

Hotei is 23 feet long with an 8-1 beam and every inch a family boat .
Menfolk can ride in the forward cockpit where the helmsman has a clear view .
Youngsters can sleep or amuse themselves safely in the large cabin which has 5-foot 11-inch headroom , bunks for three , galley and marine toilet .
The gals can sun themselves in the roomy aft cockpit .
All are well distributed , not crowded together near the stern .
And with passenger weight shifted forward , Hotei levels off for speed under power of a Merc 800 .
The 80-hp motor drives her at 25 mph with six aboard ! !


With only two aboard , Hotei does better than 27 mph -- and she gives a comfortable ride at this speed even in a three-foot chop .
She also banks into a turn like a fine runabout -- not digging in on the outside to throw passengers all over the boat like many a small cabin cruiser .
Nor is she a wet boat .
We've been out in five-foot waves and stayed dry .


A lot of thought went into storage space construction .
There's a large compartment in the forward cockpit for charts and other items .
The cabin has several shelves for small items and storage under the bunks for water skiis , life jackets , etc. .
The aft cockpit has a Af storage bin over six feet long that doubles as a seat .
On each side of the motor well there's storage for battery , bumpers , line and spare props with six-gallon gas tanks below .
The well itself is designed to take two Merc 800's or 500's if you wish and there's room for a 25-gallon long-cruise gas tank below it .


Needless to say , you can't build Hotei in a couple of weeks .
Our building time was slightly over 400 hours -- but the total cost for the hull with Fiberglas bottom , sink , head and hardware was under $800 .
A comparable manufactured boat would cost close to $3,000 .
Consider what you have to earn to be able to spend the $3,000 and your building time is well worth it .
A Gator trailer , Model 565 , is used to transport the boat to the waterways .
This piece of equipment costs a little over $600 but it will save you that in mooring and hauling fees in a few years .


All framing in Hotei is one-inch mahogany which , in the dressed state you buy it , is about the 13 thickness specified in the drawings .
Therefore , the lumber is bought in planks and ripped to size for battens , etc. , on a table saw .
Besides flathead bronze screws , silicon bronze Stronghold nails ( made by Independent Nail & Packing Co. , Bridgewater , Mass. ) are used extensively in assembly and Weldwood resorcinol glue is used in all the joints .


Construction follows a thorough study of the drawings .
Start by laying out the six frames and the transom on a level floor .
Draw each outline in a different-color chalk , one on top of the other .
In this way you will be able to detect any obvious mistakes .


The transom frame is made first with the joints lapped , glued and fastened with one-inch , No. 12 Stronghold nails .
After notching it for the keelson , chines and battens , the half-inch plywood transom is secured to it with glue and the same type nails .
All frames are butted at the joints and 3 plywood gussets are glued and nailed on each side of each joint , again using the one-inch , No. 12 nails .
The frames are notched only for the keelson and the chines .
If notched for the battens , they would require more work , be weakened and limber holes would have to be bored so that bilge water could flow through .
Nowhere in the boat do the frames come in contact with the plywood planking .


The jig is erected after the frames and transom are complete .
This is an important step because any misalignment would cause progressively worse misalignment in the hull as you advance in construction .
Be sure all members are parallel , vertical and level as required .


After the frames and transom are set up on the jig and temporarily braced , a piece of three-inch-wide mahogany ( only widths will be given since the 13 thickness is used throughout ) is butted between frames one and two below the line of the keelson .
The frames are glued and screwed to this piece .
The joints are also reinforced on each side with small blocks set in resin-saturated Fiberglas cloth and nailed .
It is over this piece that the laminated stem and keelson are spliced .


The keelson , made of two three-inch widths , is next installed .
The first piece is glued and screwed to the frames and transom and the piece butted between frames one and two .
The second piece is in turn glued and screwed to the first .
Note , however , that it is six inches shorter at the forward end .
One-inch , No. 10 screws are used in both cases .


A stem jig is next cut to the proper shape and temporarily fastened to frame one .
The stem is laminated from four pieces .
Take two three-inch-wide pieces and rip them down the center of the thickness to make the four .
Then spread a generous amount of glue on the four pieces and bend them into place on the jig .
The first two pieces butt against the inner member of the keelson and are glued and screwed to the brace between the first two frames .
The second two pieces lap over the inner member of the keelson and butt against the outer member .
They're glued and screwed to the inner member of the keelson .
A number of C clamps hold the pieces together on the jig until the glue sets .


All bottom battens are two inches wide .
The side ones are a half-inch narrower .
The battens are carefully fastened in place after some necessary fairing on all frames .
Glue and 1-1 , No. 10 screws are used .
Placement is important because the rear seat , bunks and front jump seats rest on or are fastened to many of the side battens .
With the exception of two battens , all run to the stem where they are glued and screwed after careful beveling .
The chines go in the same way except that they are made of two pieces of two-inch wood for strength and easier bending .


