My Other Workshop

This is my other workshop where I'll be making lots of the small parts for Element II, such as the crossbeams, tillers, gaff, and possibly the cockpit. This is at my girlfriend's house where I spend at least half my time, and it's just over an hour's drive from the building shed where I will be assembling the hulls. Splitting the work up like this will allow me to put the maximum amount of time into the project each week, as I can work on it at odd hours in whichever location. That's one of the advantages of building a multihull like a Wharram catamaran; there are so many individual components that can be built and even finished to the final paint stage before being needed as part of the complete boat.

This shop is in an enclosed garage and is well lighted. This is good for working in inclement weather and at night, but not so good for building a complete boat, even if it was big enough. I prefer to do assembly, fiberglassing and especially sanding in an open shed with a dirt floor. Excess epoxy and fillers are not a worry, and the sanding dust doesn't cover everything like it does in an enclosed shop. The shed I'll build the hulls in has two closed sides (on the northeast corner) and two open sides to let in natural light and air. Here in Mississippi there are not too many days that are too cold to work, but I'll use more fast hardener with the epoxy in winter months.

Having this garage shop is available is also good for storing finished parts and extra plywood that will be needed later. Yesterday I moved the remaining sheets from my first plywood purchase to the garage, and today I spent the afternoon organizing my workspace and preparing for the next step: laying out and cutting the bulkheads. I'll cut and coat them here, as well as install the bunk and deck bearers before taking them to the shed where the hull parts will be coated and assembled. I've split my first order epoxy order of 15 gallons in half, so I have epoxy and all the mixing and application tools and supplies in each location. Handheld power tools and hand tools travel with me in my truck as I bounce back and forth between locations. I'll also be doing carpentry work for paying customers near both locations, so I have to have a mobile setup.