Last entry

Now to wrap up a few loose ends. The boat and all the parts I had left went to a local JROTC unit. I have worked and sailed with their leader a few times so I knew it would be in good hands. They have the facilities and time to finish it up. Hopefully they will have as good a time working on the boat as I did.

It was sad to have to give up on my project, but I realize that it served its purpose. It kept me busy and gave me something to work on. I learned a lot about wood working also. If I build another one, I will go for smaller and/or quicker construction time. I think I could build the Glen-L 15 in about 1/3 the time if I had to do it again. The experience makes the second one MUCH easier. Also, I would spend much less time staring at the wood and more time working. I found out that the slow and methodical, with the ability to correct on the fly, is a necessary skill in boat building.

I wish that I had taken a picture as she rolled around the corner on a flatbed.

Boat paint

I finally got my boat painted. Really I had to get something done since I have to move to Hawaii. It also turns out that it will cost me more to take my boat with me than to build a new one. So the boat must go. Anyone want to come pick it up?

Roll and tip

So in all of my painting research I must have come across the phrase "roll and tip" about a thousand times. I really blew it off and didn't think twice about it. Until I was rolling my third coat of epoxy over the hull and I kept getting all these bubbles in the finish. I thought that it was supposed to get more smooth as I rolled more coats on! So I grabbed a little 1" wide brush and started drawing the tip across the surface of the epoxy. Viola! No more air bubbles. Why didn't I try this earlier? And why did I use this little 1" brush? Anyway, it worked awesome and I am relieved that I figured this method out before my paint looked funny. The epoxy is thick enough now, but I think I will put one more coat on after sanding this one smooth. I also read that for maximum time savings you can roll on the second coat of epoxy after the first is tacky, but not set yet. Coats 3 and 4 are dry and hard now so I get to clean and sand one more time for the final coat. I am now taking input for paint colors...

2nd Coat

The wind has been blowing 10-15 knots for the last four days. I wish this thing were done and I could be sailing now. Anyway, I put another coat of epoxy on tonight. When I laid out the bottom and side fiberglass cloth pieces I didn't overlap the chines. So I added some 4in wide pieces along the chines and an extra layer along the bow. It takes a long time to wet out the strips, so you have to work fast so the epoxy doesn't set on you. I used a short nap paint roller for the first time. It worked OK, but seemed like it made a lot of air bubbles in the epoxy. Since I'll need a few more coats of epoxy to fill out and even up all the edges, I will have to experiment with keeping the bubbles out. I also added some strips along the centerboard trunk opening. I have one more piece of cloth to laminate on the bow. This should make beaching the boat, and any accidental docking mishaps, survivable.

I have also been thinking about finishing options. I was thinking today about how a home build boat should look like a homebuilt boat. That is to say, I will probably be somewhat lazy and not make all the rough parts perfectly smooth. I want it to look good, but if it looks like a fiberglass molded boat that came out of a factory, then I might as well have saved my time.

Sailing Passage

Not necessarily progress on my boat, but I have signed up for an offshore passage from Annapolis, MD to Charleston, SC. The guys that set up the trip taught my US Navy Sailing instructor course earlier this year. The boat is a 42' Catalina named "Toujours L'audace" which means "The Always Daring" if Google Translate is to be trusted. The passage should take about a week. I am taking a train up to MD and I leave next Saturday. Words cannot describe how excited I am to go back to sea!

Glassed

All the fiberglass cloth is down with one coat of epoxy. It really does wet out perfectly clear. You can still feel the weave of the fabric though. If I had to do it again I would have cut each side and the bottom piece bigger so they could overlap at the chines. If I can't cut enough strips out of the leftovers then I will have to get some tape (4in wide roll of fiberglass cloth) to do the chines and maybe the bow section. I used a 3in wide squeegee to smooth the epoxy into the cloth. The sides and transom were tough due to the angle they are at. Lots of drips. I guess I'll be sanding the floor after I flip the boat. I poured the epoxy right out of the mixing cup onto the sides, then tried to spread it before it ran off onto the floor. A wider squeegee might have helped. It takes a long time to get all the epoxy out of the cup since you have to work in small pours to minimize drips. A low flat pan might have kept the epoxy cooler, but I never got burned and the sense of urgency definitely helps keep you going. The bottom was easier but took a LOT of epoxy. I mixed three 16oz batches, although I did waste about 3oz. Better to have too much than not enough. The most frustrating part is getting the cloth to conform to edges. It really does not like the bow profile. The cut a slit in the cloth at the centerboard trunk, but the tabs that were left over were only about 1/2in on each side. That part did not want to stick. I ended up sloping some of the more gelled epoxy on it and hoping that it will stay. I will probably have to tape that area too. The good part is that I have plenty of epoxy for fill coats. I read that a 1/4in nap rolled works well, so my next hunt is for one of those.

Update 1

The weather has been hot and the boat has been collecting dust. I have been filling all the screw holes and smoothing out the scarfed areas . I used a lot of fairing compound which makes the epoxy slurry MUCH easier to sand smooth. The hull is a few more sheets of sandpaper from being ready for the fiberglass cloth.