Lots of various projects going on the Corbie 5 IOM RC sailboat this week. Over the past few days I've worked on the hull, the foredeck, and the aft deck. Here's what I've done: On the hull, I've put my second coat of epoxy on the hull, sanded it off, and just now added the third coat. Tomorrow I will lightly sand it off and then mark the waterline with this... After that I will leave it lightly sanded and will eventually add a few light coats of varnish for UV protection. That varnish will be sanded and polished in the end. Won't be as glossy as unsanded epoxy or varnish, but will be very smooth and have a very fair surface. I realize that doing it this way will probably add significant weight, but again... my sailing skills are so poor that it really doesn't matter! Tomorrow I get to also remove the hull from the frames! I have also worked on my aft deck. It's made from 1/32" (.9mm) ply with two reinforcements around the underside of ...

The Wampum VM received its first coat of epoxy and fiberglass today! Well, OK, it received its only layer of fiberglass, but the first of probably three coats of epoxy. Pouring the epoxy over the white cloth is magical. The cloth disappears and the wood takes on a saturated look. Here are pictures from today's adventures: I used one piece of cloth with a slit cut in it instead of two overlapping pieces. It just makes for a nicer finish with less sanding to do. I trimmed it with about an inch or two overhang.  Here is a lesson in why you MUST examine your faired hull closely BEFORE applying the epoxy. I had inadvertantly scratched the hull with a knife at one point. I immediately sanded it off, but clearly not well enough. Take a close look after you fair your hull for any scratches. If the wood fibers are torn, then it will show up. Ugh!! At least most of this scratch will be under the bottom paint, so no worries. This was the best part of the hull af...

This morning, after I sanded the second coat almost completely off, I still had a few low spots that just weren't filled enough. Soooo... will do a third coat and tomorrow I'll sand that one off too. However, to ensure that I will truly fill the low spots, I did some spot filling on just those areas that needed it. Then a few hours later, I added a third coat to the entire hull. I also added some additional thickened epoxy to the fillet at the full/fin joint. Here is how it looked after the sanding and the spot filling: Here it is after the third coat has been added... Tomorrow, I'll sand it for, hopefully, a last time, and then I may be able to cut it free from the strongback. Aloha!

Wow... it's always an amazing experience to see how the hull colors come out when you fiberglass the cedar! Today was a huge day for the new Sun Wind II. I finished, faired, and fiberglassed all day! I added the final planks this morning, and let them cure. Then I faired the hull, and now I've added the fiberglass. Phew... Here's the hull after fairing and sanding... Make sure it's well wiped off. Then drape the fiberglass over the hull. I made a slit so that the cloth would slip over the fin. Trim the fiberglass cloth so that there is only about an inch or so of excess cloth below the sheer line. Then also make a slit at the bow. Smooth the cloth over the hull and see how it easily conforms to the hull shape. Make sure  you like how it sits, as it's hard to move it once it's wetted out with epoxy. Then gather your fiberglassing tools. I really only use a small, very flexible yellow epoxy squeegee thing. I've used it for kayaks and R...