Small Steps, A big Leap Forwards

Week eleven, and it feels like a break through has finally been made.

Saturday morning I was up early and straight into sanding the hull down where I had filled in the gaps with fairing powder.

Once that was completed I gave it another coat of epoxy and then it was off to pick-up the windsurfing mast I bought on TradeMe.

I got a 4.60m mast as per Gary’s plans, with a 30% carbon content. I think its a standard entry level mast from Neil Pryde but its a common brand and in good condition. As a bonus the ends of each section are plugged with rubber caps which will help prevent them from flooding if I capsize.

After we collected the mast it was off to a Pirates and Princesses birthday party Nico and Eloise had been invited to. When we got home and the kids were put to bed I put a final layer of epoxy on the hull. It has four in total, more than specified but I will be sanding some of it back before painting.

Sunday morning and it was time to cut away the fiberglass skirt (to catch epoxy drips) and give the hull a good wash down to get rid of the “blush” left by the Epoxy.

While waiting for it all to dry I made two brackets to hold the hull right way up. After un-screwing some key stations and with a hand from Cecile I popped the hull straight off the strong-back onto a pair of wooden horses.

After pulling all the remaining stations off the strong-back, Nico and I mounted the two holding brackets. Nico is beginning to be quite handy with the little hand drill we were using, so much so that he decided to try it on the hull! Luckily mum was on hand to quickly put the drill away.

With the brackets mounted, I was able to, on my own, lift and turn the hull and then place it down back on the strong-back right way up. Not the best of ideas, but at least it looks like the hull will be light enough for me to handle by myself.

At this point the plans call for you to take a step back and have a drink! Good advice Gary!

Photo of how she looks at the end of the day, I’ve started planing

the inside smooth, which I will continue during the week. Next weekend will be more sanding to get the areas I can’t reach with my plane. And the following weekend if luck (and Cecile) allows I’ll be glassing  the inside.

I’m Flying! I’m Flying!

Week ten and I’m flying forward… Well actually I’m not. With Day Light Savings ending and Autumn in full swing, my working hours have been curtailed somewhat. To compound this, what I need to do, sanding, needs to be done outside to keep the dust out of the house. Which limits me to working over the weekends.

Saturday started with another trip to Bunnings for new sanding disks and a pair of working gloves to save my hands from even more splinters and cuts. From there I got stuck in with the sanding. Fortunately, between bouts of rain I managed to sand back the patches I added.

Sunday was babysitting duty looking after Nicolas and Eloise while Mum and friends were swinging from the trees!

Great fun was had and Nico learnt a new Dutch word; Gek, as in geke Mum :) Eloise took most of it in her stride, so long as she was being carried by Dad… Which made taking photos a bit of a challenge!

After we got home it was back to work on the boat, I had my first experience with fairing powder. Not being sure of how much I should be adding, I just kept adding the powder till I got it nice and thick (peanut butter was one guide I read).

Using this paste I filled in the gaps left by the opened air bubbles and covered the areas of the stern bare of glass.

Next week….

…. More sanding and then another layer of epoxy before I finally get to turn the hull.

Frustrations

Week nine and I’ve hit a road bump. When I shaped the stern and bow stems I gave them quite a sharp edge, well it turns out that this is not ideal for laying the glass which resulted in several air bubbles along those edges. So during the week I took Thursday off to run taxi for Mum and the rest of the day was spent sanding away the air pockets.

Nico was keen to jump aboard, even if the hull is still the wrong way up!

Saturday was spent at Mums with Isabelle (my cousin) and her two children Jonah and Olivia. Nicolas had a great time playing with the bigger kids. But for me the day was pretty much a write off (at least regarding the boat).

Sunday it was patch up day. I marked out the areas for re-glassing with masking tape and set to work. The good part is that I fixed the patches on the main part of the hull. The bad is that the stems still have air bubbles in them. I think I’ll just end up smoothing the edges back and giving the stem a thick coat of epoxy.

Thursday, Cecile’s company; Beca Applied Technologies celebrated its 5th birthday with an evening at Treasure Island mini golf course. Nico got into the pirate spirit and soon will be ready to captain his own ship!

Eloise on the other hand took it all in her stride and was handed from one set of willing arms to another as the teams progressed through the course.

Out in the sun

Week eight and the final strip is in place, the hull has been planed smooth and I took the hull outside for the final sanding.

 

When I started this project I went on a bit of a spending binge and got lots of tools I thought I would need. Nothing too flash but I still managed to spend a bit of cash. One of the tools I bought was a Stanley block plane. I wasn’t to keen on spending the money when there are plenty of cheaper alternatives. Well I’m bloody glad I did get it since its been one of my most used tools!

Caught a few hours of sanding first thing Sunday morning before heading off to Mums for the Easter egg hunt.

Nico got the hang of it pretty quickly:

 

After lunch we went home and I managed to finish my sanding. Before dinner the hull looked like this, with the first sheet of fiberglass laid:

After Nico and Eloise were put to bed I added the second sheet to the other side. The instructions are to do one side at a time, but I’m hoping to get a more even coating if I do it all at once. Fingers crossed; tomorrow I’ll be applying the epoxy.

 

Easter!

Friday we went to Mums place to paint Easter eggs:

Nico quickly discovered that one type of egg was made of sugar and the paint was edible.

Cecile made the comment that the garage floor looked like Goldie Locks had a haircut: