Custom 19' all weather, minimalist, strip plank composite 'go fast'

You just bridge the breather to an area that is not getting laminated..

 

Any updates, Socal?

Also, I'm looking for a freedive boat myself. I'm gonna send you a DM.

 

@fpjeepy05 thanks for the DM I will take a look

update...

I am pretty much done with the hull. I did the last layer of S-glass on Sunday. Monday morning did some weave fill while the epoxy was still green, then yesterday sanded this smooth and all it needs is a few a final layers of very thin epoxy, then it'll be ready for paint.

Here it is BEFORE the S-glass, having just been washed.

Looks pretty snazzy, huh? The intention was the finish the bottom clear up to a few inches above the chines, then paint everything else red.

Problem with CF is that it has poor abrasion resistance, especially for something intended to last decades, and especially compared to S-glass, so it isn't a good final layer on the boat bottom. I gave this a lot of thought--so far, the S-glass hasn't been excellent as far as ending up fully and perfectly transparent, but I really intend for this to function as a durable work boat within its application.

Decided to encapsulated it in one final layer of 6oz S-glass, which means the bottom is 4oz warp E, 6oz S-glass (these layers were messed up in the vacuum process so they were heavily sanded leaving about the equivalent of a 6oz layer of mixed glass), 6oz CF twill vacuum processed to a few inches above the waterline, 6oz S-glass vacuum processed over everything.



Spent so, so long perfecting the CF, carefully sanding and weave filling (see above!). Then when I did that last layer of S-glass, I was a little worried about the amount of epoxy I had and slower than I should have been to get the bag on it, so during the wet-out I some portions got slightly overworked and ended up a tiny bit cloudy (microbubbles). The S-glass also seems to be very touchy as far as getting it to go on clear in general. So, the bright portions were a little bit mottled--not screamingly so but on inspection it isn't uniform clear CF weave. I got three options--1) forget about the CF and just paint that portion black, 2) live with the mottled look--I mean it's mostly the bottom of the boat for chrissakes, 3) or tint the bottom layers of epoxy and even clear urethane with UV proof black pigment to mute the cloudier CF portions so that it is semi-transparent smoked glass. This will create a more or less black bottom which on close inspection in sunlight shows CF weave at depth. I've done that finish on CF spearguns back in the day and it's kinda cool so I'll probably do that.

EDIT: oh yeah, the hull is also *SOLID* For cleaning the other night I had it hoisted off the sawhorses and had it suspended from the ceiling on ropes, still on the strongback. I was exhausted and left it hung overnight and came back in the morning to discover it had fallen--some of my crappy knots had come loose so the rear end was laying on the ground. The boat was unfazed. No dents, bending, damage or anything. It hit a sawhorse and dented the cheap pine on the saw horse but I couldn't find any dents or anything on my hull. I've taken out a lot of strongback sections already but the strong back as originally built was really heavy, maybe 140lbs. I don't know how light the hull actually is but I think it is quite light. We'll see--the WRC is like balsa, but it has some structural white oak which is super dense, and the bulkheads and transoms are laminates of WRC and marine ply so those do have varying amounts of denser materials.

 

I had some travel/work/etc obligations so the boat had been on hold for the last six weeks or so, but I did get the hull painted. Since the CF ended up with cosmetic imperfections (about a C-) after that final armor of s-glass I decided not to go entirely clear on the bottom and did more the smoked glass thing.. basically the bottom looks black but up close in bright light you can see the layers of weave down to the carbon fiber. Overall it's not a bad look. Nine coats of Interlux Perfection on the bottom done about every 10-28 hours, light sanding in between, then four coats of clear two part, catalyzed teflon urethane bottom paint (Smooth Sailing) over that. To have a little more environmental control I moved her into the kitchen for painting.



The hull is back outside and when I get back in the country I will get to work on the interior.

 

Any more updates?

 

Yep, steady as she goes. Getting the interior bow finished up, then moving to hatches, airboxes, rails, and console.

 

Looks good. Do you have a date you are hoping to be finished by?

 

No specific date but it's a professional and recreational priority; when I'm not on the clock for a student/client or training I work on the boat. Realistically I should be able to get it in the water sometime this summer. I have been away this last week but on the plane for the first time I was able write up my 'to do' list. Later steps are less granular but it was gratifying to put the steps down on paper.

 

Do you charge by the man or the whole boat for your charters?

 

This may change slightly when I finish the new boat but I basically charge for my time as an instructor and (in water) spearfishing guide, and I'm not a charter captain in the typical sense in that I'm open to virtually anyone with the money to hire me, where I take divers to a spot and just drop them in the water and sit on the boat. I just have a day rate that includes X number of students. Use of my boat is included, but if going out on 'your' boat you pay your own boat costs and my rate still stays the same. I'm a licensed USCG OUPV captain because in what I do, the way I do it, my boat can be involved in my business a commercial capacity so legally I'm required to have a captain's license in the USA. Also, outside of some private instruction where the boat is part of their class, I only take 'certified' freedivers out on my boat. This has to do with safety, liability, and my own preferences. While there's more to it, broad strokes minimum to be certified (so this is my typical student/client's absolute MINIMUM training and experience) by reputable freedive agency the student has spent about 5 hours in classroom, 3 hours in the pool, and 5 hours training in open water. All of this is highly supervised. To get certified the student will have themselves dove multiple times with good technique to at least 33 feet, altogether swam about 1/2 mile total in the ocean from shore (wearing wetsuit, fins, etc), starting from the surface dive 16' to rescue a distressed freediver and then deal with them losing consciousness on the way to the surface and then on the surface them correctly manage and revive the diver on their own.

I don't do 'discover snorkeling' classes for tourists, and this vessel is not intended for that. I teach a ton of first responders of different stripes, military, ex-swimmers and water polo players, surfers, guys and girls who already spearfish but want to do it better or safer, etc.

 

She is far enough along that I went to the DMV for registration...

Wow, it was so incredibly painless to register a homebuilt boat here in California. Waited 20 minutes in line, then 15 minutes at the window as the clerk went back and forth to another desk. You show up with two forms, mostly blank since none of it applies to a home build--a regular boat registration form and then 'statement of fact' form explaining that you home built it so you don't have a MIC or anything, and then a few receipts from the stack and a little onesheet of expenses. Then right there you pay a low registration fee and get a hull ID, CF numbers, stickers and registration paper. She said the title will be mailed to me in a month.

 

I am out of the country for the month but here's where I left of. Bollards and inwale/airboxes are mostly finished. These took a little time since to make the bottom edge curves on the inwales I had to strip-plank, and then they also need to be strong enough to support the weight of people sitting or standing on their inner edges, so some supports are riven all the way through the outer hull. Like the rest of the vessel I'm keeping everything ruthlessly light. Finished all the under deck foam. The bottom edges of the inwales, being strip-planked, are WRC and the inside facing is 1/4" mahogany ply that'll be sheathed in 6oz S-glass. Bollards are solid white oak, glued in and with dowels riven through to the exterior hull.

Left to do will be finish the entire gunwales, railing, aft radio tower, console, final layer of decking, then final painting.