Glassing!

Today I got around to getting the port hull forward deck glassed. I wanted to start the starboard hull, but we have a large cold front coming through, and the rain was starting to fall as I finished up the port section. As can be seen in the photo, I have a couple of bubbles where I couldn't get the glass to smooth down. The upper deck stringers are a little larger than the plans suggested for a solid foothold while bouncing around, and it was a bit ambitious to hope that everything would lay smooth. It's no big deal though; I'll sand the area out tomorrow and put a couple of patches over the spots and have everything covered. This was the largest area I've ever glassed at one time, and I think it went ok. Unfortunately it's supposed to be super cold for the next few days, so I'll have to wait to try again. I'm planning to glass around the sheer stringers with both the deck glass layer and the topsides layer to have nice protection around the impact areas.

So many fillets!

Forgive me for not posting more these past few weeks, but the work has consisted of small details that don't really show. I have finished all of the cabin top fillets along with small fillets along the stem and skegs and the upper deck stringers. I guess it should go without saying that I'm really tired of fillets and have been putting them off for a while. Once I started them, I got a good system going that actually made the whole process enjoyable. This should help a ton with doing the beam fillets! I've also gotten all of the hatch coaming pieces cut out and ready to go after coating. I plan on sanding the fillets smooth tomorrow and finishing the day with a first coat of epoxy in preparation for glassing on Monday. It's finally coming together! I also cut out holes to fill with epoxy on the rudders to keep the lashings from touching bare wood and cut out the notches for the tillers.


For anyone interested in easy fillet making:


Mix 3 oz epoxy
Mix in 3/4 cup silica and 3/4 cup wood flour
Place a zip loc bag in a plastic cup
Scrape fillet mix into bag
Twist up bag like you would for cake icing
Cut a small hole in one corner of bag
Apply and use a radius tool to make a smooth fillet