Sportfisherman 26 Strip Cedar Skin

The strip cedar topside skin of the new 26ft sportfisherman is progressing. The tactic of starting at the level of the aft sheer and running that first strip along the path of least stress seems to have worked out. The strips above and below the first one have been relatively easy to fit, each epoxied and nailed to the previous strip with plastic nails fired in with a pneumatic nailer. A few temporary screws with fender washers were used to hold them at bulkheads and ends until the epoxy had cured.

Fitting the strips is a two-person job, in the interests of getting each strip neatly into position with the glue in the joint where it is needed rather than creating a mess with it where glue is not wanted. Kevin's help came from his dad for a few days and from wife Michelle whenever needed.

After working upward to where further work had to wait for construction of the chine flat, they  continued down to skin the flare, from the bow through to the break in the sheer.

Port side of the flare skinned

My job was to prepare the outer edge of the plywood bottom panels to match up to the chine flat. For most of the length this is a simple matter of shaping the edge to a vertical surface for the rectangular chine strip to butt up against. In the bow this detail has to change because of the much steeper slope of the bottom panel. The vertical edge doesn't work, so a rebate must be formed for the chine strip to fit into, with the bottom skin overlapping over the top of it.

I chose to cut the rebate into the edge of the plywood with hand tools. I could have formed it with a router and edge guide, then planed the edges of the chine strip to fit but I wanted the rebate to have horizontal and vertical faces to match the square edges of the chine strip. Each side took a few hours with chisels, mallet, Shinto saw rasp and a bit of help from a rip saw to cut the top edge once the basics of the rebate had been started with the chisels.

Rebate to receive the chine strip, from bow to Station 1. The bulkhead in the photo is at Station 0.

The vertical edge of the plywood bottom, changing to a rebate in the bow.

The first chine strip dry-fitted to check the fit.

Now the hull flare has been skinned both sides, and the first strip of the chine flat glued in both sides. The chine gives more definition to the hull and it is starting to look really good.

First chine strip in place both sides, giving more definition to the bottom shape.

The cleat that will form the landing for the wet deck was fitted next. It fits into pre-cut slots in the edges of the bulkheads and the hull skin will be fitted over the outside.

The strip between the chine and the top of the cedar strips is the landing for the wet deck, slotted into the bulkheads.

The flare all skinned. The sheer won't be trimmed until the hull has been turned upright.

The second strip of the chine flat must be fitted and trimmed, then the skin will be completed by my next post. Watch for it after next weekend.

This design is not yet complete, so is not on our pricelist or website. See previous posts on this blog about the 26ft Sportfisherman for more info. See our full range of designs on our main website or our mobile website.

Cape Cutter 19 News

The Cape Cutter 19 design was commissioned by Nick Voorhoeve, for GRP construction from moulds in South Africa. From there they were exported to UK, where they sold very well. After a few years they sold the company to Honnor Marine and production was moved to UK.

Two fiberglass Cape Cutter 19s waiting for the tide.

Honnor Marine has recently been sold due to the retirement of the owners. The Cape Cutter 19 moulds have changed ownership to a new company, Cape Cutter Marine, which has moved production to new premises in Driffield, Yorshire. The website has been totally redesigned, offering the same services plus a lot more. The new owner has plans to improve production and expand marketing to reach buyers world-wide.

Under Nick Voorhoeve we were able to sell CNC plywood kits but Honnor Marine took away those rights. Now we have reached agreement with Cape Cutter Marine that we can sell CNC plywood kits worldwide. This will be done through the same companies that currently sell kits for our Cape Henry 21 design.

"Tiptoe", Cape Cutter 19 beautifully built by Ian Allen from a kit supplied by CKD Boats, our South African kit supplier.

Included in the expansion plans of Cape Cutter Marine  is the introduction of a GRP version of the Cape Henry 21. That should happen once all is sorted out with the Cape Cutter 19 production.

"Elvee", Cape Henry 21 built from a kit supplied by Big Pond Boat Shop, our Canadian Supplier.

We look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Cape Cutter Marine.

The Cape Cutter 19 Association is based in UK and has an annual rally. The 2018 rally will be in Scotland in May. More info.

