Glen-L.com

And I'm not talking about the Mayan calender and what does or does not happen December 21 of this year.

My Zip is moving along. Finally got to 'retire' the platform and get the boat settled onto her new 'ride'. Feels like about 75 lb. or so tongue weight, will verify once motor is on, but looks good for an initial 'ballpark'.

Interior is done, and what a PITA! At the time the hull was done the weather was not favourable for clear coating so I've been in, under, and around the inside of the boat more than I care to remember. Three coats of clear varnish, one coat and one complete interior sanding at a time, followed by two light coats of the final varnish - a 'satin' finish.

Top deck now sanded down to 320 and ready for exterior clear coat, hopefully start on that in a week or so, need some time to recover and take care of some other things that I've been sadly neglecting for some time now.

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This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

Once you get the outboard on the tongue weight might be closer to 20 or 30 lbs. My Whitehouse fibreglass with a 35 HP Evinrude Lark has no tongue weight at all. I put the portable fuel tank under the foredeck when I trailer it. With the tank at the transom a little nudge under the tongue lifts it right up and sets the weight on the motor skeg. I put a little 25 HP JOnson on the transom of my Stiletto and the tongue weight is probable about 40 lbs. The 85 Johnson I have in the garage will definitely make it a much better balance.
The more evenly the load is balanced the easier it is to trailer.

You NEED tongue weight for good trailering otherwise it fishtails!!!

On very small rigs I have gotten away with light tongue weights, but generally you need weight up there

If you don't believe this, check with any trailer manufacturer !!!

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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

Looks Great, GD!!! Yes, a light tongue weight can get real scary.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

Thanks to all. You can see that the transom is not far behind the axle on the trailer and my engine is spec'd out to come in at 123 pounds so I don't think it will tip the scales a great deal. The other factor is that I plan on having the battery and the 6 gallon cruiser tank under the forward deck so that should go a long way to bringing the tongue weight back up. I know quite well the importance of the correct tongue weight.

I expect my Zip to come in around 700-750 lb all in and loaded for boating and the trailer is around 125 pounds - for a total in the area of 950 pounds - 10% of which would be 95 pounds - but a little more tongue weight than that would probably be better. Perhaps I could add a spare tire carrier and spare tire up front if need be.

_________________
This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

I would doubt that the tongue weight of a boat the size and weight of the Zip with a 40 HP outboard would be more than 40 to 50lbs. Your total rig will most likely weigh about 800 to 850 lbs depending on your motor weight and gear. A class 1 hitch calls for a maximum tongue weight of 100 lbs. My 17 ft Larson with a 65 HP Sport Four has a tongue weight of about 55 lbs. Of course the total weight of boat motor and trailer is somewhere around 1500 lbs. BTW my Squirt has a tongue weight of about 25 lbs and I have trailered it at 60 MPH through parts of the Adirondacks Mountains. It pulls straight and true with no noticeable sway or "fishtailing" even in a cross wind. The weight should be fairly balanced over the axle with a reasonable amount forward to rest on your hitch. Unless you plan to have a jack on your tongue you want it light enough to lift onto the hitch without getting a hernia.
Carpenter, I was stopped when I was about to post this to read your comment. I believe I guessed your total weight pretty close. I was also pretty close inmy calculation of your motor weight in my first comment. My Lark 35 is about 125 lbs.

Your boat looks great. What are you using for clear coat?

Well done. Your boat looks great. I am just starting the top of mine. Turned it over last Sunday. And then took her for a ride.

http://youtu.be/BfMM8tTc71Q link to ride
Jeff

Hi where would I find the rest of your pic of your boat build.
Fellow Zip builder
Jeff

Chipper - After much angst, analysis paralysis, and self doubt I decided to go 'old school' on the finish. I am using Petit Z-SPAR FLAGSHIP exterior varnish. Yes it will likely need a bit more frequent maintenance (which is relatively easys to do) but as I understand it - it has some great UV blocking ability, is not so hard as to be unable to 'give' when the wood moves (as it's want to) and does not seem to be as 'fussy' as to it's application as to some of the other finishes I researched. I used 3 coats of the clear and another couple of the similar product, the 'Captains' version, in the satin finish for the final coats on the interior.

Cusoak - The blog I started seemed to have 'lost' a lot of my posts so I gave up on it. There are scattered photos of my build, don't know if you can serch by 'author' - but if you PM me I'd be happy to share any photos that might help, lord knows I have taken enough! Saw that video you posted earlier, what a hoot!!!!! Might be the smoothest ride you ever have in her.

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This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

GD,

Boat looks great!! Looks like you'll be seeing the water soon. Can't wait to see the 35A hangin' off the back.

Travis

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It's like anything you Build. You have to be Patient.

Measure Twice, cut Once.

I am also going old school on the finish. On the side after staining my mahogany with Century boat filler stain I have put on 2 coats of high build sealer, then 3 coats of high build varnish. Both Pettit products. Then I will finish with Capitans Gloss Varnish
Pictur is of my sides with 2 sealer and 2 hidh build. I sanded between every coat. By doing so after only 4 coats I have a very smooth finish.

For got to add the picture of the boat.
And yes I would like to pm you about pictures
Jeff

Thanx for sharing. The sanding between each coat is a PITA!! There are much less labor intensive products out there.

_________________
This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com