It's not fair

So what's there to do with the Zip while I wait on more mahogany? You guessed it... start fairing.

This is how I started fairing the keel at Frame #2. The 1/4 inch plywood guide reflected the angle of the bottom of the frame. Then I used my belt sander to continue that line through the keel. Still a long, long way to go... but it's a start.

Initial fairing of the keel with a belt sander.

Finally sanded the front of the keel down to match the curvature of the stem.

Front of the keel ...

... back of the keel.

Slowly but surely fairing the bottom of the transom and the floor battens.

A few Utility updates

Over the weekend, I finally had some time to make it back out to the lake. I left before sunrise to get on the water early & avoid the searing mid-day heat. While the early morning sun was still fairly low, I was also hoping to find a little shade.

On this trip, I also wanted to see how well my electric trolling motor would do with the Utility.

And here's my jammed-together mess. There is not much space on the transom where I can clamp the trolling motor. I knew handling the boat with this arrangement might prove awkward. It was.

Found a shady spot and tried out my new "anchor-in-a-bag."

While running the trolling motor, I locked the Nissan in its raised position to reduce drag.

I was actually surprised at how well the trolling motor moved the boat around. It won't plane, of course, but the near-silent operation is great and the highest speed setting will propel the boat comfortably. The limitation is short battery life. In a fairly short cruise, my battery power went from 95% to 35%.

All the while I was on the water, I kept thinking about several changes I want to make with the Utility. There are several. I got around to some of them on Sunday.

This is the plywood "half-cover" I made to go underneath the boat cover I bought. Its purpose is to prevent the fabric cover from pooling up with water & sagging down into the hull. The 3/8 plywood was starting to sag a little bit, so I added some 3-foot wood strips to give it more rigidity. I had a bunch of nylon webbing laying around, so I used some to make basic handles for lifting the piece & moving it around.

I also had a bunch of 1-inch wide velcro laying around. I used the "loop" part of it on the inside edges to reduce the scratching of the paint on the gunwale.

Here's the half-cover in place on the boat. There is a cutout in the front for the cover's "tent pole." 

I finally put a quick-clip connector on the nylon strap that holds the battery box in place. This is MUCH easier to use than the cheap / awkward / confusing / infuriating buckle that came with it originally.

Cupholders!

There are still several more updates & changes I want to make on the Utility, including some transom modifications so I can more easily use the trolling motor (which I enjoyed) and some improvements to the floor.