Fiberglassing Completed.

With the sounds of the Hallelujah Chorus still echoing in my ears, I'm happy to say that fiberglassing work on the Utility hull is finally completed. I've added a second layer of epoxy to the whole thing, and the next step will be to sand it down smooth in preparation for painting. Until then, at least, it's nice and shiny.

The Next Problem?
For planing boats, the bottom of the hull is supposed to be flat along the aft 1/3 of its length. If it's not flat, the boat will likely tend to porpoise (bounce up and down at the bow) at higher speeds.

For an 11-foot boat, 1/3 the length would be 3.67 feet. Checking the bottom of my boat with a 48" level, I've found that the aft 36 inches is fairly flat. However, in the aft 48 inches, there is a noticeable hook that is about 1/16" in depth. So the unanswered question is, "will it porpoise?" Since the bottom of the hull is not as long the top, and the final 36 inches is flat... perhaps it'll be okay. Perhaps not. Only time will tell.

Even though I don't know for certain just yet, I'm tempted to go ahead and add a wedge to the bottom of the hull while it's still upside-down and easily accessible. I'll think about it.

The gap between the hull and the level shows a hook of approximately 1/16" depth.

Progress on the Zip
I've got the transom knee for the Zip built. While the plans call for a 1-1/2" wide knee (two 3/4" plywood parts laminated together), I've added additional 1/4" pieces on either side to widen the knee to 2 inches. It should be plenty strong. 

Transom knee for the Zip.

Starboard Fiberglassing Finished

It has been a while since I've worked on the boat. However, I'm back at it, and just finished fiberglassing the starboard side a few days ago. Here are a few photos...

6oz fiberglass cloth taped into place. I hadn't noticed the cloth had shifted before I cut it at the bow.

I left enough extraneous area to make it easy to cut  the cloth after the side was soaked with epoxy.

I've found that it's much easier to remove the tape by pulling it AWAY from the fiberglass cloth's frayed edge than toward it. MUCH less hassle.

Cloth wetted out with epoxy resin & trimmed along the bottom.

Because I hadn't noticed that the cloth shifted earlier, I cut away too much around the bow, and did not have enough cloth to lap over onto the port side.

I mis-judged and mixed WAY too much epoxy, so I went ahead and fiberglassed part of the port side using the scrap cloth cut from the bow area.

I have also cut and assembled the transom knee for the Zip. I don't have photos at the moment, so more on that later....