Sandy Bottoms

The last few days have been a blur with many lost hours sanding and re-sanding this enormous boat.  There hasn't been much of an update on this because the incremental progress doesn't translate well to photos or writing or mental health.

Since the big fiberglass episode of 2020, I've sanded the whole hull down to a dull grey, as described.  The manual describes "a full day" could be dedicated to sanding the hull, but it was really more than a week, 2-3 hours a session.  I simply don't have the stamina or the patience to dedicate more than that.  But it got done partly with the help of podcasts.

As a side note, I never really got into podcasts.  I'm the perfect demographic for it, but as a hyper-visual learner, the idea of listening instead of reading never really appealed to me.  Faced with the hours-long choice of the shopvac or the dulcet tones of a journalist or storyteller and maybe learning something, I opted for the latter.

I started with Serial: Season One (the one that really started it all); NASA We Have a Podcast; 1619; The Sultanate (a podcast from an expat in Oman where I will be moving this fall); Every Little Thing; and a couple others.  It really makes the sanding just a bit more enjoyable, and I feel like I've entered a new realm of cultural awareness.  Don't get me wrong -- sanding still sucks, and I'm not listening to podcasts when I'm not sanding, but it is a much better enterprise.  To put the hours in perspective, I finished Serial: Season One and at least a couple dozen sessions of the others during this sanding effort.  Gird your loins, fellas!

Here's the start of it with about a third of one side done sanded down.  This took about 3 hours.  I used 80 grit to get the first stuff down and went over it again with 120 where needed.

 

After awhile, I moved to the topsides and got as far as this before putting down the Bosch and thinking about actually sailing.

Luckily, Chris, a fellow PocketShip builder who lives in the area asked if I wanted to go for a run.  And how!  So after a couple scheduling stops and starts, we were off on a spirited day on Lake Waconia, getting back just ahead of sunset, but not after a great dinner at a lakeside restaurant.

I promised not to pepper Chris with too many questions, but I was just getting back into the flow of things and needed answers.  He was more than happy to oblige, as always, and I'm grateful to call him a friend and source of motivation.  His boat still looks amazing after almost 10 years.

I still had the beast in the garage to deal with, along with a couple logistical problems.  The first was to deal with the various layers.  While sanding, these layers become exposed as lines which are actually small depressions where two layers meet up.  It can be difficult to sand these down well because it's easy to burn too deeply through a layer of glass.  I knew this would be the tradeoff between a horizontal 'glassing job (where you take the 'glass and spread it aft-forward instead of across the beam) so I wasn't surprised to see it.  There's also a risk that the painting will not be entirely uniform over these areas.  Time will tell.

One area that did surprise me was this fenced area on the port side.  For some reason the epoxy here was really light.  A quick rub with the sander exposed fiberglass layers and a sheen underneath.  I can only conclude that I didn't apply a second or third layer here -- and this was only really discovered after sanding it down a bit.

So, out came the epoxy and a couple wasted hours!  This of course needed to be sanded down again, along with a couple small patches because why not.

Meanwhile, I was thinking about how to level the keel.  It's kind of tough to see from the above photo but I spent a couple days figuring this out.  I have a much bigger garage than I did when I started this (I literally moved next door a few years ago) but a much smaller house.  That meant stuff wound up in the garage and in practice my workspace is much smaller.

 

I used a couple small 2-ton jacks and jackstands I was going to return to Amazon to flatten the keel.  The tradeoff was I couldn't use the furniture dollies as I couldn't get the bow high enough to level it out.  After a few hours over a couple days, here is the result:

The angle of the photo is actually a bit off.  The middle bubble is centered and the boat lies flat.  The photo reminds me of a little spaceship hovering over the grey landscape of a moon.  Of course, just after this photo, I bumped the keel and the spaceship fell off and disappeared into the garage.  I still haven't found it.  Whatever.  Onto painting!

Transom Fiberglass Fun

The book states (paraphrasing) that when you're 'glassing the transom, the end is in sight.  Well, behold my end!  This one is a bit darker though not any less shiny. 

I plan to keep this bright except for some trim around the edges.  The trim will be about the width of the rub rails all around.  I wish I could keep the whole thing bright but I had to glob up some filler for some of the corners at the transom skirt back in the day.  The rest of it is really pretty.  I think it's sapele if I remember right, real wood not the marine ply, so its rich hues shine through.  I've been researching marine decal makers so we'll see how that goes.

It does feel pretty good to get this done as I wasn't sure how to pull this off, given the transom has been sitting on a couple tires for about 5 years with nothing supporting it otherwise.  So, a visit to a generic hardware store and $40 later got me two small jacks which I used to lift the end enough to gain access to the transom skirt.  I used a couple small boards of padauk to protect the boat from the jack.  They're also both on furniture dollies so I can move the boat around if needed.

