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Ok,maybe not March. Little things like Kids' dental emergencies,hurricanes
and peak season at my job put a hold on it for a spell but the outside is finally ready for paint. I will get to
it maybe during the next dry spell? Tell you what,though,it's worth the wait because this boat is a blast to build. I'd be
out there all by myself and at the end of a day just stand back from it and smile for how much it's looks changed at every
step.Guess I'm gonna ask Robert at work to help with the wiring since that's his gig. Surely,Brian will have some input. He's
the "gadget guy" and the owner of the company I work for. Eddie,our other weldor,feels that his idea of contribution
is polishing the 2nd seat with his butt. Just kidding Ed :)
Here's something that might help to those who dont want to buy 40 clamps. I used 6 clamps for this whole project. To
pull the keel members down, I used this fibreglass canvas looking strapping for spanish windlasses and just tightened
a little at a time from front to rear.As I progressed towards the stem where the bend was more severe,I doubled and tripled
the strapping and used larger sticks to twist them with.I would put cardboard under them to keep from denting the keel plank.I
had nails under the building jig for the twisted sticks to lock against. This worked beautifully.
For the planking,I spiled a pencil line on the lower plank. I then made cleats out of the 3/8 ply scraps,two layers.
One for the spacer to allow the plank to slip behind it with a longer piece on top of it to hold the next plank in place.
All I would do is screw them with the #6 planking screws to hold them on the spiled line.This was perfect for hanging
planks alone because they were automatically held right on the line. No sliding around on the epoxy goop. Screw from the centers
outward making sure the plank isnt moving off the line. It didn't when I did it this way but check anyways. Since I had so
many screw holes to putty ,what's a few more from the cleats. I used the clothespin clamps in between the cleats.
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Ok, I have to add this thought about epoxy. Some cringe at the thought of building a traditional boat with
all this stuff. If the old timers would have had it readily available,they would have used it. Lets face it,for the nature
of this product,you can't find a better primer. It is exactly what you would hope a paint primer could accomplish. That's
why i coated the whole boat. It was a great primer/surfacer.I coated it and then sanded it with a hand powered semi flexible
longboard that I made with leftover Meranti. It shows ALL the ripples and screw spots and shows you how much fairing putty
it would need. An easy way to get a slick near perfect finish. It hits the high spots and leaves the low places shiny. I couldnt
leave it at that.I made it to where it all sanded equally. I sanded diagonally in lengthy strokes in both directions. This
is what was done when it would be rainy or at night.It isn't like you have to do it all at once and is alot less tedious.
I have been over this hull 6 times in this manner.One side plank per night.This keeps it manageable. I used 180 grit for this
process.
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Ok,here's a picture of the console post.It's different but it works well. Can see the welds and how the
cables and wires will go down the rear legs to a mating chase under the deck on both sides.It was designed to house teleflex
without binding the cable.A seat will slide under the front with a removeable backrest for a buddy. Also,it will fit on the
raised deck for fishing.
Since these pictures ,I have finished decking the fore/aft raised decks and the partition stiles for
the 3 bifold hatches that run up the center of the main floor deck.I did it this way so it would be easy to dry out the bilge
and to keep the drain(limber) holes clear from leaves or whatever. This will make it easy to maintain after fishing trips
and to make sure no water stays in the boat. I have designed a hidden cleat system to keep the hatches in place. Will post
more pictures when it is done.
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