Double Melonseed Project Underway

[EyeInHand]

I've been building a pair of strip planked Melonseeds simultaneously since early December, and it's been going pretty well. Just finished glassing the outsides of the hulls last weekend. I'm working from a slightly modified combination of the Barto and Chapelle plans.

I found a lot of my early information and inspiration on this forum, and still check it regularly for new nuggets, so thought I should return the favor for others planning a similar project. Here's a link to the running build blog:

http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Melonseeds.html

As soon as I figure out how to post photos here I'll try that.

Cheers!

Barry

[EyeInHand]

Let's see if this works.

Sample progress photos:

http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/4/28_Glassing_files/FlowCoat_6167.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/4/28_Glassing_files/NorthGlassed_6162.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/4/28_Glassing_files/BothHullsGlassed_6166.jpg

[Duncan Gibbs]

Lovely stuff, and TWO no less!! Well done!!

[Thorne]

Purty...Thorne like!

[Lew Barrett]

Beautiful shapes, and really nice images too.

[ShagRock]

Beautiful, sleek and organic! Thanks for posting link to your build log!

[boatbear]

Gorgeous. Thanks for posting.

[EyeInHand]

Thanks! I recognize all you guys from other threads I've scoured.

I'll try to check in more often. I'm on schedule to have them done before the water freezes again - sooner if I lose my job.

[johngsandusky]

You'll be thrilled when you get them in the water. I sail a strip planked 13'2" 'Seed. She's very sweet, if wet in a chop. How much sail are you using? Mine has the Crawford rig, a little more than Chapelle, I believe. It's near perfect.

[EyeInHand]

Hey John. I'm really looking forward to it, and hope they get wet before the end of this season. I want to have two rigs for each boat, starting with a Crawford and adding something larger for light air days. Ideally, on the same mast, so I'm still tinkering with different configurations.

I don't live close enough to the water to take advantage of perfect sailing days as they happen. But, I can trailer to just about anywhere on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in about two hours. (We plan to do a lot of exploring.) So when I make the trip I want to be able to sail, whether the wind is strong or very light, which means adapting to conditions. The Crawford rigs seem to handle anything you can stand up in.

Did you build your 'seed? Have pictures anywhere?

Barry

[River Sailor]

Very nice job, Barry — and a great builer's log as well. Thanks for giving us a peek.

I often feel overwhelmed building just my one Penobscot 14, and certainly don't take enough time even for that one, judging from my slooooooow progress. My acknowledgement on your pace and beautiful results. I'm curious what motivated you to take on two at a time?!

[EyeInHand]

Well River, there are four people in our family. The 14 foot original version holds two people comfortably. Barto has plans for a 16 foot version that would be big enough to hold all of us, and I considered that. But realistically, all four of us being together doesn't happen as often as it used to. I do have some friends who like to sail, or want to learn, but as often as not I'll be going alone or with my wife or a buddy.

After talking to someone who built and sails both sizes, I realized I personally would be happier with the smaller boat, even though it's a wetter ride. He says the bigger boat is a lot more work to sail solo. The original is easier to rig, launch and drag up on a beach. Also small enough and simple enough that my wife or kids or less experienced friends could handle one if we want to tandem sail both boats solo, or on those occasions when we're all together two people don't have to wait on the shore. Two boats can clamshell on one trailer to haul easily together. And isn't it always more fun sailing with another boat like yours?

The decision to build two at once was pretty simple at that point. Realistically, there's no way I'll take a year to build another boat any time soon. If I'm going to build two boats I have to do them at the same time. Doing two at once doesn't take twice as long - as it would if you built them separately - because, as you probably know, a large portion of your time is spent just figuring out how to do each step, then preparation, and then down time while glue dries, epoxy sets, etc., and thats when you can can work on the other boat. Doing it twice is a piece of cake at that point, and if you're like me, you're always better the second time you try it anyway. Also, some economies of scale come into play, like buying epoxy and fiberglass and wood in bulk, making one trip to the hardware store instead of two, etc..

So far I've been really happy with the way it's working out. Ask me again in August, though.


Nice photos on your website, by the way. And those Penobscots are really nice boats. Good choice. There are so many good boats to choose from it makes it really hard to decide on just one.

[johngsandusky]

Barry, I bought mine at a museum auction. She was built by Ralph Wight in Md. I think you have a really good grasp of their qualities. Enjoy.

[Robmill0605]

Very nicely built. Did you buy the strips or make them?

[CaptJamieJ]

Amazing!

[mcdenny]

Barry,

Going to be great to be sailing along in a beautiful wooden boat and watch her twin sailing along next to you. Great potential for match racing too.

