Building a "Swifty 12" from Shell Boats

This photo was published in the June 2003 Sailing Magazine article on building your own boat!

Length: 12"
Beam: 5'3"
Mast Height: 16'
Rig: Sprit rig with curved boom (leg o' mutton)
Sail Area: 65 SF

I like Fred Shell's approach to boats, design and construction. You can read about it at the Shell Boats Website but I encourage you to order his video if you are thinking about building a Shell Boat. Most of his boats are glued lapstrake construction built on a jig right-side up. Simple clean lines, nice shear and sail great. I don't think you can find a better value in a boat kit since these kits come with the spruce mast and a nice Dacron sail in your choice of color (s). The materials are all first rate. I chose to do a kit since I live in an old house with a small one car garage. I have only hand tools and no big woodshop. I would highly recommend a good random orbital sander (I like the Porter Cable), a good cordless drill/screwdriver with two batteries, a good block plane (Stanley) and a shop vac to hook up to the sander. Be sure to read the instructions over and over and watch the video section on the boat you order before starting. System 3 and West System have really good info on epoxy use and safety - READ THEM. Sam Devlin's Book on building boats is also recommended to read before building your kit. I also did some practice with epoxy coating and gluing with scraps of wood and plywood while I was waiting for my kit to arrive. It was worth the time. I used an old cooler with a thermostat hooked to a 25 watt light bulb to keep my epoxy warm enough to pump. Building any boat uses lots of epoxy so the pumps make measuring quick and accurate.

Shell Boats Website

System 3 Epoxy Website

West System Website

Note: I did several extra steps that added time and cost to building my Swifty 12 that went beyond the kit instructions. These include multiple coats of epoxy (3 or more) to seal all surfaces, fiberglassing the interior stem joint, fiberglassing the mast step to the bottom, brass half oval on keel / rub strip and adding small knees under the side decks. None of these steps are required and probably make no difference at all to the boat. Part of building a boat is to make it the way you want to. In any case the knees look great. I also used Interlux 2-part epoxy primer and Interlux Brightsides Polyurethane to paint the boat.

Day One (11/20/00): Received the kit. Unpacked the big crate. The plywood is British marine grade, very nice 7 ply 3/8" for most of the hull and seat tops complete with the grade stamp. The shear planks are 5 ply 1/4" as are the coaming pieces and deck surface pieces. Sail is excellent quality and the green stripe is bigger than expected but looks fantastic.

Day Two (11/21/00): Jig went together quickly per Fred's instructions. The jig parts are not included in the kit but standard lumber is used so it is no big deal. I set the bottom on the jig.

Centering the bottom on the jig was a snap since Fred had the center line marked on the boat bottom. The bow lined up on the jig screw and I lined up the stern by marking the center of the jig and matching it to the line on the boat bottom. The stations on the jig set the rocker in the bottom.

Day Three (11/22/00): Time to glue up the transom and daggerboard box. Under the boat is a great place to store everything except supplies for the immediate step. Several lessons learned from these two "glue-ups". 1. Coating with neat epoxy is a good idea to insure a bond without starving the joint. Mix the glue a bit thicker to avoid too much ooze out with the tight fitting joints. 2. The screws will just go right on into the soft spruce so it is imperative to start a screw or two so that the points can serve to align everything. Some joints should be hand tightened or use a drill with an adjustable clutch. 3. The daggerboard box was assembled with one coat per instructions - just no way to double coat it prior to assembly. 4. Stop and run through each step "dry" before mixing glue. 5. The little yellow squeegee is just the thing to clean up spills. 6. Neat epoxy is really runny and will drip and slop like crazy. 6. Have several sets of gloves, mixing sticks, paper towels and so on all set up ahead to be ready to go. This was a 20 minute step turned into an hour by learning epoxy and just plain slopping glue around. 8. A shop apron and shoes to leave in the garage (at least until the glue sets up the next day) would help contain the mess. 9. Coat the inside of the daggerboard box again while flat so it can cure without running out. Foam brush with 12" handle (only has to reach in 1/2 way.)

