Part 2

Winter 2012

After all the sanding, I was ready to start glassing. I contacted a local glass fibre shop and after a visit to my workshop they decided it could be done in four days. Wrong! These experienced guys were anything but. They didn't allow for the cooler temperatures, hence thicker epoxy, neither did they account for the fact that the three ply fabric would take a great deal of wetting out nor did they account for the fact that I had wanted all four layers put on in quick succession (to get a chemical bond). They would also need to master levitation! Suffice to say, things did not work out quite as planned. With me as an extra pair of hands we managed to put one layer on in four days. Wetting out was the major problem because the three ply cloth, which they had recommended, was just too thick to wet out fast enough in cool temperatures. The work so far is good, but much too expensive to be paying two people four days wages for each layer.

By the time this first layer had been applied we were about to head off-shore for a wee holiday. Because the cooler months of the year would be upon us by the time we returned, I decided to abandon the fibre-glassing until the warmer weather of spring time. There was, after all, plenty of other work to be getting on with including one of my planned alterations to the design - the addition of a foam insulation layer inside the whole boat.

This was achieved by lining the hull with 50 mm foam blocks, glued in with epoxy (I had previously done trials to confirm the strength of this type of glued joint - ie wood to polystyrene). On top of the foam was glued 4 mm plywood sheets. My calculations suggest that this will increase the weight of the hull by about 168 kg.

The finished lining looks great. Hopefully this will increase thermal and sound insulation as well as stiffening the hull to some extent. I have calculated its buoyancy value after the deduction of material weights to be 1.375 tonnes. I also plan to add buoyancy to other 'hard to get at' corners (not always using foam) with the aim of having enough buoyancy to float a completely swamped yacht.

This proved to be quite a lengthy process - in fact it was much harder than putting the actual skin on the outside. The accuracy needed was much harder to achieve in the restricted spaces between the frames.

Other work completed during the winter was finishing the anchor locker and working on the sugar-scoop stern.

I have also been attending to engineering projects such as the steering system and quadrant as well as the very substantial rudder stock. This is a 75mm 2205 stainless steel solid rod. It will have s/s tangs welded to it to take the wooden rudder.

So I still have the fibre-glassing to do. And it's a bigger job than anticipated because I will have to sand in between layers. Never mind, the summer should bring the next exciting part - turning the hull over!

By the way, if anyone out there has any questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to contact us or post a comment below.