I didn't get careless trimming the cabin decking, the stupid ball bearing guide on the flush trim router bit came off and the bit trimmed right into the cabin wall. I guess that's what epoxy mixed with microballoon filler is meant for. Except for the companionway hood, gluing the rubrails in place, and putting the mast together the boat is essentially built. Well except for all the fiberglassing, painting, and just a LITTLE bit of sanding. I'm still aiming for a fall launch and when I start fiberglassing the cockpit and topsides next week I will have a better idea how realistic my goal is. The photos show the results of today's sanding of the topsides in preparation for fiberglassing next week. I still have some holes and nicks to fill in and sanding of the fillets in the cockpit. I have been filling in the small holes from the stitches and brad nails even though I have read that the fiberglassing process "magically" fills the holes in with epoxy.With all the sanding I have done lately I have discovered another law of boat building. The wind never blows sawdust and other crap out of the garage but only into the garage. Before I start painting I have resolved myself to the fact that I will probably have to empty out the garage so that I can do a thorough vacuuming before starting any painting. I vacuum almost every day but stuff stored in the garage is accumulating a layer of dust.
12 comments:
Wow. Get the rigging up! You should name it "Happy Adventure" :)
Looking great. We're enjoying the progress reports. On CLC's Facebook and Twitter sites I linked to your site and three other blogs showing PocketShips under way.
You have a concrete floor. A trick we use here in our VERY dusty shop is to get about an eighth-inch of water standing on the floor around the boat. Really knocks down the dust.
I would get the rigging out but I still haven't ordered all of it yet. I'll ask my first mate about "Happy Adventure" as a name after she reads the book.
I had heard about spraying the floor with water before painting or varnishing and probably will do so. Actually it has been so wet here this summer I'm sure if I just leave the garage door open I could easily get more than 1/8 inch of water into the garage.
You are the most even tempered person.
If that happened to me, a router would take flight, followed by a stream of expletives and a ripping of the space/time fabric.
Clearly, boat building isn't for me ;-)
There was a fair bit of @3$%&!@!, it just didn't make it into the blog a few days later. The boat building positives have greatly outweighed the few little negatives. A quick little patching job has fixed up the gouge fine and it will be unnoticeable under the paint.
Looks fantastic!
Thanks for the compliments. I am very pleased with how the boat is shaping up so far but I think a lot of that has to do with the fine lines of Pocketship and not necessarily my boat building skills. I promise a topsides fiberglassing update soon.
You may yet inspire me to build a boat. I really appreciate your blog.
You might get as much enjoyment from this story as I did:
http://www.riverearth.com/seabird/2002_12_01_archive.html
I don't think I will be circumnavigating in my Pocketship. The link to the blog is very interesting. The photo of the boat hanging from the apartment is amazing; and I thought I was cramped for building space!.
Boat's looking great, Dave.
I've read through the construction manual a few of times. I think what worries me most is that the hull has to be turned over twice. The manual even mentions the possibility of pysical injury or damage to the boat. I'm not sure which is worse. :) I figure the safest way to turn the hull over is when nobody else is around, with the aid of tires, a couple of car jacks and wooden braces. This way at least I won't be risking the boat dropping on someone's big toe.
If all goes well, I hope to start construction in October/November.
I should be close to my first hull turning in the next couple of weeks. My single garage is not big enough to do a turn as shown in the manual so my plan is to have several ( 8 to 10) neighbours and friends over and carry my boat out of the garage, roll over on the lawn carefully, and carry it back into the garage. On the second hull turning we'll repeat the process and place the boat on the trailer for the topsides sanding and painting and rigging. Stay tuned to find out how it all plays out.
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