Prepped Hull

Glassing the Hull 010
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

The hull is now prepped. A base coat of epoxy has been applied to the entire exterior of the hull. Isnt it shiny?

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Another Shot of the Hull

Hull2
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

In this picture, weve still got weights on the front end, because we havent filleted the inside transom joints with thickened epoxy yet.

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The Outside of the Hull is Glassed!

We reached another major milestone yesterday... we finished glassing the exterior of the hull. Now were on to the long task of fairing and sanding. Based on our current pace, I expect this to take about three months.

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Glassing the Hull

Glassing the Hull 011
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

This picture shows the front half glassed and epoxied. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the line where theres no top layer of epoxy.

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A Brief Diversion

You may have noticed a lack of recent posts about our boat project, and if you think its because we havent done anything lately, youre right. You see, its almost time for our annual boyz trip pilgrimage. Every year over Memorial Day, Greg, two of our friends from high school and I go on an extended trip. The trips have varied tremendously over the years... sometimes we do long, self-contained downriver canoe trips, sometimes we do whitewater kayaking, occasionally more than the "core four" of us will go. Our trips have varied from three days to a week, and we have hit too many rivers to count. We started out taking these trips over Labor Day weekend, but changed to Memorial Day a few years back when we figured out that the water levels are generally higher this time of year.

This year, we will be travelling to North-Central Wisconsin and doing a self-contained island-hopping lake canoe trip, utilizing the canoes we built a couple of years ago. To add to the adventure, Greg and I are temporarily converting our individual canoes into a catamaran sailing vessle. Were going to a brand new area, doing a variation on our trip that we havent really done before, and trying a new feat of engineering. This should explain the lack of progress on the main project. Weve been planning the trip, and working on the rig that will convert our paddle-powered canoes into a wind-powered catamaran.

If you’re interested in some of the history and stories from our various trips, here are a few links for you to check out…

From earlier posts in this blog:
How it all Began; A Quick Sidenote:
A Well-Deserved Vacation
Pictures of the Canoes

From posts on my other blog:
Commemorating a Practical Joke

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A Significant Setback on our way to a Major Milestone

Glassing the Hull 012
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We ran out of epoxy. Between applying the base coat to the bare wood, and the bonding coat that bonds the glass cloth to the hull, we went through well over three gallons of epoxy.

This could have some major unintended side effects for us, but Im not sure yet.

The front half of the boat is fine. Im not so sure about the back half. Greg thinks that we can just get more epoxy and continue where we left off. Im concerned that well need to rip up the cloth that didnt get bonded and reapply the cloth. Heres what Im thinking...

Weve got the base layer of epoxy applied to the bare wood. Its also ever-so-slightly bonding the fiberglass cloth to the hull. But Im concerned that its not quite right. Im going to ask Jacques over at the boat forum and get his input. Ill let you know when I get the answer.

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Prepping the Hull

Glassing the Hull 009
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Yesterday we started the process of laying fiberglass cloth on the hull. Heres a picture of me rolling a base coat of epoxy onto the bare wood of the hull.

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Tying the Hull

Weve finally had an opportunity to get back to work on the boat. The weather was cool, our schedules were clear, so we worked. Last night we spent about three hours tying the hull and filling the gaps with thickened epoxy.

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More Flaws in the Plans

Rear Transom Overhang
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

This is a picture of where the hull and rear transom come together. If you look, you can see that the hull extends past the transom. In addition to this, weve discovered that the rear transom was also too wide, and weve had to shave some width from the port and starboard sides of the rear transom.

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Test Fitting the Hull

Test-Fitting the Hull
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

When I said that it had been over three weeks since wed accomplished anything on the boat, I wasnt completely accurate. I did go over to Gregs place last weekend, and we did the finishing touches on the frame, and test-fitted the bottom hull pieces. As you see in the photo, the hull pieces are too long. Theyre also a little too wide, and the rear transom is a little too wide, so were going to have to do a little trimming before we can zip-tie the hull and start glassing the boat.

For a closer look at the overlaps Im talking about, you can click here for a close-up of the front transom/hull overlap. This link will give a closer view of the overlap along the sides, and this link will give you a better idea of how far off the rear transom is.

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Time to Fair

Greg and I started the long task of filling in the low spots. This pic is a "before" shot that will show you how much area we have to fill.

You may also be interested in seeing me do another household project using epoxy.

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Filleting

Front Transom - Inside - 2
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

In this picture, we are filleting the gap between the hull and front transom. In the picture you will notice the large gap filled with thickened epoxy. You see the stringer in the left-top of the picture, and you see that the stringer is covered with plastic, in order to prevent the stringer from sticking to the transom or hull during the epoxying process.

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Dammit! Two More Weeks of Lost Productivity

I was hoping that wed be able to spend Saturday or Sunday working on the boat, and that we could spend a marathon day over the 4th of July weekend. But alas, that wasnt in the cards.

Greg was out of town Saturday and most of Sunday last weekend, and hes got plans next weekend too. By the time we get back to the boat work, we will have gone six weeks with out any significant progress. While our goal was to put in one good day per week, and we realized that wed periodically miss a week here and there, I didnt expect that wed go this long without any progress. I sure want to get back to work.

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