The Project:
Back in 2002, Dave and I, Laura, began discussing retirement plans. Dave had been stationed in Panama in 1995 and thought that it would be a nice place to retire. He began to discuss going from island to island and I asked him how we would get to each island. And, he said that there were boats that were used as taxis. Then, I asked, where we would stay on an island and how would we hail a taxi when we were ready to leave? Then, Dave began to talk about seeing a man sailing from island to island in a trimaran with his family while he was stationed there.
That seemed like the perfect solution. The trimaran would provide a mode of transportation as well as housing. So, Dave got on the internet and began looking at trimarans that were for sell. Unfortunately, they were all too short or too long. The new ones were too expensive and the older were too old and worn out.
When Dave began to think of all of the changes that he would have to make, we began to think that it would be simpler and cheaper to build a new one.
So, Dave got on the internet again and started looking at trimaran plans. The first plans that he looked at were for a Hartley. It was a beauty! And, it actually had enough bunk space to sleep seven. We thought, “That’s great, now our kids, who are all grown, can come stay with us when ever they want to.” Then, one day, it dawned on us that our kids had their own lives and probably didn’t want to stay with us. So, we began to ask ourselves, what would we do with the extra bunk space? Surely we could think of better uses for the space if no one would be sleeping there anyway.
Next, he came across the Marples Constant Camber design. "Now, that’s a boat!" Dave thought to himself. And, the rest is history. We chose the aft cockpit so that we could go fishing off the stern.
The next problem was finding a place to build it. We owned a café on the west coast at an airport with runways that ended at a bay not far from the ocean. Closing the runways for a few minutes one day did not seem to present much of a problem since the airport was not very busy and they did not have any commercial flights. And, getting a crane to haul the boat down the runway also seemed feasible since the port owned a crane and the boat design allowed for it to be carried by a crane.
For Dave, building a boat during his free time did not seem to present a problem. The winters were extremely slow at our café. Dave was also the fueler at the airport and he got paid whether he fueled planes or not. (Of course, he did make up for the slow winters by working twice as hard in the summer.) And, with the use of walkie talkies, I could call him when ever I had a large order that I couldn’t handle by myself.
Besides that, after retiring from the military, Dave had owned his own cabinet shop. Not only was he well versed in how to use wood working tools, but he had a whole shop full of tools tucked away in storage. (As a matter of fact, he had made all of the cabinets for our café.)
The next obstacle to over come was locating a shelter where we could build our boat. There wasn’t a single empty building at the airport that we could use. And besides, the airport rules prohibited working on anything other than airplanes at the airport. (Not that anyone seemed to pay too much attention to the rules.)
Winters can get pretty cold, windy and wet on the coast, and we knew that it would not be possible to work with epoxy and fiberglass out in the open. So, we came up with the idea of buying a 40’ cargo container and placing it near the café. And, Dave presented this idea to the airport manager as a solution to our storage problem.
The airport manager usually came in once a day to have a cup of coffee and check the runway lights. And, he probably wouldn’t have noticed a cargo container anyway, especially since we painted it gray to match the other buildings. (As a matter of fact, after we had had the cargo container at the airport for a few months, he asked us who's it was and how long it had been there.)
So, after we bought the container, Dave wired it for lights and electricity. He also put in a large lumber rack and a work bench. Then, he ordered all of the wood products, epoxy and fiberglass that we would need to build the boat. He ordered 80 sheets of plywood, 800 sheets of veneers, 600 board feet of Douglas fir, 250 yards of 4 ounce fiberglass, 400 yards of fiberglass tape and 200 gallons of epoxy and hardener.
It wasn’t long before he had made patterns and built all of the bulk heads, the centerboard, the centerboard box, the tiller, the mast step and the rudder.
We often referred to the project as “Operation Stalag 13” because when ever the airport manager came around for his morning cup of coffee, I would signal Dave over the walkie-talkie and Dave would come out with his broom in hand and begin sweeping the tarmack while whistling a cheerful tune.