See our kits page for a full list of our kit suppliers, with contact links.

Sportfisherman 26 - Let the Skin Begin

Since my last post on Kevin Agee's project the 2nd and 3rd layers of the sheer clamps have been laminated onto the first one, to take it up to its full size. These layers were easier to do because the first layer was already in place, defining the twist and giving a convenient surface for clamping. There was no need for a Spanish windlass to pull them in.

Second layer of sheer clamp glued and clamped.

The 2nd layer of the bottom skin has also been glued on. It is secured and pulled in tight with temporary screws and fender washers, working outward from the centre of each sheet toward the edges, forcing air and excess glue out at the edges. A boat like this will sometimes take some hard hits on the bottom when running into rough conditions, so bad lamination in the bottom must be avoided. The screws will be removed and the holes filled with epoxy, inserted with a syringe.

2nd Layer of the bottom glued and fastened with temporary screws and fender washers.

Time was approaching for the side skin to be started. This is being done in bead and cove cedar that was bought in 4" plank widths, then cut down to the desired widths on a table saw. After scarphing to the lengths needed to cover the hull in single lengths, they were run through the router on a router table to form the cove and bead. This was done with a crown molding #3 router bit, using the convex part of it for the cove and the concave part of it for the bead. The two fit together nicely for the bead and cove joint.

Crown molding #3 router bit sourced from Lee Valley.

Fit of the bead and cove strips cut with the router bit shown above.

With a large stock of newly-machined strips scarphed into long lengths and waiting on top of the hull, the pressure was on me to finish shaping the bevels on the stem to to the correct angles to receive the ends of the strips. This is done by holding (clamping if there aren't helping hands available) a strip against the sides of the bulkheads and frames, with the forward end in correct position to run fair into the stem and with the tip just short of the stem. Then a saw cut is made into the stem with the saw running against the upper face of the strip until the teeth are flush and parallel with the inner edge of the strip. This is repeated in a series of positions until representative cuts have been made the full length of the stem where it will be crossed by strips.

The stem is still rectangular in section but has saw cuts to show the bevel angle needed by the skin.

Next, the bulk of the timber is taken out with a chisel to give the rough surface , finished off to the final surface with a plane and/or a Shinto saw rasp.

Using a chisel to remove the bulk of the excess wood. This side of the stem proved tough to break out due to the grain direction, the other side came out much more cleanly. This side needed the Shinto saw rasp to finish it, whereas the other side came in nicely with a plane.

The completed stem bevels, ready for the bead and cove strips.

A decision has to be made by each boat builder where to place that first strip. Some like to start at the chine, then work toward the sheer. Others prefer to start at the sheer and work toward the chine. Still others will start somewhere between the two and work in both directions. This third option was our choice, mostly because the boat has a broken sheer that gives a convenient start line.

We started by clamping the strip with the lower edge flush with the lower edge of the straight aft sheer clamp. Forward of that aft sheer clamp, we slid the forward part of the strip up and down against the framing until we found the line that placed the least stress on the strip. In that position there is minimal force needed to pull the strip against the framing, so fitting is easy and the same should also be true for the rest of the skin.

The first strip glued flush along the lower edge of the aft sheer clamp and the forward part aligned for least stress in the timber.

Starting to look good, with six strips fitted. The strips are run past the ends of the hull, then trimmed back after the epoxy has set.

The strips are nailed to each other with plastic brads that are shot in with a pneumatic gun. Temporary screws and fender washers are holding them to the framing. Due to the low-stress alignment chosen for the strips, hand pressure was all that was needed to hold each strip against the previous one for fastening, no clamps were needed.

With much of the hull skinned both sides, time to stop. The chine flat must be built first from Douglas fir, then the side strips will be finished against the chine.

Scarph joints in the strips to make hull-length strips. The strips are positioned to spread the scarph joints out so that they are not all in the same place on the boat.

Building the chine step will be next, on the program for tomorrow.

This design is not yet complete, so is not on our pricelist or website. See previous posts on this blog about the 26ft Sportfisherman for more info. See our full range of designs on our main website or our mobile website.