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I don't recall having any big issues, but yes, there were times I had to extrapolate data. Usually you could look at one of the other drawings to double check overall dimensions. George never drew the 48 in CAD, if it had been done in CAD I'm sure some of those little discrepancies would have been weeded out. For what it's worth, there are a lot of places George left it up to the builder "make it work".

For sure, we discussed what to do in the event it got away from us, but we also made sure it had support so it didn't tip. I weighed it before we did the lowering, it was in the 19,000 pound range.

@@DieselDuck48IoBuild-rp4dn 19000 ha ha not even finished thats about 10 tonnes over here in the eurozone note of pride you have handled all that weight wow when its finished 50,000 +, you will never have worry about all those flimsy 7000 pound glass fibers bashing into you at the marina.

Yeah, price had more to do with the choice of portholes than anything. Not that they don't make them for thick hulls, I just didn't want to spend over a grand on each one. The jig saw, while not leaving perfect holes, is most certainly the easiest way to go.

Yes, that's what I'm now doing, well, with a jigsaw anyway. The reason for using the router for the initial through hole was simply because a routed hole would be precise.

I looked at one of those today, thought about it, then decided against it. Maybe should have picked it up...

I've seen it on some other biggish trawler type boats. From my experience they are way more energy efficient than most marine units, and way cheaper.

Ha! That's more snow than we've had this year. But I'm certainly not complaining.

Thanks! John and I were just talking about a rub rail last week. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing I might just laminate some Douglas Fir, bed it and lag it on. I'd like for it to be easily replaced if it gets messed up. Maybe a 3"x6".

Yeah, and my back will confirm that!

Happy holidays!

Thanks, you too!

Thanks, to you as well!

Yeah, got her back. There's a picture towards the end of the video that shows the rocket on the ground with both chutes beside the rocket. I got a ham radio license when I was doing rocketry so I could install tracker and telemetry transmitters in rockets, makes finding them much easier!

I was just talking to John about that the other day. I agree, the keel will almost certainly saturate in time. I guess the only real advantage would be abrasion resistance and not allowing worms into the keel. That said, the sides of the keel shouldn't get a lot of scrapes I guess and the bottom of the keel and stem have a 3/8" steel keel shoe.

Thanks! Happy holidays to you as well!

Have you ever tried Fisherman Friends cough drops ? They work great for when getting a cough. Do you think your CG will change a bit with raising the pilot house? The GB boat I saw in Paducah on the water I mentioned on one of your earlier videos told me how rolly his boat is. More than he expected. He had put 1500lbs of concrete in the bilge and felt he needed more. Happy Thanksgiving. 🍁

@@jimreid67 I think the cough is irritation from something I'm working with in the shop. I'm going to take a couple of days off, then make sure I mask up when the dust flies. The CG will move up some by raising the pilot house. One thing George said was you'd have to test the boat for stability after it was in the water. I've got 1,500 pounds in there now, just to get it into areas that aren't accessible later in the build. I'm guessing I may need at least 2,500 pounds more ballast, but I'll wait until the boat is in the water to determine that.

Yes to the flush deck- the drop down at the bow never made much sense. Not sure about raising the PH, the COG question is a fair one. Visibility wasn’t one of my issues but I do have to duck my head in the engine room.

@DieselDuck48IoBuild-rp4dn Could be long term exposure to dust just starting to appear? Wood dust isn't nice for lungs and you're working with epoxies and fairing compounds. They're probably even worse. Even if you mask up, if you don't have filtration it can linger in the air for a while and when you walk back in you kick up the stuff that has settled to the floor.

I did too back when I was in business and he came every day. But where I live now (in the sticks) we get all the new drivers, it's rarely the same person every day. That, and the fact my driveway is over 1/2 mile long, I put a delivery box at the end of the lane to save the drivers some grief.

I used that wax on all the planking screws, never even thought to use it on those lags. Yeah, probably would have done the trick, now you mention it! I have found with Douglas Fir you need to drill the pilot hole to hardwood specs, no way they will go in if you use a pilot hole for soft wood.

Warm I am! Now that the heater is running full blast in the shop it's hot up there working on the deck again. Just as bad as in the summer, may need to get a fan up there to push the heat down in the building. Just finished another sheet up there tonight, had to wring out my shirt when I was done...

Probably get her wet in the Mississippi, then south and into the gulf. If all goes well either Florida or Bahamas the first winter. At some point I'd like to go to Europe, spending a summer there, not sure the Med holds that much interest for me. I like places more off the beaten path. The Pacific Northwest is somewhere I could see myself spending some time, but that's a bit of a journey just getting there, so, we'll see.

Yeah, slow but sure; thanks!

Yes, in fact all the plywood covering the planking already has a layer of fiberglass applied to it. When we get ready to finish the hull I'll glass tape the seams and joints that aren't already done.

Yeah the aft lazarette hatch will be framed with 2x's. The cabin hatches are more of a flush mount and wouldn't look right sitting on 2x's. I intend to fair the plywood into the deck to make it seamless.