As I write that last sentence, I have glossed over the sheer terror I felt when I was underneath this 1,000lb object with nothing supporting it except the two generic jacks.  An inadvertent kick and I'd be a pancake, or at least trapped in the cockpit.  No kidding -- I checked to be sure I had my phone just in case.  I think I'll visit a big box store tomorrow to get a couple cinderblocks for more permanent and safer support.

But with the boat off the ground I also noticed a potential problem.  Years ago, I fixed a mis-measure at the companionway entrance, and right in the same spot where it's been sitting on a tire for awhile the entrance is bowed a bit, bending in towards the cabin.  I'm not sure how I'd go about fixing this;  I'm hoping that now that it's relieved of pressure it'll reshape itself.  It's not that bad, but it's noticeable, at least to my eye.  Nothing I can do about it now except to continue with the bottoms up part of the build.  When I re-flip it I'll be able to see how bad it is.  In the meantime, the support point is now the anchor locker which is a far better place for it to be.

With no way to fix that, I went ahead and did the transom.  I was able to get some 'glass on the transom skirt at the same time, bringing the 'glass around the bend a few inches up.  This wasn't easy to do and I almost regretted the effort as I could've just stopped at the bend and sanded it clean later.  But I figured I'd give it a try.  I had to cut a small dart right in the  middle but otherwise it wasn't too bad and it'll be a good strong joint when I double this up on the flip.  I was also able to double up on the sides, too, and got those down.  Without breaking my arm too much, I've got the 'glass thing down pretty well by now -- just in time not to ever have to do it again.

With some extra epoxy on the cup, I also dropped a couple strips of 6oz 'glass where the transom meets the bottom of the hull.  I'll add a couple strips on either side of those once they cure.  I was also able to finish most of the reinforcements around the chine, keel, and bow.  Here's a section where two bits of 6oz 'glass meet.  There's another 4 layers of 4oz 'glass underneath this so I feel pretty good about the strength here.  Except for maybe a bulky look when painting I don't think you can go wrong with too many reinforcements.

One challenge I had with all the thin strips of 6oz 'glass was figuring out how to lay the frog tape as I couldn't get the width just right as the keel and everything else changes shape over its length.  I was eyeballing it most of the time and then realized that I could just use a small bit of it and have an actual size template against which to place the tape.  Wow, wish I noticed that earlier as it would've saved a few yards of tape.  So now I can just run this little guy along the tape and see if I sized it right.

I'm aiming to get all the 'glass work done in a couple days so I can start with the epoxy layers, but I'll need more epoxy to do that, so CLC gets my credit card again.  Pouring money into a boat I may not even get to sail is really depressing!

Step Back and Admire Your Nearly Completed Hull - Again

I've used this title before, way back when I'd just completed stitching the hull together.  It's hard to believe we're pushing 7 years ago at this point but who's counting.

I finished up my third week of training today and am full up on government fiscal data codes.  The joys of 500-19___y1130000-WHA-5789-5789yy310001-2112-3124!  Luckily I had help on the exam today.  Meet Twix, my familiar.  Working from home isn't too bad.

In between bouts of 'glass I'm trying to get my garage in order.  We have a relative who rents from us who by and large keeps the house in great condition but the garage is just an overflow of... I'm not really sure what's in there.  So after a visit to a big box store who gladly accepted my $200, plus 3 hours of finger-breaking work, I got some shelving units to try to organize this insanity.

That's the easy part.  The hard part will be to actually downsize this stuff through any means necessary.  And of course there's still the other 3 corners of the garage to deal with here.

Speaking of corners, I sized out the 6oz 'glass that'll run along the chine.  This lays over a well-cured 4oz section.  One issue I didn't anticipate is the 6oz doesn't really cover up a lot.  It's only about 4 inches wide and only about 3.5" of that is usable.  Throw down some frog tape as a border and you're basically at 2.5" which is barely enough to do anything.  Yes, size matters!

It took a lot of finesse to get this right, more than I expected, which is par for the course by now.  I was also surprised how much epoxy the 6oz took over the 4oz.  It's easily double, maybe even triple the amount, to fully get this down.

That's a little cause for concern as I'm running through my MAS epoxy pretty quickly and I really, really don't want to spend more money on more epoxy.  Not only do I still have to do the transom, I still have to "fill the weave" for the entire hull and the cockpit.  But I really don't have a choice as I want a strong, secure boat, and the best way to do that is to add reasonable 'glass where it's needed most.

