Ok, lets get down to it....

That's 'nuff car talk. Actually got a little work done on the boat today. First task was building up the area around the bow thruster tube. I'm no sculptor and can appreciate the genius of Michael Angelo.

The goal here is to get an even flow of water past the opening which should cut down on turbulence that cause unnecessary drag. I'm building up a few layers of thickened epoxy to form a flare that'll help direct the water flowing past the opening out and away from it. Kind of hard to envision here but you'll see when I'm done. I hope!

I picked up this B&D Precision sander at CtC for $50. It's a handy little sander that'll help shaping the flares around the thruster tube. You have to be careful with this little unit, it can remove a lot of material very quickly..

Next task was the Moon Pool! Well not really but I had to cut another hole in the bottom of the boat. For what this time?, you ask? The Airmar in hull transducer. This type of transducer shoots through the bottom of the boat and cannot have any core between the transducer an the hull. The hole is located just behind Frame B.

I cut the hole a little oversize and used the cutout as a plug. I wrapped the plug in vacuum bagging film and peel ply. This way I'll easily be able to remove the plug and be left with only fiberglass covering the hole.

The cutout above and below being covered with film and peel ply.

That's my "Raptor Nails" stapler. I didn't absolutely have to use it but I did anyways! :-)

Here's the plug back in the hole secured with a few screws. This gets the plug almost completely flush with the exterior of the hull.

And on the outside. A little thickened epoxy filler and some tape. Once this sets up I can remove the screws and put another layer of cloth over it on the outside.

There'll be two layers of glass go over top of this patch and at least two more inside. That'll provide the solid fiberglass hull section for the transducer. This sounder will be very near the fwd end of the boat only a few feet from the waterline. It should give us a good indication of what's right under the bow. There'll be another transducer on the transom showing us what's under our keel at the stern.

We picked up our tender yesterday. I have plans for the V10 but decided once this first boat is done it's highly unlikely I'll have an appetite to build a tender. Saw this lil' gem on e-Bay and got it for a decent price. It's in good condition. All we need to do now is find ourselves a small trailer and outboard.

It's a Walker Bay 8'er. Should prove good and stable and sturdy tender. Lori has named our tender "Little Peace".

Carry on......