@ I guess that’s my point, flush mount though common on production boats are too easy to step on. Having 3 inches proud gives you something to avoid and a little safety factor for water to run around before it reaches the level of the hatch. I would argue mine look fine elevated but you might prefer a different look- that’s why we build our own boats🤔😁

Yes I couldn't agreemore. It intrigues me as to why you are using steel galvanised bolts and not something more compatable with sea water conditions. I understand the cost difference but I have seen what sea water does to steel components. Just my thoughts and you may have a perfectly good reason. Cheers Ian

@@ianlangley987 That's too complex and long winded a discussion to get into here in the comments. What I will say here though, is read George's book, he talks about it in detail.

I was demonstrating how the ply would lay in that area. As I've said numerous times in the past, the decks are not on a flat plane lengthwise, so you can't lay a straight edge along there.

George seemed to have a penchant for "one offs", I've seen a number of variations out there. 21 years! I need to slow down, maybe take a vacation... I can see that though, if you start young enough and just chip away here and there, by the time you retire the boat is ready. I saw a news clip of a guy in Maine that had been building for 40 years, beautiful boat, immaculate craftsmanship. Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination.

Yeah, as I mentioned twice in the video, the screws are just there until the glue is fully set, then they'll come out.

George suggested just using that water based powdered wood glue between the layers of ply. I've been using the PL Premium and I'll think I'll continue with that. The PL should be overkill for what is needed. Once the top layer of ply is on I'll screw all the way into the deck beams, through all three layers with SS screws.

Thanks, will do!

The outriggers wouldn't fit around the boat in many places, but yes, they would be nice if I could make them fit.

Yeah, that would help, but a pain to move things around with all the extra weight. I just need to remember the basics, most of all, keep all the force downward, no side loads...

That would be a reasonable assumption, but the deck angles up towards the bow so much, that little dip in the middle wouldn't even slow the water down.

Well, enough white so it doesn't feel like a tomb and enough varnish to keep it pleasant to the eye. We'll see how it goes when I get to that point.

@@DieselDuck48IoBuild-rp4dn I know jet black when you goto a marina its a sea of white with your jet black ship it would become famous known by everyone as "The Black Ship"

@@kevinrushmere George was a fan of some color in boats too, not sure black would be my first choice though... There's a reason most boats are white, any color in the tropics would turn the boat into a sauna and be really hard on the paint too. That said, I am considering some color between the boot stripe and the sheer (below the rub rail). We'll see!

Thanks!

Yes, the pilot house sits over the engine room, then 2 feet over the aft and forwards decks to allow access to the forward and aft cabins from the pilot house. Yes the deck is crowned. All those deck beams were laminated from 3/4" stock over a curved former and epoxied. There is I think 7" of crown in the deck. George wrote later that he thought the 48 should have a higher pilot house to better see over the bow, 9" is what he recommended. When I laid things out it would have left a 4" step up from the side deck to the forward deck, so I just brought the pilot house all the way up to meet the forward deck.

Greg, after thinking about your post a bit. I think you were thinking I was talking about something else. I posted a short video explaining better what I was talking about.

Move the boat outside, build the pilot house, then I'll have to hire a crane to move it onto a second trailer for transport. Not sure I want to try to build it off the boat then have it fit perfectly (or not) when it's time to launch. That means everything in the pilot house has to be built to come apart (more or less) easily.

@@DieselDuck48IoBuild-rp4dn sounds like a great plan. We are currently cruising down the Illinois River. Headed to the Gulf then to Texas. Can’t wait to see you splash and enjoy your build.

@@jimreid67 Wish I was alongside heading down river...

Yeah, I bought a bag of 50 of those piping bags, I just really don't like using them though. They seem awkward to use. I have some empty caulking tubes I fill with thickened epoxy when I have a big job to do, and the syringes are really handy for small jobs as you can just suck the epoxy in them from the tip. The reason I decided not to glass from the tube inside to the hull; I've seen issues with flow separation on a hull with rounded edges. So I thought I might get better flow from the thruster if it was a sharp edge.

@@scottfintel8935 I find if you keep the piping bags small and use a zip time to close them they're pretty handy. Bigger jobs they're ok but can be messy. I built up a small lip on the leading edge of the thruster tube to deflect some flow around the hole but my thruster is much more forward than yours and closer to the keel so it's quite open to flow if I hadn't. I didn't fair my box keel either. I read Dave Gere's book too. With a plywood core hull I had no meat to remove. Keep goin! Cheers!

Yeah, leaks are always a risk. I guess it's a rewards vs. risk analysis.

I would, and do use bi-metal blades when I have to. But (the ones I've used at least) don't cut wood as well. When you're cutting into wood as deep or deeper than the blade, it's nice for it to cut at its best.

@@DieselDuck48IoBuild-rp4dn the boats coming along great. I am considering building the 48 diesel duck or possibly the 55 swan. Stretched 48’. Family of 5 need the space

Thanks! It's a filament wound fiberglass tube. Probably won't install the motor until next summer.

Yeah, I think so too. Just to handy to not install one.

So true!

I'm building aboat too my hands look like yours

That was Georges mantra, build 'em heavy. I'd be scared to go off shore in any modern production hull. I may be a little old fashioned, but hey...

Thanks! I'm glad I did it the way I did, the hull is so thick it would have taken days to grind it to the correct angle.