Well done.

[EyeInHand]

Rob, I bought my strips from Noah's in Vermont. They have another location in Canada. I got a dozen or more duds in the shipment, but they sent 20 footers instead of the 16s I ordered, plus a few extra, so I've been pleased with what I got overall.

www.noahsmarine.com

I originally thought I would make my own, but my table saw is not so great - I found I'd have to rip the strips fat and then plane them all to get an even thickness, and that's before routing the beads and coves. I have local sources for good quality wood, but the prices for cedar are so high that just buying the raw lumber was going to cost nearly as much as finished strips. In the end, making them myself just didn't make much sense.

[davebrown]

barry--do you have anything new going on with this build? i looked at the noah website. if i understand their site, they sell their strips in bundles of 55 for around $80. how many bundels are required for one boat? this is a lovely build. i'd like to price it.

[River Sailor]

Barry,

Thanks for your thoughts on building two at a time. Makes perfect sense as you outline it.

I've never sailed in company with an identical boat, but have flown with a friend in identical gliders — Stemme V10's — and that was great fun! I know you'll really enjoy having both boats available for family and friends.

Please keep us posted periodically on how things are coming along with your twin build.

BTW — I really enjoyed your site as well. I've been a desktop publisher and self-taught designer since 1985, and very much enjoyed the process you described with the album cover you made for Vector Trio!

John

[Bill Perkins]

I didn't find strips alone for sale on the site .Where is that?

[EyeInHand]

Ah yes, the Noah's site is a tad difficult to navigate. It's broken into two sections. Well, actually, four. Make sure you're in the US or Canada site, as appropriate. Then hit the "Secure Online Ordering" link, which will take you to the mostly organized products section. Sometimes they don't keep both sites equally up to date. And they're a bit old school, really. Here's a link to the section on bead and cove strips:

http://www.noahsboatbuilding.com/noahusa/items.asp?Cc=Build%2DCedarS&iTpStatus=1&Tp=

If that doesn't work, use their search box and search on strips.

One and a half bundles of 55 16' strips would do a hull and deck for one boat. If I weren't doing two boats, I'd get one bundle of 55 and another bundle they call "short strips" which are a good bargain (hard to find them, but if you call they'll know what you're talking about). They say one bundle of short strips is enough to do a good size canoe, they just won't all be long enough to go the full length of the hull. There are enough short strips needed on the hull and deck that I think you could easily do with one long bundle and the short ones. You can also mix wood types with two bundles if you like doing stripping patterns.

They also sell complete "kits" for canoe builds that include strips, epoxy, glass, etc., and I realized one of these canoe kits with a short strip bundle added in would do a Melonseed.

Thanks for the encouraging words on the boats and website. I've had to take a couple of weeks away from the project for work and, you know, Mother's Day and such, but will be back to it soon. I'm actually doing a bit of "field research" in Florida at the moment, taking a little side trip while here for work to visit the guys of the Gulf Coast TSCA. Great bunch of guys associated with the Cortez Florida Maritime Museum and Roger Allen, all very generous with useful information. I sailed in Melonseeds of two different sizes today, all gaff rigged. Really fun boats, and it's given me insight into a couple of slight modifications that I think I'll incorporate into the plans, which should make the boats more comfortable and user friendly later, so it's been a useful break.

I will definitely post more here as things progress.

Thanks!

[Ron Paro]

Barry,

Thanks for posting the link to your website. Your writing and photos are fantastic, and your 'north' and 'south' melonseeds are looking very good too! I am bookmarking you site to keep following along.

Ron
http://jimmyskiff.blogspot.com

[davebrown]

barry: thnx for reply. therefore, not counting shipping, looks like about $150 for the strips...seems reasonable to me.

[EyeInHand]

Dave, seems like enough for my project was a good bit more than that, but still a good price relative to comparable sources. If you have access to good wood locally you can still come out ahead ripping your own, even after buying router bits. The only wood I could find near here was tres riche, like they wanted to charge finished boat prices for what was still raw wood.

[davebrown]

i think their website was down over the weekend. i read it carefully, and now i see that there are bundles of $500-ish for same. this means around $750 for enough to build one boat. now it's worth it to cut my own.

[EyeInHand]

Would you believe the local guys here wanted about $500 for enough clear planks to do one boat? Since then some Atlantic White Cedar came available for less, and some Eastern White Pine, but none could be had when I needed it.

