Tuesday, 15 October 2019

The "Wet Coast"

Out here on the "Wet Coast" we have suffered the coldest beginning of October in 123 years, and that so far has been followed by non-stop rain... We had triple the amount of rainfall this September than normal so I didn't get much done.. I took a break from my work (staycation) after Canadian Thanksgiving hoping to get a few final things done before winter set in.. but all this rain has hampered things...

The only good thing is I left my build deliberately exposed all last month and this month to the elements to see how it did with freezing temps and lots of water, and the paint is really holding up well...I'm impressed! So once I get a dry day I will throw on the tarps.

Sunday, 25 August 2019

Bottom Painting Time!

 I've done the best I can with the 1708. The bottom and sides are ready for an initial primer of paint...

Getting the bottom painted... could be faired up a little more... but overall I'm ok with results so far... a couple low spots..and more sanding and filling would work.. but I just don't have it in me... 1708 is hard to work with... a couple coats on...







Thursday, 20 June 2019

1708 Glassing the bottom

Now that the weather has warmed it's time to complete covering the bottom of the hull... this time with 1708...over the top of the seams.  probably not the best choice since the hull is so flat and has such a wide surface area. It has taken alot of resin,  sanding and effort to get things glassed. 

Its tough stuff and I do like how it is coming along on the build but is a real pain to fair and sand. Very labour and material intensive. I don't recommend for those reasons. Fortunately I only did the bottom and up to the water line.. the rest is lighter fabric. Anyways, got the runners on and I see the light coming at the end of the tunnel.. should be ready for paint and a flip very soon..

Oh my! What have I gotten myself into... I don't think the 1708 was such a great choice of cloth, although I was sold by the merits of its toughness! Hopefully, I will never need to test the strength!

The oak runners are bedded down and screwed into place with Sikkaflex waterproof construction sealant.







Sunday, 14 April 2019

Beams & Posts

 There are a ton of roof beams, and supports that need to be made. In our case we decided over the winter months to make a mould to laminate strips of oak together, rather than cut each beam. The mould was cut based on the beam shapes in the plans, and was then pressed together with each strip being glued in place.


The result was a "glue" up of laminations to make up a beam. We used reclaimed oak strips for the beams. These are all the middle beams - we also need to make beams for the sides of the roofing using a different template.


This is the process that we used to make the beam form.



Here is how the middle roof beam turned out:
















Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Cabin Posts

 While the weather was still cool out, complete the cabin framing for the port & starboard cabin sides.