If you look closely you will see two wood planes trying hard to hide in the cockpit - they are pretty modest and don't want a lot of applause or recognition for the sterling job they have done helping me to plane the sheerline and the cockpit panel sides - "After all," they said, "Planing is not a big deal, it's what we do."
The next job I will do is glue in the internal chainplate blocks and a couple of backing pieces each side at joins in the topside panels. I will then paint out the whole inside of the boat with undercoat paint. This will give protection from wood rot to the plywood if for some reason fresh water gets inside the boat. I will also glue in another mast step support under the main king plank.
She looks sweet and tidy with her sheer line planed and getting very near the stage where the deck goes on.
Sitting the boat in its beach trolley is a good easy way of keeping it from moving around as I work on it. When she is upside down I use wedges and cramps to keep her stable on the saw horses. But despite these restraints the constant pressure of planing and sanding has seen the boat creep around the carport from one end to the other.
I am still undecided as to whether to fiberglass the hull. One option is to glass the keel center line and the bow and chines with fiberglass tape to protect these more vulnerable areas and then just paint the hull either with ordinary one pot paint or a two pot epoxy paint system. I shall be giving it a lot of thought as I complete the other little jobs that are required before turning her back upside down for the hull completion.
7 comments:
It's plain to see that the use of those planes will help you plane when this baby hits the water
Thanks Baydog for your plain talking, and your plane talking. The essence of Plane talking needs to made very plain, which you have done. When she's launched I plan to do a lot of planning.
... or is that planing?
Looking great! And I had just watched the vid, fantistic! She is going to fly!
As to the decision of fiberglass, here is a landlubbers’ opinion:
What is the detriment of fiberglass? I suppose, extra weight and extra cost. The extra weight is only important if you want to win a race. I assume that going in plané with awesome speed is the only objective that you probably have, so don’t worry about the extra grams. More cost: Think about all the labor you already did put in, that must be of very great value to you, so it should be protected to the elements.
The ship already looks great, can’t wait to see the deck on.
Thank you Kate - You are right, she is going to fly! I may need to wear a flying helmet and goggles - a bit like Biggles (although you may be too young to know who Biggles is).
Ben, you have given me some food for thought. It is always good to get another point of view, so I appreciate what you have written. One solution may be to put fiberglass tape on the high wear areas such as along the keel and chines and then Paint the hull with a 'Two Pot' paint (paint and hardener) rather than a single 'One Pot' paint - rather than fiberglass the whole hull.
But you do make a very good point about protecting something that I have put such a lot of work into. - Thanks. I will give it all a lot of thought and let you know my decision.
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