Building Awol...

Over the next year I will endeavor to build John Welsfords latest offering.The sporty looking Awol.

Named after the military term meaning 'absent with out leave' its a fine label for a boat that I hope to escape many of my more dreary responsibilities aboard. At just under 17 feet she's going to be a challenge to finish in my single car garage space so please be sure to tune in and follow the progress on this page. it should be quite an adventure.

Building AWOL

A sheet of plans arrives...

I do think it must be fairly unusual to start building a boat (or anything for that matter) with out first seeing some finished drawings - yet that is how I am beginning my venture into the unknown here. Sure, a while back I did see a bit of a sketch as to where the overall design was heading but alas nothing else since. That was until the first sheet of plan arrived here in the mail, featuring frames #4 & #5. A very exciting moment indeed.

You dream about moments like these ... (well I do any way)

So then, we were finally on our way. A trip to the local plywood merchant had me spending my monies saved on several sheets of marine ply (Meranti) of the various thickness stipulated in an email from John. Mostly 6 and 9 mm. That, along with a 20 liter tin of epoxy with hardener, filler, glue powder etc and it was quite an expensive morning shopping although I will say I haven't had to spend much since. Once back home I discovered that due to my limited space the best place to store the wood and keep it dry was inside the house atop of the pool table. At 8x4 it was the perfect size for the job and a couple of strategically placed copies of the encyclopedia Britannica were perfect for shoring up the center.

Measure carefully ...

With my single sheet of plan, a pencil, rubber, compass, protractor, calculator, several measuring device along with various other instruments of the budding draftsman, I set about drawing first of these two frames directly onto the ply. Frame Number 4. Working comfortably indoors it was obvious that this boat building lark was very pleasant stuff . A glass of red wine added to the growing (glowing) feeling of confidence and it didn't take long before my first mistakes started to reveal themselves. Who ever coined that phrase "measure twice, cut once" had obviously never built anything before. The saying should be "measure 10 times then, and only when you are absolutely positive, should you then cut". Failure to follow this simple rule will most likely lead to a spectacular disaster somewhere further along your boat building process.

the first cut is the deepest ...

Moving outdoors I carefully cut out frames #4 & #5 with a combination of skill saw for the outer straight edges and jig saw for those inner edges that were drawn with as much curve as I could muster using a mixture of thin baton, weights and french curve. I should probably point out that I am no craftsman. I'm usually in far to much of a rush to do anything really properly but I am being as careful as I can on this project for obvious reasons - suffice to say that, If I can build one of Johns boats then I'm pretty sure anyone can. Of course it is yet to be proven whether I can or not but time (and a public blog) will surely tell.

oh yeah ... starting to look like a boat already.

I did not have to wait long until two more sheets of plan arrived. Frames #6 & 7 including the transom on one sheet with the other page dedicated entirely to the center case and centerboard. It didn't take long to draw those and cut them out and with that little task accomplished I could at last start to see the shape of the slowly growing boat. Long, low and pretty lean. Great, just what I wanted. It was time to crack the big tin of epoxy I had bought and start gluing on the doublers whilst I waited for further installments and that's where things really started to get messy...

can you smell the sea air? I can. (but then again, I live by the water)

Before going into to much detail there I should probably tell you a little more about the boat itself, so here goes. The basic statistics are Length-5050, Beam-1900 and Draft-155 approximately. She will will be Gaff rigged with a 7.9 s.qm fully battened main and a jib of 3.3. There will also be a single luff (MPS) spinnaker of around 7.2 meters to be flown of a short(ish) bowsprit of just under a meter. A great boat for a crew of two to blast a way from it all and while it could be a bit more of a challenge for one, I must say I am looking forward to something with a little more emphasis on performance.

the truth about epoxy? It's bloody messy stuff. Be sure to clean as you go ...

So where the hell have I been? Busy with all sorts of anything that had nothing to do with building the boat. A small inconsistency in the drawings have made themselves apparent. John assures me that he is on the case, and with no reason to disbelieve him I took some time off after building the jig and gluing on a few of the doublers.

The Jig with profiles in place yet not attached. In the background, the bottom panel made from three pieces of 9mm ply scarfed together (Meranti) waiting to be cut.

Also in the garage the pile of parts is starting to build. I'm quite untidy, its true, but this isn't brain surgery its modern boat building. Expect a little bit of mess. At this stage the only varnish I can imagine will be on the transom and perhaps the cockpit coaming also.

