27ft Sportfisherman "Dedication"

Launch day gets closer for the amateur project 27ft sportfisherman of Kevin Agee. Aside from the physical progress on the boat, she has also been given a name. She will be named "Dedication" for the commitment that Kevin put into building a high quality boat. That will also be the design name, when I can get around to completing the drawings.

Since my last post we have installed the fuel tank. Kevin has painted the cockpit and deck and connected the fuel filler hose. On Sunday we fitted the cockpit access covers over the fuel tank connections and installed the centre console and leaning post.

Deck & cockpit painted, fuel tank installed. The grey areas are a sprayed non-skid and the white areas are gloss. Rod holders have been installed in the side decks. The two immediately aft of the sheer break each side will hold the bait board supplied by Australian company Stainless Boatworks.

Flush panel over fuel tank, with access covers over connections.

View of aft end of cockpit. Insulated fish box is in the centre, with a locker each side for access to bilge pumps and fish box drain controls. The cockpit drains are at the ends, draining under the lockers then through the transom below the stern platform.

Console and leaning post installed. Each has access to the hinged cover inside, over the tank plumbing.

The leaning post has a large bait tank and aft-facing seat. The bait tank has semi-circular ends to allow the water to swirl rather than splash when surging from wave action.

All painted except for varnishing the toerails.

Work has been ongoing on the tower. Assembly of the tower on the boat will start next week. When the tower, hardtop and crow's nest are complete she will go to the engine shop to have her engine mounted on the bracket.

This design is not yet on our website. To see our design range go to our main website or our mobile website.

Sportfisherman 26 - Over She Goes

The last of the hull sanding on Kevin Agee's 26ft sportfisherman was completed last week and epoxy barrier coat applied on the bottom, then she was ready to join the right-way-up rest of the world. See the video link at the end of this post for a time-lapse video of the turn-over.

Sanding and bottom barrier coat done, ready to go.

The turning was to be done with chain blocks hanging from a pair of 2x6x12ft planks bolted together, with 2x6 spacers between them, the planks braced by straps tying them to anchor bolts in the floor.

Previous boats of my own that I have turned over (34, 36 & 38ft) were all outdoors on earth surfaces and did not have turning frames around them. These differences changed how we had to accomplish the turning of this smaller boat on a smooth concrete slab and in rectangular protective frames.

We did it in two stages, with some rethinking and adjustment of equipment between the two stages. The rectangular frames meant that we needed to turn the hull 90 degrees, reposition equipment, then turn another 90 degrees. With my previous turns we could do it all in one extended process, lifting with lines attached to bulkheads adjacent to one sheer clamp and keep them there, simply lifting that side until the balance point, then lowering it slowly with those same lines and attachments. The hull had to be walked sidewards during the process, to always keep it close to the lifting gantry and it ended up rotated 180 degrees and back in the same place that it started.

Turning the hull of Didi 38 "Black Cat". This was done in one continuous turn from upside-down to upright.

Adding the frames around the hull creates pivot points at the corners of the frames and means that the boat must stop at 90 degrees and 180 degrees. We still needed to walk the boat sidewards during both stages and I had cropped the corners of the frames at 45 degree to help the frames to slide on the concrete slab during these movements. We had some issues with the frames sliding more than expected on the concrete and had to add precautions to control the sliding. In retrospect, it would have been better not to crop the corners, to leave hard 90 degree corners to grab onto the concrete rather than slide.

The boat dropped a few inches at the end of the first stage when the frames slid on the concrete. No harm done because the frames and padding did their protective work. But it warned us that sliding could be an even bigger problem in the second stage.

End of the first stage, time to change the lift point and reassess.

Looking at the boat on its side I realised that we weren't going to get this done with one chain block. The chain block already in use would be needed to control the last part of the turn. But, with the frames holding it very stable at 90 degrees, it was not going to continue the rotation without first being lifted at the other sheer clamp. So, we hunted down another chain block and rearranged the post staying before continuing. Mindful of the sliding problem of the frames on the concrete, we added two ropes tied to the frame and led through secure points against the wall, then under the boat to the safe side, where helpers could pull without risk of the boat falling on top of them. We also sourced two large tyres to serve as cushions under the frames if gravity did decide to take over control of proceedings.

The rest of the turn was done by lifting with one chain block until the balance point was reached, then easing out with the other chain block to lower the boat, interspersed with walking it back toward the lifting post before continuing.

Kevin was very relieved to get his baby safely grounded and stable again. The equipment was all removed then we all helped Kevin ad Michelle to celebrate this milestone in the project, with snacks and suitable beverages.

Job done, time to party.

Today Kevin and Michelle have removed the last of the temporary framing and finally got to see the hull without obstructions.

Temporary framing removed, we see her clearly for the first time.

Interior view from the engine bracket.

This design is still on the drawing board and not yet on our pricelist. To see our designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Fairing the Sportfisherman

Since my last post about Kevin Agee's 26ft sportfisherman project he has completed the glassing of the planing strakes and transom, after which the hull was ready for fairing to start. The fairing system chosen is from Alexseal Yacht Coatings.

Alexseal products for primers and fairing.

First to go onto the hull was 3 coats of high-build primer applied by roller. This formed the white base onto which the fairing/sanding layers were built up. It also gives a visual warning that sanding must not go any further into the coatings, instead more thickness must be built up to fill low spots before sanding can continue.

Next came a sprayed tan-coloured fairing coat that is sanded with longboards, removing high spots and revealing low spots that are missed by the sanding boards. The low spots are filled with a grey troweled putty, followed by more longboarding. Then the sequence of fairing coat, sanding, putty and sanding is repeated as many times as necessary until the hull is totally fair.

Sanding each time until the white primer is just starting to show on the original high spots ensures that there is not unnecessary build-up of fairing material on the hull. This is when the first fairing step showed its value. That first step was sanding out the bulk of unfairness from the raw wood strip surface before glassing the hull rather than adding filler to the low areas then glassing over them. Omitting that step would have increased the amount of fairing material on the hull, with resulting increase in weight.

This photo shows the bow after the first sprayed fairing coat. The white showing on the hull bottom is high-build primer. The edges of the fibreglass tapes on the bow show as ridges, even after feathering by sanding ahead of applying the high-build primer. The trowelled filler will be used in such areas to build them up flush.

Camo boat, good for duck hunting. After 2 or 3 cycles of sand/spray/sand/fill/sand the hull fairing is almost done. The white is high-build primer, the tan is spray fairing and the grey is trowelled filler.

Next will be a final layer of spray filler ahead of preparations for turning the hull over in coming weeks.

This design is not yet on our website. To see our range of designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.