Boat construction hasn't stopped, I've just been stalled on sanding all the fillets in the hull and getting rid of the bad epoxy coat on the side panels (see last post). I think my sanding has reached the the point where the Law of Diminishing Returns applies. I could keep on sanding to achieve absolutely perfect fillets but the amount of time required probably just isn't worth it for the difference achieved. I'm a pragmatist and have decided that the fillets are smooth enough to apply the fiberglass especially since the majority of the fillets are never going to see the light of day again once the boat is finished. I am still going to touch up some of the fillets that will be visible in the cabin. Just out of curiosity I put a site meter on this blog a few weeks ago to see how many visits it gets per day. It appears that there are actually people besides my son in Australia who read my drivel. I won't mention that from the IP addresses it appears some people are reading this blog while at work :-)
Since there are people who take this serious I guess I should try to be helpful for other first time boat builders.
Official tip #1 is you cannot be too careful doing neat fillets. Trust me you will save yourself a lot of unpleasant sanding. I have had some really nice fillets that required basically no sanding and I have some fillets from hell created in the early stages of my fillet making learning curve. But then I am also the kid who was always gluing his fingers together when making model airplanes.
This last photo shows the brass deadlights (they are not portholes because they do not open) I just received from greenboatstuff.com. It is one of the little customizing details I am doing. I thought it would be a nice feature instead of the plain acrylic ones in the plans. One of the deadlights arrived with a crack, but within an hour the company had responded to my email and is simply sending me a new one.
5 comments:
Just took delivery of the plans in Vancouver BC. Thanks much for your blog, its very helpful!
Enjoy your plans. You cannot read them too often in order to get a real good sense of what the whole project is about.
I appreciate your kind words about the blog. Even though I taught Computer Science and Computer Applications for almost 25 years I never really saw a reason to create a web page or blog. I didn't want to write one of those all too common vanity blogs that simply tell you stuff like I made tomato soup and tuna sandwiches for supper today. This blog, I hope does what I preached to my students; if you are going to create a website then make sure you have decided on an audience for it.
Dave
I didn't want to write one of those all too common vanity blogs that simply tell you stuff like I made tomato soup and tuna sandwiches for supper today. - that's what Twitter is for.
This blog, I hope does what I preached to my students; if you are going to create a website then make sure you have decided on an audience for it. - I hope you like my website: UsedWinnipeg.com, I'm one of the founders.
Even though I taught Computer Science... - Not Red River College I assume. My business partner went there.
Sorry for polluting your comments but I don't know your email address.
- don(dot)barthelatgmail(dot)com
Hey... I think I am number 11 on your list of followers. I just came across the Pocket Ship about a month ago. I had plans for the Weekender, but it was just not big enough for me. Anyway, I found your blog, and have enjoyed reading it. Keep the photos coming! I hope to take the plunge soon enough. I live just minutes from North Carolina's Pamlico Sound... so I am foaming at the mouth to get one in the water... Again... thanks for the excellent blog.
I seriously looked at the Weekender but decided it was too flat bottomed to handle the frequent chop I will encounter on Lake Winnipeg. The Pocketship lines also appealed to me a lot more than many of the older styler pocket cruisers out there.
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