Silva Bay Shipyard School - Trim

Things are moving pretty quickly under the 10 hour day rule. Here the deck is painted (Bristol Beige) the coaming is in and being glued up , the rub rails are on and the coaming trim is installed.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Varnish

Looking sharp with varnish on the sheerstrake.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Oak mast bands

Here are some steam bent mast hoops for the rigging.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Mahogany toe rails

The toe-rails! The last peice of wood going on the boat!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Alex Low and Jon Brown

Due to the 10 hour days, Jon and I are in the zone, we are making a mast for a boat called the ‘teacup’ for a good buddy in Bamfield with all our spare time?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Al Brunt and Trevor Henderson

Trevor and Al survey the door opening. First direct sunlight for the boat!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - The finished hull

A new view. The hull! The hull!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Traditional rigging

Here Rick is giving a lesson in rigging. We are hoping to hoist the mast today. The blocks were all handmade by Trevor – incredible. He also fabricated the spreaders and the truck atop the mast.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Rigging

Here is a closeup of the truck and fore stay.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sails

The sails are up! They are cream in colour and made in Kingston, Ontario. Beautiful.

Silva Bay Shipyard

In the school’s yard – sails up!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Rigging detail

Its a rigging frenzy – everything seems to being working out. So exciting!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Wooden blocks

The double blocks make this boat look so shippy. I like it. The dime is about to go under the mast in the mast step – a coin for good luck and good fortune.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Ready to Launch!

Here is the boat in the lot ready for launch. Butterflies all around. Some thistles and Scottish heather for the bow – I wonder who is behind such a thing…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Spars coming out

David has been working on the mast – 16 sides in this picture! All hand planed!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sighting down the mast

16′6″ long, solid fir.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bronze strapping

The bottom of the keel has a large chunk of bronze strapped to it for protection. You can just see the centerboard installed. Bob is installing beach strips.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Beach strips

The beach strips are made of Oak and are fastened into the frames.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Stem faired

The stem, faired and ready to have bronze strapping attached…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Pintles and gudgeons

Trevor made patterns for our pintles and gudgeons. They were sand cast in bronze and sent to the shop. My job was to make them pretty and drill all the holes for fastening. After 2 days of work they will have a mirror finish!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bronze work

Here they are rough sanded, drilled and countersunk. Trevor’s patterns are the 2 in the foreground. Pretty swank.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bronze brazing

After heating the bronze to red hot on a huge propane Bunsen burner Trevor and I installed the pin. First it had to be covered in flux and then pounded into the red hot bronze. Then we used a propane/oxy torch to braze the pins into place. Serious metal work for woodworkers!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Primer goes on

Primer coat #1.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Hull is primed

With the paint on we can see all the spots that need some sanding on the hull… looks pretty good for a first round.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Looking great

Shiny!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Gudgeon being let in

The rudder needs to be installed on the deadwood and transom. Here is the gudgeon being mortised onto the deadwood.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Rudder

Here is the rudder almost fully assembled. The slot is where the removable tiller will fit, after the top ‘cheeks’ are installed. The pintles have been aligned on the boat and installed. The fin on the bottom, with epoxy fillet is also on the go – paint next.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Pintles

This pintles will be covered over with the rudder cheek – when the rudder needs replacing in 100 years, the hardware will have to come out and all will be revealed.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Mast finish

David has finished the spar and is now starting the 7-8 coats of varnish needed for launch day.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Waterline is struck

We used 4 different methods to get the waterline – finally settling with this taped off version.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bottom paint!

Bottom paint with stem and sheerstrake left ‘bright’. Looking pretty swank.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Another view

Check out the mirror finish on the transom. Hot.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Right side up again

Boat is back over and ready for carlins, flooring, seats and interior details. Paint and varnish on the topsides – Hateras White.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sole boards

Here are the floor boards going in – removable for storage and bailing.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Barn door rudder

The funny looking cat boat rudder.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - More finish work

Another coat of 3-2-1 on the interior for protection.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Shiny paint

Another coat of topsides, starting to look pretty sweet. The hull shape is looking hot with some gloss.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sheet stanchions

Floors fully installed with seat stanchions in place.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Carlins

Carlins finally installed and faired to the deck camber.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Coaming

The coaming glue up #1. What a gong show. Very cranky bends in this coaming, but it is going to look great as one continuous piece.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Coaming glue up

The glue up had to be done over 2 days, as we used all the clamps in the shop and can overlap the joints until they are scarfed.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Decking

The deck is on!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - More decking

Another view of the deck in place.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bronze traveler

Trevor fabricated the traveler or horse for the aft deck. Looks sick rad.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Toe rail pattern

The lines are all coming together -the camber, the sheer, the coaming. We have decided to leave the cabin off the boat for a myriad of reasons…. we will see.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sunlight!