Speaking of reinforcements, here's another section, another 3 feet or so.   I'd originally planned to run one long, continuous chine but it will be far easier to do this in small sections over time.  There will be a small area of about 4 inches along the chine which will not have 4 layers, just 3, but I'll call that OK.  (Note: the 4 layers are from overlapping 'glass during the initial 'glassing, plus the chine reinforcement, plus the 6oz strip.)  I had this prepped to take any extra epoxy after finishing up the bow.

What's that?  Finishing the bow?  Indeed -- behold, the last of the big 'glassworks!  (minus that annoying triangular area again.)

It really is the last of it as any 'glass from here will be touchup work and wherever I need or want some extra reinforcements.  Of course this isn't the last 'glass I'll do.  It's a wooden boat after all, so I expect to do a lot as long as I own the thing.  But no more 24 square feet to wet out before my cup melts in my hand.

The Slog -- 'glassing the hull (again)

Another late night in the garage, but not exactly because of boatbuilding.  I got started late as we had some friends over and figured I should sober up before handling gallons of epoxy.  GUI ('glassing under the influence) is a big no no though not necessarily illegal.

Luckily, before imbibing, I cut out the 12" lengths that'll run along the chine as reinforcements and set them aside. 

A test showed a decent fit, so down went the frog tape.

Much later, I cut then laid out the 'glass for the forward section of the hull.  This defeated me last time so I was not going to repeat the same mistakes.  Instead of trying to finagle a bad epoxy job by the keel nose, I cut a lot of the 'glass away and will deal with it later.  This shows the layup before the surgery where I removed the triangle area.

About an hour later, here is the finished product.  Note the small touchup square a little south of the main part.  There are a few of these low spots I'm fixing as I find them.

The main side looks sleek in the garage light.

Here is the area I'll try to tackle in the next day or so.  Just forward of the new stuff is the triangular patch I'll have to rework as the 'glass won't reach from the bow here.  It's due to the geometry of the hull and people far smarter than me can probably figure out the math.  I just know it doesn't fit.

This is the keel nose where I cut away the 'glass and did not run it up the sides, but I wound up epoxying down some tape.  Luckily, I've done this a few times before and can deal with it by now.

A very (very) light crisscross score with a knife on cured epoxy will cause breaks in the right place.  Then if you put the blade underneath and lift, you can get most of this up without affecting the work underneath.  I sanded this down by hand rather than using the power tool.

So, another section done but I'm feeling the slog, mostly because I know what's next:  lift the tape, sand, and do it again.  And again.  And a few more times and maybe -- just maybe -- it'll be ready for the next big step.

Forward 'glassing the hulls, part 3

I almost skipped work in the garage tonight but my wife insisted I make some progress before going to bed.  Why?  Because it makes me happy when I'm done.  I didn't mention that I am decidedly not happy while I'm doing it but I had to agree that progress is good.  Lack of progress is bad.  At least, lack of progress is bad towards finishing the boat, but not so bad if it's watching a good TV show or a sports thing.  Any sports thing these days.

I first cleaned up from the prior night's work and noticed this little gem:  a cup, melted from the middle down.  Keen readers will note that I made a mess of the 'glass up a couple nights ago partly because the epoxy got hot in my hand so I had to put it down.  Little did I know that I might've lost a hand (or a house) to fire.

 

 

Joking aside, this really shouldn't happen.  I've epoxy'd in warmer weather before, but it's never done this.  And this is supposed to be the "slow" acting stuff.  Note to self:  work faster, with smaller amounts, else up your insurance plan.   I'm glad this was on the concrete floor of the garage and not near something more sensitive to heat.

With that set aside, I went about the usual business of measuring out the layup, frog tape, and identifying those areas I needed to redo for whatever reason, like this area of the hull where I was short about six inches the other day.  In a few hours, no one will be the wiser!

 

And here is that triangular area near the keel nose, which still remains largely epoxy free as I figure out how to deal with it.

 

The main part went pretty well, all things considered, and as far as I know there are no fires in the garage tonight.

Here is a view of the other side of the keel getting its second layer of 'glass.

  

I should be able to tackle the remaining bow area tomorrow and the area behind it the day after that.  But port is now done end-to-end once that little patch cures.  This means I can lay down the reinforcement 'glass along the chine and the keel on that side of the hull.

Big Glass Is No Fun

Today was some of the hardest fiberglass work I've had to deal with, and not just because it's been awhile since I've done it, but because it's a massive project with very delicate parts thrown in for good measure.

