Well, it's spring and the garage is now consistently above freezing. Thomas and I started working on things after I had done a spring cleaning job on the garage (to make his Mom happy). Lots of salt (used on roads here for ice) and crud to clean up.
There is a million things to do to get the boat ready for the water - and I've found it is better to just dive in than to go into analysis-paralysis and stall.
So far we have:
- hot glued the styrofoam to the sides of the boat
- drilled holes for the oarlocks (which need to be epoxy filled and redrilled)
- dry-fitted and trimmed the "deck" panel so it fits flat on the framing
- attached the inside panels to the bulkheads temporarily - need to mix epoxy and cabosil to made filleting goo, as I don't trust glue for this job
- Figured out how I'm going to make the mast partner thwart, bought the Oak 1x6 needed and will be cutting & fitting it. I'm going to install a wooden block backing plate under the rail to create a place to mechanically attach the thwart, as well as epoxy. I think the strength demands of this critical component should not be underestimated
- Varnished the deck (one coat) needs another. Going with the dust & bug anti-slip coating that happens automagically here
Thats it for now - I'll update the list as I do things or remember things we've done.
Really important note:
Eric has been asked to go to Mystic Seaport, Connecticut to the Woodenboat show to build some Microskiffs with people during the show. I'm rushing to complete Thomas' boat so it can either go as a sample of what kind of result is possible, or to at least have photos taken to show a complete boat. Thomas and I might go down for the weekend to see the show as well. I went to Mystic Seaport as a kid and loved the place - crawled all over the Charles W. Morgan and the museums were cool.
We've paid a lot of attention to detail on Thomas' boat, and Eric has picked up on a few of our building techniques to incorporate into the build plan. These things include:
- Using the Titebond III glue for glue jobs not needing the construction adhesive (I used epoxy for the construction adhesive jobs)
- Eric is going to use my method of handling the laminations for the rail - a one inch one on the "outside", then the normal depth ones, then another one inch one on the inside, capping the edge grain of the plywood completely, reducing problematic exposure of the edge grain to wear
- Eric likes how we handled the transom area of the boat - fitting the inside panels around the transom bar and also the angled transitions from the transom up to the laminated side rails
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