About the time that we began to out grow our cargo container, Dave was offered an FBO at another airport that happened to be near a port and a marina. So, we sold our café and loaded our cargo container onto a flat bed truck. Then, we hitched our trailer to the back of our van and headed to a quaint RV park that was within walking distance of the boatyard.
Our cargo container arrived at the boatyard a couple of days after we did. And, it wasn’t long before Dave and the truck driver had made arrangements to use a couple of fortk lifts to place the cargo container next to the cement pad where we were planning to build our boat.
The next day, the Harbor Master came to welcome us and asked us if we would like the port to purchase a 35' x 50’ cloth structure and place it on our pad? Well, this was a real God sent since we were only planning to purchase a couple of carports.
Unfortunately, this presented another problem. Because of the structure, our rent nearly doubled. And, there didn’t seem to be anyway that we could afford to pay double rent at the boat yard, rent at the RV park and airport and still have enough money left over to build a boat.
After the structure was put up, there was still room for our trailer. And, there also happened to be water, sewage, phone and electricity available. So, Dave went to talk to the boatyard manager to ask him if we coule put our trailer in the structure. But, before Dave could get the question out, the manager told him that it was his space and that he could do with it what ever he wanted to.
The following weekend, he unzipped the front panel to the structure and, using a forklift, slid our trailer inside and zipped it back up again. This not only helped with the rent, but it also helped with security issues as well.
Although people were allowed to live on their boats in the boatyard, technically, all we had was a pile of lumber. But, we did have permission to be at the boatyard 24 hours a day, which helped. And, when ever we were working on our boat, no one knew that we hadn’t just arrived like everyone else.
Actually, living in a 24’, trailer would be considered "roughing it" by most people's standards - but not by boatyard standards. Actually, we were quite comfortable and cozy. And, we were the only ones who didn’t have to stand in line to use the phone or take a shower. And, in the evenings, we could read sailing magazines, watch DVD’s or look things up on the internet.
Dave said that living in a trailer would help us get used to living in a boat. We soon got use to always being in the same room and being able to talk to eachother when ever we wanted to. Eventually we began to wonder why people would want to live any other way. But, it was probably a little harder on our dog since she had to walk to the end of the trailer when ever she wanted to turn around!
Our physical address became the number on the electric pole. And, if we came home after the gates were locked at 10:00, we had to lug our groceries or luggage through the man gate. Once, Dave even told his dad, whom he hadn’t seen for a few years, that we lived in a gated community! (It sounded good anyway.)
As probably any boat builder will tell you, there are two problems that were constantly hounding us. One was the weather and the other was people people stopping by to visit. As many as twenty people on any given day. This would mean that we would have to turn off our sanders in order to hear hear their questions and try to answer them. And, more than once, a quart of epoxy would cook off before we could get back to our job. (And, at 100.00 a gallon, we weren’t too happy about that). And, by the end of summer, we were never as far along as we had hoped to be.
One couple we knew anticipated having the same problem. So, they saved all of their money and took two years off of work. Then, they started their project by building a large metal building. This building had only one small, man door and they didn’t tell any one what they were doing until after they had finished their boat, a 60’ catamaran. When they did finish, they took down one whole wall to get their boat out and surprised every one! (I think that they were surprised too when they finally got a chance to stand back and take a good look at it for the first time.)
As I said, weather was the other problem. In the fall, the winds would change directions and pick up speed. To prepare for this, Dave placed a 2,000 lb cement block in front of our structure and tied it to the structure with cables and turnbuckles.
We would hear the halyards begin to whistle and rattle in the distance. And, the next thing we knew, the wind would slam against our cloth structure like someone hitting a big, bass drum. By December, it was difficult to work since we couldn't shout over the noise of the wind.
Not only that, but even though we were in a covered structure, we found out that we couldn't work with epoxy during the rainy season. When it rained outside, the floor would eventually get wet. This moisture would begin to evaporate and it would begin to rain in our structure.
Unfortunately, if even one drop of water gets onto epoxy before it sets up, it will never harden. So, several times, we had to sandof wet epoxy and start all over again. Also, fiberglass, like any form of glass, collects condensation once the temperature hits a certain point.