Day Four (11/23/00) Thanksgiving: After turkey dinner I coated the inside of the daggerboard trunk a second time and install it and the front seat support which attaches to the trunk. Got the shop apron and found that paper towels laid out make the gloves last through a whole operation.

Day Five (11/24/00): I filleted the daggerboard case to bottom and front seat support joints. I had enough mix to also do the front of the seat support to the bottom as well. The trick is to load enough into the joint with a mixing stick then tool just once. (easier said than done) It is so sticky that the more you mess with it the more you have to mess with it. Fillet stick works slick but needed many paper towels to keep it clean since the chisel end loads up fast. Later in the day I installed the transom, 3 seat supports and transom block.

Day 6 (11/25/00): I coated the inside of the daggerboard box again (3rd coat) and coated the seat framing/bottom joints for filleting. I filleted the upright sections and the middle seat support. Later after this had set, I did the rest of the fillets.

Brother Matt's idea (to fillet the upright part of the joint then to let it set before doing the rest of the joint) was correct - it made doing the corners much easier when the upright section was done and set firm enough to work on.

Matt visited the "boat shop" this morning. He and I discussed doing the planks. He had another good idea. A dry run of the plank fitting to check the process. We worked on that this afternoon. I fit a forward support just aft of the bow jig to hold the bow end of the plank fairly close to actual position. The saw horses nicely support the middle and aft of the plank. DO NOT SNUG THE SCREWS UP before attaching the plank to the two seat supports and transom. Definitely do this by hand screwdriver not the drill. It is a real "touch" operation.

Day 7 (11/26/00): Coated the fillets to smooth them out for finishing in the cockpit area. Used a chip brush which seems to trap air and lose bristles - I hate them! Waited for the coat to gel and coated again the next morning experimenting with a polyethylene squeegee and a foam brush. The squeegee is very fine for coating - smooth and even. The foam brush worked fine to dab into corners and smooth though it starts to fall apart fairly quickly with aggressive use.

Day 8 (12/2/00): Installed bottom and middle planks. Looks like a boat now. A helper is required in my opinion. Start at the stern and tighten the screws one at a time working to the bow. If you skip screws and try to get it on and lined up you create slight bows in the glue joint. The bow joints lined up perfectly as did the tick marks and pencil lines from Fred's pre-assembly. Scrape or tool as needed to clean up the glue joints for each plank which will reduce sanding later - pay special attention to the bottom. Run a mixing stick along and clean up just as if you were filleting. You will fully fill the joint later after the hull is turned over but for now this cleaning up process will make life easier later.

I would not try planking without a smart helper. As Matt said " two half-brains equal one full brain". We each thought of different things and helped each other stay organized and on task.

Day 9 (12/3/00): Removed screws planking bottom and middle plank. That's me posing for the camera.

Day 10 (12/16/00): Matt and I installed shear planks. Quite a bit of bend to them. I do not know how just one person could do this step! Be sure to test fit each plank dry without glue to get the stem joint just right. You want the top edges of each plank to be the same height at the bow point. (Be sure you have it - then glue and pay special attention to the pencil marks. This will make sure the bow is straight though it will change a bit when you install the bulkhead.) All square and sighted true. Now it looks like a boat since you can see the full hull shape and dimensions.

(The plank overlaps at the bow get sanded and filled smooth after you turn the hull over later. The red ribbon is to keep me from snagging myself on the bow stitches a second time.)

Day 11 (12/21/00): Filleted and glassed the stem. Two daughters looking over my shoulder want to know when we can go sailing. I did not let them stay long while using epoxy even though they did not mind the little bit of odor. I have only one respirator which I wore whenever I used the epoxy.

Day 12 (12/22/00): Used the 2" fillet stick on the bottom seam from the forward seat support to the work I did last night at the stem. This fillet is tough to do and get looking nice. Better to practice on the ones under the seats first before proceeding on the seams in the cockpit that will show later.

I installed a piece of fiberglass glass cloth on the bottom where the mast step will be installed as a "wear surface" and then filleted the plank seams under the seats (1/3 of the seams). I then added a second layer of fiberglass tape on the whole stem from the peak of the bow to the aft side of the mast step. Now there are 2 layers of glass where the mast will stand.

