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Building Topaz: A
Photo Journal
I bought my first sheets of marine plywood on
9/11/01. I felt too old to assemble the bottom on the
floor as Phil Bolger suggests so I decided to construct
an "Assembly Table / Strong Back". That is a strong back
made from the internal bulkheads but with temporary 2 x
4 extensions to create a flat table. One of the seven
bulkheads is shown here.
This next picture shows the assembly of the Table /
Strong Back
The plans call for two ½ inch plywood bottoms to be
laminated together in a gentle curve. Each bottom layer
contains eight four foot long pieces butt joined with
epoxy and glass tape. The panels are releived for the
glass tape thickness on both sides. Since the whole
layer must be turned over to glass the joints on the
other side , stiffeners, shown here, were needed to
protect the fragile one sided joints.
The second bottom layer was hinged at the middle to
reduce the size of the thickened epoxy batch and
hundreds of screws were used to provide the laminating
pressure as you can see.
Most of the bottom curve is in the front half. The
brace to the top of the doorway was required to keep the
inverted bow from lifting. Since the boat was two feet
longer than the garage the rolled up tarp shown replaced
the door for the winter of 02.
All of the screw holes had to be filled and sanded.
The bottom was then covered with glass cloth set in
epoxy. The shear clamps shown were laminated and shaped
from yellow pine and go in a notch in each of the
bulkheads.
The sides were fabricated from four eight foot pieces
of ply which were butt joined, rather than scarfed to
save the length, per Phil Bolger. They needed to be
turned over to glass tape the joints on the under side.
I mention this because turning 32 foot long panels over
is a challenge for the solitary builder.
The accent groove was routed to a batten, and the top
of the boot stripe was located with silver mylar tape.
The sides were then glassed while draped over horses to
their approximate final shape.
With the sides clamped in place the bottom curve was
spiled to match with a 10 degree bevel.
The forefoot supports the bottom skin and
structurally supports the bow and takes the grounding
and trailer abuse. I chose to assemble many small pieces
of ½ in. ply to minimize scrap. These pieces were
assembled with epoxy and screws. Each of the long pieces
shown are actually three or four pieces. Joints were
staggered.
Here the forefoot assembly gets a trial fit.
Then the assembly was beveled and assembled to the
bottom with epoxy and wood cleats.
Two sheets of ¼ in Phillipine Mahogany ply were butt
joined and cut to the specified curves and Magic they
fit perfectly.
Mateing with the shoe keel was trial and error. This
is where I decided it was good enough.
A second layer of glass/epoxy in the form of a 4"
wide tape was applied to the joint of the bottom and
side. After much sanding and filling it was ready for
paint.
The seven foot wide hull barely cleared the eight
foot high rafters as the hull and its strong back were
rolled. Here the roll is shown at almost 90 degrees.
The bow cleat was carved with a chain saw blade from
laminated Honduras mahogany lumber. The breasthook is a
1 1/2 thick lamination of Phillipine mahogany plywood.
The rub rails are two layers of red oak, not the most
weather durable but easy to replace in a few years.
A good deal of fairing compound was needed to get the
Bow to look good.
This view is the beginning of the interior cabinet
work. Visable is the rear cockpit floor, two gas tanks
under, the tops of the motor board, two aft storage
lockers with one seat completed.
The kitchen cabinet and counter top were purchased at
home depot and modified to fit the space. The two
beds/Settees were fabricated with four internal storage
compartments. No mechanical hinges were used so that the
tops could conform to the hull curve. They tip up on
their edge and are held with a strap. No mattress
retainer board, Velcro was used.
The area shown in the next photo was essentially not
specified in the plans. I felt that the step was needed
for those of us with short legs. The platform and step
that the seat pedestal is bolted to are the same on both
sides of the hull and are intended as stable seat
platforms and slide away battery covers. The forward
starboard quarter deck shown was shortened by 7 inches
at the shear clamp to provide a 10 inch space behind the
seats for hanging clothes. A control mounting panel was
installed 4" away from the hull side.
The waste management system uses the flush water
system and slide valve from the ubiquitous Porta-Potti
and a 23 gallon holding tank.
A custom flanged wooden down duct was made to connect
the two components together.
This next view shows the valve with the fabricated
duct below.
At last, out of the garage, nine months after
starting this part time project. The trailer was custom
made Aluminum with four surge activated disc brakes.
This design trailer is common in Florida. The brakes are
a state requirement there.
Phil Bolger designed a swing down swim ladder that
acts as a vision screen for the four stroke, sixty
horsepower outboard engine. Shown here in the Up
position.
Next it’s down.
The rafter height in my garage precluded building the
cabin inside. The side walls were fabricated and scarfed
and glued together when in place on the hull. The roof
was fabricated independently and hoisted by four men
into place. The roof was a challenge. With 3/8
Phillipine plywood I wasn’t willing to risk turning a
half strength joint over, so I made double 8:1 scarf
joints that could be assembled from one side only. That
is, three additional 8" strips with 3" bevels on each
edge were required. These provided a minimum of a two
inch land between each of four 4’ X 8’ ply panels
resulting in a panel assembly 8’ X 16’ 6" shown here.
The roof components were lofted on this large panel.
The roof edges were laminated into the desired curve
directly on the layout lines.
Here is a little closer look.
Since we wanted a microwave, coffee pot and Toaster
and ample reading lights, I chose a 320 ampere hour
house battery. It was so heavy that we had to hoist it
in thru a window.
The windows were custom designed by me to be the
defining element of this boat. We have named her PARASOL
because we expect shielding from the elements, Sun,
Wind, Rain, Heat, Cold and Bugs. Therefore the windows
have full screens, Levalor blinds, full gaskets and
hinged ¼" Acrylic panes. The windows are trimmed inside
and out with bright finnished honduran mahogany. These
trim pieces were milled from mahogany lumber. A ninefoot
long router bench was used for custom sections. Shown is
a bulkhead cap section.
I mentioned the need for A/C power. I carry a 700
watt Honda generator to recharge the house battery
through a 40 amp electronic programed charger. The A/C
is provided by a 1000 watt inverter. The charger and
inverter are shown in this photo located behind the
First Mate’s seat.
The wiper motors are located at the top of the front
quarter walls enclosed in an instrument cluster box. The
box mounts to the two visable wood blocks.
This next shot is looking aft. The 2’ X 5’
ventilation hatch is visible at the top. The enclosed
head is behind the left rear wall and its door is
slightly ajar. The head has a light and exhaust fan in
addition to a full-length mirror on the back of the door
for use with the door swung open. The suspended
microwave and coffeepot are visible at the upper right.
A forward and rear bulkhead were doubled to provide a
wire chase with ready access if something were to go
wrong. Shown is the forward starboard chase. Note the
rod for clothes hangers.
The Helm, GPS, and instrument cluster are shown here
as well as a yard full of snow.
My greatest deviation from Phil’s design intent is in
the area of the stern cockpit. He shows a continuation
of the roof which covers the cockpit. But the headroom
provided was only 4 ½ feet. I wasn’t willing to stoop.
Additionally as a senior, I felt the need for higher
railings to get from the swim ladder to the security of
the cockpit. Our gas grill and Ice chest are accessed in
the rear cockpit so this is a vital area in our life.
This shot shows a friend bending my version of the rear
railing.
Last, at this time, in late December 2002 are two
final views.
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