July 6, 2025

Today is dedicated to the bow. This kit comes with a mahogany wedge and a veneer strip to shape the bow. First I sand the bow flush where the hull side pieces meet so the wedge has a place to glue. I chose to cut a circle out at the back of the veneer so it looks a little nicer where the planks will meet up later. I did this by tracing the circular base of a musket minie ball (it was the closest round object I had that was the right size) and cutting with an exacto knife. Then I epoxied the veneer on top after also shaping the sides down a little to be closer to flush.

Next I flipped the whole thing over and epoxied on the bow wedge. This wedge is a little oversized and will get shaped down later.

I also taped around the edge of the sides where the deck meets in preparation for epoxying the veneer strips around the edges.

July 12, 2025

This is a part I've been kind of dreading if I'm honest. The edge veneer strips are very thin and fragile and have a tendency to split when pinning them to the hull. I started by steaming them in a pot for about 30 minutes until they were softened up quite a bit. Then I laid them up on the paper where I traced the outline of the hull on day 2. I used glass cups and lead weights to hold them down until they were dry a couple hours later and they had taken on a bit of a curve. I sanded the front edge of both strips to they'd be at an angle to mate properly with the bow veneer. After spreading thickened epoxy all along the edges, I moved on to the pain staking process of pinning down the strips. This was the most challenging part of the build so far because the thin veneer strips would split along the grain and they kept trying to lift up in some places. After a lot of patience and lots of double checking they were all pinned down and ready to set up over night.

July 13, 2025

I started the day by pulling all of the pins out of the veneer and it looked like everything set up nicely overnight. The front edge of the strips meet up nicely with the bow veneer. I forgot to take pictures, but I epoxied a veneer strip to the transom so the stern should have a nice varnished mahogany look to it when done.

In the afternoon I set up my workbench to epoxy the keel into place in the hull. I got two large boxes that were tall enough for the keel to fit between them. I made sure the deck was level front to back and side to side by using some index cards as shims. I did a couple trial fits to make sure everything lined up correctly. I had to sand the top of the keel down some to be level with the side struts. The musket minie ball made another appearance as a makeshift plumb bob to help me keep the keel nice and straight.

Next I mixed up another batch of clear epoxy to clear coat around the keel in the hull and then a batch of thickened epoxy to glue the keel into place. I slid the keel into the slot and lined up the support webs then attempted to do nice fillets around them. I probably used more epoxy than I needed, but this is fine since I probably won't ever be racing this boat. On top of the keel and supports goes the RC deck with some more epoxy and a few lead weights. This forms a nice strong box so the keel is very sturdy.

I checked the keel with the plumb bob to make sure it was straight several times before leaving it to set over night.

July 20, 2025

Now we're caught up to present day for the build log. I'll try to keep posting as I progress still.

Two items on the agenda today: the rudder post and the mast post.

I started with the rudder post. I used a spare piece of plywood to make a holder for the rudder shaft while I epoxied in the rudder shaft. The shaft is a carbon fiber tube with a rubber gasket to help waterproof. Just like with the keel, I made sure the boat was level on my workbench before starting. I also waxed the rudder shaft so it hopefully won't stick if any epoxy gets on it. Using both the makeshift plumb bob and the keel, I lined up the rudder so it was perfectly in line with the keel and then epoxied it into place.

After letting that sit for a few hours, I came back and started on the mast post. The T37 has a larger 4" carbon fiber tube that goes into the boat for the mast to slide in to. I shortened the mast post so it would only stick up about 1/16" from the deck when glued into place. With a couple of levels and a bevel tool I did a trial run of gluing the post down. I made sure the mast would end up perfectly vertical with a slight tilt aft. Then I put a blob of thickened epoxy on the bottom of the hull for the post to sit on. I roughened up the post a little so the epoxy would adhere better before all of this.