After a bit of mucking around I managed to get the profiles for the bottom plank just right. Its a process that deserves a little bit of extra effort as there's no going back once the bottom plank is screwed down and frames and such are in place. The tool I found most useful for this job was also one of the cheapest, the classic 'water filled tubing level'.

Here's a close up of that hi-tech wonder in action. You can see the water level in the tube almost bang-on the faint pencil line which is the waterline level.

It was time to glue on the first two stringers. These were clamped and also temporarily screwed until the glue dried. I must admit I had a little help as the 5+ meter long 40x20 stringers had a mind of their own and getting them in the perfect place was a little bit tricky.

With the glue dry and all the screws removed I planed off the excess bottom panel and stringer. Here I discovered a shortage of room to work so I re cut the profiles adding a little extra height. I left a bit of work which I will remove once the frames are in place. Working under here I found the best tool was the grinder with a little hand planing to clean up. I do have an electric plane but its excessive width made it a bit of a hassle getting past the profiles...

Speaking of tools the most useful so far? The lovely jigsaw. Probably one of the safer power tools, I still managed to cut my thumb quite badly when I foolishly reached under piece I was cutting to see how far I had to go until I reached the saw horse... duh!

Cleaning up all those saw cuts is a quick and simple process with a small block plane such as this one. I have grown quite fond of my little plane. You'd be surprised at how much material you can move with one of these things.

Fast becoming another fave is the small grinder. great for scarf joints and any time you need to remove a bit of excess wood - such as the previously mentioned bottom plank stringer. Be careful though, It can take off a lot more than you bargained for in a matter of seconds...

A quick 'dry fit' of all the frames and we're looking good, but first I must finish the centerboard case. For that I need to find a couple of meters of suitable hardwood for the packers and logs.

With the necessary wood soon found I finished off the center case with a layer of 6 ounce fiberglass to protect against sand, shells & stones which can all get caught up inside the case, especially if the boat is left to sit on the tide-line in even the slightest sea. More than once I've had to battle with that dilemma which can lead to having to unbolt the center-plate and removing it completely. A major hassle.

With the two halves screw'd and glued together its just a matter of dropping it into the pre-cut slot in the bottom plank. A nice bed of glue along the center-case logs ensured a sweet, strong and watertight fit. A mix of tie-downs, level, square and string saved the day. With the glue dry (and a quick tidy up of the garage) it's on to attaching the frames. How very exciting!

Attaching the frames and stem to the bottom plank is pretty straight forward. Just be sure they are exactly where they should be, when the glue sets there certainly no room for further adjustment.

The bow section of the stem is a beautiful yet simple affair, with a hint of 'schooner shape' being cut directly from three pieces of 9mm ply. Before assembling I dry fit the stringers to see exactly where to cut out the slots the said stringers fit into. Note also the plumb-line string to ensure that the bow is vertical. To my horror I discovered that with the bow in place I could no longer open the garage door, so to sight the string I had to drill several wholes right through it. With the stringers on and the hull shape secure I will be able to move the jig back far enough to get the door open again.

Before the stringers are glued to the frames the whole affair must be solidly braced. In the photo above I have only just started the process. This is to stop the frames bending and twisting as pressure is applied while your attaching the stringers. For this job you really have to take your time. I spend two days adjusting here, measuring there, bracing everywhere before I was convinced everything was as near perfect as I was gonna get it. I could have continued but eventually a time comes when you just have to bite the bullet and glue them stringers on. Once that's done there is no going back.

Tool of the moment? The re-chargeable drill/screwdriver. Making the whole process a damn sight easier than it probably should be.

So now we see I have attached the stringers to the frames using glue and a stainless screw. Starting at the stern an working my way forward. Pretty simple stuff here. Make sure all the frames are straight up and down (and forward & back) as they are very flexible and easily moved.

Soon after I attached the maiden sheet of planking, again starting at the stern. That first piece, cut from a full length sheet of 6mm ply almost makes it to half way. But not quite. The second piece will be joined by a simple butt joint as will the third. The planking on the top chine was all very easy. The bottom planking, with its curve in the frames closest to the bow should prove a bit more of a challenge. I certainly hope so.

Till then, spare a thought for the useful clamp. One tool you never seem to have enough of.

Progress has been a bit slow through these winter months but she is fully planked at least. so I'm currently working on the seats and false floor. Will post more pics soon.

inside things are looking quite tidy, despite the initial mess I made having slopped glue all over the place. I completely ignored my own earlier advice about cleaning up as you... Still, a bit of elbow grease, scraper and heat gun can work wonders.

Looking aft we see the galley... the little cooking box is big enough to store your spices and sautee some fresh fish even while on the move. What FUN!

