Start of new boatbuilding season!

April 22, 2023 by Lukasz Kumanowski

It was a long and heavy winter indeed.
Only this week - by the end of April! - we got proper spring weather but temperatures at night were still below zero: too cold to leave curing epoxy without additional heat source.

The snow finally melted and my island show its green clothes. I could finally take out my new sail and unroll it on the grass.

Bosse and Misha, my neighbors, came to see it, too. Oh men, this is what I call a proper sail! It is Oceanus fabric so quite heavy (300g/m2) but it has a feel of traditional cotton - even though it is man-made material which will not rot!

I took out the drawing, to check some dimensions - of course all was spot-on. You can’t go wrong with this sail maker: Sailservice in Gdansk, Poland.

I asked for traditional sail, with hand-saw grommets and leather reinforcements. It costed a bit more but I am happy to pay the price if the result is so pleasing.

These folks saw sails for square-riggers and other traditional vessels all over the world.

I went to our local wood chandler and bought several meters of pine wood - it will be used for sole boards and aft-deck. At first I was considering using my stock of Siberian lark but it is too thick. Plaining it down to 16mm would result in a lot of waste and there is no way I can buy this wood now, with war raging in Ukraine and embargo on Russian wood.

Luckily Woody in Nysättra has very nice, clear pine planks in 15mm which will fit the job. It feels good to use locally-sourced material.

For fore-deck and mast partner I will use oak, in 22mm - as stated on plans. All the rest will be pine, varnished. Thwarts will most probably be in Siberian lark.

I’ve used most of the day to chop wood - in preparations for the next winter. After some rest I continued with the boat.
Most of sole boards supports are fitted. I also cleaned up these few epoxy blobs left after hull planking - hot air gun and sharp blade made a job quick and efficient.

As a last thing before leaving my boat-shed I sat down in my new boat and enjoyed the view. It will be a big-little boat indeed! I had the same feeling with my very first boat, back then in Poland when I was a teenager: a boat big enough to feel safe but small enough to handle all maneuvers just with muscle power. It was not like that with Meritaten. And it was one of the main reasons I sold her. It has to be basic. It has to be hard-core sailing - no “systems”, no complicated handling. Pure and basic sailing experience. With all its consequences, of course.

But who said it has to be safe & easy?

Plan for tomorrow:

gluing and screwing of all battens
gluing of rub- and gun-rails

During the week - if my day-work will not kill me - I plan to fit sole boards and aft deck. Next weekend would be spent on epoxy-coating the interior. I plan to keep the interior bright, with frames painted white (or black?).
Excitement never stops!

House-keeping procedures

October 31, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

It got cold so no more epoxy work these days. It will probably need to wait until spring.

Instead I reorganized the boatshed and wedged the boat in proper position so that she is not twisted and sits stable. I sat on temporary bench and enjoyed the view from the inside, thinking of hours of sailing with her in Stockholm Archipelago.

One of the coming step is to fill flotation chambers with foam. I gathered sheets of plastic foam and started cutting it to match tanks’ shape.

I’m not entirely happy with this approach - there is still quite a bit of space left inside these tanks, especially under foam panels. I’m considering using foam chips instead - they would fill all the available space more efficiently.

To continue the build I will shift now into wood-working mostly - to prepare joinery and all components so that they are ready to be glued & screwed once the temperature allows working with epoxy.

Next steps - in no particular order:

epoxy-encapsulation of the interior. At least 2 layers of WEST epoxy + soaking plywood edges
painting the bilge with Hempel Light Primer and some bilge paint (orange or white)
painting frames white or black. Freeboard will be left bright & varnished
making rub-rail and gunwale. I’m thinking of American-style gunwale, with openings for lashing the equipment. I’ll use larch and mahogany for that.
sole boards and deck: fore and aft. Larch wood.
quarter knees. That will be Polish oak

In parallel I look for proper timber to build the mast. Birdsmouth technique. Knot-free pine should do a trick.

Right side up!

October 29, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

The whole operation took me 10 hours. I was working alone, with one more person it would probably go much quicker.

I started with installing braces in points when straps will be placed. This is to protect the hull from compression. It is still fragile as there are no gunwales nor thwarts yet.

First step was to lift the hull from building jig. I rigged two chain blocks, each with one ton capacity. Rope on the stem is a backup.

It took a good deal of bunging on station molds to get them loose. Longitudinal members were especially stubborn to leave their molds. Good I did not chose to lift the hull by a bunch of friends: having the hull hanging from chains gave me all the time in the world to drag down station molds and no one was complaining about tired muscles.

