Glen-L.com

I've started building the 16' Tug Along and thought I'd post my first pic. I'll make sure my next one is less fuzzy, but you can still see the butt joined port and starboard bottom and my first ever scarf join of the keel to the right.

Welcome....looks great...post lots of pics,I've seen people interested in that build

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Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Comin' along Trilody!

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Bill

I told my wife we needed a three-car garage for my projects...she told me to ask her for permission next time before I buy a house.
http://www.unitybuild.net

Richard,
Great start. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that has used some type of special clamps. I've used bricks, blocks, paint cans, batteries, tool boxes, etc. I don't know what happened to Blake (kayakn), but it looks like your are in the hot seat for the Tug Along. This build is on my radar so please keep us updated. I'm thinking about the 18' version and I'm wondering if the extra two feet is worth it. I don't think anybody has finished either one so you are it. Come to think about it I don't know of anyone that has even started an 18 footer.

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A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!

Here's a pic of the completed bottom and the butt joined sides. Ready to start knitting.

Regarding whether to go with the 16 or 18, I'd say that depends on what you want to use the boat for. For me, this is a project with my son and this is the boat he really wanted to build. Initially, he wanted to build the Tubby Tug, but since he's 8, I figured he'd outgrow it pretty quickly. The 18 would be a tight squeeze in my garage, so the 16 seemed more practical. It means that space is limited out on deck. The reason to go with the 18 is that it would double the size of the outside deck space. If you need to install a fish fighting chair, for instance, then you'd have to go with the 18.

I did the mathematical calculation on passenger capacity for the 16 and it turns out that it's 8 pax max, but that would be crowded, I think.

I hope Blake returns to his forum again. His pics have been very helpful and I'm curious to see where he is in the build.

Richard

Knitting Richard, real men call it stitching. But, you are right. That is exactly what it is. Something that worked for me when knitting is to snug all my wires up and let the plywood rest overnight and then adjust/tighten again the next day. Nice work. I can't wait to see it with the sides on. That is what is neat about knit and glue. You can go from sheets of plywood to the form of a boat in no time. Looking forward to following your progress, keep us posted. One last thing. Where are you located?

_________________
A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!

OK, so the sides are on. Tough job, but with a hand from my trusty helper, feeding copper wire through on the inside, I was able to twist them on the outside and drill new holes as we went. Couldn't have done it without him.

Thanks for the tip on letting it rest and re-tightening the next day. That's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Re: location, I'm in Toronto, Canada.

It's the motor well and stern arch next weekend, after I've filleted the sides and removed to copper wire.

Cheers,

Richard

Tip:
If you put a small dab of thickened epoxy between the stitches,then remove the stitches when epoxy hardens,you can remove easily.Then go back and make a smooth continuous fillet.

Disclaimer:

I have not built using s&G...where I did this,but seen it done and heard it works great.

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Looking good Richard,
I second Pirate on using a small bead of your fillet material if you plan on removing the wire. I used a syring filled with thickened epoxy to apply my bead, even under the wire so it was continuous. Let it set up, removed the wires and then did my larger fillets. I then applied my tape right over the uncure fillets, saving me from having to sand the fillets. keep the pictures coming.

_________________
A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!

I think I saw the use of a ziplock bag with the fillet material and a small hole cut in the corner of the bag in the Glen-L S&G film. So, I think I get it, but what are the risks of the sides coming loose from the bottom as a result of an insufficient amount of the epoxy putty mini fillet? There's a lot of tension in those sides. Should I also use a popsicle stick or a small plastic spoon to then also press the fillet material into the seam?

The only thing I've ever filleted before is fish.

I thought I'd throw in an angle from the bow of our fancy knitting too. There's one really proud 8 year-old strutting around the house now.

Hi Trilody.

It is nice to see another Toronto builder.

In the upper-right of your screen, you should see "User Control Panel"... If you click that, you will see some admin stuff. On the left hand side of that page, you will see the option to update your "Profile". If you click that, you can share your location with us (we like that). you can edit a custom "signature line", and add a personal "avatar" (picture) to go with all of your posts.

Back to S&G....

Yes.. for the inside of your seams, you can lay down the thickened epoxy with a plastic bag (or cake decorating bag from the dollar store).

BUT definitely plan to tool the fillet well into the joints. I cut up a stout bleach bottle into little spatulas of different radii to work the different joint angles.

Another time-saving trick is to put a stripe of masking tape about 1" either side of the seam. If you smooth the fillet down to the masking tape, you can remove the tape and leave a nice clean line.



(have you ever caulked a bathtub? it is pretty much the same process.)

PS. In the end, I found that just scooping and spreading with my spatulas to be quicker than fiddling with the plastic bags.

Good luck.

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Bruce.

~~ Do what you love, and love what you do. ~~
~~ To me - only my boat is not yet perfect. Everybody else's is to be admired for I know the path they have walked (Dave Lott, 2010) ~~
Dow's Monaco Project

Great lookingTug! Really coming along. I'm enjoying watching it come together. Very nice work.

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Thanks for all the tips. You've been really helpful. And Hi Bruce, nice to meet another Toronto builder.

So the stern arc got installed, which presented some interesting challenges. The three plywood parts glued together bent around the stern curve nicely and easily. I had fears of plywood snapping, leaving us demoralized, but his plywood is amazingly strong. Thanks to Noah's for recommending their Merante 1/4". The stuff is solid, yet very bendable. The tough part was making the small fit adjustment, as the whole assembly reached around to the other side.

Still haven't started filleting the bottom. I want to be 100% sure that the boat is aligned and completely symmetrical, before I move on to that phase.

Richard

looks good

I met Rick from Noah's at The Gathering....he was a great guy and talented,his skiff was nice

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Richard,
From what I have seen of the Tug Along it seems installing the stren section would be the hardest part of the build. And y'all go and make it look easy. Nice job

_________________
A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!