Epoxy Work

Today I sanded all of the bunk removable sections and beam lashing pads down to 120 grit. I also worked on some of the small windvane pieces, mainly the brackets that will hold the vane to the base. The plans call for a 1/4" hole to put a bolt through, so I cut out 1/2" holes and filled them all with thickened epoxy in order to seal the wood once I go back and cut out the planned 1/4" ones. This is the same thing I have done with the rudder lashing areas and most anywhere that will see a bolt coming through the wood. I also made some mini fillets (cosmetic) on the wind vane base and the vane itself. Once the holes are hardened up and re-drilled I will be able to finish putting everything together and ready for paint! I should be done with all of these small pieces by the end of the week and ready to start on the crossbeams and miles and miles of fillets.........not stoked. The upside is that once it warms up again, I will just have to glass the hulls, paint, rig, and take off!

Apartment Life

I'm staying with my girlfriend in Birmingham over the Winter, so I have brought along some small parts to work on in the mean time while Beto rests up in her cold, dark storage unit. I have the beam lashing pads, rudders, tillers, wind vane, and bunk removable sections here to finish up and coat. I plan to take everything back and bring beams and gaff to finish in February. Then I'll just have to glass the hulls, paint, and rig!

Loaded Up for Winter Work

My Toy Shed

Rudders Took Forever to Shape! Lashing pads are shaped and will be coated over the weekend

Update

I pulled Beto out of storage to give her some air today. As one can see in the photos, the telescoping trailer works, and the forward decks have been glassed. I taught my girlfriend to apply glass and use power sanders, so I hope to be putting her to work when I start back! In the second photo our 10" ventilation hatches for the cabins can be seen. All of the upper decks have been coated with epoxy and are ready for glass. I just have to wait for the weather now!

Things that are left to do:

• Varnish cabins
• Install anchor locker hatch coamings and make hatches
• Glass hulls and Rudders
• Finish Crossbeams
• Install main hatch coamings and build hatches
• Fill glass and Fair
• Paint Everything
• Rig
• Sail!

It seems like a lot to do when listed out here, but I should definitely be in the water sometime in the month of May.

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

Fillets!

Well I have been avoiding the interior cabin top and hull to deck joint fillets like the plague for a while now. Something about epoxy icing in a zip lock bag while inside a cramped Tiki 21 hull with little room to maneuver seems like a terrible proposition! With the cool Fall weather, though, I started in on them today. Much to my surprise and despite not touching epoxy for the past ten months, the process went really smoothly. The starboard hull is done on the inside except for the anchor locker. I plan on knocking the rest out and the port hull in the morning while it's still cool. I have also sanded the decks down and faired in the miscellaneous stitch holes and started fairing the cabin top to deck joint for a nice rounded edge. She's starting to get a little bit sexier!

 

I stuffed the spinnaker and life jackets in the vent hatch holes to mitigate sanding dust intrusion.

Back in the US!

Well I finally made it back, and brought Beto out for a little sunbathing today. Plans are to start back on her on Monday. Stoked!