Boatbuilding news, building tips, and builder feedback

An Occasional Publication for the Home Boat Builder

Glen-L Marine Designs - 9152 Rosecrans Ave. - Bellflower, CA 90706


In this issue





GLEN-L Update
  • We frequently get comments, complimenting us on the Glen-L website. We put a lot of effort into the site, adding content almost every day. Periodically, I make a sweep through parts of the site to look for areas that need improvement. The photos of the Feather, mentioned below, were added and all the photos re-scanned to a larger size. There are frequent additions of notes, photos and drawings to many areas of the site. The WebLetter continues to grow and takes more and more time... Where am I going with this? I am better at making web pages than at "selling". I would like to remind our readers that boat plans companies do not survive on plans sales alone, which is why we offer other products. We sell what I think is one of the best epoxies on the market, Poxy-Shield. There is only one other epoxy that I know of that has as high a percentage of epoxy solids as Poxy-Shield, and it is probably the best known of all epoxies on the market. Since ours is less expensive, why don't people buy it? Probably, a lack of publicity. So... consider this a commercial and consider ordering Poxy-Shield for your project. You will be glad you did.
  • Wanted: Comments on our Poxy-Shield for the next WebLetter.
  • I received a question from someone, asking whether we had small cold-molded rowboat plans. The answer was no. However, upon further thought I remembered photos for the Feather that we had received several years ago. The Feather was designed for C-Flex construction; as a boat to try out this one-off method. Like the Foamee and the Glen-L 11, the Feather has a round bilge and would be suited to cold-molding. So, if you are the one who asked, take a look at these photos. The plans do not detail cold-molding, but all three designs mentioned would be adaptable to cold-molding and would all make good rowboats.
  • This issue of the WebLetter features the Double Eagle. The next WebLetter will feature the Sherwood Queen. If you have photos or feedback on this design, I hope you will share them with our readers. A reminder: This section is in response to reader requests. I will try to present as wide an array of designs as possible, attempting to add additional information from what is currently on the site, which can be difficult without your input.
  • Thanks to all who have sent material used in this WebLetter. We couldn't do this without you.

      
Editor      

Featured Design: Double Eagle

The Double Eagle was designed with the flavor of traditional "down-east" commercial fishing boats. These boats were round-bilge. Our Double Eagle was designed with a hard-chine hull shape to utilize sheet plywood or aluminum for easy construction. These rugged, sea-kindly hulls have a well deserved reputation as a "fisherman's" boat. The Double Eagle is used extensively for small commercial operations and by pleasure fishermen who appreciate her many fine qualities.

Double Eagle Links:
Design page
From the plans
Feedback: John and Elsie Christian
Feedback: Ken Schott
Photos from the archives



Feedback: Double Eagle

by Rob Bradley

Barry, You already have most of the details on our Double Eagle. All I can provide is a project update and a little background why we decided to build the Double Eagle. My three sons and I are keen off shore sport fishing people and to get to the really good spots we needed a good sea boat capable of operating 20 to 25 miles off shore in reasonable sea conditions. Adequate freeboard was important, the boat must be trailerable, it must provide shelter from the elements, including the sun. The boat also needed a clear and uncluttered aft deck from which to fish at least 4 rods. The Double Eagle satisified all these requirements.

The project is at the stage of fitting the foredeck and, in the next month, the superstructure should start to go up. To date the construction time has been 1830 hrs, cost to build using clear Oregon (Douglas-fir), marine ply and epoxy glue, to date, is a little over A$ 9000. Total weight to this stage (I weighed everything except glue, paint, and screws) is 545 kg. The dual axle galvanized trailer will cost A$ 4250 and is currently under construction by a local company. The Double Eagle drawings are excellent. The only changes we have made is to the cabin top which we have redesigned to reflect a more modern style.

Regards Rob Bradley, Queensland Australia.

From: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
Monday, April 26, 2004: 1 Australian Dollar = 0.73250 US Dollar
1 US Dollar (USD) = 1.36519 Australian Dollar (AUD)
i.e. 9000 AUD x .7325 = 6,592.50 USD
I was not able to find the conversion rate from AU Hours to US Hours. ...brw

On the drawing board: CS 20 update

The CS 20 is slowly progressing. Because of the size of the planking, there will be no patterns provided. Instead, dimensional layouts will be given. As of now, there will be full size patterns for the transom, transom knee, breasthook, spreader, forms 4A and 4B, 3 cradle patterns, cabin front arc and bulkhead #4.

The basic plan sheets are done; specific details are now being added. Although the pattern contours are laid out, the pattern drawings are not yet made. While all this is going on, Glen periodically moves to the computer to add to or revise the instructions. For more information see our CS 20 page.



Feedback: Zip

by John A. Hart

I bought the plans and patterns for the ZZZip in February 1996. I got started on it, but had to put it in storage for a few years. It was launched in the summer of 2001.

