September 2021 marks the forth year of this boat build project. I've added a number of refinements that have extended the difficulties and time requirements. Others may have built and launched a similar boat in less than this time span. It is my hope to produce a finished product that is not a crude embarrassment. The boat hulls are the most time consuming part of this build. Both hulls are nearing completion and I've come to the most dreaded part of the build:
Fairing: The process of smoothing a vessel's surface to eliminate irregularities.
Generally, fairing requires three or more applications of an epoxy filler compound to produce an acceptable surface. Hand sanding between each coat is required. Sandpaper attached to a long flexible board averages out the surface by removing the high spots and revealing the low spots. The image above shows the inverted port hull ready for another round of sanding. It takes about three days to sand each side of a single hull. This process uses massive amounts of epoxy that is later turned into sanding dust. Sure, I may whine about all the sanding, but at times I find myself getting into the mindless tedious task. I can look "forward" to repeating the process on the starboard hull.
With the hull faired, it was time to establish a waterline so that painting could commence. The plans give dimensions down (it is up with the hull inverted) from the deck at the bow and stern to establish the waterline. The hull is first leveled to assure it is not rotated to the right or left. Leveled batter boards are then established at the prescribed distances from the bow and stern decks. A fishing line is strung from one batter board to the other. Weights at each fishing line end keep the line tight. The line is moved along the batter boards to position the line near the hull as pencil marks are made along the hull length to define the waterline. The line, batter board and pencil point are sighted in the same plane before each mark is made.
Masking tape follows the pencil marks to define the waterline. The rudder is temporally clamped to the hull so that the waterline can be masked off. Everything below the water line will receive an ablative bottom paint to prevent marine growth. The ablative paint sluffs off with use and will require intermittent renewal.
Before I got too far along with painting, I remembered to install a fitting for the forestay (forward mast stay) bridal on the bow. This fitting will be drill out to receive a U bolt that the bridal attaches to.
A drilling jig made it possible to drill the holes straight and parallel. The holes were then re-drilled with incrementally larger drills so that the holes can later be filled with epoxy then drilled out again to the original size. All holes in the boat are treated this way to prevent water from contacting the wood and promoting rot.
Areas below the waterline received two coats of a grey epoxy primer. This coat was as rough as sandpaper and had to be hand sanded down before the three coats of black bottom paint was applied. The bottom paint was less rough, but it may smooth out with use and I may or may not sand it as well. Three coats of the off white (yellowish cast) topside paint was applied with wet sanding between coats. I find that things go faster with wet sanding topside paint as the sandpaper will otherwise get clogged. The wet sanding dust is immediately wiped off the boat as I find it very difficult to remove the sanding dust from my hands if allowed to dry. Before applying the last paint coat over the sanded surface, a Scotch Brite was used to remove all the bright shiny areas in the hopes of producing a durable and satisfying result.
I'm contemplating painting the shear stringer (in primer white above) in a contrasting color. I'm thinking of burgundy. This might also be applied to portions of the crossbeams and other areas.
At a point in the sanding, sanding and repeated sanding I've had to replenish my sandpaper supply. Trips to the hardware store are usually an adventure. A person is not allowed to peruse the hardware aisles and make those impulse buys. Instead a person must convey, to a person behind a counter, the hardware item required before the item is presented. In some hardware stores, the person behind the counter is a young woman. Pleasingly, these women seem much more knowledgeable about hardware than I expect in young North American women. Adding to the adventure are the different terms Belizeans use for hardware. Sanding discs are called stick ons as an example.
Knowable presenters on YouTube videos suggest using a finer grit sandpaper before applying the last paint coat. Armed with this knowledge I announced to the young woman behind the counter that I required a packet of 280 grit sandpaper. She checked with her computer and then said, "We have too porty". "Too porty?", I queried. Apparently, this did not convey my total bewilderment. "Too porty", she repeated. We went back and forth with too porty several times before a light came on and I realized she was saying 240. She went off to fetch the too porty after I indicated it would be fine. She returned with 220 grit sandpaper and indicated they were out of too porty. I took the 220 grit home and used it as it is the grit recommended by the paint manufacture.
At times progress has been delayed due to the lack of materials and the arrival of international goods. I seek out little sub projects that must be accomplished at some point. Above are five stainless steel items recently fabricated. The smaller hook like item is a latch to secure the alcohol stove against the sloping hull side. The remaining four items are bearing plates that rest under the bow and stern cleats. The bearing plates prevent cleat forces from crushing the wooden decks and thereby loosening. These parts were cut from a flat bar by a grinder. Grinding, filing, sanding, drilling and polishing produced these finished parts for a future installation. I hope I remember making them and where I put them!
Work on the starboard hull electrical system is complete to the extent that can be done until the boat is fully assembled. Topside paint is also being applied to this hull in the areas receiving hatches and portlights. This is so the hull may be made weather tight as the construction will move outdoors in a few months.
In late breaking news, the smoked cast acrylic sheets for the portlights has arrived. I saved the plywood removed from the openings so they could be used as templates. I've never worked with acrylic before and was very cautious while producing the first portlight. Having some practice cutting the acrylic, the remaining portlights were quickly turned out. It was just a matter of tracing the template on the acrylic protective paper sheet, rough cutting outside the line and then attaching the template to the sheet and running a router patterning bit around the perimeter against the template.
The portlights are not yet installed, but will be adhered with an adhesive used to secure windows in skyscrapers.
It is unfortunate that the hull side is so close to the wall that a person can not stand back and view it from a distance. The hulls have an upward sweeping shear that the portlights mirror on the bottom edges while the top edges are straight like the roof line. This coupled with the black bottom paint and black portlights should look cool if not sinister.