The doors of the shop are open – its just painting and rigging left. One week to launch!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Fairing the hull

The boat is finally planked! Whiskey all around. Trevor graciously provided the drink for the whiskey plank. This shot is after the edges have been planed off the planks and the fairing of the hull begins.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Port side fairing up

Another view of the Catboat.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Misery boarding

Once the hull is roughed out with the block plane, one must employ the services of the ‘misery board’ to sand and further fair the hull – sore shoulders. The hull is looking sweeeeeeeeeeet… sweet to the Piratical eye.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Caulking being laid

Now that the hull is fair and beautiful the seams are caulking with cotton. This is done by twisting and rolling the cotton into the caulking bevel. On larger boats this is done with a mallet. The cotton is lubricated with tung oil to help it find its way into the seam.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Hood ends

Detail of hood end and caulking in place. Looks watertight?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Spar glue up

This massive glue up operation is going to be the mast. The spar is 16′6″ long and made of VG Fir. One small scarf was needed to get the length.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Main mast

Here is the mast after it has been planed down to 3″1/4. Now the process of beveling and making square things round begins!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Center Board shaping

Here is the centerboard being tapered for hydro-efficiency. Mahogany marine plywood, with the handle finished bright. Check out that new spokeshave… snap.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Seam compound

Here is a shot of the seams after they have been caulked and sealed with red lead paint. Not toxic at all? Check out the wild twist in on those planks – this is the shapeliest boat on the lot!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Hull looking aft

Another view of the sweet hull lines.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Hull port side

And overall. Next we will fill the screw holes with epoxy, sand and paint. Soon we can flip this fine craft into is correct position. Only 8 weeks left?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Catboat flipped!

The boat has turned!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Interior looking forward

Here is the hull looking forward with ribbands and moulds still in place.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Looking aft

Looking aft.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Cutting down the frames

... and out comes the moulds and the ribbands, leaving only BOAT behind! The moulds will be stored if the owner wishes to build another – now for all the interior work. We are going to finish the hull bright on the inside – more below.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Hull shape

What a great shape – this hull looks great out of the water. The lines!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - First onboard!

David at work on the centerboard trunk. Notice that sweeeeeet sheer line.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Planks and frames

Here is a detail of the unsanded interior after the moulds and ribbands were pulled. Looks pretty good for a bunch of first timers – so good, in fact, we are going to varnish it – my next carvel work will be museum quality? New website with that adventure forthcoming…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Transom

The transom in its curved rakishness.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sheer view

The boat is now ready for the sheer clamp. The forward section – ahead of the first deck beam, will need to be blocked between frames to accommodate the breast hook and mast partner.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sheer clamp dry fit

Here is a shot of the rough fit… meeting at the stem with a mitre?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Sheer clamp at stem

Oh snap. Sikaflex and tension will seal that right up?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Interior sanded

After some serious hand planing, the sheer clamp is in and beveled to the camber of the deck. Looks pretty ship-like.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Finish goes on!

And a quick coat of tung oil makes the boat look SHARP.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Looking forward

… from the stern.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Center board trunk install

David is getting to work drilling bolt holes for the centerboard trunk… freehand? That is pro!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bedlogs and center board trunk

Here is the beautiful thing installed and looking sweeeeeet.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Deck beam

Forward looking with deck beam installed and CB Trunk.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Aft beam

Looking aft with deck beam and deck support. Quarter knees are next.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Breast hook

Here is a shot of the the monstrous breast hook and mast partner. 2×6 fir, laminated into 2×12 and then half-lapped into what you see… beefy. The mast will come through this chunk and the mast partner will take most of the abuse. Fitting it should be easy right? All three sides?

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Breast hook install

Cleaned up and ready for some fitting…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - In it goes!