I changed the angle of the transom to 15o and if I were to do it again, would probably go to 16o, maybe 17o, because of limited adjustment on the newer motors. The transom and frames are 7/8" South American mahogany. I used sapele mahogany plywood for the planking as I find the 1/4" marine Douglas-fir ain't what it used to be. I used 1/4" AC plywood backing for the deck, overlaid with 1/2" x 1 3/8" pine. The seat backs and coamings are faced with left over sapele.

The second season, I changed the topside paint to gloss black epiphanes. The bottom is InterLux gray-white anti-fouling. You can see the reflection of the water on the paint.

With a stock 30hp Johnson 2-stroke and stock 3-blade prop (I'm not sure of pitch) I get about 32 mph. It's a good setup for pulling a skier up to 150 lbs.

There isn't a day that I don't get stopped and given great compliments. The Lake Patrol guy says it's the prettiest boat on the lake and might want me to build one for him in a couple of years.

If you look close at the pictures when the boat was red, you can see the deck details.

John A. Hart
Camden, ME

Photos



Answers to Boat Trailers Questions

The following are from our book "How to Build Boat Trailers".

Method for Measuring Tongue Weight
Trailer Weights



Darla's corner

by Darla Schooler

I welcome your contributions

Sailing is the fine art of getting wet, while going nowhere, at great expense.

Only in America:

  • Handicapped parking spaces in front of the skating rink.
  • People order double cheeseburger with bacon, super-sized fries and a DIET drink.
  • Banks leave both doors open, then chain the pens to the teller window.
  • Drive-through ATM machines with Braille instructions.
  • Hot dogs come in packages of 10, buns in packages of 8.



Shop Talk: Vacuum Bagged Mahogany Transom

Ken Schott

Here is some information on the vacuum bag process I used on the transom. This is better info than the email in WebLetter 51.

I admire the natural finish on the Gentleman's runabouts, and wanted to show some brightwork on my Double Eagle project. Since I am building the Double Eagle as a center console, I thought a Mahogany transom might look appropriate for my boat. I have been at this project for several years, and the closest way to describe the project is the WoodenBoat magazine, December 2003, cover photo. This is quite similar to the goal in my mind. The plans call for a 3/4" ply transom, so I decided to laminate the mahogany transom in similar fashion as the teak decks on so many other boats. That is, teak strips epoxied over the deck. I will be working with mahogany in this case. Mahogany marine 3/4" ply is available, but at what cost, and will it look as nice as this bookmarked grain that I have acquired?

Continue



Shop Talk 2: Gelcoat and Shady

by Graham Knight

Just reading the latest WebLetter and I see there are a couple of things I can help with...

Firstly, the question about using gelcoat on the outside of a boat. Yes you can do it. I recently put a new cabin roof on my father-in-law's GRP cabin cruiser. Originally, it would have been made in a female mold, which I didn't have of course, so I had to lay up glass cloth on a pre-formed ply core, then finish with pigmented gelcoat.

Gelcoat stays tacky in contact with air, this makes applying the glass cloth on the inside of a female mold easier and ensures the resin sticks properly to the gelcoat. The gelcoat hardens completely where it's in contact with the mold. Obviously, you can't have a sticky finished surface so you have to use an additive called Solution MW, which is added at 2% by volume. I find a reasonable finish can be achieved by applying the final coat of gelcoat using a gloss foam roller and a slow cure to allow it to self-level, the finish was good enough for a cabin roof anyway. For a high gloss hull, a lot of cutting and compounding would be needed.

Secondly, someone was asking for a contact for Ron Shady. I've been in contact with Ron myself and he's given me some valuable info. His email address is

Hope to put together an update on my Squirt progress soon... the end is in sight!

Graham in Shepperton, England



Building the Squirt with a Kawasaki jet - Part 1

by Terry McIntyre

1-25-04:
I cut out the first frame parts for my Squirt last night, so I guess I qualify for the registry now. I'm a retired engineer and I'm building the boat as a project with my grand kids and nephews. This will be my 3rd Glen-L boat (the first two were a Tuffy in '62 and a Rebel in '71 - yeah, it's been a while!). I decided to do the frames in clear select Douglas-fir. This decision was based largely on the fact that my lumber supplier (Southern Lumber in San Jose, CA) had some absolutely gorgeous stock, at about a third the cost of mahogany. The planking will be mahogany, and power will be a 550 Kawasaki jet-ski conversion.

Continue



Whatsit: Harpin

Recent email:

Subject: Two Plus update
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004

Hello

Almost ready. Just some details inside cabin and other small things to fix.I haven't tried it at sea yet. But hope to make it the upcoming weekend.

Regards,
Kjetil Petersen
Norway

Photos


Subject: Project Registry
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004

Hello there,
I think its about time I added my name to the project registry. I've been building the SQUIRT since October 2003. I had originally made a start on the Tuffy, but abandoned it due to financial constraints! I'm really glad that I chose the Squirt because it is so small that everything goes together pretty fast. Here is a rough outline of my build so far:

Continue


Electric boat project using the Glen-L "L-Gato" hull.

