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

[jeff]

Just added more of the latest pictures from today ...

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

[azboat]

Great work on your electronics panel, clean and professional looking. Studied some of your earlier construction; how did you get such clean, straight, uniform fillets? They almost look machine made. Kudos on the paint work also.

[jeff]

Thanks for the compliment. The fillets are not that hard to get straight and even. I use tape on each side of the fillet to insure a straight line with even spacing. I use different size tools shaped usually from paint stir sticks or the plastic spatulas used for spreaading epoxy on cloth. The thickness of epoxy is the only critical thing so the fillets don't sag. I never go back and use alcohol to smooth out a fillet. to me the less I mess with it the better they come out. I pull the tape a couple hours after I'm done with the fillet. A simple coat of unthickened epoxy over the fillet makes them very smooth and ready for a quick sand. Hope that answers your question.

[jeff]

Just uploaded the latest pictures...

Getting Closer...

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

[PocketShipGroupie]

Wow~ Thanks for sharing these, Jeff! Great pictures & detailed documentation of your progress - very cool!

[ragtime joe]

Just uploaded the latest pictures...

Getting Closer...

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

Incredibly beautiful work Jeff. I'm new to the site and considering buying a Pocket Ship kit. I hope your photos and postings will be around long enough for me to continue to be inspired by what can be done with this kit if I decide to take the plunge and get going on one for myself. I'll look forward to following your progress and seeing your comments about handling characteristics once you get her in the water. Thanks for taking the time to document your work.

ragtime joe -- ( F-27 sailor )

[jeff]

Thanks Joe, Take the plunge. The boat is very fun and rewarding to build.

[athan]

Hi Jeff,
I'm new to the forum and I like this boat more and more. You are doing an amazing job! Thank you for posting
Personally I don't have any experience in boat building, just the basic home diy skills, but I'm thrilled with the idea of building such a classy boat.

Are you using the kit CLC is selling? If yes, are all the wooden parts we see on your pictures (e.g. the floor) incuded in the standard CLC kit?

Many thanks,

Athan

[jeff]

Athan, Thanks for the compliments....I am building from the CLC kit. All of the solid stock wood parts are NOT included with the kit. This includes the floor, mast,gaff, boom, bow sprit, boom gallows, and a bunch of miscelanous parts and pieces. I'am using a combination of wood, Cyprus, Mahogany, and Sitka spruce. The plans are excellent and include everything you'll need to build this boat. P.S. I'm not a professional builder so anyone with basic skills should be able to build this boat. It has however taken me a lot longer than I originally thought to build it, but I'm still having fun. Jeff

[decurtis]

I built my pocketship from just the plans and sourced out all the materials locally. Transferring the patterns and cutting the plywood took about an additional 100 hours as compared to using the kit. I had absolutely no prior boat building experience and concur with Jeff that the excellent plans make this build doable by the average home handyman. The biggest challenge for me was working with the fiberglass and epoxy but this forum, the CLC forum, and the manual offer lots of tips on fillets etc.
If you check on the CLC website http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/wooden-sailboat-kits/pocketship-sailing-pocket-cruiser-kit.html they sell the manual for $30 which can be applied to the purchase of the kit or full plans later. The detailed manual with all of its photos will give you a really good idea if this is a project you wish to tackle.
My pocketship took approximately 800 hours to complete over the the course of about 8 months and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it (well, except for the occasional setback which is inevitably part of a novice boatbuilding experience).
All the details from start to finish are on my blog.