Inside glass

i got the inside of the hull glassed last night. now to do the inside of the deck.

Easter weekend update

On Saturday I managed to sand out the inside of the hull, put on a seal coat of epoxy and a fill coat of epoxy on the outside of the deck. On Sunday I spent the entire day with the wife, kid and family... They were starting to wonder who I was and why I keep coming in the house for sandwiches...

Cockpit

Ok, I chopped a hole in the deck last night. It was surprisingly easy to do.  I am gluing on about 100 - 2" long walnut strips around the hole to build up the coaming. that is another task that is surprisingly fast and easy. The next step is to smooth out the insides enough to get the fiberglass to lay flat. I'm pretty sure that is going to take a couple of days. When I pulled the hull off the forms, I was amazed how light it is, cant wait to put it together.

Glass on hull

The weekend went rather well, I was able to put on a seal coat of epoxy on the hull Saturday morning and it was dry enough by Sunday morning to put on the fiberglass. The roll of fiberglass that I ordered isnt wide enough to cover the entire bottom at once so I put on two pieces to cover, it should add some extra strength anyway. I think if I was to do it again, I would wet out just one layer of glass at a time, as doing two was a real pain. I dont know if I got the glass pressed down against the hull tight enough and it took about two hours to do. Good thing it was only 65 degrees in the shop, it gave me extra time to work with the epoxy before it set up.

Ramblings

I now understand why boats have female names...

Glass on deck

the glassing process is really simple, and its kind of fun. i thought the deck looked good with just a sealer coat of epoxy on it, but wow, the clear glass adds depth. i spent about an hour last night doing a final sanding, cleaning a little and fitting the glass to the deck then putting on the epoxy.

only 44 days until the SD Kayak Challenge!

Sealer Coat

now the true beauty of the wood shines through. after another day of sanding and preparing, i have put on a sealer coat of epoxy on the deck. with the temperatures and humidity in my shop, i expect it to take days to dry enough to put on the fiberglass.

Saturday Update

things are moving faster now, the final sanding is about complete, the hull is ready for fiberglass and i should get that on today. the shop is at about 65 degrees and the suggested temp for epoxy is at least 75.... but the race is getting closer and i cant wait for warmer weather....no fear, just get it done!

thursday's note

just a quick note that the fairing is complete, next step is to fill in  a couple of blemishes and do the final sanding. i might even get to some fiberglass this weekend... woohoo!

Quick update

yesterday i bought a random orbital sander and started using it on the kayak.... why did i not buy one of these years ago....

all righty then..

So the fairing is nearly complete. I spent about 12 hours doing nothing but sanding, planing, shaping... and I'm still not happy with it. I'm thinking that i need to start on the final sanding and touch up any other spots i missed or messed up. I also glued up some panels for the cheek plates and the seat back. If anyone wants advise about this process I suggest that you walk away from it every once in a while and come back fresh... that helps a lot.