Finally the hull could be lifted up to the ceiling.

I have very little space in the boatshed so the building jig needed to be removed before next step.

Molds were sitting with friction fit so getting them lose required a proper hammer and a few wedges.

With molds removed I dragged the strongback out of the shed.

First time I can see my boat’s interior. Still up-side-down.

With the hull hanging free from molds I could install endless-loop straps. Padded to protect the hull.

I lowered the hull onto floor level and replaced beams & ropes with straps.

Circumference of the hull is a bit above 4 meters but the closest strap is 6 meters long. This prove to be too long for my shed (low ceiling) so I had to tie a knot on straps, to be able to lift the boat high enough. With that workaround straps could no longer glide on hooks so instead I had to glide the hull inside straps. Much harder to do.

With the hull in the air I started turning the boat inside straps. It went smooth until the point where the hull hangs almost vertically.

From this position there was no way my body weight could tip the boat’s center of gravity any further. Would there not be these too long straps I would fit blocks so that straps can glide on them easily.

I rigged another rope, to pull one side of the boat in desired direction. Once I finally reached exact vertical position I started lowering her to the floor and there I tipped the balance so that the hull was being turned over by good old gravity.

CarefullyI lowered the hull onto foam pads while adjusting straps all the time. Good dose of muscle power was needed.

Finally she landed the right side up!

Joy to finally see her interior unobscured by station molds.

Evening came as a surprise and I was properly tired. I left Louve hanging from straps.

The work will continue tomorrow.

Jewellery

October 29, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Last step before turning the hull over. Installing brass protection strips.

Last night I formed them to match hull curvature and drilled all mounting holes.

I chose to make two parallel stripes on fore part of keel. The aim is to have a bit broader area for the boat to stand on its keel, especially when transported on trailer. I’ll see if that really makes any difference.

Brass is attached with bronze screws, all bedded in Sika.

Beautiful mess!

It took a bit of white spirit to clean the excess Sika. I could have used masking tape but I felt too lazy tonight.

All this brass will oxidize rather quickly and will be painted over during coming maintenance but for now I enjoy the bare metal style.

Nice and clean.

Tomorrow I’ll start building the jig to rotate the hull.

Metal works

October 26, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Intensive week at work, I can spare only a few hours in evenings to carry on in the boat shed.

Last step before turning over the hull is to mount brass protection strips on keel and bilge keels. I stayed one evening after work to use proper workshop for drilling and countersinking screw holes.

Raw material for further postprocessing.

Tonight I de-burred all surfaces and rounded edges of stripes which don’t connect with another stripe. Most of them will sit under water so I leave them with brushed/satin finish. Stem and transom protection got high-gloss buff.

Nordic gold. Jewellery for Louve.

In case I want to drill additional holes in these stripes I marked places where there are structural screws below the brass. These screws will not be visible after stripes are mounted. Enigmatic Y-letter punched onto brass is marking these spots.

I started forming them to match hull curvature but it became too late to continue. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll finish that and drill mounting holes. Then comes masking tape, Sika and final assembly so that all is cured for weekend - hull turning!

Weather window

October 22, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Winter Witch is close. Last week the temperature at nights was constantly just a fraction above zero. She is close.

But apparently she was pacing too hastily - she got tired? Need a rest? Warm clouds bearing lots of rain covered our island and the temperature rose to mild and pleasant seven degrees.
Weather window has opened itself for the final coat of paint!

Building Louve is much like sailing her - or any other sailboat: weather is a decisive factor. Equipment and skills help but eventually you cannot beat elements.

With the stove running on max I get 25 degrees in the coldest place of the shed. That will do the trick.

I’m thankful to my female advisors - Louve looks beautifully in light color. Warm white plays unison with mahogany and oak. Thank you Kejt, Jessica, Anna and Sylvia. And Björn.

Tomorrow, when the paint cures I will dry-fit brass protection strips and mark drilling points for csk screws. I’ll drill and mount them under the week so next weekend I can finally turn over the hull!

Colors

October 21, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Unlike with Meritaten, with Louve I have a choice. I can paint her whichever color I like.

Upon starting the build I had a clear picture how she should look: black hull, red (tan) sails. Roger Barns’ boat was inspiration.

I bought paint since long and was ready to go with black top coat. Then came doubts…

Wooden Boat forums were filled with warnings against dark, particularly black, paint on wooden hulls: they get sun heat, timber moves, salt stains all the time, epoxy can get soft, UV-radiation etc. But all agree that black hulls look great, oh yes.