Wasn't too long before the floor was down. Another exciting milestone for sure. Note ridiculously large forward hatch? That's to make up for seven years of Navigator sailing. Anyone who's owned and sailed a Nav can testify to the fact it ain't easy getting past the mast and into that small hatch, dog tired at the end of the day (perhaps even after a couple of drinks) to extricate one sleeping equipment or to find the last can of food.

Seat tops are on also... at last I can actually sit in the hull and get some feel as to what it will be like to sail... Of course it takes some explaining when family find you sitting at the helm, pretending to sail around the carport... For some reason they just don't quite understand.

Looking forward we see the 'big' hatch, then some small inspection ports. Behind those, either side of the centercase to more hatches. John suggests about 50 kg of ballast. I found some of that weight in the form of two AGM batteries which fit nicely in there and will provide rechargeable power for a small waterproof? radio, masthead light and possibly a gps also... A little bit of Madness sure but this is the 21st century after all... I'm calling it a product test.

Half the fore-deck cut out and ready to be attached... Now we're getting somewhere.

Some of the most essential tools needed to get me to this stage? Many, many, many pairs of rubber gloves, hundreds of ice block sticks and a never ending supply of plastic containers like the ones you get from an asian takeout. I'm constantly running out of those despite my love for wonton soup...

Anchor well opening has been cut. Looks a bit small for the anchor I have though. Cut the hole bigger or chop down the anchor? Decisions, decisions...

There's even a bit of paint going on here and there... Thought it might be easier to paint before the coaming was on and just epoxy the inside of the said coaming... Should work. There's another couple of hatches under the seats for storing wet weather gear or mask, snorkel and flippers. Admittedly there's a lot of holes, all with the potential for leakage so some type of extra buoyancy will be needed, just in case. Not to sure exactly what to use yet but I know the trusty 2 litre plastic milk bottles will do the trick...

Time to celebrate? Hardly. There's the coaming, the aft deck, the rudder, the centerplate, filling, fairing and painting (massive job) no to mention the mast, boom and assorted hardware. One thing you soon learn is that nothing is that easy when building a boat, even a small one like this. Having said that however, nothing is impossible either. As John so eloquently put it... "Its just a lot of little jobs strung together".

Installing the coaming was a fun job as was the attaching of a small square beading, to be routered inboard. All clamps on deck for that little project.

With a splash of undercoat she's looking pretty shipshape but in truth it exposed a lot of flaws and the sand paper had to come out once again. One thing I have discovered is that painting is not my forte...

So there she is... one can probably get to grips with her dimensions in this shot. While she looks almost ready to fit out I still need to fair and sheath the hull - so over she goes...

First job there was to double tape all the seems. I managed them all in one day and ended up quite ill from some kind of epoxy exposure overload. Its toxic stuff so make sure you wear plenty of protection.

Options for a splash of varnish were fast running out so I used up some 4mm ply by cutting it into strips and sticking them on the transom...

Turned out ok, but needs a bit of a tidy up.

I've also added a skeg, held secure with a nice big fat fillet of epoxy... should I glass that as well? Probably. I gave the hull a quick coat of undercoat to see where we were at. It highlighted a lot of flaws that is for sure. More filling and sanding? Yes, a lot more.

That skeg runs all the way to the bow, of course. What's that hole on the right? Well I just couldn't bring my self to drill any holes through the transom (and also through the cooking box) for one or two cheap plastic bungs so I splashed out on an Andersen Bailer. That not only should suck water from the hull whilst sailing it has the added bonus of not having to tilt the boat - bow up when hosing her down at home.

Cutting out the rudder shape from pieces of 35x20 kauri laminated together. I just was not confident enough to try anything other than the router profile method... It being my second attempt and all.

Close up shows the routers cutter in action. Sure... it took a couple of hours. (and probably annoyed the hell out of my neighbors)

there she is... almost finished. Solid bloody thing .I added a few strips of hardwood for effect and also a bit of protection down the leading edge.

Back to the sanding...

Did I mention the radio? Well I could not decide on a decent place for it so ended up having to build a small recess in the face of one of the seats. It is supposed to be waterproof, but we'll see.

Next job I had to tackle was the hole for the removable bowsprit/gennaker prod.

I drilled with a hole cutter only to find out it was not quite the right place. Undeterred I attacked 'said hole' with the grinder. I was making quite a little mess but...

...after several attempts with the fiberglass tape, epoxy and filler... a miracle.

Feeling confident after that small success I had a crack at constructing the rudder stock. Here we see its internal workings. A small repair job is visible (mistake number seven........... thousand) I made the tiller slot too big, despite several measuring's.

