Ta DA! She's finished! My new, Corbie 5 wooden IOM RC sailboat is completed. Wood hulls look so much more classic than fiberglass. They may be a bit slower, but they look great. For my first IOM I think it turned out well! Might have to make another one in the future though to fix all the mistakes I've made on this one...  And I just had her maiden voyage. It went much better than expected given the confusion I've had with the rig. The helm was almost perfectly neutral and I can easily adjust for a slight weather helm if desired. She floated, to my eye, right on her waterline. There was at most 1 knot of wind in the gusts and hardly any otherwise, but she still went very well. It was a very exciting and trouble-free maiden voyage! And afterwards the inside was bone dry... not a drop. I must thank Ian Dundas of Scotland for all of his incredible help and advice throughout this project! His patience in putting up with my incessant questions was endless. Thank you Ia...

I waited 48 hours after my second coat of Klass Kote clear 2-part urethane , and then tonight wet sanded starting with 1000 grit and worked up through 2000 grit, and polished the hull with three different grades of compounds and polishes using my Porter Cable 7424 polisher. It turned out really well. It'll look even better with a coat of wax on the topsides. It still doesn't have the depth of shine that I'd like, but it's really close. I might even do the old scale modelers trick of spraying some Future floor polish on the topsides. It would really shine it up.  I still can see a few pits and dips, but whatever... it's a hobby not a profession. I'm getting better but am a ways away from the guys who can get those deep, deep shines. Maybe someday. To totally eliminate the small pits and remaining orange peel, I'd have to sand much more aggressively, and then risk cutting through the clear coat. Someday I'll try harder, but when I...

Today I wet sanded with 800 grit and then sprayed on a second round of 2-part clear urethane. It looks better regarding the underlying scratches, but I'm still getting some orange peel. I'll see how it looks when dry and then decide if I'll wet sand and polish the whole hull or just leave it as is. Aloha!

I've decided to forego any and all varnish for the Corbie 5 IOM sailboat. It would weigh too much and take too much time. Instead I'm spraying Klass Kote Clear Urethane . It'll give a nice shine, good depth, and it has UV blockers. I've only used this product once before and didn't get great results. This time I have a much better gun and so far it's clearly (pun intended) better. Still, it's not perfect. I'll let it dry overnight and then sand it with some 800 in spots and 1500 overall, and then give it another round of coats. The pictures look good, but in person you can see at least two runs and maybe a sag. There are also some spots that just aren't that glossy. I think I had my gun at too high of a pressure (50psi) and I'll lower it to 35 psi tomorrow. Should be better. Overall it's much better with this new gun, but it's still tricky to get a really nice coverage. Ugh! But to be fair, it's already looking be...

The aft deck has now been epoxied onto the sheer planks and the inwales that I installed recently. The red foam thing has a hole carved out on the bottom of it so that it can sit over the backstay eyebolt and yet hold down the deck evenly.  This is from the scoop deck area, and shows the shroud eyebolts. Here's how the aft deck looks after the epoxy has cured and the edges have been sanded. Yes, you'll be able to see the edges of the plywood deck, but it's relatively clean look with crisp lines for the layers. If I ever do another boat I might try to inset the deck and glue it onto the inwales only, and then round over the sheer to meet flush with the deck. That would be a better look. Aloha!

Haven't been posting much, but progress is continuing on the Corbie 5 IOM. I've installed the transom plate. It's a very think lamination of mahogany veneer and a thin sheet of, I think, Alaskan yellow cedar that has had the boat's name laser cut into it. It gives a fun three-dimensional effect when polished. The scoop deck has been installed, and now I'm installing thin strips along the inside of the sheer to act as additional epoxying surfaces for the foredeck and aft deck. Off to an IOM regatta in Renton , WA this weekend to checkout current IOM rigging ideas. Aloha!

Ok, fine... I've given up on my artsy deck idea as I just couldn't get it to work exactly as I wanted. I've moved to a much more conventional idea, but still wanted a touch of bling, so I incorporated the design name into the deck. It's two layers of 1/64" (.4mm) plywood laminated together. The top layer has Corbie 5 cut into it to reveal the bottom layer which is painted red. The top layer also has some degree markings, mostly just for looks, and the jib swivel holes cut out. They were laminated over the form that I made. It held its shape well and will be easy to epoxy to the hull. Here's how it looks just sitting on the hull. After laminating, I added a small amount of epoxy to the cutouts. When that was dry I sanded it flush and then put on a layer of .73 oz cloth. It was later sanded down and is now ready for epoxying to the hull. Lots more small detaily things to do still but I'll shortly be epoxying all three decks to the hul...