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	Chebacco Construction Page 3
Date	Work Completed	Time Estimate	Photos
10/10/03	Here I am deviating from the building sequence suggested in the building guide on the Chebacco site. I'm fitting the centerboard and keel pieces before the bilge panels as it is easier to reach everything now. Note the step ladder in the bilge panel area which made this job much easier than it would have been if the bilge panels were in place. Today I fit the centerboard (which only took about 30 minutes - I was expecting an ordeal based on what I read elsewhere) and cut the fore and aft keel pieces. Don't forget about the trick of scribing a shape (like the curved bottom of a boat!) onto a straight board with a compass...	5 hours
10/11/03	Glassed the inside of the keel ply pieces	2 hours
10/12/03	Applied the second and third coat of epoxy to the inside of the keel pieces and glued them up.	3 hours
10/13/03	Planed and sanded keel pieces to fit; then glued into place. Note the wax paper covered clamping stock used to make sure the keel is aligned with the centerboard trunk. I also used three or four screws from below to hold the keel in place while the epoxy cured. Fit and glue in place the first 1/4" layer of the forward bilge panels. What I am trying to show in the picture is that the straight factory edge of the ply will fit without trimming on the edge of the side panel. First place some temporary blocking on the sides, bottom, and bulkheads to hold the bilge panel. The photo shows what I started with - I had to add a few more blocks to get everything perfect. Line up the front bottom corner of the bilge panel with the side/stem joint and drive in a screw. Work your way aft along the side/bilge edge for a few feet, then clamp the aft end of the panel to the side. When first placing the panel it looks like you will need to trim it, but once you force the twist into the panel the aft end meets up with the side nicely. The 4x8 panels in the two shots have not been trimmed at all yet. Now start pushing the panel into meet the bulkheads and bottom, installing clamps/screws as needed. Once you are happy with the placement, scribe the stem line on the outside and the bottom line from the inside. Take the panel down and cut it out a little large. Put the panel back up in the same sequence and test the fit. I had to make 2 or 3 tries to get it in right, but it was not too bad. You will need to shim some places out (the middle of the bottom edge comes to mind) and add additional blocking and screws to get everything aligned perfect. This is your last chance to adjust the chine lines, so make sure they are fair and you are happy with them. I tacked the panels in place on the inside with 4" tape and epoxy where I could (the blocking is in the way for at least 50% of the joint), and of course a heavy glue up between the bilge and the stem. Note: Before the final placement take the panel down one last time and scribe the outline onto the plywood you will use for the outer layer. The sides will likely be a little different, so you will need to repeat this process for the other side.	8 hours
10/15/03	Remove the screws that were holding the inner bilge panel to the blocking. Fit and glue the second 1/4" layer for the fore bilge. If you copied the shape from the first layer, this will be fairly straight forward. I cut my panels about 1/2" larger than the first panel and just trimmed to final shape with a block plane. Don't worry about getting the stem edge perfect as that can be trimmed later. For the most part, I used the same blocking as the first panel, plus drove in a few more drywall screws to help pull the panels together. Laminating the panels took a lot of epoxy - about a pint per side. I used a 1/8" notched trowel to spread the thickened epoxy to ensure an even distribution, and that seemed to work well.	5 hours
10/16/03	Fit and glued on remaining bilge panels. To fit the remaining panels, I used two cutoffs from the 1/4" panels to make a template. The curve that was cut when fitting the fore bilge is close to what you need for the middle panel side joint. Trim it up as needed to meet the side and forward bilge panel edges. Take the second 8' cutoff and overlap it with the template you just trimmed, with the upper edge extending past the bottom. Screw the two template pieces together with drywall screws and clamp in position. Crawl under the boat and mark the bottom edge on the template. Take the template down and cut it out, and test fit to make sure you are happy with it, and then cut the shape into your 1/2" ply. Some additional trimming will probably be needed, but the template will get you very close. Install blocking, shims, and screws to hold the panel in place while it is glued up. Repeat for the other side. The aft bilge panels follow the same process. Again, make sure you are happy with the fairness of the chine lines before gluing! To glue these panels into place I joined all the bilge panel sections with 4" tape on the outside, overlapping onto the side and bottom, a little epoxy in the joint at the aft end of the boat, and a heavy glue up at the transom.	8 hours
10/18/03	Trim the bilge panels at the stem to make them flush with the stem. I decided to laminate the cutwater out of 1/2" ply. One of the cutoffs from the middle bilge panel provided enough ply for all five layers. The first layer was cut and fit to the stem. The remaining pieces were rough cut with a jigsaw and trimmed up with a flush cutting router bit with a guide bearing, resulting in 5 nearly identical pieces - this saved a lot of sanding later!. The 5 layers were glued together, held with a few screws, and them glued into place on the stem. I also started taping the hull joints and the keel-hull joint with 4" tape and epoxy. It is a good idea to put duct tape on the inside of the joints to prevent the filler epoxy from leaking out on the inside. Alert - clean any sawdust and dirt from the plywood before putting on the duct tape to make sure it sticks well - then burnish the tape to get it as close to the joint line as possible. A little effort now will save a lot of cleanup time grinding off epoxy globs later.	8 hours
10/19/03	Completed taping seams today. Vacation is over, back to work tomorrow :(, so expect much slower progress from here on out.	8 hours
10/26/03	Began sanding seams to prepare for next coat of epoxy and to fair out any large bumps.	4 hours
10/31/03	Finished sanding seams. Cut and fit fiberglass for hull. The 58" wide cloth is just right for covering one side with a single piece of glass. A little trimming was needed around the keel to get it to lay flat at the CB cheeks, etc. Three darts were cut into the glass on the upper sides and overlapped. Otherwise, the cloth draped nicely and no additional trimming was needed. Laid the first coat of epoxy on the keel and starboard side glass.	8 hours
11/1/03	Scraped glass and applied 2nd coat.	6 hours
11/2/03	Scraped glass and applied 3rd coat to forward half of boat. Ran out of time today to do the rest.	3 hours
11/9/03	Sanded the areas that have been epoxied to date.	4 hours
11/22/03	Laid out the glass on the port side and applied first coat of epoxy.	7 hours
11/23/03	Applied 2nd coat on port side and the finish coat on the starboard side aft. Forward portion needed a little touch up as well.	8 hours
11/24/03	Scrapped glass and applied 3rd coat on the ports side. Touched up starboard side aft.	7 hours
11/26/03	Scrapped all epoxyed areas to prepare for sanding. Cut out rudder parts. I have an aluminum tube that is 2-3/8" in diameter left over from building the mast on the MiniCup. I plan to use that as the rudder shaft. The control surface will be 1/2" ply as specified in the plans.	3 hours
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