July 2018

Well, it is July second.  Time to get back to it.  I've scheduled a big work day for Saturday July 7.  We will finally get the other side of the boat encapsulated.  Today, I had a few friends over to help dry lay the glass.  We decided to suit up for the procedure to avoid the big itch.

Left to right, Patrick, Nick and myself.  We are ready to roll in fiberglass.  The brush is just a last minute prop for the photo op.  We might decide to start fighting crime, but it'll have to wait for cooler weather, those suits are hot.

I must say, it's been nice getting help on the project.  Oh course the type of work being done now requires a large number of people.  That's one reason it takes awhile to get the big things done.  There is scheduling, gear to buy, food prep and lots of beer to buy.  We have a good crew coming Saturday, some from as far away as Birmingham.  I'll make sure someone is taking pictures.  I'm sure we'll have a great time and a few laughs.

We've finished both sides with the initial encapsulation.  We now have to wash her down and roll on a few more layers of epoxy to bury the weave.  Actually, I'll do a very rough sanding to bring the seams down even before we roll on more epoxy.

View from above.  A bit stretched using a panorama mode.

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The dogs enjoy a little romp while we work.

Glass mat and glass cloth ready for epoxy.  Smooth those wrinkles out first.

I overlaid the finished side with around 2 inches.  More would be over kill, less would make it difficult to keep the glass laid down around the edge. 

My crew assembled and getting ready to work.   That's me in the foreground, Nick, Laura and Pat.  

Nick working on the hardest part.  It's slippery up there and the glass does not lay well because it is really unsupported.

The sides rolled on very well.  That is Al Kuhn  rolling away.  

Keep the roller very wet to apply and roll till dry to take up excess.  Careful using too much force or you'll squeeze out the epoxy and leave a dent.

Just adding the finishing touches.  Making sure that the glass is laying down nicely on the previously finished side.  I'm using the laminate roller for this procedure.  We used it sparingly on this side and I think we had a better finish.  I'm not too worried about the excess over the bow laying down since I will grind most of it off anyway.  I'll then lay down about 4 inch strips along the bow edge to increase the radius there.

I think we are done for the day.

Must have refreshments