Shortly after we arrived at the airport, it was discovered that there was asbestos in the paint on the floor of the hangar that we were leasing. This ordeal caused a delay of about six weeks before we could start our business. (It was kind of like taking leave without pay - or lots of time on our hands with no money.) But, in spite of that, we were able to begin work on our boat.
The first thing we did was build our mold. The mold is a 16’ long, curved table. It is the same curve as the hull of the boat and each panel is made from it.
Next, we began to cut out strips to begin making our own curved plywood. Let me see - we cut 800 sheets of 1/8” plywood into 8, 6” wide strips. That’s 8 x 800 or 6,400 strips!! (Yikes - did we do all that?!)
After that, we began stapling the criss-crossing or inter-locking strips to the mold and coating them with thick layers of epoxy. We stapled on four layers altogether. The first layer was at 45° to the mold and the next two layers were laid in the opposite direction. The last layer was laid the same as the first. When this was done we laid a sheet of 6 mil plastic over the whole thing and sealed it around the edge with putty and a cord that was wedged between two strips of wood.
We had also placed a plastic tube down the center of the mold. This tube had several holes cut along both sides. We attached each end of the hose to a vacuum pump and when we turned them on, the plastic sucked down against the plywood creating a vacuum seal and compressing the plywood. We ran the vacuum pumps for a couple of hours or until we were sure that the epoxy had hardened. Altogether, we made 16 panels - three for each side of the vaca and two for each side of the two amas. There were also two, inverted bow flares.
Next, Dave cut the panels and spliced them together to make several long panels. Then, he pulled the long panels together using straps, stitched them together using zip-ties and fiberglassed the seems to to make the three hulls. Next, he made the keel, turned it over and made the keelson.
While Dave was working on the hulls, I generally mixed the epoxy, did most of the sanding and clean-up.
It wasn't long before we had all three hulls and we were ready to begin putting in the bulk heads and making the framework for the akas.
In the mean time, we had finally gotten the call from the airport manager that our hangar was ready for us to move in. Our lease was for two years and during that time, Dave worked on aircraft and I was his secretary on week days. And, on the weekends, we worked on our boat.
One day, Dave and I heard an amazing story about a trimaran that had gone aground at Port Orford. We also heard that the owner said that he would give the boat away to the first person who wanted it. We couldn’t imagine a trimaran that had zero value, so we closed up shop early and drove to where it was. By the time we got there, some one had already helped the owner pull the boat onto the beach and had claimed his prize.
Apparently, the owner had spent several years building the boat in Portland and was on its maiden voyage. At 2:00 in the morning, he had gotten too close to the rocks and had popped the vessel open. (The hole was big enough for a man to go through, yet it did not sink!) Next, he had put out a May day and a local man had heard him over his radio and had pulled him out of the water using a winch.
As we approached the boat, the painted plywood looked beautiful from the outside. But as we walked around to the opposite side, we could peer into its gaping hole. It was not hard to see what had happened. The thin plywood (not Constant Camber by the way) had very little interior structure such as bulkheads. As far as we could see, neither the plywood nor the seems had any fiberglass to give them strength. And, amazingly, it did not even have a reinforced keelson!!
Apparently, this boat was designed before the cold mold process had been invented and he was not able to impregnate the hull with epoxy to give it extra strength or make it water proof. It had taken the man so long after he had bought the plans to actually build the boat that his plans had actually become obsolete before he had a chance to finish it.
Another time, we heard that there was a 50 year old trimaran that was going to be hauled out of the water and salvaged. (This trimaran was also built before the invention of the cold-mold process, fiberglass or epoxy.) We heard that they had recently put in an on-demand water heater and were wondering if they would be interested in selling it. But, when we got there, there was nothing left of the boat but a pile of rubbish. Apparently, they had pulled it out of the water on a trailer. Another man had wanted the mast, but when they cut the shrouds, the amas had fallen off! Instead of the deck holding the mast up, the mast was holding up the amas!!
About that time, Dave heard that there was a sail boat in the boatyard that had been impounded. It was a 1957 Newporter called the Star Gazer. Dave had been eyeing the bronze hardware on the boat for a while, so we made a bid on it and were lucky when no one bid against us. We salvaged what we could while he and a friend cut up the hull with a chain saw and hauled it off to the dumps.