Subject: sv cat
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004

Folks- enjoy!!!

http://www.svsabers.org/svcat/index.html

Don Gerlach
Tech. Ed. Dept Chairman
Susquehanna Valley High School


Subject: You have a great company.
From: Howard Katzman

I'm sure you get a lot of complimentary letters and I just wanted to add one more. You have a great company and an outstanding website. I have been enjoying your website for a couple of years now. I purchased the ZZZip Kit from you about a year ago and I have just started construction. I am a construction manager and building boats for me is pure pleasure (This will be my second). I like building them even more than sailing them and I hope to always have a boat under construction.

Thank you for your great customer service.

I would like to register my project.

Design: Glenn-L Zip
Howard Katzman
West Bloomfield, Michigan, USA
Started project April 9th 2004.
Built building form, installed pre-coated frames (I purchased the frame kit, what a bargain!), installed keel, installed chine logs.

I have a time clock in my garage and am closely tracking hours spent on this project. To date I have 22 hours (an average of 2.75 hours/day worked)

Howard Katzman.


Subject: Newsletter & Sissy-Do
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 23:38:22 -0700

Greetings,
I have been receiving your fine newsletter for some time now and enjoy it very much. Had not heard from you in the past few months and went to the home page to see what was up. Have since signed the guest book to start receiving the newsletter again, and then found the latest newsletter to see what I had been missing. Imagine my surprise to see the article on the Sissy-Do, and after looking at the pictures was delighted to find the picture of my Sissy-Do, which I had submitted years ago.

It was a fun project which I built with a bit of help from my then young daughters. The boat served us well for many years and we have so many good memories that were created with that boat.

Just wanted to say thanks, and I have recently dusted off the prints I have of the Glen-L 14. Hope to start on it soon.

Best Regards,
Pat Rose


From the Boatbuilder Connection:
Author: RobertL

Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:47 am
Post subject: Looking for Amigo's

Message:
I am looking for amigo owners in the US. I would like to see one up close and even sail in one. I live in Missouri. Thanks... RobertL


Subject: RE: Glen-L Order
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004

Gayle,

So far the project (Hot Rod inboard) is going quite well. The plans were excellent and I've produced full-size 3/8" plywood templates for practically every part of the boat. Since it's my first boat, I've built a full-size mockup using material at hand eg. plywood, pine boards etc. This allows us to mock-up the driveline, fuel and electrical systems and familiarize ourselves with the construction process and further fine-tune our full-size templates before they're transferred to 'good' lumber. To see what we've been up to, feel free to visit my web site to see work in progress.

Regards,
Paul Kane


Subject: SQUIRT
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004

TO: Barry Witt

Barry, I received your e-mail through Graham from Shepperton, England. We have had several discussions this past year on our two Squirts---I understand he should be finishing his shortly.

Please feel free to add my address to your Project Registry and/or your Web letter. I am happy to help anyone out that I can, and have received many calls over the past few years. If they are calling regarding their first time build, and with not too much wood working experience, I usually recommend they purchase the frame kit, as I did. I think the frame kit helps build the confidence needed by the first-time boat builder.

For my next boat, I will start from scratch! (I purchased the Audeen plans a few years ago, but have not yet taken the plunge.) My goal is to convert the Audeen to an outboard design (I collect antique outboards), but unfortunately with other responsibilities, I am moving toward building the Audeen with glacial speed. I finally finished a workshed last year under which I will build the Audeen... hopefully will start this summer.

Let me know if I can assist you or potential customers regarding the Squirt...I am always pleased to give them a good reference in Glen-L's products and assistance, along with encouraging words.

Regards,
Ron L. Shady


Subject:
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004

Hey,
While shopping this morning at Home Depot for potential glassing stuff I ran across "RollerLite" contractor's pack. It's six 6 1/2" rollers with 1/4" nap @6.97. Foam rollers tend to come apart with resin, however these things are FABULOUS. They are a small diameter roller that take a special frame. You can apply plenty of pressure if necessary. I just glassed the transom and it was very easy to work with. Recommend these to anyone building a glassed boat or who is encapsulating.
Katie

The local painters call these "sausages", you would want to find the shortest nap possible so you don't throw too much epoxy away with the roller.
Re. Foam rollers, we have never had a problem with them coming apart.

From: E. (Andy) Anderson
Subject: Tubby Tug
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004

Everything arrived intact and with enough popcorn to pack the Queen Mary! As a bonus you included a great comic section from your newspaper... All my favorite comics!

Let the construction begin.....


Subject: Glen-L 15
Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2004

Dear Barry.

My boat was launched yesterday in sunny spring weather with Beaufort 4-5 wind. She sails beautifully and is very fast and agile, outrunning every other sail.
Very sporty for a pensioner and I hope my wife can take it, she was not along on the maiden trip, but 4 adults were, some of them scared a bit...

Kind regards
Bart HJJ Timmermans
Netherlands

Photos


Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2004
---------------------------------------------------------------

name: David Quarles

Comments: I am starting construction of my Amigo this year after hauling the plans around with me for the last 14 years. I look forward to using this site, and maybe connecting with others who have built the Amigo, or who are in process like myself.

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