Day 13 (12/23/00): Filleted rest of internal plank seams. What a tedious nasty job. Used a wood flour / silica mix to get smoother fillets but boy I think it is stickier and harder to tool nicely than just plain wood flour.

Day 14 (12/24/00): Installed bulkhead - all square and exact as measured from the bow peak. Took several tries to fit the bulkhead as described in the instructions (and video).

Ran a string from center line on transom to peak of bow. Took a deep breath and sighted along the string from each end. ALL STRAIGHT sighting the center line on the bulkhead and center of daggerboard case! One of those "don't want to know but have to look" type of things. Filled screw holes on side of daggerboard case.

Day 15 (12/25/00): Filleted the bulkhead and touched up the transom fillets. Also filled the screw holes in the seat supports (won't show but need to be filled and sealed).

Total time so far - 25 hours.

Day 17 (12/29/00): Fit seats in place. Needed to do a bit of planing on the Port seat to get it even with support and here and there on the starboard seat. Tacked them down with small finish nails that are easy to pull out. Then drew a pencil line all around the seats to mark position to help with the actual glued installation later. Coated under the mast step and seats. Also coated underside of seat panels themselves. Rolls out nicely with a three inch foam roller. Then tipping is a must. Do it while still wet but after bubbles have had a chance to form - if they are.

UPDATE: (July 2002) I have experienced some "oil-canning" of the side seats. The internal air pressure of the sealed seat chambers changes with heat in the sun / cold in the water / shade / altitude so that the seam between the seat tops telegraphed through the paint. This is caused by flex in seat tops due to the increase / decrease of the air pressure with temperature or altitude changes.

A 1x2 glued to each side of the 3/4 inch seat support would do nicely to stiffen up the joint under the seat seam on each side. I installed a 4 inch deck plate in each side seat and a small transom drain plug in the forward seat support (next to the daggerboard) which allows me to vent the pressure that builds up in the seats. The deck plates allowed access to add the 1x2 supports to the seam (one side only obviously). If I build another Swifty I would add the 1x2's to both sides of the seam area seat support to increase the width of the glue joint and put a plastic transom drain plug (bulkhead fitting with screw-in plug) in for each of the seats rather than the deck plates. I may do that anyway if I get up the energy to yank the deck plates and replace the cut outs, fill, paint and so on this winter.

Note that this is not a structural issue but a cosmetic one. However, I was concerned that continued flexing of the seam might cause it to crack so I went ahead with the "fix". Also my boat is used from the coast at sea level to high mountain lakes (Big Lake shown on this site is at 4800 feet) so the oilcanning may be more of an issue for me. If you filled the seats with foam that would probably also work to prevent the oilcanning.

Day 18 (12/30/00): Applied epoxy coat two to areas coated yesterday. Assembled rudder and daggerboard shoe.

Day 19 (12/31/00): Applied third coat and installed seats. Did one at a time. Had pre-marked for the nails and countersunk drilled just slightly for the nail heads. Was concerned that using a countersink punch near the edges would ruin the plywood. Had one bronze boat nail left. What a mess. Handling the wet coated seats and mixing and applying glue. Used 4 or 5 pairs of gloves. Easier than trying to clean them off after a certain point.

Installed mast step. All straight and square to center line. Pre-installed it so holes (and thus proper position) would be obvious once glue applied.

Day 20 (01/01/01): Happy New Year and I have a boat in my garage. Filleted the seat to transom seams. Seal coated all the seat edges to firm up for sanding and rounding prior to coating later this week. Filleted and glassed the mast step. Filleted the center seat to daggerboard case joint.

Day 21 (01/03/01): Spent two hours with the sander and sandpaper getting ready to coat the interior this weekend. Got about 1/2 done.

Day 22 (01/04/01): 2 and 1/2 hours sanding the balance of the interior. Dremel tool with wire brush gets the corners of the fillets just great. Vac'd and damp ragged the interior. Ready to coat with epoxy. You can see my hose attachment to connect the sander to the shop vac.

