Friday, July 27, 2012

Honest, it's not another woman

I spent some real quality time with my sanders today! Likely more than I'll get to spend with my sweetheart! *sigh*Ok, nuff mushy stuff. She got to drive the IROC to work today!

I thought I'd try something different because pictures of sanded fiberglass is about as exciting as watching concrete harden.

Virtual tour of the boat shed part 1


Virtual tour of the boat shed part 2



Virtual tour of the boat shed part 3



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A lil' goop goes a long way

I needed to build up the flare around the thruster tube exits. I did this with some thickened epoxy, wood flour and silica.

Shaping it is the hard part. Trying to get it nice and smooth without taking off too much takes some work.

Here's the last layer of goop added to build up the flare.

That'll get sanded smooth tomorrow night and a layer of tape put over it. This weekend I hope to get the final layers of tape on the keel and sides. When that's done it's pretty much ready to be fiberglassed. *shudder*

Sunday, July 22, 2012

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......



Saturday, July 21, 2012

On a side note.....

Our ole' hot rod passed a milestone (or should I say kilometer stone) last night.


Maybe not as many miles as some but certainly a lot for this old girl! She's got a few warts and some electrical issues but still runs strong and gets rubber in second gear! The car silly not the ole' lady! ;-)

Ok, nuff car talk, back to boats. Off to pick up our dingy today. Should be a nice day for a drive in upstate NY.

Standby...

Thursday, July 19, 2012

He's Back!

Wohoo! Back out in the boat shed tonight for the first time since my skate boarding accident! ;-)

Felt good to smell the sawdust. All I did was clean up a bit and organize my work bench but at least it was something. More tomorrow for sure. Knee feels good today. I'll attempt the ladder tomorrow and see how it goes. The wife has me talked into seeing the ole's sawbones and getting some physio therapy. I didn't want to but she beat me down till I gave in! *sigh*

Carry on......

Monday, July 16, 2012

That didn't take long!

We didn't stay "boatless" for long. Welcome the latest addition to the Fleet "Plan B"!


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Not in My Front Yard!

Oh, it's still here?



New owner went to tow it home last night and no tail lights. We frigged with the wiring in the dark for an hour then gave up. Better safe than sorry and leave it here for the night. He'll return to pick it up today. I installed a new set of lights this morning. I hate friggin' with ole stuff and that's probably one of the main reasons we decided to build a new boat.


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bravo Zulu ole girl.

Havin' a rum 'n coke to celebrate the final voyage of the KnottyBuoyz II. She's a good ole' boat and amazes me how well she runs . I hope her new owners look after and enjoy her as much as we did!  :-)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Lets keep our fingers crossed

and hope all goes well next Saturday for the in water test but barring the freakin' thing sinking we can consider our ole' boat.............

Now we'll have 'nuff money to order the winders for the new boat! :-)

Almost all the ingredients are on hand for fiberglassing party on Aug 4th. Getting a little worried about that but we'll be ok methinks.

Standby.....

Monday, July 2, 2012

August 4th. 2012 08:00 hrs

I don't normally like setting target dates but there are some milestones in this project that demand them.

The biggest task ahead is fiberglassing the outside of the hull while it's upside down. Before I took my tumble I had about half of the seams taped and then with a little sanding it'd be ready for fiberglass. I'm looking at where we are and where I thought I'd be and I'm about 6 months behind. Not that it's a race mind you it's just if I let it slip more the chances of getting the hull flipped this year are slim.

Soooooooooooo, long story short, I've decided Saturday August 4th. is the day to glass the hull. I'll be inviting some friends to help and have one volunteer (Thank You Mr. Lemonhands) so far. Everyone's welcome to come and help out even if it's only for an hour or two. No special skills required. Just wear clothes that you don't mind ruining! :-)

The process has to be done in one continuous operation from start to finish. With 4 or 5 extra pairs of hands I think we can have it done in 5-6 hrs.

So if you'd like to experience the thrill of fiberglassing a boat hull, c'mon over on Aug 4th. All helping hands will be well fed and watered for their troubles!