Building a Dutch Barge

 

First Sail @ Fleetwood

The wind did slightly increase and a small weight was added to the keel, this did help slightly to keep the boat upright. There is about 1.5kg of lead shot and resin in the hull, this is quite low down due to the design of the integral long keel.

 

Finished

 

Final Stages

 

Hull and Deck

 

Decking

Dry fitting

Masking tape was applied to protect the hull but with a 2mm gap, so a fillet could be created to ensure the deck was firmly attached.

The underside of the deck had to fabric strips glued across the grain, this was to help prevent an splits occurring. A thin coat of West Epoxy was applied across this surface, this was allowed to fully cure.

Clamps and tape help the deck in place, while the epoxy cured.

A small fillet of epoxy was applied in the corner between the deck and hull, to ensure a secure joint.

 

Fitting Out

 

The Keel

The kit is supplied with a plastic keel, a new one was made from 3mm stainless steel, this will add some weight low down and help with stability.

The instructions suggest 1500 grams of ballast - lead shot - so the hull floats to the water line. It also suggests that additional weight can be added lower down, by clamping it to the keel but does not provide an example or suggested design. Giving this some thought so an additional and perhaps rather crude and experimental solution was considered. Two pieces of brass can be clamped and secured by a 1mm diameter pin, to ensure this additional ballast does no slip of the keel. Once the boat has been sailed a more elegant shape can be made and additional weight can also be added in the hull. The brass only weights 250 grams but can be used for an initial test.

The 1mm hole will hardly be visible when the brass weight is removed. The instructions explain that the model is intended for light wind conditions.

Initially the keel is glued in place and then resin can be used to seal it in place before a small amount of lead shot is added, to test float the hull.

An initial float test showed there was no leaks but also that the hull was quite stable, even without any ballast, tested by pushed one side of the boat down.