Today I finished up applying glass tape to all of the bulkhead fillets, and I cut out the forward and aft decks. Grace worked on filling in the stem and skeg with fillet material. We are on the way out to a movie right now, so I don't have time to write much. I will note that we were all ready to go bouldering at Moore's Wall tomorrow, but rain has come into the region and completely laid waste to our excitement and plans..........

We could have been crushing (or attempting to) here   :(

I didn't get anything done on the boat today, but we did get another shipment of rigging in the mail.

• Main Sheet and Halyards (Green)
• Jib Sheets and Halyard (White)
• Traveller (Black)
• Traveller Control Lines (Black and White)
• Downhaul
• Deck Cleats for Sea Anchor/Anchoring from Forward Beam
• Deck Cleats for Stern Deck (Drogue Deployment)
• Harken Swivel Cam Cleat for Mainsheet

Well I almost made it! I forgot that I hadn't added the backing pads for the forward beam and shroud lashing pad yet, so I have six fillets left to do. These will be easy though. Grace's brother is in town and managed to loft up the decks for the port hull today.

Today I applied glass tape to the bunk fillets in the port hull. I'm using the method Scott Williams used on Element II for the taping, since I didn't want a massive 3" wide piece of tape on small bunk fillets. You simply mask out the size you want the finished product to be with blue painters tape. Then, you apply the tape. Once the epoxy has cured for an hour or so and it is somewhat difficult to pull up the tape, you cut right inside the painter's tape line and peel away all of the excess. It makes for a nice, clean outline. I also glued in all of the diagonal stiffeners in the starboard hull, and tomorrow, hold your breath, I will finish out all of the bulkhead fillets in it.

Tape and Excess Peeled away. Tomorrow I will apply a filler coat to fill in the weave of the cloth.

Well the weather is finally starting to warm up! I have filleted all of the bunks, top and bottom, on the port hull. Getting underneath and applying fillets to the bunks' undersides was a bit of a pain, but I used the zip lock bag method and it worked out pretty well. I mix the fillet material (microfibres, silica, and wood flour) and then scoop it into a ziplock bag, keeping it all in one of the corners of the bag. Then I squeeze the air out and twist up the bag and cut a hole in the corner. I then essentially have a cake icing setup, which allows easy and even flow of the epoxy into tight corners whilst bent over the hull and looking into a dark bilge. The use of a flashlight to help light up the working area proved quite helpful as well. I plan on glass taping all of the fillets tomorrow, and installing the diagonal stiffeners in the starboard hull as well. I really want to be ready for decks by the first of April. If this warm weather holds up, it shouldn't be a problem at all.

All nice and filleted. I really like the hue of the wood flour compared to our plywood.

We also got in our first shipment of rigging. Today I received:

Traveller Control Line Clam Cleats and Block

Swage Tool

Downhaul Clam Cleat

Jib Sheet Cleats and Blocks (One Block was Shipped Seperately)

Jib Halyard Block and Cleat (Black Horn)

Main Sail Blocks and Snaphook

Main Halyard Blocks and Cleats

Tillers and Beams

I got both of the tillers glued up. The curve between the two is identical, but I experienced about an inch and a half of spring back when I released the clamps. This shouldn't be a problem, though. The tillers are curved to enable Ackerman Differential Steering. Basically, like a car, the other hull will need to travel faster than the inner hull when turning, and the differential steering allows the rudders to turn at seperate degrees. The inner rudder will be turned less and the outer more in order for the outer hull to spin around faster and catch up. I have also started up the installation of the beam compression struts. The tillers will undergo extensive sanding and shaping in a short while. Here are some pictures.

Small Projects

I wasn't able to get any work done on the boat over the past two weeks, because I was out of town for some work stuff. The good news is that the two week break got me amped up to start building hard again. I have decided to stop working on the hulls for a bit because I want it to get a little warmer out, and I'm also kind of burnt out on them for right now. This short time will also allow me to get some of the smaller parts done for later on. That way, when the hulls become complete, I can go sailing and not have to worry about making the tillers, tiller bar, gaff, beams, etc etc etc. Two finished hulls should mean ready to roll in my book. This week I'm working on the tillers, tiller bar, and gaff. I spent a laborious day ripping all of these pieces out of 2x6 Douglas Fir boards. Needless to say, the diabolical table saw and I had a few altercations that ended in it getting kicked a bunch and even thrust onto it's side. The problem is that the fence on  my circa 1991 table saw is a POS. It is old and rusty, and it moves because it doesn't clamp down properly. Today I had a revelation, however, and decided to use the 2x10x4' long piece of Mahogany as a fence. It clamped down so beautifully, and it held tight, not even trying to budge while board after board walked past. It was as if the mahogany was shouting thank you for bringing it out of the dim, dark closet and into the bright, warm sun outside. Needless to say, the mahogany will be my fence from now on until it has to itself be cut down into miscellaneous parts. Anyways, I ripped the tillers, tiller bars, gaff, and lumber for the beam compression struts, as well as making the spacers for the tillers. I will glue up the tillers and tiller bar tomorrow, and start working on the gaff. I am hoping to have all three complete (minus coating and shaping) by Friday night. After these are done, I'm going to jump into the beams and knock them out. Hopefully after that I will be refreshed and ready to knock out the hulls and fair and sand and paint and assemble and make trailer and rig and......................etc.

All the pieces clamped for rough idea. Tillers will be forced to curve ten inches when actually glued.