1.8.21

Adding some bones to the boat

I got this really cool rook pattern carbon fiber on closeout and wanted to use it somewhere.  I figured the floor of the cockpit would be a good place.  It's an area of the boat that needs to be tough and a location that I can show it off without taking too much away from beautiful wood grain of the plywood.  I put down the carbon fiber and a layer of  4 oz glass over the top.  

The green tape is locating the inside location of those gunwale tank bulkheads.  The next step was gluing in those bulkheads. 

After they were sufficiently staked in, a fillet of epoxy filler and glass tape was added on both sides to further strengthen the bulkhead junction to the hull.  

Next up, splines were added between bulkheads for supporting the tank skins.  

The trickiest pieces to define were the vertical walls of the tank.  I made templates from construction paper for each side along with the foredeck top.  My buddy Nori helped out as much as she could.


After shaving down each side to a tight fit, I glued and clamped them in.  


I decided that the tanks didn't need to extend all the way to the transom so I tapered them to a point just forward of where the traveler will attach.  The picture below shows the boat after those faceted pieces were attached to the back of the gunwale tanks.  

Next I added the splines between bulkheads to define the top of the tanks. It is starting to take shape!  










Production resumes

 Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned.  It has been 5 years since my last post...

After finishing a masters degree, a bathroom remodel and then a kitchen remodel, I found that I had some extra time and some additional construction confidence.  With some renewed interest in finishing the boat project and making some extra garage space, I dusted off the clamps and wood planes and got back at it.  

When I left off in 2016, here's where she stood:


Before I detail recent progress, I need to rewind to 2018 when I had a couple days of motivation.  The deep V in the bottom of the cockpit on these boats not really comfortable when standing.  I decided I needed a floorboard to provide a nice flat place for feet.  I glued in a nice place to mount the forward end of the floor board and then glued down the board.  I also added some additional support behind the aft bulkhead to provide some meat to screw in the hiking strap eyes.  


A couple gallon paint cans provided the necessary weight to ensure a good faying surface bond with the bottom of the boat.  I also added a couple layers of carbon fiber where the partial bulkheads for the gunwale tanks will be.  Fast forward to 2021 for further progress...