Day 23 (01/06/01): First coat of epoxy in full interior. End of experimenting - thin foam roller and good brush (nylon bristles) worked much better and faster than bondo spreader and then brushing. Coated underside of deck beams. Had them laid out on the kitchen counter and table over waxpaper over newspaper. (wife up skiing!)

Thank goodness my dad has a full wood shop full of tools. Made a new mahogany daggerboard handle. Cut it to size dadoed the piece to fit over the daggerboard. Cut two little blocks to fill the ends of the dado so it would look like an inset. Countersunk new screw holes and routed a radius on the top edge. Installed it and the two little blocks.

Days 24 and 25 (01/07/01 and 01/08/01): 2nd and 3rd coats on interior and bottom of deck support beams.

Day 26 (01/09/01): Glued two 1/4" plywood pieces to bottom of center deck support to give extra depth for the screws that will mount the bow cleat. Made note of the measurements for this so I could properly locate the cleat when boat is done.

Total time so far - 48 hours.

Day 27 (01/10/01): Removed screws from pieces glued last night. Scrubbed the blush off interior using warm water and nylon scrub pad. Changed water often and then wiped clean and dry with lots of towels. Epoxy is not shinny any more.
Bought paint today. 404 Epoxy Barrier Kote primer, "Beige" for the interior (Hatteras Off White), Blue White ("Blue-Glo White") for exterior hull and good old varnish all from Interlux.

Day 28 (01/12/01): More Zen of Sanding. Started with 100 and should have use 150 or higher. Will have to re-coat some areas and may decide to do the whole thing again (then hand sand) after damp wiping when I can really see the situation. For sure will have to recoat some seat supports and the dagger board case. It would be better to coat twice, sand, coat 3rd time and lightly hand sand. (see Wooden Boat #165 on scraping epoxy - March/April 2002)

Day 29 (01/13/01): Coated cockpit area with the bare spots and ended up doing the whole cockpit up to the last fillet. Also the daggerboard and forward seat support. Rolled on thin and foam brushed. Coating is perfect over the sanded surface. Sanded the strut and pad to prep for assembly. Coated seat tops and sanded daggerboard handle and filled the daggerboard handle screw holes. Washed cockpit area. Assembled the strut to pad to center deck support then coated the strut again.

Day 30 (01/14/01): Sanded cockpit under deck area with 220 by hand finishing up with the sanding sponge. Fast and not a big deal since it was already smooth. Sanded strut. Installed all deck supports. Be sure to pre-fit to check how it all goes together. Filleted under deck supports where they join to hull. Needed daughter Kari to help hold the back deck supports - just too long for one person to install it.

Total time so far - 58 hours.

Day 30 (01/15/01): Made 4 knees for each side deck that will install about 20 inches apart. Use 1 x 3 clear fir, jig saw, and bevel gauge.

Day 31 (01/16/01): Coated knees and some deck frame edges etc.

Day 32 (01/17/01): Installed knees and second coated the deck frame edges from yesterday.

Day 33 (01/18/01): Dry fitted decks. Primed under deck.. Boy is that paint nasty - solvent, strong. Opened the garage door a couple of feet and the basement door to get a cross ventilation flow. Sets quickly even though it was cold. Overnight it is hard and ready to go.

Day 34 (01/19/01): Sanded primer. Use 150 grit and random orbital. Primer is a wonderful very hard surface that makes me think I will do the bottom of the exterior with it - 2 coats, maybe 3 for extra protection and sealing under the water. It says on the can that it is used as a below the water line primer. Vac'd and wiped clean then tacked with alcohol on a clean rag. Let flash for an hour and painted with the Hatteras Off White Interlux Brightsides Poly paint. Use the round end small foam roller. Tried tipping with a foam brush...waste of time since the roller puts the paint on perfectly with no bubbles or lap marks while the foam brush leaves marks. Looks sprayed and really good. The $2.50 each roller is worth every penny.

Day 34 (01/20/01): Sanded rudder and daggerboard. Filled screw holes on them. Bought mahogany to replace plywood stock coaming. Will plane it to size tomorrow. Good thing my Dad has a full wood shop.