Fairing is always a tedious job but the work can be cut down considerably with a Skill planer and a simple jig .
I clamped a 30-inch piece of aluminum to the base of the planer with a pair of Sure Grips .
The aluminum , flush against the battens , acted as a fairing stick and enabled me to plane the chines and keelson to the proper bevels easily .
If you don't own a planer and don't want to buy one , it's well worth renting .


The planking is five-ply , 3 Weldwood Royal Marine plywood .
This can be obtained in 42-inch widths 24 feet long .
The 42-inch width leaves very little waste .
Four pieces are used .
Plank the sides first , using glue and one-inch , No. 12 Stronghold nails at all battens , the stem and the transom .
Another person inside with a weight against each batten will help in the fastening .
The best procedure is to have a few friends hold the planking in place while you mark it off .
Then trim the excess .
I used a Homemaster Routo-Jig made by Porter Cable for this job .
It's good for cutting all the planking because it cuts with a bit-like blade at high rpm and does not chatter the plywood like a saber saw .


When cut , the planking is clamped in place for a final and careful trimming .
Then it is marked on the inside where it comes in contact with the transom , frames , keelson and all the battens .
It may then be pre-drilled for the fastenings .
The next step is to remove it and spread glue where it has been marked at the contact points .
Then it is replaced and fastened .
The bottom planking is applied in the same manner .


After planking , the bottom gets a layer of Fiberglas .
The spray rails are first glued on the outside and fastened from the inside with screws .
Then the chines are rounded off and the bottom is rough-sanded in preparation .
Since the sides are also covered up to the spray rails , they are also rough-sanded in that area .
The cloth is laid on one half of the bottom at a time .
A 50-inch width is used on each side and it laps the keel line by about three inches .
Lay the cloth in place and trim it to size .
Then remove it and give the whole bottom a coat of resin .
When the resin has hardened , mix up another batch with a pigment added if you wish .
I used bright red , mixing the pigment in thoroughly before adding the hardener .
Using a cheap brush , coat one side of the bottom with the resin and then apply the cloth .
When the cloth is smooth , apply another coat of resin , spreading it with a paint roller .
Be sure it is well saturated and then allow it to harden .


When the whole bottom has hardened , use a disk sander to feather the edges of the cloth at the keel line and near the spray rail .
Then lay a three-inch-wide strip of cloth along the keel line from the transom to the point of the stem .
Before the resin has hardened , screw a one-inch mahogany keel strip along the centerline .
This protects the bottom in beaching .
Fiberglas materials are available from Glass Plastic Supply Co. , 1605 W. Elizabeth Ave. , Linden , N. J. .
They will also supply literature on application .


The hull is now turned over ( with the help of about seven friends ) and placed in a level , well-braced position .
I set it on the Gator trailer .
I laid three layers of glass cloth on the inside of the stem , also installing a bow eye at this time .
For added strength , I also fastened a small block on each side of every frame and batten joint .
Again , these blocks were set in resin-saturated glass cloth and nailed .


After trimming off the excess on the frames and transom which was used to fasten them to the jig at a working height , the top of the side planking is installed .
This is made up of scraps left over from the sides and bottom .
These flaring parts really help to keep the boat dry .
When they're on , the top edges are planed even with the sheer batten .


The sides of the motor well run from the bottom battens to the top and from frame six to the transom , forming a real strong transom brace .
Note another piece of wood six inches wide is fastened to the transom between these pieces .


The decking is quarter-inch mahogany marine plywood .
All the flooring and the storage bin is half-inch exterior fir plywood .
Most floor battens are glued and screwed to the flooring .
The exception is where the flooring butts .
These battens are glued and screwed to the frames .


With all deck battens in place , the bilge is cleaned and painted up to the floor line .
Use one coat of Firzite and one coat of marine paint .
Bottoms of the floorboards are also painted and the flooring is then screwed in place .


After the decking is on , the cabin sides are installed .
They're followed by the front and rear bulkheads as illustrated .
The windshield glass is shatterproof and Plexiglas is used in the cabin .


Inside , bunks are framed up and installed as indicated .
A head is a handy thing to have and I installed one under a removable section of the port bunk .
The sink in the hinged panel above the bunk drains into the head and a five-gallon water tank is mounted on the bulkhead above the sink .
For padding the seats and bunks , I used Ensolite , Type Aj .
Lightweight , non-absorbent , fire resistant and dimensionally stable , it is easily bonded to the wood with contact cement .
Available in Af sheets , it costs about a dollar a square foot .

