Glassing the exterior ...... 31 and 1/2 hours and counting

 

In the plastic tent, heater on and three 150 watt light bulbs heats the "shop" to a cozy 65 degrees when it is 30 degrees outside.  It should cure in 24 to 36 hours.    

Glassed and epoxied in 3 and 1/2 hours.  Process was straight forward and no surprises.  Builder only slightly goofy after sniffing fumes for 3 plus hours!! 

Laying out the 4 oz glass cloth was easier than I thought.

Sanding, I love sanding.  Sure glad I hooked the sander up to my shop vac.  My eye glasses were still clear enough to see after an hour of sanding...not the case prior to hooking up the shop vac!!

Interior has second coat of epoxy, ready to flip the boat and start glassing the exterior

23 hours of work so far

Interior is tacked with an epoxy wood flower mix

pulled out copper wire stitches and masked seams to be filleted to keep them neat.

interior filleted, taped and epoxyed

a 6 hour project to remove stitches, fillet, tape amd epoxy the interior and lay in 58 inches of cloth to reinforce the cockpit area

stern after tacking and one application of fillet

taped and filleted and epoxyed stern

bow is filleted, taped and epoxyed

lots of stitches to get the stern and small transom to come together.  Had to spray with water to get the plywood to soften up.

hull and bulkheads stitched together with copper wire!!

side and bottom panels and bulkheads ready to put together

sander and respirator worked good!!

useful tools:  thermometer, clamps, block plane, tape measure, and pencil with eraser!!! 

The boxes arrive and my shop begins to take shape

 my fancy boat shop, 2 used interior doors make up my work bench

 The boxes of parts, lots of parts...................................

 The manual...............and more parts.

 The first glue job and my helper Axel, number 1 Grandson!!!

Axel rides on the kayak first!

Getting "Hooked"

I made a trip to Annapolis on Oct 20th for the last demo day of the season.  Chesapeake Light Craft has a showroom, shop and classroom in Annapolis, MD.  This was the last demo day of the season AND they had their once a year sale of kits and building and finishing supplies.


 I spent the morning looking at boats, talking to employees, and watching a class in session.  The "hook" was almost set!  I then spent the mid-day touring the Naval Academy.   A Great tour of a beautiful and historic campus.  At 5pm I met Joey Schott of CLC(Chesapeake Light Craft) at Pier 7 for the demo.  After the demo the hook was set and they were reeling me in!  The demo was very worthwhile.  I thought I wanted one boat(mill creek 13) prior to the demo.  After the demo I decided on the Wood Duck 12 Hybrid.  Paddles great and looks great!!