Today was a hodgepodge of activities. I began the morning lacing the leathers on the new oars I received recently. The lacing process was made more difficult by very confusing directions that came with the oar leather "kit". For instance, measuring distances from the "top" of the oar begs the question, "Which end is the top?" It is also unhelpful to say the seam should lie "parallel" to the blade, since a seam in any position around the 360 degrees of the loom (or shaft) of the oar could be said to be parallel. But finally, after cutting the leather to size, meticulously marking and punching holes, and laboriously stitching the leather around the oar, I was satisfied with the result. After about two hour work (which I wont count against the boat building total) I completed one oar.
I then went outside to enjoy another sunny warm midwinter day. Todays task was to trim the strakes at each transom. With careful use of a Japanese (flush cut) saw, and a belt sander with 80-grit paper, the strake overhangs were brought flush with the transoms. Further sanding with 120-grit paper in an orbital palm sander finished the ends nicely. There are a couple of small gaps between the strakes and the transoms that will need to be filled in with thickened epoxy. But all is ready for the next step; the glassing of the interior. Total hours 41.00.
Several little things got done today. The biggest job was to finish the rub rails: The ends were trimmed and shaped, and then the two layers of the rail were sanded down into one smooth rail. At that point, the edges on top and underneath were shaped with the router and 1/4" roundover bit. After that, the fitting of a few last items could be done. The oarlock risers, little tapered blocks of wood to which the bronze oarlock sockets will be mounted, were epoxied to the rubrails with cabo-sil thickened epoxy. There are two rowing stations on the Passagemaker dinghy, and so the two pairs of risers are mounted 14" aft of the midships bulkhead, and 12" aft of the forward bulkhead. The motor pads edges were rounded off with the router and it was then mounted on the stern transom. Finally, the bow and stern transom knees were "tack-welded" in place. The bow knee required some work, as the angle between the bow seat and transom was slightly smaller than what the knee was cut for. A little sanding and router edging prepared the knees for tack welding, which is to say, cabo-sil epoxy on the edge surface of the knees to hold them in place. They were made plumb and square, and taped to hold them in place while the epoxy cured. Once cured, a peanut-butter epoxy fillet will be applied around each one. Total hours 72.75.
Tonights tasks included the joining of the scarf joint for the bottom panel, and the bonding of the doubler to the stern transom. The bottom panel went well, after all the practice doing the same thing to the side strakes. It is just a little wider joint, and required care to get the two panels aligned and centered. With a string line, I measured the center down each panel to keep it straight.
Though I hadnt planned to do it, I had enough Cabo-sil thickened epoxy left over that I quickly did the reinforcing doubler on the stern transom. The parts are very accurately cut, and it was a quick deal to coat them, align, and clamp them together. I will later round the lower border of the doubler; it will give me a chance to try out my new router. Everything was then covered by a light sheet of plastic. With the heavy rain we had today, when the garage door is opened later tonight and tomorrow morning, water can drip on the bare wood and leave spots. Total hours 10.50.
The bulkheads and seat parts got a good sanding with 120-grit paper, and then a second coat of epoxy. The long list of tasks to complete before I can start assembling, or stitching, the hull is finally starting to dwindle down. Unusually cold temperatures have persisted in central Alabama, so I put a radiator style space heater in the garage in an effort to speed the epoxy curing. The epoxy itself isnt volatile, and the heater is away from any clutter, so I think it will be safe. Ill keep a close eye on it, just to be sure. The experiment here is to see if a 1500-watt heater has enough power to change the temperature in a fairly large two car garage. Total hours 14.75.
Just ahead of a possible rare snowfall in the Birmingham area, I finished the job of glassing the interior of the boat. The first step was to apply a fillet of wood flour-thickened epoxy to the joint between the bottom panel and the first strake. This filled the gap that existed in some spots, and also created a smooth radius to accommodate the glass cloth. This had to be done carefully and neatly, since it will be visible underneath the cloth and the bright (varnished) finish that will be used in the interior. With the fillet freshly applied, the cloth was laid over the bottom and first side panel and wrinkles were smoothed. At the beam, the cloth is just wide enough to cover. At this point, the unthickened epoxy was mixed, poured, and carefully spread and worked into the cloth. Wrinkles and bubbles were worked out, and the result was satisfactory. I found that I had to keep a watchful eye especially on the joints and stitch holes, as new air bubbles kept appearing underneath the cloth. These are easily removed, but more kept appearing for an hour or so before everything became saturated. In a couple of hours, the epoxy will reach gel stage, and the excess cloth can be trimmed off, as before on the exterior. The third photo below below shows a closer view of the fillet and glassed bottom. For a novice, a decent job. Total hours 46.25.
