Stepping up the boat work

It is now less that 2 weeks before my departure to the UK to join the Clipper Race so I clearly need to get this boat project done to a level that the boat can be and is stored away safely during my year absence. So I moved on to the glassing and epoxy finish of the bottom and outside hull sides.

First step is taping an edge and cutting/forming a sheet of glass cloth to cover the bottom and first side planks. Also used plastic sheeting to limit this first epoxy step to just covering the glass cloth.

A day after glassing the bottom I then removed the tape and plastic prepared the remainder to the hull sides for epoxy. This was a day of sanding with the electric sander. Tedious and not fun work but certainly necessary. After this I epoxied the remainder of the outside hull.

This is the first boat I have ever built so I am making minor mistakes and learning as I go at it. I want have confidence in the strength of the bow and stern joints so I glassed in additional strips of cloth on those three edges, one for the bow joint and two for the stern joints. This was quite tedious. When cutting and fitting small strips of glass cloth it was difficult to avoid pulling out fiber strands or just distorting the originally pristine fiber pattern. And even more difficult was when the epoxy over these glass strips on those joints which are at difficult angles. I ended pulling out many strands while getting these properly wetted with the epoxy. It was quite frustrating knowing that there will be some visible flaws apparent with close inspection.

So today when applying yet another coat of epoxy over the entire outside hull I was remembering a lesson learned in my most recent years of Symantec work: “Perfection is the enemy of done.” I must continually remind my self of that as I am certain that once I get this beauty on the water and rowing/sailing any minor flaws will be forgiven!