Eva Too

(2nd of 3 postings today) How smooth should it be? This is my first stitch-n-glue, fiberglass encased, boat. I don’t know exactly how smooth the underlying wood needs to be to produce a good finish, but assume it should be as good as it would be if the wood were not covered. CLC, who sells sandpaper only in disk form, suggests going to 150 for painted hulls and more for bright surfaces. This hull will be painted and the decks will be bright.

I imagine that people using tailed sanders can do this work in about 6 minutes. Mine took longer because I vehemently dislike powered sanders, their raucous noise, and the clouds of dust they produce. (Don’t even try to tell me how great the premium/$$$ sanders are.) Actually, what took time was filling all of the now empty wire holes. Yes, they will probably get filled when the fiberglass gets applied … but I have this thing about holes in boat hulls.

There was also a little “hitch in your get-along,” “wag in the tail,” or “kink in the stern” where I didn’t get pieces together precisely enough in the original glue-up. A couple of layers of epoxy putty made up to creamy peanut butter consistency was used to build up one side. Then, a lot of shaping and sanding, more than all the rest of the hull itself, brought the stern to an acceptable level of symmetry.

Just think what Michelangelo could have done if he’d had some of this epoxy putty!

(1st of 3 postings today) Do you follow directions step by step, exactly as written, no deviations? No, I didn’t think so. Does anyone? Sometimes it works out easier to break stride and do work a different way. This is one of those cases.

Progress on the boat slowed as I did another project (to be detailed sometime), but it’s boat building time again. The last you saw, I was fitting carlins and a seat. I decided to hold off on the carlins and complete the fitting out of the cockpit. One reason: paint. While all the wood gets at least two coats of clear epoxy as a sealant, that’s not enough. Epoxy needs some extra UV protection, hence paint, varnish, or some other coating is also needed. The cockpit and the decks will be “bright,” in the case of my boats “workboat bright” not “yachty bright.” I use Cetol Marine for those surfaces. It is clear with an amber tint. Three very thin coats do the job well.

The Fiddlehead, another decked canoe, taught me that painting the cockpit after the deck is installed requires numerous maneuvers easily handled by someone with triple elbow and wrist joints. I don’t need to learn that lesson twice.  As I started to install the carlins, I thought, “Whoa. Hold on. Fit out the rest of the interior stuff and paint it before letting the carlins and deck get in the way.”

The other interior fittings were footrests and the deckplates that comprise the hatches into the watertight / flotation / storage  compartments. The only element requiring any real work was the footrests. As shipped, they are designed to be screwed in place with big ugly screws that pass through the hull. I’ve always shunned having any more holes than absolutely necessary in a boat’s hull. So, I made some mounting pads that glue to the inside of the hull, to which the footrests can then be fastened with screws.

With few obstructions, the painting was quick. I’ve found the little 4 inch foam rollers to be very convenient for this work.

The MAS epoxy I am using is a bit thinner than the West System epoxy I used on the previous boat. It’s low viscosity and absence of amine blush (have to dig deep into epoxy chemistry for that one) make it the preferred choice for sealing and coating, and there’s a lot of that with this type of boat construction.

Progress on the hull interior is moving along nicely. The bulkheads are now completely fitted, and glued with fillets that make them watertight. The carlin knees are installed. All of the interior surfaces have received two rolled on coats of epoxy as a surface sealant. Short, 4 inch, foam rollers make this coating activity almost enjoyable, and rolling lets me make the coating really thin. Many areas will get two more coats of clear or paint finish and it all adds up to weight that must be carried. The photo shows the carlins being fitted. These are the structural members which support the inner edges of the deck. The “interesting” pair of clamps, sticks, and strings near the far end were used to twist the carlins into “verticality” at that point, a temporary measure while fitting them.

While epoxy cures, there are plenty of small things needing attention. The drawings for this boat include plans for a slatted seat which is made largely from plywood. There are enough plywood cutoffs for this, so it makes good sense. Yet, the design is not one I find appealing. I like traditional cane seats and have purchased yet another from Ed’s Canoe. It’s both a comfortable and beautiful seat. Fitting it is a matter of cutting off the arms which might normally be used for a hanging type mount, and fitting rails to the bottom. The rails get glued to the boat’s bottom and the seat screwed to the rails.

A lightweight traditional style of seat back consists of two curved slats fixed to a yoke shaped cross piece. Again, this is similar to the previous boat. The thin pieces are 1/4 inch thick, resawed left overs. They are shaped by boiling and then clamping to the curved back of some chairs. The yoke is made eight sided and will be cut to the correct length after the deck and coaming parts are done. We’ll see more of it later.

Did you know that epoxy has nearly infinite open time at 40 degrees? Spring squeaked open for a few days and is now squeaking closed again. The forecast for the next few days predicts very slow epoxy curing.