OK, so why were there black sail vessels, in the time of sail & oar?

The answer is tar. Stockholm tar. To save money (and time) boats and some ships were smudged with hot tar which would never completely dry, staining everything which came in contact. It protected the wood very well indeed and even if planks were moving due to heat it would fill gaps, sealing the hull most of the time.

We have such a boat in our boatyard.

Crude workboat finish indeed but looks well on her.

OK then, I thought: let’s ask experts. With regard to colors experts are, naturally, women.

All of them, I mean ALL, said that I should keep the hull light color. No doubts. Jessica even suggested shell-white (tooth-paste white as I call it).

In the act of despair I asked Björn. No mercy either - keep her white (or light at least).

Well, I can always paint her black, ain’t it? After all - it’s easier to go darker than opposite.

I dodged the bullet and bought new paint: warm white, cream. I knew I don’t want tooth paste white like I had on Motoko so it was either off-white (Stockholm-white, cold) or cream (ivory). I went for cream, will play nicely with tanned sails.

Temperatures at night are sub-zero already so it is high time to finish this.

Comparison with primer (off-white) clearly shows creamy tone of the top coat.

It becomes less dramatic once the whole hull is painted - it is still white, just warm.

It will certainly be more evident once I get close to modern, GRP boat.

I cranked the stove to keep steady 20 degrees in the shed. It is already zero outside. I’ll give it 15 hours to cure (10 hours is minimum) and roll the second coat tomorrow.

Priming finished

October 16, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Second coat applied last night, after proper curing of epoxy putty which covered few screw heads.

This time I diluted the primer a bit so it flowed easier and filled “orange-skin” surface left after first, thick application.
I am in a comfortable position, compared to fellow builders, since I actually like orange skin texture. This is what you get if you simply roll the paint with a roller, without tipping with a brush. I did the whole hull on Motoko using this approach and I was very pleased with the result. It adds a bit of light texture but otherwise is absolutely not visible on water or on land - if you don’t stick your nose very close to the boat.
Makes life much easier.

Masking tape removed to see the effect of bright sheer strake.

Transom, with strake ends. They look nice even now, with white paint, but eventually will blend better once I paint the hull black.

In case I decide, in the future, to revert to light-color hull I take pictures from many angles.

I decided to leave face of stem bright. I find oak grain - with bright medullary rays - very attractive.

It will be painted under the waterline but I haven’t established it yet so the whole false stem face is left bright for now.

I cranked the stove to reach 30 degrees, so that I can be sure that the last coat is fully cured by the evening.

Some house-keeping procedures before I leave: I’ve finished yet another batch of epoxy, adding rests to a new batch. Gravity assisted!

In the evening I will sand these few runs I got - but not orange skin! Should take just an hour.

Next step is top coat. I will brush it this time - it is single-component Hempel paint, black.

After that comes brass oval strips (hull protection) and I’m ready to turn the hull right-side-up!

Primer

October 15, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Busy week at work so it took me some time to get back to boatshed. At least I’m sure that epoxy layer is fully cured!

I finished sanding the hull. Light sanding, grid 120, by hand, just to knock off any epoxy bumps and few runs. Mostly to key the surface for maximal adhesion of the next layer.

After vacuuming the hull I scratched remaining shiny areas with Scotch brite. Probably not necessary but I had this routine for varnishing and felt no need to change it. Vacuuming again.

As a primer I use Hempel Light Primer, two component paint. It is epoxy, in fact, just that it contains thinner so for wood impregnation WEST is far superior. My hull got WEST already, three layers, so Hempel epoxy is a bit unnecessary but I had these cans since times of Motoko renovation so I wanted to finally use them.

Nasty stuff. Smells awfully and is thick as cream. I rolled the first layer at night, temperature was 14 degrees C so it will be dry for second coat in 8 hours. Minimum application temperature is 5 degrees.

The plan is to finish priming today and starting top coating tomorrow.

Sanding

October 10, 2022 by Lukasz Kumanowski

It was a dark and stormy night… :-)

I could spend only about an hour in the shop tonight.
I started hand-sanding the hull with 80-grid paper. The aim is to cut out all bumps and unevenness of epoxy layer and to add keying to the surface, to prepare for subsequent coats. Light sanding, carefully on the edges.

I managed to finish starboard side.

Once sanding is done the hull will be vacuumed and I will run scotch brite pads to add scratches to all areas which were not reached with sanding block.