I finished off the rudder and splashed a few coats of varnish about before giving her a test run in the pool... I was quite surprised at how slippery the profile was through the water... real slippery.

Here's the whole lot almost finished... and I have to say I'm quite proud of it. However another near fatal mistake. Despite Johns clear and concise instructions to "be sure to pre-drill and counter sink the bolt holes for the lower gudgeon straps, on the insides of the rudder cheeks", I got completely carried away with the excitement of assembly and forgot to follow instructions. However a cunning plan of recovery is formulating...

Next little job was on my list was to shape the large piece of 16mm mild steel plate I had cut for the centerboard. No small feat with just a four inch grinder at my disposal but with a bit of elbow grease, many many discs and a couple of afternoons spare I managed a fairly decent job of it.

Which reminds me of two more tool box essentials. The dust mask and the eye protection. Please do not ever be tempted to use a grinder with out decent eye protection. Of course some 'ear protection' is essential also.

The finished product looking something like this. The whole thing has been zinc sprayed and has several coats of epoxy on it. And a wooden turtle?

Oh by the way, in the mean time I painted the hull with four coats of white enamel. So stressed had I become about this chore that I completely for got to get the camera out, and foolishly forgot the camera again for the very exciting returning of the boat to its upright position. Now I can definitely see some light at the end of what's been a very long tunnel. I rolled then brushed as per the 'roll & tip' method, warming the paint slightly. Turned out pretty well.

I probably should've drilled the drain holes for the anchor well before that paint went on though?

Some tubing cut in half makes for simple and cheap protection for the exposed end-grain of the anchor well itself. I've painted the deck with a roll on textured grip product which covers my extremely untidy building practises very nicely...

Next up, the tiller. For that I found a old peice of iroko. I cut a rough shape with the jigsaw and attacked it with the spoke shave.

Almost done. Still a bit long so I'll trim further, then she should do the trick nicely...

I finished off a simple, solid table. Very useful for those beautiful moments preparing (and eating) breakfast, lunch or dinner. Makes a great seat also.

The rudder is finally completed and looking very solid. In Auckland, it was impossible to find pintles or gudgeons wide enough to fit the three inch rudder stock. I finally found (with Johns help) these 'Race-Lite" fittings. Available from the team at www.duckworksmagazine.com, they're good quality and great value also...

getting close now.

Twin compass is a bit over the top but hey, they are the most important navigation equipment on board and, they look real cool lit up at night . There is a small gps also. Mostly cause I wanna know how fast I'm going.

Uh oh... What the hell is going on here? I thought I said a small radio. Well I lied. It's a beast and the cool thing is, it holds my ipod inside it. Finally a chance to listen to my fairly extensive music collection. Not to mention the BBC world service, talk back or national radio. Not always, but great company when ya need it. Good for weather forecasting also. The wiring was a complete nightmare and of course should have been sorted back before the seat tops went on. The two 50 amp/hr batteries provide more than enough power (and a chunk of ballast) and are recharged by simply pluging the charger into a thru-deck fitting when parked up back home in the garage.

Finally She's out of the garage and fittings are being added daily. I glued some closed cell foam in anticipation of long hours at the helm. It wont last for ever but its cheap and comfy.

Mast, rigging, traveller, chainplates, halyards, sheets, cleats and more. Its a fun stage but still a lot of work. Nice new trailer as well... It's starting to add up cost-wise but comparing this to buying (and maintaining) say a 30' keeler. There's no comparison. You get a lot more bang for your buck if you keep your boat small and open. Well I do any way :-)

A quick (and secret) float test in the local waterway and 'Wow' she does float. What a major relief. (and for my daughter also?) I had some real anxiety as to how she would float. I needn't of worried.

a couple of days later and I'm cruising Waiheke. What a feeling. Words can not describe it. She's sitting here on the small island just off Rocky Bay. She's performing well above expectations already. Couple of minor addjustments here and there but nothing serious. I really had to wonder (often) if I would ever get to this stage at all. Two and a half years of Sundays, and more than just a few Saturdays and we're there. She looks great in these pictures and she is but she probably wont win any 'first prizes' for quality of finish. The last thing I made from scratch out of wood was a pencil-case at school thirty years ago . But thats ok. She (Medusa) is strong and built for serious FUN and very hard use. I made a few mistakes along the way but I've learned a lot from them. So much so that I'm almost considering another build, almost. In the mean time...

GoNe SaiLiNg and LoViNg iT.

To be continued...