The Strongback Advice from John Bridges

The CABBS blueprint of the strongback.

We received our plans from CABBS and started thinking about the first step to build the prams. My brother is in the process of cleaning out his garage for this project, and I havent had a lot of time to go over the blueprints. It seems pretty clear that the first thing that needs to be done is the Strongback.

I contacted John Bridges who has been building Optimists since 1963.  I saw a post comment he made on the WoodenBoat Forum and traced that back to the work he has done with the Moraine Sailing Club. 

John (brown shirt) lifting a hull off the strongback.

"I first built Optimists in Trinidad back in 1963 using the plans as published in the Rudder magazine.  I think we just set up a pair of 2" x 6" timbers on the floor as a base to work from.  Since then I have built others in Chile, Colombia and Ghana.   Some where along the line I built the present strong back here in the USA  which has been used to build about a dozen Optis out of the 17 that I have helped MSC members to build. my strongback is on legs to raise the hull to a convenient height for working and avoid to much back bending. 

The first operation is to make the centre frame and two transoms.  These will have extended side pieces so that they align with the (straight and level) datum i.e. base of the strongback.   I have the cross bearer for the bow transom, bevelled so that the Bow transom can be screwed to this and it is important that the other two cross bearers are at the correct distance from the first one.

Strongback in use during one of Johns group building projects.

I usually use ring shank Phosphor bronze ring shank nails to hold the plywood in place on the chines whilst the glue sets. Epoxy is messy stuff so we are usually using PL2 Construction adhesive these days. For several years we have used Lauan Plywood (Interior use but with Exterior glue) and have found that this lasts for at least 6 years without problems providing it is kept painted and stored out of the sun and rain.   

1948 Optimist Plans

It can be covered with fiberglass cloth which adds to weight and durability.  The USA made Pine plywood does not weather well.  For more permanence Marine Plywood is available for about $95 per sheet (cf 20 for Lauan) It is all a matter of, as we say in England "You pays your money and takes your choice".  (Johns photos)

As we get started on this project we will be posting pictures and video of the Optimist project. We hope to create a good record of our mistakes as well as triumphs.

Read More..

ovember 22 and 23 Two Lay Days in Fernandina Zero Miles

Pretty lazy lay days. We had a delicious breakfast with Dean and Susan

followed by a very productive shopping trip at the multi-vendor farmers market. We are looking forward to boiling the likes of home made sweet potato fettuccine -- the eggs and other filler replaced with the pureed potato.  Afternoon and evening plans were replaced by the threat of a storm so we hung out on ILENE with some cleaning and polishing and a quiet night at home. The rain came, and heavy, but not until about 2 am and continued until morning.
The second day was warm, with a very light shower in the evening. After bailing many gallons of rainwater out of the dink I visited the Amelia Island Museum of History,

located in the former county jail and took its 2 pm "eight flags" tour. The ninth flag, except that they did not have one, would have been that of the  matriarchal peaceful people, the Timucuans, who the Europeans wiped out. (The Seminoles, who married with escaped slaves -- slaves escaped to the south, to the Florida wilderness, where the Spanish left them alone -- came later, from the north.) The Spanish wiped out the Huguenot French saying: "not because they were French but because they were Protestants" and held the island several times, including, for a period after the Treaty Of Paris, which ended our war of independence. That treaty gave Florida to Spain for their help to the new republic against the British. Various pirate regimes were established. David Levy Yulee campaigned to have the Florida Territory become a state and was the first US senator from Florida (and the first Jewish senator in the US senate) when Florida was granted statehood in 1845. But Florida was the third state to secede, in 1861, so its first period as a US State was short lived. Yulee (a nearby town is named for him) also built Floridas first big railroad, which ran from Floridas Gulf Coast northeastward to Fernandina, a deep water port, to permit the transport of goods from the gulf states to the Atlantic without having to go all the way around the peninsula and the keys by boat. But it was finished just in time for the Civil War and sections of rail were removed by the Confederacy to be used in more strategic locations. You get the idea that no one really cared that much about Florida until tourism put it on the map. All of these "regime changes" were accomplished without a shot being fired.
Flagler offered to build a spur of his east coast railroad to Fernandina but the existing tourism on Amelia Island was so good in the 1890s that the town fathers declined his offer, much to their chagrin, because the tourism industry relocated to southern Florida until the 1990s when it returned here. What made the museum so enjoyable was our docent, Bobbie Fost, a history professor who knew and loved her subject, shown here under a depiction of the eight flags, in chronological order.

The museum has much more to offer so if you want more, ask me  -- or visit yourself.

After returning to the boat to pick up Lene, we dined on interesting dishes at "29 South" with Dean and Susan, and plan to head over to St. Marys tomorrow morning, less than seven miles.

Read More..