4th of July weekend and the "one that got away"

I know. It sounds like the opening line of a fishing story. Well, not exactly...

Earlier this month, I joined ACBS and attended my first ACBS boat show. A couple of people there had some beautiful old Mercury outboards. 

Not long afterward, I decided I'd start browsing eBay regularly, to keep my eyes open for a motor to put on the Zip. I'll need one, eventually. And with plenty of time to browse, I thought it would pay to stay vigilant for a good deal.

I hadn't necessarily intended to put an old outboard on the Zip. However, those old motors sure are pretty, and cool... especially the old Mercs. 

As I was browsing, one jumped right off the screen at me — an absolutely stunning 1966 Merc 500. 50 horsepower, and a short shaft to boot! Not only that, but this motor appeared to have been meticulously cared for. I entered my bid, and kept up with the auction all week. I actually had the high bid on the thing, right up until 15 minutes before the auction closed. Then it QUICKLY got too rich for my wallet, and I was out.

It was gone.

It got away as quickly as that monster catfish I almost caught as a kid. That fish was HUGE. Just as I was pulling it ashore at my grandfather's pond, it swished and splashed violently, broke my line, and swam away. (It was hard to tell in the tidal wave of murky pond water, but I'm pretty sure that catfish flipped me off before swimming away.)

But, I digress...

Bidding on that old motor got my mind pretty heavily on the Zip. So, over the weekend, I decided to take a break from my varnishing work on the Utility, and start cutting transom parts for the Zip.

Zip transom frame and motor board, cut from 4/4 rough-cut mahogany.

The Glen-L plans show the transom drawn to it's aft-most (and therefore smallest) dimension. The instructions recommend cutting the side frame members at a 10° bevel, so that the interior surface of the transom is slightly larger than the aft surface. Similarly, the instructions recommend cutting the underside of the transom frame at a 12° angle, to accommodate the 12° rake of the transom.

Some people do it that way. I used a different method, called "step and fair." Basically, you cut the side and bottom of the plywood part of the transom at 1/8" oversize. Then, you cut the side and bottom surfaces of the frames at 1/4" oversize. When assembled, this creates a "step" profile that you simply fair away.

Here you can see the side of the transom frame is 1/4" wider than the drawn lines on the plans

While I was at it, I also cut the floor member of Frame #4...

So, here is the latest update on Zip parts:

Current Status of Zip Parts
Part	Status
Stem & Breasthook Assembly	2 coats of epoxy
Frame 5-1/2	Forward face has 3 layers of epoxy. Rear face has 2 layers.
Frame 4	Side members cut and notched for sheer. Floor member cut & notched for keel; (keel notch needs to be widened on 1 side)
Transom Knee	Coated with 3 layers of epoxy
Transom Frame	Side frame members cut 1/4" oversized on outer side. Motor board cut. Floor frame member cut 1/4" oversized on bottom side. Top members cut 1/4" oversized on outer side.
Transom	Transom drawn onto 1/4" BS1088 Meranti plywood.