First gloss coat....

... and the thwart made.  But I forgot to photograph that before I turned the boat over for the first gloss coat.  It looks pretty in the picture, but the primer is thin in places in an attempt to make things smooth, so the reality is not quite as pretty (yet) as the picture suggests.  But time is pressing.

As well as the thwart, I decided to add a layer of glass cloth inside - to resist those little feet and to provide a non-slip surface!  And I then epoxied all of the inside.  I can varnish it later but at least it's waterproof now.

Finally, I inserted and epoxied in a copper pipe through what will now be the bow, for a painter / safety loop.  I have some very clever pipe-surrounds to make it look good in the end.

Think I'll paint the gunwale green and call the boat "Kingcup",

although we all know it's really called W Y C ;-)

The clue's in the name.......

..."for the grandchildren"!

So, I can imagine scuffing on the stems and abrasion to the lower edge of the sheer strakes.  And I finally decided to apply a layer of glass tape to these external edges.  Should have done it from the outset really, but at least this way I have a very smooth base to work from!





Leave the ends until the resin has gelled a little - it's easier to cut.




And peel the surrounding tape before the resin fully sets - it comes off better that way!

Stuff happens......

... and sometimes life gets in the way of things.

Never mind; after one or two substantial set-backs - like the sheer planks coming un-epoxied.  I'd better go back to the beginning.


I'm really not sure what the intersection should be between the curve of the hull and the sheer planks.  I've seen this sort of dipping-down on other examples; I tried to reduce it some by "rounding" the angle E-G-F.  On reflection, I think that another time I'll make a width jig to bring the top edges to the required separation, clamp the sheer strakes outside the bottom piece and keep the floor curve smooth.  If you see what I mean?


Anyway.  I also decided to use epoxy only (no tape) to fasten the seams.  It's worked for me before, but the tension in those same sheer-strakes popped the joint.  Hmmmm.  The stem joints have worked fine; but I might give in and tape all the joints anyway.  I just like smooth joints.

Anyway - now it's all together, I need to add the weave-filling resin to the tape which I HAVE used at the vertical sheer joints.  And to decide whether to tape all those seams - at least on the inside....





















Next step after that is to trial-fit the gunwales so that I can establish the sheer-line.  Have managed to find a few more clamps - but I shall need to make some more - as in the plans.  But here's a trial fit.