Turned Right-Side Up

Finally found some guys to help me move the boat into the carport from the back of the house and turn it right side up.

It went well and after a week of delay, I can finally begin to work on getting the rest of the hull finished.

It was a lot of huffing and puffing but here she is.


Looking more like an aircraft carrier...

After I removed the foundation and frame spreaders, I was able to see that we had not missed any frames with any of the screws or nails.





Not bad for a couple rank amateurs...

Copper Bottom Paint

Painted the bottom with copper anti-fouling paint because this boat will be in the water most of the year. Went on well and did not smell as bad as I feared.




Bought some wood to build a cradle to turn her over and 1/2 plywood to fabricate the rudder and centerboard.

1st Coat of Sides and Transom

Put the 1st of 2 coats on the sides and transom this morning

Fiberglassed and Sealed

Received the 4" fiberglass tape I needed to finished glassing the seams and finished that off quickly. I decided to go ahead and put the sealant on the bare plywood to stop it from cracking and splintering.




I will lay tape out for the waterline and get ready to paint the sides white and put a coat of copper paint on her over the next few days.

Bottom is done!

We got going early on getting the 2nd bottom panel in place and it came out great!



There are a few things that will need to be taken care of like putty over the screw heads and fiber-glassing the seams, sealing and painting the hull. Then we will turn the hull over to finish her off!

Bottom Panel Installed

Caulked, glued, screwed and nailed one of the bottom panels on the klast day of the year. Terri brushes off the finished product after helping me apply the glue, feeding me screws and nailing the back half of the panel down. This one was a bit easier on the back as there was no bending upside down to nail like we had to do with the sides.



The next step will be to fit the template to the other side and prepare to cut the other panel out.



All in all the installation went great and we can see the day coming that we will be able to turn her over and start working on the top of the boat!

1st Bottom Panel

Today, we finished adjusting the pattern for the bottom panel, Things went so well (thanks to Terri's help) that we cut the 1st bottom panel out and made some minor adjustments to make sue it met the keel properly.



There is still a lot to do. Tomorrow, we will begin to lay out where the frames are so we can drill pilot holes for the screws and nails.

The panel sits nicely and is another big accomplishment towards finishing her!

The Skeg

Got the skeg attached today. It went easy and it will get another piece attached over the end and up the transom to give it additional rigidity.

2nd Side Panel Installed

Today we were able to get the other side panel install and it went very quick and smoothly. The frame is real rigid now and we will start working on installing a skeg to the keel.

Side Pattern

We got back to work today. We done some smaller tasks in the meanwhile but today we were ready to make a pattern for the side panels.

Marine plywood costs almost $200 for a 12 foot sheet so we bought a $10/sheet panel of Luann plywood, like they use on a door to make sure we got the cutting right.

The pictures show the pattern in place. Tomorrow we will staple a piece at the joint to keep it together then get a sheet of marine plywood on Monday or Tuesday.