The Lark - Designed by Ken Brown
2/17/99 - Received the plans today, and after several hours of study, went to town to get my first bill of materials. I had already discussed the selection of lumber with Ken, so I had a pretty good idea on what to get. I found the 1/4 underlayment (Luan) and 3/8 B-C ply at a local lumber yard. It took a few minutes to make a selection. There were lots of sheets with voids and cut outs. On the 2x4x10, I chose the spruce, the best they carry(I only needed one ). In the yard I looked through around 50 peices. The guy helping me finally gave me a 12 footer that was real nice for the same price as the 10 foot. He was probably tired of watching me destroy his pile - I did restack though. I found some 1" paneling nails and Acetone ( for cleaning up resin).
Made a trip to Wal-Mart and found some brushes, transfer paper (look in the crafts - fabric dept.) Plaster of Paris (paint dept.) and ProBond glue (it's waterproof)
Had to visit an auto parts store to find the fiberglass cloth and resin.
02/17/2000 - 3 Hours -Studied plans some more and began drawing out pieces to plywood. I used transfer paper (Wal-Mart) under the full scale plans and traced all the lines. The plan for the boat bottom was only a half drawing so I turned the transfer paper upside down under the plan and traced. This put the plan on the other side of the paper so I could flip it over to draw the other half on the plwood. I then put the transfer paper correctly, lined up the plan on the plywood, and drew out the other half for the bottom of the boat. (Confusing? You'll figure it out.) Probably shouldn't have taken so long but I brought the plywood into the house and on the living room floor. Amongst 2 kids and 2 dogs I started tracing. It was too windy outside and I don't have a shop of any kind to work in.
02/19/2000 - 5 Hours - Cut out most of the peices with jigsaw. Whew, been a while since I used wood working tools (you could tell!) The good thing about this design is that it doesn't matter too much about the hull cuttings as the seams are fiberglassed. Made the butt-joints for the sides with glass. First batch not enough hardner - 2nd batch, OH BOY did it set up quick! Ripped the 2x4x10 for the 2 rubrails, and started working on the stem. Being super careful of the angles.(I have ruined many a stick of trim before getting in a big hurry with angles and a miter saw!)
02/20/2000 - 8 Hours - I wasn't happy with the stem I first made. It just wasn't good enough for me, so I cut another one. Messed it up right off the bat! Don't they say, "third time is the charm"? It was in this case. It turned out good.
Set up the bottom with the bulkheads. Had to do some trimming on some that were too long. Had to cut out another because it was too short. (Luck I had a scrap peice of ply). Glued and nailed these . Glued and nailed the sides to the stem.
Started attaching the sides to the bottom. Now I know why most people go with stitch and glue! I missed tons of times. In Kens instructions, he says not to worry. It would not be so bad, as the fiberglass will cover. But there are lots of them that entered the wood slightly then came out,splintering the wood. Totally aggravating! Next one- stitch!
I guess with some minor inconsitancies in drawing out, and cutting the peices on the plywood, I had about a 1/4 inch boo boo at the transom when attaching the sides to the bottom. No big deal, I attached 2 strips of 1 1/2 stock to either side to compensate. It will still look good. It will almost be a decorative trim look to it. That took some extra time figuring out as well. It finally looks like a boat. Will fillet and glass the seams tomorrow. The Probond glue worked well!
02/22/2000 - 1 Hour - Took a air cut-off tool to all the nails that missed the bottom and bulheads and were sticking out in the open. Mixed resin with plaster of paris to make a thickened filler for the inside seams at the bottom. Used masking tape on the bottom over the seams to prevent mix from oozing out. Need more resin and hardner before I can glass the seams and bulkheads. It is very windy today and looks like rain. I decided to clean up some of the tools I wasn't using. Looks like I will invest in an orbital palm sander. This will make the sanding job easier for sure.
02/23/00 - 2 Hours - Cut strips of glass cloth to start glassing some seams
on the inside of the hull. Made quite a mess, but will sand out. It will pay for me to order the 4" tape that Ken suggested. The tape won't unravel and such as you are spreading the resin.
02/24/00 No work done today, but planning for what I'll do when I get home again, as I will be leaving tommorrow for work.
3/19/00 - 3/20/00 4 Hours - Pulled nails,sanded,and sanded some more. Next time I will be more careful with excess resin! Has been raining - woodfiller has set 2 days and still not dryed.
6/30/00 - To get to the finished boat as you see here, several things happened. First of all, I had gotten real tired of working out in the yard, so my Dad and I built a 16 x 24 shop. (I won't figure the week of labor and $1600 in the boat cost ) This is what I needed several years ago! Now I can shut the doors on projects and when I'm off the boat again, I can resume right where I left off. I have spent probably 10 more hours filling and sanding on the inside and out to prepare for paint. I purchased some primer and exterior latex paint. Also stain for the seat tops.
Spent about 2 hours painting. About 2 hours recoating the seat tops with stain.
Secured the oarlock mounts and borrowed oars from my Brother-in-law. We loaded up and headed fo a local pond to try out Sea Hag. The kids loved it!
Notice the windows? That is where they will be installed. Finishing the shop was put aside to finish Sea Hag..
My oldest, Eric
My youngest, Alex
