Building the Headless Duck

2004-09-12 - Build a thon weekend. We built 4 hulls that weekend. No airboxes, no bracing, just enough to get hull numbers. I got #23 (a prime number!)
2004-09-26 - I built the bulkheads and installed them. It's starting to look a lot more like it should.
2004-09-26 - I installed three skids on the bottom. The trick to this was to clamp the skid at the end with the most rocker. You can then use the larger lever arm to press the skid down. A chalk line was snapped on the bottom of the hull (for guidance), glue liberally applied, and screws from the inside to hold the skid in place. The screws will later be removed. In retrospect, I should have put some sort of edge protection along each edge of the bottom. That's the part that take a lot of beating.
Glued in two pieces of 2x4 to brace the rudder. I didn't think that the 1/4 inch plywood was strong enough to hold the rudder stock under full sail. I think I could have gone with less wood. This is unlikely to break though.
I created the leeboard from two pieces of 1/4 inch plywood. After cutting it to shape, and using a router on the edges, I notices a couple of places where the edges didn't glue together properly. This picture shows some regluing on the edges. From several trials on the boat, this leeboard has help up well.
2004-10-09 - With most of the hull ready, paint it. Christopher is shown here helping out. We are using Glidden semigloss exterior latext paint. The paint has been holding up well, as long as it dries. The first time I floated the boat, the paint was a little soft and mushy still (almost 3 weeks of hot drying in the California Fall). When I seriously sailed in March of  2005, the paint held up like a champ. Painting rules: Apply several coats. Make sure the paint covers completely and is reasonably thick. Let it dry for a long time (but don't let that stop you from sailing, you can always repair the paint later... I did)
2004-10-09 - After the paint was dry for a day or so, I had to try the leeboard. This also shows the external brace I made, since the board is to rotate and is only supported by the bolt. Lesson learned is that the spacing between the brace and leeboard needs to be as small as possible. The board flexes quite a bit on one tack. This is on the "rebuild" list. I've worked around it by adding some rope wrapping on the brace to take up some space.
2004-10-09 - Here is a view of the leeboard in the rotated position.
2004-10-09 - This view shows the interior bracing for the leeboard mount. The vertical 2x4 is for the external brace. I still get some flexing of the side and suspect I need to add a vertical piece under the knob.
2004-10-09 - A view of the boat with the mast inserted. It is really starting to look like a boat!
2004-10-09 - Detail of the partner and step system. This broke on 2005-06-19. During a run, the mast pushed out the step. The step was screwed in from the outside and the screws only went below the bottom 1/4 inch of the 2x4. In retrospect I should have see it coming. This needs to be replaced. The partern which was screwed into the sides and bulkhead did not come loose, but severely bent the screws. This also needs to be replaced.
2004-10-17 - Time to add decks. I cut the decks from the remaining sheet of plywood and prepped them for installation.
2004-10-17 - Decks cut to provide a hatch in the center. The hatches are sealed with weather stripping to keep them dry and presumably allow some floatation for the amount of time to right the boat. I've never tested that.
2004-10-31 - On Halloween day I too the boat out for a test float. It was great, as "stable as a table". The sail wasn't ready yet.
2004-11-28 - Finally had time to get to cutting the sail. I built a standing lug (4.6 sq. meters) and rigged as a boomless sail. This worked fine for the first few sails, and I later added a boom to the beast. Because of stresses on the sail, the wire tie at the peak pulled out. I needed to reinforce the peak point AND put in a grommet. Holes along the top yard and boom are just punched with a paper punch, then wire tied to the yard. They don't maintain a lot of force and aren't likely to pull out.
2004-11-28 - I'm having a "yard sail". The first time everything has come together. It may not be obvious, but there aren't any main lines on here yet.
2005-04-22 - Took a sail to Del Valle Regional Park. The winds were heavy that day, perhaps about 20 kts. A few tacks across the lake bent the 1 inch conduit to about 20 degrees. Just not strong enough. Rebuild!
2005-04-29 - I talked to Scott Stanley and copied his idea for a mast. 3 - 1x4x12 boards glued together. I then cut them down to 2.25 inches , and tapered the top to 1.25 inches. I cut new holes in the partner and rebuilt the step a bit to accomodate the new mast. I've had the boat out in fairly strong winds, approaching at least 15 kts and it hasn't even complained.
2005-06-12 - Here is the state of the boat (seen on our 6 hour expedition). The new mast is there with a wind vane I cobbled together. The standing lug is working great, and works much better on the 12 foot mast. It gives much more head room than the old 10 foot model.
2005-08-12 - The old mast step broke in late June and needed to be replaced. This new one is made from poplar and is glued to the step. I fell more confident that this will not break, under normal sane conditions. (grin)