Today has been one of those cold, rainy January days that make me remember why I want a boat bad enough to go through all the work and expense of building one. It's times like these that one forgets the sunburn, sweltering humidity, and the mosquitoes and sandflies of the tropics and remembers only the bright sun and clear warm waters. But just when I want it the most, boatbuilding slows to a crawl in weather like this that makes working with epoxy so difficult. It seems we've had more cold and rain this winter than last, but then again I wasn't yet building this time last year. Next week, the 24th will mark the anniversary of the beginning and my first post on this blog. Although a calendar year has nearly passed, I've actually been at the project for about 9 months when I deduct the weeks spent working in Florida in 2007. I feel that for time invested, I'm making good progress, and look forward to really closing in on the major construction phases of the boat as soon as warmer weather returns.
One of the few signs of progress I've been able to make this week is shown above, on the crossbeams, to which I've now fitted and glued the vertical webs that will support the front fairings. There is more filleting work to be done on these webs to strengthen them, but gluing them in place was a snap with the industrial strength Superglue I mentioned in my previous post about building the galley sink.
I've also done some more work on the jib sail kit, though not this week as I did not bring the sewing machine and that project with me to Jackson. I'll get back to it in a day or two, but the leech edge complete with leech line and cleats is finished, as is the foot. I'm now working on the luff sleeve that will incorporate the wire luff. After that is complete, the rest is mostly handwork, putting in the grommets and hanks and reinforcing the corners with leather.
No comments:
Post a Comment