Project - Aquasport 246CCP, 1979, Captain Koz II

[kaptainkoz]

Sounds like a good plan. I would also like to add that as I saw I was kicking early with the first coat I moved the bucket of gel into the house to cool it off to 70 degrees overnight. Then I placed the 3 liter cups filled with gel into an ice bath to cool them to about 64 degrees. It’s was mid 80’s ambient temp. Why I say this is rolling and tipping works best if the gel is most liquefied. I definitely suggest thin it with 10% styrene. Under those conditions it will flow very nicely. Once it starts to thicken or kick even a little the flow is gone. Speed is always your friend so prepare in advance to eliminate any prep once the MEKP is in. Good luck and I hope it comes out amazing

[kaptainkoz]

Correction… 4 inch and 6 inch purple rollers from harbor freight are what I use.





Another milestone day in the books. A day I have been anxious about for a decade… where does this bracket go exactly?  After much research, measuring, math and deep thought I finally committed to a placement. Nothing out of the ordinary. By the book. Cavitation plate 1” up for every foot out… 2 foot bracket means cav plate 2” above bottom of boat set up for a 25” leg. The better way to go is a 30” leg to keep the Powerhead out of the water. Think of a seesaw with the transom as the fulcrum. As the boat teeters the power head dips lower on a bracket than it would if on the transom allowing possible water intrusion into the lower cylinders through the exhaust ports. If I should come across a 30” leg or an extension kit I can add a jackplate and gain the 5”. That is also why I settled with the 25” setting because if I committed to the 30” setting there is no going back. The 25” setting may be enough.
****EDIT**** on review I noticed that I do not have the space to mount the bracket 5 inches lower as I would run out of transom and the corners of the bracket would be below the bottom of the boat so I could not set it up exclusively for a 30”.

I started out with a sheet of oaktag paper and created a perfect match template of the bracket.  I cut the paper exactly to size then gently pressed the circles to imprint exact locations. Then I used a compass to find the exact pin point center of each of those holes




I then used a laser, jacked the boat level based on the two outer flat sections of the hull. I put a piece of white tape at those locations to help me see the laser best. The flags you see in the first photo didn’t work as well as the white tape.  I added a piece of oaktag 5 1/2” tall which is my measured distance from the bottom. Folded all all my templates in half to get center. Measured and measured and measured every way that I could think of to confidently place the template and used an automatic center punch to mark the center points. I then used a very small drill to make the points a little easier to see.










I will then use this gizmo to drill perfectly square holes. Not so critical now being I am only drilling through 1/2” of glass but I will be super critical when I’m drilling the core.



NOTE: In writing this post I realized what could have been a terrible error… I applied the template backwards. The side I was working on at the bracket should have been AGAINST the transom and not facing me. I ran out to the boat reapplied the template and checked my holes. Gratefully the Stainless Marine Bracket is precision made and the centers all lined up. Whewww. That could have been really bad if the hole spacing wasn’t accurate. There is a slight margin for error as the bracket holes are 9/16” and the bolts are 1/2”… so there is some wiggle space in case it’s needed.

[Duffy1470]

Huge day. Nice work.

[RickK]

Hi Koz, when I was about to drill my transom holes it became apparent that the holes were going to end up at the same level of my floor 
My only option became an adjustable jackplate which I configured so that when totally down it had my cav plate at the bottom of the hull. It also allowed the transom holes above and below the floor.

[kaptainkoz]

Thank you Duffy I appreciate it. It’s definitely satisfying to make long awaited progress… especially when it goes well.
Rick thank goodness for the option of jackplates. Trying to get this exact without any trial and error would be terrifying. Luckily I am not building a race boat. I don’t care how fast I get out to the fishing spots. Yes, I would like it smooth through the chop but I’m going to be within an hour of any spot. If it’s further out I’ll leave it to the charters to take me. Those “ohh damnnnn” moments are tough sometimes when you realize something unanticipated is discovered. Luckily a jack plate cured your issue of bolts in the wrong spot. Some do crossword puzzles for mental stimulation…. We rebuild boats!