[davebrown]

i could do a jaunt either up to portland, where WRC is substantially cheaper, and which would be a fun trip for other reasons, or use a heavier but cheaper local wood, like doug fir. weight is obviously going to be an issue with doug fir. whatever i see around here is will require scarfing, unless for more money than it would take to buy from noah's. i think cutting the strips on scarfed planking will introduce, as dynamite payson said to me in a phone conversation, "a significant amount of evil into the boat". i think bob smalser mentioned that our local cedar, here in the bay area, is not useful for planking, since it is even more brittle than redwood. i have seen a few local guys use redwood for strip canoes but...probably not recommended by the designers.

[scudder]

Hello Barry. Nice looking build. I live 5 miles from Scottsville, and thought I'd mention a few local sources of wood that you may not be aware of. Northlands Forest Products in Zion's crossroads carries a wide variety of species and are good folks to deal with. American Cedar and redwood in madison is a source that might interest you as well. And lastly, Red Brook Lumber in Carter's Bridge area.

[EyeInHand]

Somehow missed your post, Scudder. Nice to know there's someone else in the area.

I got my Ash and some Walnut from Northlands. Tried American Cedar, but I guess they thought they were selling gold bricks instead of lumber. Never heard of Red Brook Lumber, though. I'll definitely look them up.

Know anyone locally who can plane 24-30" wide planks?

[EyeInHand]

Maybe now's a good time to post an update.

Got the decks planked and glassed. Ripped the deck strips from some nice Cypress planks I got locally. Stripped and glassed the tops while I still had the molds in the boats.


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/6_Decks_Glassed_files/SouthDeckGlassed_7040.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/6_Decks_Glassed_files/NorthAftDeckGlassed_7037.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/6_Decks_Glassed_files/DecksGlassedTrimmed_7034.jpg


Took the decks off and set them aside to work on the interiors. Got the insides glassed last weekend. Am still tired from that little chore, but they seem to have come out alright.


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/27_That_Inner_Glow_files/DarkStrip_7220.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/27_That_Inner_Glow_files/NorthFloor_7204.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2009/7/27_That_Inner_Glow_files/NorthInside_7235.jpg


Framing, here I come.


More pix here:

http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Melonseeds.html

[scudder]

Can't say I do, but I'd ask Gaston and Wyatt if they can plane something that wide or know any one who can.

[WoodenPontoon]

Wow! Those hulls look great! I just a bit jealous of the size of your shop! Want to trade?????? Great Job!

[EyeInHand]

Thanks! You wouldn't be so jealous if you knew what I had to go through to get it usable. Took us four months of nasty work. Snakes and bats and spiders all had to be evicted first. This is how it looked originally:

http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2008/12/3_Allegory_of_the_Cave_files/BenchB4_6422.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2008/12/3_Allegory_of_the_Cave_files/Corner-B4_6420.jpg

I like it much better now.

[2MeterTroll]

nice boats.

[River Sailor]

Hi Barry,

It's nice to see your recent progress.

Your craftsmanship continues to impress — not only on the boats, but with the writing and photos on your site. I'm curious — what camera do you use?

Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to watching over your shoulder.

John

[donald branscom]

Thanks! You wouldn't be so jealous if you knew what I had to go through to get it usable. Took us four months of nasty work. Snakes and bats and spiders all had to be evicted first. This is how it looked originally:

http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2008/12/3_Allegory_of_the_Cave_files/BenchB4_6422.jpg


http://web.mac.com/eyeinhand/EyeInHand-Journal/Melonseeds/Entries/2008/12/3_Allegory_of_the_Cave_files/Corner-B4_6420.jpg



I used to have a shop that looked like that.
Dark, scary and insulation hanging down,spiders ,webs,
so I went and got some 3/8 ply and had each sheet cut in half and used grabber screws to put up the 4' x 4' sections. Went very quickly. If I need to get access I still can and it is so much nicer now in my work space and the house stays warmer. TTT

I like it much better now.

[davebrown]

i made the same remark on an earlier post. i am also interested in the camera. this guy is an artist.

[EyeInHand]

Thanks guys, nice to know all the extra work is appreciated. It's fun to do, but fun to share it, too.

For those of you interested, I've been using Canon DSLRs since the first one came out, and they're great cameras. My current one is a 400D, also known as a Rebel XTi. It's fast enough to take pictures in the shop handheld without a flash, which makes all the difference in the world. It's also just below the "Pro" level in the product line, so you don't have to take a tax right off to buy one. I've had it for almost three years now. I do minimal tweaking in Photoshop so they'll display well on the web, but that's it.

The real trick is keeping the sawdust out of it, and remembering to wipe the glue and epoxy off your fingers before you pick it up. ;-/