95 Degrees in the Shade

Summer is here in Mississippi and it's hot. I put in a good nine hours today, just breaking past the 200 hour mark in the total build time. Most of the time today was spent sanding. This is not the most exciting part of boatbuilding but it has to get done. I'm still working on fairing the exterior of the port hull, endlessly filling and sanding, and filling and sanding some more to get smooth transitions between the panels so that when the hull is painted it will look consistant and well-shaped. As I work on areas like the stem and the fillet between the bottom edge of the upper stringer and the hull, I'm also working on more reinforcing cloth on the keel. Shown below is the second layer of glass cloth on the keel. This is an 8-inch wide strip that overlaps the previous 6-inch wide laminate. The first photo shows it as it is draped on dry, with the blue masking tape in place to aid in cutting a straight line after it is partially cured.

In the photo below the same cloth is now fully wetted out with epoxy and ready to be trimmed just inside the tape line. The leading edge of the skeg is getting extra cloth, as will the stempost.

In the photo below the tape has now been removed and a second layer of epoxy applied. I'm still working on the stem but hope to get a layer of cloth on it tomorrow. In the background you can see my other project on the workbench. This is the first lower hullside assembly for the starboard hull. The buttblocks are held on with temporary screws going right into the bench with plastic sheeting in between to keep from glueing the panel to it. The clamps are holding the stringer that goes on the upper edge of the hullside. This assembly was cured when I quit for the day, and the panels for the other hullside are laid out on the bench waiting for assembly in the morning.