Through the magic of time lapse – no problem… it just fell right in…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Floors dry fit

Here is a shot aft of the floors going in and the attached deck support at the transom. Stern knees are next.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bow faired up

Here is the forward section faired and almost ready for the decking. DECKING! And we still have 33 working days left!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Coming together

One contiguous surface!

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Aft structure

We have decided to beef up the aft deck support so that little feet can’t warp the decking. The spaces will be filled by the quarter knees.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Seat riser

Here is the starboard seat riser going in…

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Seat risers installed

A shot with the quarter knees installed and both seat risers in place.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Quarter knees

The quarter knees are 2″ thick – monsters. The floors are on their way.

Garboard and Broadstrake installed

Here is the garboard and broadstrake installed with silicon bronze screws. The orange paint is red lead primer – which will help prevent rot. Planking will continue for at least 2 weeks and then we can start fairing the hull.

Looking aft

Another view.

Planking Bevel

Check the seam! Check the precision! Like a basket.

Hood ends and transom

Here is the transom after a few coats of varnish. Looking pretty svelt.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Garboard and Broadstrake

Sweet lines.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Center Board Glue up

This is the centerboard getting glued up. It is made up of 3 layers of marine plywood epoxied together for strength.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Catboat rudder

This is the monster rudder. It is also marine ply and the cheeks will be finished bright with paint on the water line.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Bed logs and housing

David is working on the centerboard housing and bed logs. Fir and red cedar.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Centerboard housing

The orange is red lead paint inside the centerboard slot.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Carvel Planking

The 5th plank! Halfway!

The Keel and the keelson are put together

Looking aft, this is the keelson prepared with Sikaflex (nasty) which will act as bedding compound between the keelson and the keel/deadwood.

The Keel is going on!

Here is the keel and deadwood being fitted…

Bolts installed

and bolted.

The stern knee getting bolted to the transom

Yours truly bedding and bolting in the stern knee.

Steam bending the oak framing stock

The next big task is steaming in the oak frames! 30 minutes per inch in the steam box – these got around 20 mins at 3/4″.

Trevor Henderson lends a hand

More steam bending. Amazing that the Oak can take that curve!

Framing out the William Garden catboat

Looking tough, like a porcupine.

All framed up!

Here is the Catboat all framed up. Looks pretty sweat… you can never have too many clamps…

Close up of the rabbet being cut for the garboard plank

This is a close up of the rabbet line in the keelson…. highlighting the precision with which this fine craft is being built! ‘The lives of men and women rest on your decisions’.

Wider shot of the rabbet

Another shot of the rabbet with bull nose plane.

Wedges for limbers

The wedges are being sikaflexed into place where the planking will meet the keelson. This is to create a limber and round out the bottom of the boat.

Interior looking aft

A view from the inside looking aft.

Interior shot looking forward

A view from the inside looking forward.

Ready to begin planking

Frames and wedges in place, with rabbet cut… planking after the break!

Strongback setup

Today we built the strongback. The station moulds will be attached to the strongback and the boat built on the moulds. This step requires a very solid frame and precise leveling so that the boat and the moulds do not rack.

Douglas Fir Knees

We also epoxied some parts of the stem and stern assemblies. In the fore ground is the stem knee – half lapped out of clear Fir – by hand. In the background is the stern knee. Tough on the hands. The knees are half lapped to increase their strength. The grain direction runs both ways.

Shiver me timbers! A load of red cedar arrives

A motherload of red cedar arrives! This beautiful pile of wood will be used for planking all the boats+. Some of these are 27′ long! 3′ wide! In Ontario, one could retire on such.

More beautiful Red Cedar is unloaded

Smells gooooood.

The moulds are setup and squared

Today we finished building our strongback with station moulds. All square, plumb and level. Easy peasy.

View of the moulds setup and true

Here is the finished product. A fat little boat will come off these moulds. Next the ribbands will be bent around the moulds for the oak to be steam bent onto…

Douglas Fir timbers awaiting their place

This nice little pile of fir will make our transom via a huge glue up of 3/8″ planks, curved to the transom shape on our transom mould. Nice sticks eh? Totes.

Vertical Grain, Clear, Douglas Fir milled for the transom

Right! We are burnin’ now. This matchbooked pair of Fir planks will be the aft face of the transom. The transom is being laminated with 3 layers. The mould was shown previously, see next photo!

