Warm
greetings from Barnacle Mike’s crowded little boat shop. You know, one
of the great things about the boatbuilding community is the fact that
you meet some really cool people, both online and in person. The level
of support and insight that you get from more experienced builders who
kindly share their knowledge and give advice can truly help a newbie
keep pushing his or her project forward. I’m very thankful for that.
An
online boatbuilding friend, who has also been kind enough to follow my
blog, sent me an e-mail the other day asking about the status of the
Utility. It does seem like I’ve been paying a bit much attention to the
Zip project lately. Truth is, I have still been slowly, slowly...
s-l-o-w-l-y... fairing away at the Utility all the while. Still, his
inquiry about its status gave me a little more motivation to get off my
“transom” and put more elbow grease into getting the little boat past
the fairing stage. (Thank you, Paul!)
So, that’s just what I did
Saturday, fairing away at the transom sides until they were finished.
The starboard side had a bit more excess material than the port side.
So, I roughed it in with the belt sander, then worked it the rest of the
way down with the mouse sander. Unfortunately, I did not follow the
“best practice” of checking my work frequently with my test piece of
plywood. (I thought the transom sides would be a no-brainer. I was
wrong.) When I tested my “finished” work with the plywood, expecting to
feel a broad smile cross my face as I witnessed my handiwork, I was
disappointed to see several gaps appear. The culprit was an overly sharp
bevel in a couple of spots. More gaps to fill with thickened epoxy. I’m
getting pretty good at that, if I do say so myself.
Needless to
say, I was more cautious with the port side. I also went about it a
little differently. This time, I started by carrying the line of the
sheer and chine through the transom material first. Then, I “connected”
the two spots by fairing the area in-between. This time I alternated
between the mouse sander and a small block plane. I worked slowly and
purposefully.
The results were much, much better.
I do
still have a good bit more fairing to do, primarily in the mid-section
of the boat. I also have to make a decision about the chines in that
area, (more on that later). I could’ve worked on all this Sunday.
However, yours truly decided he needed some time on the water. So, I
spent the day canoeing. I’m sure you understand.
By the way, I
met another boatbuilder out on the river. He was piloting a very
nice-looking red drift boat upriver. It looked about 16’ long. The
handsome-looking boat glided smoothly through the water, pushed by a
silent electric trolling motor. He proudly said “yes” when I asked if
he’d built it himself. He had some very nice things to say about Don Hill’s drift boat plans before we each went our separate ways.
Yep.
You’ve gotta love the boatbuilding community.
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| Starboard transom-chine joint after fairing. |
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| Starboard transom-chine joint after fairing. |
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| Starboard transom-chine joint after fairing |
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| Starboard transom-sheer joint after fairing. As you can see, I've got a heck of a gap in that "Marine-Grade" plywood that I'm going to have to fill. |
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| Port transom-chine joint before fairing. |
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| Port transom-chine joint before fairing. |
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| Port transom-chine joint after fairing. |
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| Port transom-sheer joint before fairing. Notice all that epoxy thickened with #2 silica? |
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| Port transom-sheer joint after fairing. I still have some thickened epoxy to file away. |
