Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #2-3B . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

So, I was getting ready to start painting the forward inside compartments, when I realized that I needed all kinds of doublers and spacers and backers, that all required 3 coats of epoxy and glued in place, before painting. 
Plus, I had all the cleats from fabricating and adding a lazarette, as well as hatch doublers for the bench seats.
Up until now, all surfaces to be coated were already on the boat, so applying epoxy occurred in place.
I started cutting and gathering up all the pieces I thought I would need, including parts for a future compass box (center of pic) and a power switch doubler.
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Needed backing plates for re-boarding straps, bulkhead #4 cleats, a centerboard eye strap doubler, some electrical equipment mounting blocks and more bench hatch doublers.
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   Geeze!!    Thought by now, I'd be dealing with FEWER pieces, not MORE pieces!! 
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A fair amount of epoxy on all those little pieces! 

After the first coat of epoxy.
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And after the third coat of epoxy.
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Third coat here, also.
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NOW, I get to flip it all over and put three coats of epoxy on the OTHER side! 

While waiting for all that to cure, so I could flip it, I decided to play with the batteries I bought at Thanksgiving (succumbing to a Black Friday deal, which so far, hasn't been beaten) and make the tie-down strap I originally envisioned.
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Always nice, when stuff actually works like you thought it was going to work! 
BTW, charged the batteries at the end of November and at the end of March, they are still showing 99% charge.  Dropped all of .002 volts, in  4 months.
I'm still having to get used to LiFePO4 technology, versus Lead-acid technology; this stuff is really different from what I've dealt with, my whole life.

Every boat needs a little "Proud Work", or some Nautical Bling, if you will;    mine will sport a Celtic Trinity Knot, on the front of the cabin.
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Remember this guy? (Centerboard.)
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I got some black nylon straps and used them to lower the centerboard down into the centerboard trunk.
I relocated it a few times until I could get an awl lined up in the centerboard holes.
Then a Philips screwdriver lined up, and finally the ½-inch stainless steel pin.
It all FITS!    Color me HAPPY!! 
All that measuring and obsessing over minutiae paid off, for a change.
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At the left end of the above pic is where the centerboard uphaul goes through, inside a ¼-inch i.d. copper pipe that requires a flared end, so as not to chafe the uphaul line.
I couldn't get enough of a flare with a conventional ¼-inch flaring tool, so I employed a ¼-20 flat head screw and a nut and started cranking.
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Got exactly as much flare, as I was shooting for.
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Does the flare look a little "tilted"? 
That is by design; the hole is drilled at a slight downward angle so that water doesn't leak into the cabin.  That flare mount angle matches the hole angle.
Ok, yeah. I'm a little CDO, sometimes.    (That's like OCD, except alphabetized, like it SHOULD be!!) 

This is what it looks like in a trial fit, before the hole is coated in epoxy and the pipe glued in, permanently.
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Used a pencil to line up the uphaul line exit hole with the turning block that goes to the centerboard uphaul rigging, which basically looks like a boom vang.
This allowed me to mark and over-drill the mounting holes for future epoxy filling.
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Here's an example of centerboard uphaul rigging, from somebody else's boat:
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Get all those pieces coated and glued down and things should start moving more quickly. 
Hoping, anyway. 

Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

Charles, I get tired just reading your posts! Lots of work and details. Only half done when you turn the hull.

Nice work as always!

[Timm R Oday25]

Nicely done. I'm on week 5 of making a mounting pad for the outboard lifting bracket , I've already made 3 , they ended up being fed into the woodstove .

[Chris Muthig]

LOL Tim, I just made a 2nd set of outboard pads, same here, 1st one went into the burn pit.  I did a great job making the first set look good, too much of a bevel all the way around, made the motor sit wrong and too much of a chance the motor would fall off.

[Chris Muthig]

Lookin like a boat!!!

[Timm R Oday25]

Charles , did you make that Celtic knot ? I really like the 3 dimensional part of it .

[Charles Brennan]

Timm, My son says I should just tell everyone I carved it,    but no, I found it on-line.
However, I DID varnish it! 
Think 5 coats was enough? 
The tricky part was finding one the right size that would scale nicely on the front of the cabin.
Here's a link:
https://www.heartwoodcarving.com/onlay-trinity-knot-pierced

Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan

[Timm R Oday25]

Thanks . My wooden mount for the outboard bracket itself is almost ready to be mounted on the transom .
I've tought about using rubber fender washers, 3m 4200 , o-rings between the block and the transom . epoxy through the holes .
How are you sealing the through hole in your outboard mount ?

[Charles Brennan]

Timm, Perhaps you should ask me that question, AFTER I actually build the thing!!
My motor mount came with a large plastic motor pad, which I think is out of scale and absurdly large, for small engines.
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What I INTEND to do, is to shorten the top by two inches and the width by an inch or so.
I will be starting with a 2X12 piece of Southern Yellow Pine left over from building the skegs on the SCAMP, oriented for a vertical grain and devoid of any knots.

To answer your question:
"How are you sealing the through hole in your outboard mount?"
After shaping and sanding, I will use a 7/8" Forstner bit to over-drill the 3/8"-16 mounting bolt holes.
That will be filled with thickened epoxy. This will give me at least 1/8-inch of epoxy, all around the bolts. This is in keeping with my desire to ensure that no fastener on this boat ever goes through wood, but only through epoxy.

The block of wood will then receive a coat of epoxy, a layer of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth on both sides, another coat of epoxy, another layer of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth, another layer of epoxy, followed by a graphite-infused layer of epoxy. Once the faces are finished, I will encircle the edge of the motor pad with the same epoxy and fiberglass layering, as the faces.

Next, I will use a 1½-inch hole-saw drilled ½-inch deep, 3¼-inches apart on center for the motor clamps.  Using a router, I will clear out wood to the hole-sawed edges at a depth of ½-inch.  The indented hole will receive three coats of epoxy and some high durometer rubber washers 1½-inches in diameter.
These will be made the same way I made the swing keel washers a few years ago.
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IMHO, chafing from the motor mount adjustable locking clamps, and water ingress in the bolt holes, is what leads to wood rot of motor mounts.
Still debating, on whether to hedge my bets and also use a rubber pad on the engine side as well, to prevent chafe and/or eventual wood rot on that side, too.

Final finish will be a coat of EZ-Poxy primer, and three coats of Sea Foam green, to match the rest of the transom. To finish, the rubber inserts will be glued with contact cement, instead of epoxy, to permit maintenance/replacement, as required. Final assembly will be drilling 3/8-inch holes for the motor mount bolts through the previously inserted epoxy "do-nuts" on the wooden pad.

Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan

[Jim B., CD-25]

It keeps you off the streets and out of the pool halls. Looks like a labor of love, Charles.  Hope you are enjoying the process.

[Timm R Oday25]

Jim B , it's good to see you come around once in a while . Not much water where you moved to I bet .

[Charles Brennan]

Jim, It's certainly a Labor of . . . . . SOMETHING!! 

It's been quite the challenge to do something I've never done before.  My original impetus was to acquire a SCAMP, in the only manner within my means. 
Building it. 
But surprisingly, it's turned out be a lot more fun than I thought it would be.    Kind of like a cross between those wooden puzzles you see in airport gift shops, and a logistical Sudoku. 
Re-learning old habits I'd hoped were behind me in the engineering world, such as measuring EVERYTHING IN METRIC!! 
A lot of the guys on the SCAMP forums have built numerous boats; one guy is now building his third SCAMP. 
That will not be me.   
I want to go sailing for at least the next decade, and this little micro-cruiser might be just the ticket for that!   

Charles Brennan