Transom glue up underway

Here it is – the almost finished transom. 1 more layer to go… epoxy is not something I enjoy. Looks pretty rad though.

Stem assembly, stem knee and gripe dry fit and ready to go

Here is the progress on the stem assembly. As you can see, the lapped stem knee fits! This built up section will be bolted and sika-flexed together. All clear Fir, with grain running in the appropriate directions!

Steam box ready to go to work

MORE STEAM. This wicked setup is our portable 4′ steam box. We are using it to steam the ribbands into place as the front of the boat has a serious twist. The kettle switch off has been ‘disabled’ to provide constant steam!

Ribbands in steambox

Here are the ribbands in the box. They are about 14′ long. 30 mins per half inch in the steamer. Only the first 4′ need to be steamed, as that is where the business is…

The ribbands offered up to the moulds

Here are some of the ribbands in place -after they have been steam bent and clamped. With the Catboat, the ribbands are not part of the finished product. They are put in place in order to steam bend the Oak frames over, somewhat like a jig. Once this labourious part of construction is done, this boat could be built again and again on this strongback/mould/ribband setup.

Aft facing view of ribbands

This view shows why only the first 4′ needed the steam…

Ribbands installed

… and a few days later! A full set of ribbands ready to rock. The rest of the week will be spent on the deadwood, transom, keel, keelson and stem assembly.

Moulds and ribbands looking forward

It looks like a boat!

The stem assembly goes together

This is the stem assembly being Sikaflexed together. Sikaflex is a bedding compound that keeps water out of the seam and seals up the wood. It is also flexible, unlike epoxy, and therefore allows the boat to be repaired in 20 years, instead of totally scrapped capitalist style.

The stem bolted together

Here is the stem, stem knee and gripe all sika’d together with bronze bolts, nuts and washers doing the hard work.

The mast step, made of Douglas Fir

Here is the mast step Mark I. David has done a fine job on this part – so fine in fact he did it twice just to prove he could.

Dry fit mast step and stem assemblage

This is where the mast step fits on the stem assembly. All the force of sailing will exert massive force on this part. Too bad all this exquisite woodwork will be covered by the cat boat’s cabin and decking! For the love!

The keel with center board slot

Here is the keel with centerboard slot cut out on the table saw and forstner bit drilled into that beautiful shape. The entire keel will be shaped and beveled… a job I have undertaken. Btw, I am learning to cope with the fact that perfectionism and boat building don’t always agree with each other. Go make cabinets?

Dead wood and keel on the bench

Here is my shapely keel work joined to the deadwood. Lots of curves here. The deadwood and the keel are epoxied and then bolted together. Fun note: I completely epoxied the deadwood onto the keel incorrectly. Feel the pain. So I have had to laminate some mahogany onto the deadwood as seen below. Exotic?

Dead wood glue up on the bench

A boat builder only does two things in a hurry: making mistakes and fixing them. In fact David is writing a book called 101 ways to fix the boat you are building.

Another high level meeting

Hard at work with keel and keelson in place.

Stem being fit to backbone

We are working towards getting the core of the boats structure dry fitted together. The stem assembly gets bolted to the keelson and keel, which runs out to the deadwood and transom. This is a slow process, as all the parts are inter-related and must fit to our exacting standards!

Belt sanding the transom

The transom being sanded. It looks amazing – book matched VG Fir. Sweet.

Channel Cutter Yachts owned by Brian Gittins

Today we went on a field trip to Channel Cutter Yachts which is run by Brian Gittins. Absolutely amazing. Brian does an incredible job on the decks and interior – beautiful boats. Here is a hull in his yard awaiting his attention.

A cutter in Brian's shop

Here is a cutter with decking installed. Solid teak. Yep. Teak. I have also discovered one of Brian’s hulls that is being completed by Kaj Jakobsen. Check it out at Kaj’s webiste – beautiful!

Teak Decking

Wow.

Brian's shop

Bryan’s shop from the stern of his current project.

Some of Brian's tools

The planes!

Brian's Atkin Ingrid

Here is where things got serious. Bryan’s personal boat just happends to be a 38′ Ingrid, based on a Colin Archer design. This is an amazing boat – a fall in love at first sight boat. The lines! Bryan’s restoration work is amazing. Best of many quotes from Bryan “I am a boatbuilder because I could imagine doing nothing else.” Followed by “you would never do anything if you thought about how difficult it might be…” like buying an Ingrid of my own? With rotten plywood decks?