[kaptainkoz]

Gas tank cover is ready for Seacast. Below you see the before and after of the last layer. It’s 3/4 oz chopped, 1.5 oz chopped and 3 layers of 1708. I remembered something yesterday that i knew but forgot but wish I remembered for the transom… altering directions of the biaxial strands. 1708 strands run diagonal so in theory for maximum strength you should run each layer so the strands cross each other in an “x” pattern instead of always going the same way. That’s what I did here for the last layer thus the overlapping seams. I was also using up some of the piles of cut pieces I have as I want to make sure have enough glass to finish.  So now the strands of the last layer run 90 degrees to the prior layer. Does it really matter? Is it going to crumble? I think not. But it would definitely maximize strength to run the strand orientation at 90 degrees to the prior layer.
The transom… wish I thought of it then but I’m not sure I would want seams in half of the 13 layers. My saving grace was that the 2408 stands run lengthwise on the roll while the 1708 run diagnal. So I am content knowing that I have a mixture of horizontal and 45 degree strand orientation on the outer transom. Does it really matter? Again not really. The inner transom 8 layers will be orienteering opposing. 
If someone could stop the gremlins from coming in over night and stealing resin I would appreciate it!  Damn that stuff goes fast!

[kaptainkoz]

Disregard the above about fiber orientation. What I was looking at was the top layer. 1708 is already 2 layers at opposing angles. It was late. Maybe I was high on styrene? I will edit the posts and remove the incorrect info but it seems my “edit” button is missing again on my page. It’s happened before.

[kaptainkoz]

Inner transom skin layer 1
I took my foam mold plug and wrapped it in sheet plastic so the resin doesn’t stick and I can retrieve the foam. I do not want to use any wax or anything that would inhibit the bonding of the sea cast.





The challenge is getting the flat foam board to contour to the curved transom. I made horizontal slits along the transom side and split the foam so it’s like a roll top desk. Then I fished a wire through two of the bracket mounting holes and pulled the foam against the transom. Then I added two blocks in the corners and screwed them to the expendable glass covering the floor drain thru hull holes. I wrapped everything in plastic so the glass won’t stick. I then cut a curved piece of iso foam so it matches the top contour and pressed the foam against the transom as I drove long nails through the top piece and into the plug foam. I want to create a 90 degree outward lip for strength. Any time you put a 90 along a long flat edge you strengthen it. I will have about a 2” lip when I’m done.




Sometimes you have to be creative…. I needed something to hold the foam against the transom and didn’t feel like breaking out the tools to make something out of wood so lopping shears and a bungee cord will do just fine. You can also see the green wire that I used to hold the foam in place.





I set a piece of 2408 in there and trimmed where necessary to fit. I am not too concerned about it being perfect I just want a strong base to work off of. I will clean it all up nice and tight as I go. I am going to knee wall the stringers to the transom as well.





Well I’m 52% satisfied with how it came out. My big mistake was not spray gluing the plastic sheet to the foam as now it’s a little wavy as the plastic “curtined” and bellowed and didn’t stay flat. I almost pulled it all off and trashed it but the reality is all the waves will mean is more seacast to fill the slight voids. It’s not terrible but I would have loved it flat. The fiberglass kept wanting to slide down  with gravity so I kept fighting to keep the piece in place. It was a tough one. Definitely sweating to keep it in play. Maybe would have been wise to do it in two horizontal halves but too late now. It’s in. It’s okay and it will work but it not 100% to my specs. Live and learn. That’s why I’m not a pro.

[RickK]

Is the Seacast in?

[kaptainkoz]

The seacast is ordered and will arrive this week. I am building the inner transom wall to create the cavity where the seacast will be poured into. The foam board is a plug to hold the fiberglass in place. The foam board comes out later and the seacast goes in.

[kaptainkoz]

Rain for the next few days has me stalled for glassing. I’ve been hitting the paper doodling the pilot house. The original plan was to build a shell around the existing center console. That plan is all but negated assuming it makes no sense to leave the other 3 sides of the center console in place. Makes for wasted space and hack work to fill those spaces. Seems like I am leaning towards a custom helm as well. Basically I will mimic the face of the 200 CCP center console. I kept the center console from my 200CCP and sold the 246CCP console years ago as I did not like that it was taller. With that said I may have a 200CCP console for sale at some point as I won’t need it if I build from scratch.
The Ah-hahh moment that sealed the decision was floor mounting. After putting this floor in I am VERY conscious of any screw hole I need to make in it. Screw holes are where your floor rotting water makes its way in. The center console has an exterior flange with many screws to mount it. I though about making that flange internal so I have a better chance of sealing around the outer edge and protecting the screws and holes inside the console. More to come on that.

[kaptainkoz]

So i doodled… this is where I think I’m headed…