan.) Now that the point is brought up though, heres my take.

Youre absolutely correct, this is a flat-bottomed boat. The result is that it will probably rock-n-roll a little more in choppy water, but I wouldnt worry about that a whole lot. Its going to be a big, heavy boat, so I suspect that itll take quite a bit to make the boat roll excessively. As far as the wind goes, I dont think itll be a huge factor. The rear transom isnt much different from your standard power boat, so I suspect the amount of surface area that the wind could catch is probably comparable to a standard displacement hull. The front transom is relatively small, so I dont see wind as a factor here either, and the same goes for the sides. Besides, its not like were rowing this big-ass boat. Gregs going to put in a couple of big motors to do the work for us.

In short, the only way I see wind being a factor is when the wind causes waves on the water, in which case the boat will probably rock a bit more than a displacement hulled boat.

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Another Minor Milestone

Taping 002
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We havent done much the last couple of weeks, because my wife and I went on our honeymoon. Greg did a little work while I was gone, but not a whole lot... mainly a few last-minute things before doing what we did last night... laying tape!

Thats right, we laid tape on the three long seams. Greg said that hed to the transoms today, so we have not only a good physical bond, but a good chemical bond with the epoxy as well.

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Coming Along Nicely

Hull
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Weve got the joints epoxied, and the zip ties are pulled out. You may notice a couple of sloppy tape joints. Well need to fix them before we glass the whole boat. If you click on the picture, youll be referred to flickr, where you can see a larger picture, and a note pointing out the sloppy tape joint.

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