View on deck of Brian's Ingrid

Look at that deck! and the deadlights! Wow. John and I immediately started looking for Ingrid’s for sale. Dangerously we have found one in Nanaimo… watch out.

White out! The boatschool buried in snow

Gabriolan Snow Storm 2006

The backbone has been bolted together

Here is the boat getting ready to get bolted together. The rabbet needs to be cut into the keel and stem before we can move on. We also have to drill bolt holes into the stem and deadwood. Sounds easy. Isn’t.

The transom being fit to the backbone

Here is the transom being fitted into place. The rake has to be perfect to fit the deadwood and keel. Look at that grain! This part of the boat will hopefully end up bright, as in varnished.

Bolt on its way into the backbone

Bolt holes. Oh man. Steeeeep learning curve. Forget the jigs. Forget the drill press. Hail Mary and get to it.

Silva Bay Shipyard School: Shop space

Here is where we will be building the boat. Notice David’s fine, fine half model in view.

Silva Bay Shipyard School - Work Bench

… our bench, with cedar planking above…

David with Plans for the Catboat

David with plans for our boat: a 12′ 6″ take on the Beetle Cat, designed by west coast naval Architect William Garden. Gaff rigged with -sigh- a curved, raked transom. A beamy little craft, 6′ wide… it probably won’t be able to beat the 18′ dory on launch day, but what we lack in speed will be made up for in sailing skill and pure aesthetic superiority… and unlike art, there are real ‘truths’ in naval aesthetics’! yep – i said it – Deleuze can put that in his pipe and smoke it. I am become aesthete, destroyer of worlds.

The lofting

Our first task is to lay down the lines of the boat on the lofting floor. This is done from the table of offsets in the plan, or, if you are Trevor, you adjust them as you go… creating a hybrid super-cat boat, spitting fire and venom, perhaps a hellcat? I digress, the lines are done on 1/4 ply screwed to the floor and painted white.

Lofting is underway!

It is then necessary to stand around and look at our triumph…

High level meeting.

… which is absolutely necessary…

Instructors Al Brunt and Trevor Henderson

Al (right) and Trevor, 2 of the instructors, survey the scene.

Lofting detail

A detail shot of the lofted boat. Easily a weeks worth of work. All lines must be faired in 3 dimensions before any patterns can be made. Good thing we did this in 1″-1′ scale four times earlier. Hardcore.

Lofting patterns

After the boat was lofted, we made patterns for difficult parts of the boat out of doorskin. This is done for the stem (pictured), centerboard housing, deadwood and the stern knee. The patterns will be used to cut the actual parts out of clear grain Fir. Here you can see the stem, stem knee, mast step, gripe and keel.

A pile of shop lumber

Today started out with a pile of spruce 1×6’s. These are going to be used to make the moulds for the Catboat – which will eventually have the moulds taken out, after the boat has been built around them. The 2x spruce will be used for constructing the strongbacks for the moulds to stand on.

Picking up mould patterns

The spruce is rough cut and laid out on our lofting floor. The nails are stapled to the board and the spruce laid over the nails – hit with a mallet – and removed. This transfers the line from the drawing to the wood. The following detail picture shows the spruce ‘faired’ up to the nail lines.

Mould detail

This line is faired using a spokeshave on the bench.

Bench Tools and mould.

Here is the bench with mould in vice. Notice my latest antique-shop-score Stanley bench plane. Only took a day to sharpen? $30 vs. $275.

David at the bench

David ‘killin it’ on mould station #2.

The moulds coming together

… and like magic, five station moulds appear. They are doubled, so that each side of the boat is PERFECTLY symmetrical, because we ONLY do things perfectly. We will unfold them and gussett them together before moving on.

Completed moulds

Here are the moulds completed with notches for keelson… with bevels! Transom pattern is in the fore.

The lofting comes up!

A momentous occasion. The lofting comes up!

Transom mould takes shape

The next task is building up a mould for the transom. Luckily? the transom on the catboat is curved and raked. We will use this mould to laminate the transom out of Fir.

Transom Mould 2

Here it is almost finished. 2 layers of ply will be added before we begin to glue up the transom.