She-Kon: Back on Planet Earth

Ok, that's enough nonsense. Back on planet Earth in the 21st. century some progress has been made with the boat project.

The stern bearing carrier doesn't sit flush to the keel. The angle of the prop shaft is 8 degrees. I tried a few times to build in a wedge that would correct for this with little success. Yesterday I glued in the bronze nipple that connects the shaft log to the bearing carrier.

Cleaning up the bearing carrier

I used a liberal coating of mold release was to ensure the bearing carrier would separate from the epoxy I used to glue in the bronze nipple. The bearing carrier was used to ensure proper alignment of the shaft etc.

Mold release wax

This is good stuff anytime you've got a part you don't want to stick. I think it's about 98% carnuba wax.

Here you can see the gap between the bearing & the keel

Using a very think mix of epoxy, glass beads, colloidal silica and fiberglass strands I made a mix that I could pump into the space. I used packing tape to keep it from running out. It'll be rough but I can fix that up later. Once it has it's rough shape I might put a layer of carbon fibre over it.

Packing tape used to mold in place the bearing carrier

The rudder has been a royal PITA. A helluva lot more sanding than I ever imagined. I ended up chasing my tail around and around trying to get it fair. Finally I had had enough and had to give up.

Up until today I had no real idea if the rudder would actually fit. I hadn't dry fitted it yet. It was made to the designers specs so I had to place my full faith in him. As it turned out it fits. It's tight getting the bolts in but I can manage. Not really a one person job but a few ups & downs of the step ladder doesn't hurt the waste line! :-)

Success! It fits!

Still some fairing and painting to do on the rudder but I just couldn't help myself fitting it in to see how it looked. Man, it's been a long tough journey to get this far. Little milestones like this is what keeps me going!

Thanks for looking in. Appreciate any/all comments/feedback.

Standby....