"Fugu"

Fugu is a "Swift Solo" also known as a "twenty-nine and a halfer".(Link to the class web site) You may notice that after my purchase of "Wasabi" all of the names have taken on a culinary theme. I used to have an International 505 and it was very fun to sail especially for us adrenaline junkies. I saw the article on the Swift Solo in the "Wooden Boat" magazine.

I have always wanted to sail a skiff since I saw a movie on the eighteens. A single handed skiff works perfect because it is hard to find crew for this type of craft that loves to sail this type of boat and is willing to put in the training time required. This also makes the boat affordable. Most skiffs are far too expensive owing to the materials used in their construction and they don't last all that long. Many skiffs can cost over 20K and I can't see paying that much for a small boat. I should be able to complete this project for less than nine thousand. I get the double pleasure of the construction process and having a skiff I can sail after the races and on off week-ends.

At the time if this writing, I am still in the construction phase.

Here are a couple of shots of the hull. The longitudinal strips are strips I had leftover from Sushi. The wider strips are new strips I made for Fugu.

I ran out of strips I made for the deck. I purchased strips for the first time. The supplier did not plane the strips or make the cove very deep so stripping and fairing have been a bit more difficult. I also found out just how much I have been saving myself by milling my own. The purchased strips cost almost eight times the cost but they are out of one solid section of wood.

I have filled in some of the places where two different bends meet with diagonal strips. I made the insets by gluing dark and light cedar in a diagonal. I then used some masking paper and covered the holes. Using a crayon, I marked the profile of the hole. Using 3-M 77 spray adhesive, I glued the paper to the strips and cut the patterns with my band saw.

Some shots of the freshly glassed deck.

Below you see what it looks like when you lay up the carbon/kevlar cloth. Sorry about the glare but I used a camera that I can't do much with. Also notice the small bubles. Since the topsides have been encased in glass and epoxy, there is only one way for the "blow-out" to go. These tiny bubles are actually your friend. When they do not come up through the cloth, they make big bubbles between the cedar and cloth. This is a big problem. Make sure that you do this step when you can check on the bubbles every hour or so.

I had to finish the boat outside. This is a photo of the door I have to get all of my projects through. I started to measure the door and the beam and noticed that when the boat is finished, it would not fit through the door. By taking the hull and deck out separately without any of the internal supports in place, I could compress the boat and fit it through the door.

This is a view from the transome with the internal structure in place.

This is a veiw from the bow. It sure stiffened up when all the bracing was installed.

This is a shot of the boat just after I glued the launcher throat in place. I still need to fair it in and put the forestay fitting in place. I am still waiting for some of the hardware I need and I need to hurry up and get the fins made. It looks like the first regata is being postponed until next year but I still need the boat so I can sail. Wasabi is starting run aground in the harbor mouth.

This is a little closer veiw. She may not look as good as some but she will be mine.

Here is a shot from the bow. I still need to do some final sanding and to finish with some varish. I will wait until I am finished making scratches to make things very pretty.

This is a photo of "Fugu" on her christening day. The weatherman predicted light rain and you see we got multiple inches of very wet snow. On the starboard side, you will see the name in Japanese characters. I met a very cute old lady that was doing caligraphy at a farmers' market and I asked her to show me how to write it. Her grand daughter was nice enough to write it on a note paper that I kept in my pocket for months.

Finally she is done. Here is a shot of her with the main and jib up just before she was launched. This will be the final picture on the construction site. Look for her to appear on the sailing link next as new photo's are available. Now I just need warm days and fair winds.

Feel free to e-mail me with questions or comments.