Filling Holes and Fiberglass

When Chris attached the side boards to the boat body, he screwed it together until the epoxy dried to hold it together.  Then he removed the screws, leaving lots of screw holes.  Here, he fills those holes with epoxy.

Now, every joint needs to have fiberglass added, with another layer of epoxy.

Sheets of fiberglass are added to the sides and the bottom with a coats of epoxy added until smooth.

Next step will be adding the keel strake!

Sides

Time to put sides on the boat! First, Chris needs to scarf more plywood together to make longer pieces of 1/2" plywood.  (Click here to see the original post about scarfing.)

Once he has pieces that are long enough, he fits them to the side of the boat and scribes the shape it will need to be one side at a time.

He cuts out the shape, then adds fiberglass and epoxy to the side that will be on the inside of the boat. It is easier to fiberglass while it is flat, rather than once it is attached. He adds a couple of coats of epoxy, sanding between them.

Sanding epoxy is dusty.

Structural ribs are added, ready to attach the sides.

He puts a layer of thickened epoxy between the sides and the boat, but he uses screws to hold it together until the epoxy dries.  I got to help hold the boat sides up while Chris screwed it together, so I couldn't take pictures of it actually happening.  But here it is afterwards:

It is cool to see it starting to take shape!

Adding the Transom

 Remember when we built the transom way back?  Time to add it to the boat. Here it is all put together, covered in fiberglass and epoxy:

Some last minute sanding touch-ups:

Putting it on the back of the boat:

 Adjusting the fit- He is using a pencil to scribe the edge:

 Making the necessary adjustments to match the scribe:

 Transom is on, next up it is time to fit the sides.

Boat Stand and Moving Downstairs

Chris has a great shop to work in, but once the sides are on it, the boat will no longer be able to fit through the double door. The solution is to move the project downstairs to the garage. 

To get the garage ready, Chris builds a stand to put the boat on when it gets there.

Remember the shelves and the bowstem Chris built way back at the beginning of the project?  He secures them to the stand so they are ready for the bottom of the boat. 

Once again, we round up a posse of friends to help us move the boat. We need to flip it, bring it out the door, secure it to a trailer, drive it down to the garage, carry it in, and lift it onto the stand.  Quite a production.

We have some very good friends. Thanks for your help everybody! 

Next up, we will add the transom and measure the sides.