July 21, 2025

The mast post set up perfectly level with a slight rake and the rudder post is lined up nicely with the keel without the rudder being epoxied into place now. I'm very happy with how this build is going, it's nice to be able to see the full height and length at last.

Now I'm on to deciding what to do for the hatches. The problem is I don't have a whole lot of clearance because the main sheet will run from a barney post aft of the hatch over the top and to a brass U in the deck. I mocked everything up with some thread before I start gluing anything down to get an idea of what I have to work with. The kit plans call for a mylar sheet over the hatch so clearance isn't really a problem, but I have a lot of leftover veneer planks so I think it would be nice to build a custom hatch.

I made a sort of cross section with basswood and it looks like I'll have room for a 1/8" basswood coaming with a scrap piece of 1/8" plywood on top. I was planning on basically following Gary Webb's video linked below, but with the hatch being so low profile I won't have enough clearance to use the pins that he does. Does anyone have any ideas on a good way to attach the hatches so they stay secured to the deck while underway?

July 22, 2025

I had hatches on the mind today at work so I mocked something up when I got home with some scrap plywood. It's not pretty by any means, but it gives me an idea of what I'm working with. Even with just throwing this together, it's still a very nice fit that stays together almost with friction. Now I just need to find a way to embed some magnets when they arrive tomorrow and I think I'll have a good solution. Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone.

July 25, 2025

I really like the idea of using magnets to attach the hatches since it helps me keep them a really low profile. I got some neodymium magnets off Amazon to play with. I tried several different methods of placing the magnets but didn't like any of them until I tried just making the coaming slightly bigger and glued the magnets directly to the deck, then I used a shim to raise the matching magnets and glued them directly to the hatch ceiling. This was a nice way to do it in my mind because then the magnets line themselves up with their pairs perfectly on their own. I made sure to rough up the surface of all of the magnets with sandpaper for better adhesion and later on I'll go over all of them with a thin layer of epoxy to secure them into place better.

I used 10 magnet pairs for the rudder hatch and it holds it on there very securely, but I guess we won't know just how good it is until it sails.

August 2, 2025

I haven't had much time until today to work on this unfortunately. I made up the main hatch and got all of the magnets glued into place today. Then I used some leftover veneer to plank the tops to match the deck and it turned out really nice in my opinion. The magnets hold the hatch on tight so hopefully it'll keep most of the water out.

Next I'm planning on coating the hatches inside and out with a thin layer of clear epoxy to waterproof them, then I'll varnish the veneer to make it really pretty when I do the deck.

August 3rd, 2025

I forgot to take pictures, but I did a little bit of work last Sunday. I waterproofed the hatches by putting a thin coat of epoxy all over the top and bottoms. Then I applied a coat around the coamings, making sure to coat over the tops of the small magnets to hopefully keep them in place a little better over time. I put a layer of plastic wrap over the coamings, then weighed down the hatches on top. This made sure the epoxy set up in a way that the hatches would still fit and even gave me a really good seal. We'll see just how good of a fit it is when she takes sail for the first time

While that set up, I assembled the booms per the instructions. This was the first bit of rigging I got to do and it was kind of exciting! The booms are made of carbon fiber with vinyl grommets used for adjustment points for the rigging. A couple brass rings are lashed to the underside as well. I only have a picture of the jib boom for this update.

August 10, 2025

Today was an exciting day! I always dread the step of varnishing woodworking projects, but I can't deny that the results are incredibly satisfying. I sanded down the hull sides, deck and deck hatches all the way to 320 grit and thoroughly tack-clothed all of the dust of, then I very carefully applied the first coats of varnish to the boat. It needs to cure overnight, but I plan to do several coats throughout the week after work if I can find the time.

While the varnish dries, I attached the main boom to the sail and added the carbon fiber collars to keep the boom ring and vang from sliding around the mast. Bending these wires out of the stainless steel rod was a bit of a pain, but with some patience I got them in placed. The main boom also has the vinyl grommets for rigging adjustments just like the jib boom.