4-30.

This weekend we finished epoxying the boat.  Sunday we finished sanding, then put down a coat of liquid on the inner surfaces - floor, seat sides and tops, sides, transom, deck, centerboard case... 

It's starting to feel like summer here, getting warm in the afternoons, and the first batch of epoxy we mixed up was too large and it started hardening in the roller pan before we we could get it out and rolled onto the wood. My dad had to run to Lowe's to buy more roller covers and a new roller pan (we obviously weren't prepared) while I tried to salvage what we had done with a brush.  When he got back we finished the first coat successfully by mixing epoxy in small batches and pouring it directly onto the surfaces to paint, using them as roller pans - by spreading out the epoxy it slows the hardening process.  Meanwhile the original roller pan with all the hardening epoxy in it was steaming in the trash can, about to spontaneously combust!  

Then we waited for the first coat to get tacky so we could add a second coat.  We thought it was at the perfect stage when we started adding the second coat, but some places had already hardened!  We were able to recoat most of the boat, though, which was good because it meant we didn't have to sand the entire thing between coats.  

Today we sanded the surfaces that needed a third coat (deck, floors, and seats).  Then we applied a third coat on the floors and seat tops first - adding no-skid after painting them smooth - so feet will have some traction in the boat.  When we were finished shaking on the no-skid, we coated the seat sides and deck, being careful not to get the no-skid stuff on the roller so we wouldn't contaminate surfaces that should be smooth.

Tomorrow will be spent varnishing mast, lug, boom, and all the rudder/tiller parts.  

4-23.

Who knows where the boat will be in 50 years, so we will epoxy over this message in the stern compartment for history. 

In preparation for final coats of epoxy (we're having to basically start over on 3 coats for the entire interior because we've sanded lots of spots down to bare wood while trying to sand drips and runs), Daddy cleaned the whole carport and disassembled the strongback.  It's too bad we hadn't thought about taking that apart earlier as we kept tripping over it, but now it is finally gone.  The boat has been all sanded down and is ready for epoxy, but it was too cold today, so we'll wait till the weather warms up.  In the meantime, we sanded the mast, boom, and lug and will apply another coat of varnish.  Along with the tiller, tiller extension, and centerboard seat cap.

Soaking the parrel beads in oil.  I forget which type of oil, might be flaxseed or linseed.

I whipped the halyard today.  Daddy taught me how to start the waxy thread with a loop, then wrap it around the end of the rope really tightly to the end, then pull the end back through the loop and the loop down under the wrapping.

Our ropes are now "respectable," and able to be used in the company of upstanding sailors.    

4-17.

 The maple belay pin for the halyard.

Before:  Tiller, rudder stock, rudder. 

After: (Special clear epoxy)  We sanded off the fiberglass from the rudder stock because it was too ugly showing through, so we had to start over epoxying before we can move on to varnishing.  Everything else is ready for varnish, though, and the mast, lug, and boom (to the right) have already had two coats of varnish with a third to be added tomorrow.  

I made two pins for the tiller, one as a spare in case the other one breaks or is lost at sea.  This holds the tiller into the top slot of the rudder stock so the tiller doesn't just slip out into the boat.  Also just beside the tiller in the photo is the tiller extension, which we attached and tested while sitting in the boat.  It's going to be  really nice to have this - can be sitting far forward or out on a gunnel and still steer.

Raising the sail.

Yesterday we rolled the boat to the front yard to raise the sail!

Tied the corners to the lug and boom, then figured out where to tie the downhaul on the boom.

It went up smoothly without too much effort.  But we hadn't made our handy belay pin yet, so we had to tie the halyard off to an eye bolt that the mast is lashed in with.  It was hard to hold the rope and tie off, so Daddy tied it off while I held the sail up.

Then we got the boom downhaul set.  This we also tied off to the eye bolt on the opposite side of the mast temporarily.  When the sail was fully raised, it seemed much too high, so we dropped it at least 6 inches, maybe more until the boom felt like it was at a comfortable level for captain and crew in the cockpit.  Then we were able to mark where we wanted to place a cleat on the mast where the downhaul will be tied off.  

I guess we could technically go sailing now.  Today we did the final drilling for rudder stock bolts, so we could steer.  I also started making a pin to hold the tiller in the rudder stock.  

April.

Some photos from last week.  Put the steel pipe into the bow, and cut it to match the angle.  A rope will go through this pipe to hook to trailer wench strap onto.  

Drilling holes all over the boat, extra large to be filled with epoxy.  We realized a while back that some of these holes we were filling had air bubbles in them because we weren't getting the epoxy all the way through the hole, so this time we punctured the scotch tape one one side with a needle to let air escape and get the epoxy to entirely fill the hole.  That method seems to have worked well.  All these holes are now ready to drill to the correct size for screws/bolts.

We also built the boom.  I cut lengths of two pieces of wood with the circular saw and then we chiseled these out so that the boom is partially hollow.

We glued the two halves together with the hollowed out sides facing in, using a few screws to hold it in place while we put tons of clamps on.  Today we worked on the boom, routing the edges to make it rounded just like the lug and sanding it to perfection before applying its first coat of special clear epoxy hardener.

Today we built a belay pin for the halyard.  Debated using curly maple or black walnut, but went with the curly maple to keep with the theme of the boat, even though the walnut would have been really cool.  I think the maple is stronger, too.

Cut out a rudimentary shape, then sanded it down.  Et voila:

This will sit in a hole in the deck near the mast and the halyard (the rope that raises/lowers the sail) will be tied off on this.  We gave it a coat of clear hardener, too, along with the boom, the lug, and the mast.  

Paint!

Don't get too excited, we aren't ready to paint the boat yet, but we did open up the paint for a color test.  I painted the trailer bunk runners with primer and finished them with a coat of the hull color, 'Bristol Beige.'  It is  light beige and I think it is going to look really fine.

The gunnel color poll was a bit inconclusive, with ties for dark blue and light blue and runners up burgundy and teal.  Originally I was partial to a dark blue for the gunnels, while Daddy favored a teal/more greenish color.  I really just randomly threw the burgundy into the poll to insert a decoy to distract from our favorites.  But we are going to paint the gunnels burgundy!  Why?  For many reasons.  Melissa and Trish made good points - it would be more distinctive and original - blue is very 'naval' and thus is very commonly used on boats and burgundy should contrast with the seas.  And what I just realized as we were getting pintles and gudgeons ready for the rudder stock is that burgundy gunnels could go well with the beautiful red cedar that we have used.  And Uncle Joe would always choose burgundy for his boats!

This past weekend we drilled lots of holes in the boat (it should still float though).  Holes for eyebolts in the deck to lash the mast in, holes for hinges in the aft seat, holes for a latch on said seat, holes for gudgeons in the transom, holes for a pulley and pad eye for raising and lowering the centerboard, and a hole in the frame for this rope to pass through.  All holes were drilled large and then filled with epoxy.  They will then be redrilled to size through the hardened epoxy.

We had an idea from Walt to use belay pins (wooden dowels) in the foredeck to wrap a rope around to lash the mast into place.  I pulled out the french dictionary and wrote an email to a naval architect, François Vivier, to ask his advice, since this idea came from many of his designs.  He recommended using eyebolts instead of belay pins, and sent us some helpful photos.  We have our eyebolts ready to go now!  I have been enjoying reading his blog and learning sailing terms in french (but you can read it in english, too, if you want).

And of course we (Daddy) finished off the weekend with some ... sanding!