Let's start with a failed math project:  this is a 16' boat, shorter because of the curves and rakes, but let's call it 16'.  Each of the fiberglass large rolls is 4' across.  That means 4 sheets across should cover the hull if they don't overlap.  However, since the waterline is actually closer to 14', not 16', there should be plenty of 'glass to spare to overlap using the width-wise 'glassup instead of the lengthwise 'glassup.  Not so.

After carefully measuring everything, I tossed about 6 feet of glass over the top and laid it out as best I could in a dry fit.  This is a critical part of any 'glasswork and can save a lot of time later.  Once the dry fit is set, the frogtape goes down and I have a general outline of the wet out for this part.

 
But as I mentioned at the outset, here you can see I fell short about 6 inches; my thumb is where I wanted this to end, not where it actually ends.  The right half of this photo is the bow section.  I think this happened because I had too much waste at the transom, and then too much overlap in the second layup from the stern.  In any case, this will need a strip of 'glass and some treatment before I can "fill the weave."

It's not the end of the world, of course, but it does set things back at least a few hours and probably a day as the new application needs to set and cure and get feathered back in seamlessly.  But at least I know how to do that.

The other side looks like this.  Careful darts seemed to make this fit OK, except for the trianglar gap at the base of the keelnose block.

Annoying but fixable after this cures, just like I'll do at the bow.  I could leave it as is but I want a double layer here that extends least six inches from the centerline.  Like the other high-impact areas, this will also get a layer of 6oz fiberglass for a total of 3 layers.

Here are some examples of "fixes" where either I had to sand down to the wood again because I missed some epoxy bump, or just mis-measured and didn't extend the 'glass all the way aft.

After an exhausting couple hours fighting the 90 degrees and humidity, I got the hull done.  Looks good from these angles --

  -- but don't look at the other side.

This was.. how shall I say this delicately.. a complete sh&tstorm.  Things started OK, and then suddenly went awry.  At one point, the epoxy was so hot in my gloved hand I had to put it down.  The MAS epoxy stuff I have is supposed to be slow curing but I guess the air temperature accelerated everything.  This meant I had to go back and mix up some more quickly, and in rushing to get off the step, I spilled a bit down the hull, now forever marked by a dark river of hot epoxy.

And then for whatever reason I could not get the 'glass darts on the top of the keelnose block to take epoxy and lay flat.  It was like some cartoon kid stuck his finger in a socket and his hair shoots up.  Defeated, I did the best I could do straighten out the rest of the block except the very top.

So this, too, will need to be sanded flush, and then a smaller cut of 'glass will wet this down.  I'm not looking forward to doing this all over again on the other side, but I guess if I want to finish the boat, I don't have much of a choice.

The Glassing Begins - Port Side Epoxy Work

After a very long time trying to get the hull and rub rails just so, I finally started 'glassing the hull. This was a very, very long coming and something I'd been thinking about off and on for the last 5 years. Here is basically where I left the boat in the garage, and here is where the finish line is first in sight.

The manual calls for a long bit of 'glass running the length of the hull, over the keel, and just beyond the chine that separates the lower hull from the topsides. By long, like 14 feet long.  No way I wanted to do that. I'm sure many other builders have built very fine boats this way but my 'glasswork is rusty at best. I figured I could do a few feet at a time so decided to layer over the keel widthwise vs. lengthwise.

That said, I know that that second layer over the chine will provide some extra protection.  My plan is, once this first layer is down, I'll layer down a 12" wide fiberglass runner along the chine, and then 6oz 'glass right along the bend. That'll do. 

Some sanding required climbing up on the hull.  I couldn't resist a selfie while up there.  It's surprisingly stable but I could still hear the creaking below me as my weight shifted.  I also tried to keep my weight to the where the floorboards are so I didn't put a knee through the hull.

And then 'glassed both sides down with a little bit down the transom, about 3 inches.

A couple spots needed some filler.

All that work at the rub rails paid off as it stuck pretty well.

I let this cure a bit and headed for the bow.

And then wet it out.  The cut looks a little odd because that's how the 'glass laid flat.  I cut a couple darts and just let it settle like this instead of trimming it too much.

When I do the other side, it'll provide a second layer across the bow. Aside from the keel nose block, this area is probably going to get hit the most.  I'll finish this off with some 6oz 'glass. Bring on the logs!

I then went for the middle of the hull after the bow cured.  I first prepped the centerboard opening, laying a bit of frog tape along the inside-sides just in case.  Laying 'glass and epoxy over this makes me really nervous but there doesn't appear to be any other way to 'glass over this.

I then returned to the kitchen floor to cut the midsection 'glass.  The kitchen's been my secondary workshop lately.

So some great progress!  Port side is almost done, at least the first coat.  It got dark while in there.

That's more progress in a couple days than the last 5 years.  Here's to more progress this week.