Jeff's pocketship- It's DONE!! except for the sails 4/4/11

[John C. Harris]

I'd leave the drain plug hole. There WILL be water in there eventually, usually from condensation.

I've had a couple of disasters with expandable foam, including at least one exploded boat, and about a dozen boats where the foam became saturated with moisture over time.

Not much danger of the former if the deck is off. As for the latter, I am told that modern foam formulations are much better about absorbing water. All of the water absorption I've seen came after 10 or 20 years, so who knows. The expanded foam in Jeff's boat sure looks beautiful compared to the motley collection of insulation foam in my boat.

[jeff]

New Pictures from 07-08-09 progress:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35243545@N ... 619831460/

[John C. Harris]

Your boat is looking absolutely brilliant, Jeff. That's exceptionally clean epoxy work. Wow.

[jeff]

Thanks John, This is a great project, plans and manual are first rate. I wish I had more time each week to work on it but I'll take the few hours I get.

[terry]

Very nice woodworking Jeff, you are going to have a beautiful boat. Keep the pics coming. The Walrus

[mtsailor]

A thought on foam..been there. I've spent many hours digging stinky, water soaked, foam out of compartments on sailboats. The expanding foam was put in by well-meaning persons thinking that it was a good way to sink-proof their nice boat. However, over time, water from condensation or other sources got between the hull and foam, and into the foam itself, and caused a bad mildew stench and mess. I got rid of the mess, but the mildew smell, once in a boat, never goes away. I always believed in the old saying that "everything is waterproof 'til it gets wet", and I don't assume that the forward compartment of the PocketShip is exempt. John's design, foam pieces that will allow air to move around, is a good solution. And I'll be putting screw-in ports in every compartment that can be removed to allow air circulation and drying out of the area when the boat is not at sea. Jer http://gallery.me.com/jermcmanus

[jeff]

Another thought on foam... I investigated the construction methods of Boston whaler and they use a high density closed cell pour in foam sandwiched in the hull . Their boats have been around for years without many complaints. I used the same foam and I hope it works as well for me as it does for Boston Whaler. we'll see.

[jeff]

Jeff's pocketship progress.. a few new pics ~09/14/09

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35243545@N ... 619831460/

[68guns]

Jeff:


Your workmanship is second to none! What is the story on picture #1608?

[jeff]

Thanks for the compliment...photo 1608 is a paper template for cutting each section of glass cloth. It just saves time farther down the road. For me that is. Jeff