Unfortunately, it had sat there for many years. Someone had left a hatch open and water had gotten in and rotted the plywood from the inside out. The boat was so rotted that Dave actually fell through twice! We had planned to put the hardware on our boat, but eventually decided against it. Many of the parts didn’t fit our boat and we decided it would be better to use newer parts. We eventually put them on eBay. Although, the bronze hatches on our boat are from the Star Gazer.
After two years, the airport manager had managed nearly every small plane owner right out of the airport. Since his arrival, the airport had gone from 100 planes down to 25. After we opened our business, that number had decreased down to 5 planes. He accomplished this feat by first doubling the hangar rent and later by removing all of the tie downs. The small, privately owned aircraft had become a nuisance to him and he was ready to move on to his pie-in-the-sky dreams of building a bigger terminal for bigger jets and a bigger airline and maybe even a tower or two.
At that point, with our lease agreement nearing its end, Dave and I began to debate whether or not we wanted to renew it. The merits were that our hangar rent was based on a percentage of our income. (No income - no rent!) We were already using a couple of the upstairs rooms for storage. And, I could continue to use the office as a place to continue doing research on the sailing cookbook that I was writing. Not only that, but Dave was using one of the back rooms as a wood shop and the main floor was a great place to spread out plywood for sheathing.
On the other hand, we were required to maintain an insurance policy and Dave was required to provide a full-time mechanic on the field in case of a break down, as well as being on call 24-hours a day. And, there was still the issue of making a living.
Then, while driving back to the boatyard one day after work, we looked out over the marina. It soon became obvious that there were a lot more boats than there were airplanes and we decided against renewing. Although he hadn’t worked on boats before, aside from our own, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference between working on electronics, electrical systems and engines on boats and airplanes. So, he donned a captain’s hat and a PT coat and began working on boats. It was not long before he became known as Captain and I became Tennille by default.
Soon after that, Dave began installing radar systems on boats for a local company. The problem with that was that every one wanted their radars installed during the summer when we wanted to work on our boat. And, during the winter, when it was too wet to work on our boat, we were once again scrambling for work.
After two years, Dave had installed radar systems on every boat with an owner who could afford one. And, we still were not much further along on our boat, although Dave had managed to finish the bow flares, most of the decking and the mast. We seemed to be doing the old one-step, two-step. But, instead of taking two steps forward and one back, we seemed to be taking one step forward and two steps back.
As there were more and more restrictions on Salmon fishing in our area, the economy became more and more depressed, which affects every one in one way or another. Finally, Dave was forced to take a job rewiring Coast Guard boats in a coastal city about an hour north of where we lived. (Well, perhaps I shouldn't say "forced". It was a great job, we were just too far from our boat to work on it very often.)
Actually, it was a great job and the people were great to work with. We even bought a second trailer and they allowed us to park it in their parking lot so that Dave wouldn’t have to commute and we could still be together. Unfortunately, the job began in May and ended in October, which also corresponded with the boat-building season. Dave worked on Coast Guard boats for two summers and during the winter, we managed an RV park.
Alas, at that point, Dave had also rewired every Coast Guard boat in the area. But, in the mean time, he had met a couple of guys that worked for a private contractor that worked on Coast Guard radios. And, since Dave also had an FCC license and winter was fast approaching, we were relieved when he was offered a full time job. And, to put the icing on the cake, there was a small house for rent just across the street. We soon found that we could get more done on our boat while working a full time job and being on call then we could being self-employed, working part-time and worrying where our next job was coming from.
A year after Dave had begun working for the Coast Guard, he was offered a job in Alaska. He had always wanted to go to Alaska and this job meant that he would be flying in a helicopter from one mountain top to the next to work on the radios.
It was the chance of a life time and I thought that it was time for a break. But, it wasn't long after we had arrived in Alaska, that we both decided that we never wanted to leave. So, we decided to sell our boat and begin a new dream. And, from the way that Dave is talking, I think that this one will include boats too. But, I think that this boat will be a hovercraft since it will have to go over ice!