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the oil slick II
Aug 23Just meander down the page to get the updates...
I'm sure you're probably wondering what this page is all about....trust me- I'll catch you off guard with this one!!!
Some of the immediate family
will recall that we Elick's once had a pool in our back yard...and one
summer, I think when Aunt Barbara and Uncle Leo visited with their
families, they brought with them several blow-up yellow rafts. We kids
spent all day getting headaches from blowing these things up and then
spent the rest of the day floating on them in the pool.
It was glorious!!!...until my older brother John gave my raft the name "the oil slick". I was very put-off by the name because it seemed to imply something negative and ugly....John was always doing things like this....
So, unbeknown to John, I switched our rafts (they were both yellow), but to my surprise, I still owned "the oil slick"....even though I had his raft....The oil slick seemed to follow me...
Well,
there is going to be a new "oil slick" or at least a new boat- one I
intend to build in my apartment!!!! You can see the anticipated
finished product above. It's known as an Oxford Single Shell, and it is
sold as a kit composed of precut plywood, epoxy, fiberglass, and a
rigger/seat system. It's known as a "stitch and glue" construction
boat and I intend to take you through the process of making it...step
by step!!!
Yes, I've measured out my apartment, and tonight I moved my furniture to accommodate the build...I've read the boat building instructions and feel that I may just be able to do this. It's going to take a few weeks...
And of course, to get it out of my apartment, I will have to lower it out of my 2nd floor window- ya, a little hair-brained, but I'll worry about this when the time comes...
So stay tuned....
It was glorious!!!...until my older brother John gave my raft the name "the oil slick". I was very put-off by the name because it seemed to imply something negative and ugly....John was always doing things like this....
So, unbeknown to John, I switched our rafts (they were both yellow), but to my surprise, I still owned "the oil slick"....even though I had his raft....The oil slick seemed to follow me...
Well,
there is going to be a new "oil slick" or at least a new boat- one I
intend to build in my apartment!!!! You can see the anticipated
finished product above. It's known as an Oxford Single Shell, and it is
sold as a kit composed of precut plywood, epoxy, fiberglass, and a
rigger/seat system. It's known as a "stitch and glue" construction
boat and I intend to take you through the process of making it...step
by step!!!Yes, I've measured out my apartment, and tonight I moved my furniture to accommodate the build...I've read the boat building instructions and feel that I may just be able to do this. It's going to take a few weeks...
And of course, to get it out of my apartment, I will have to lower it out of my 2nd floor window- ya, a little hair-brained, but I'll worry about this when the time comes...
So stay tuned....
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Aug 26
6 hours drive to and from Annapolis, MD
I drove to Annapolis, MD yesterday to pick up the boat. You can see it in the back of my truck....it's surprising how small it is when packed together in pieces. The three boxes contain: (1) long box: 8 ft long plywood pieces, 8 ft long railings, fiberglass fabric, and wood tools, (2) white box: epoxy, wood flour, and silica dust, brushes and rollers for application and (3) smaller box: rigging and seat/slide...
Last night I watched the DVD on how to build a wooden boat. Boy, this is involved!!!! After watching the video, I measured and remeasured my apartment and decided that I will need more room...It's not that the boat wouldn't fit, but you definitely need more space to assemble it correctly....so no out the window for me!!! Now I'm looking for a new space....I guess I'll have to put my couch/futon back together....we'll see- it may be a great motivational tool to not have a place to sit while this boat is being constructed
As soon as I find a place to work, we'll start the clock on this project....They say it takes anywhere from 70 to 80 hours to put on together....
Aug 266 hours drive to and from Annapolis, MD
I drove to Annapolis, MD yesterday to pick up the boat. You can see it in the back of my truck....it's surprising how small it is when packed together in pieces. The three boxes contain: (1) long box: 8 ft long plywood pieces, 8 ft long railings, fiberglass fabric, and wood tools, (2) white box: epoxy, wood flour, and silica dust, brushes and rollers for application and (3) smaller box: rigging and seat/slide...
Last night I watched the DVD on how to build a wooden boat. Boy, this is involved!!!! After watching the video, I measured and remeasured my apartment and decided that I will need more room...It's not that the boat wouldn't fit, but you definitely need more space to assemble it correctly....so no out the window for me!!! Now I'm looking for a new space....I guess I'll have to put my couch/futon back together....we'll see- it may be a great motivational tool to not have a place to sit while this boat is being constructed
As soon as I find a place to work, we'll start the clock on this project....They say it takes anywhere from 70 to 80 hours to put on together....
Sept 13 days- find space
4 hours- clean the barn & ready workshop
I've found my work space...It's a barn located at the end of the Isle of Que, owned by a friend of a friend...It's located about 20 feet above the Susquehanna, so this tropical depression better not cause too much flooding!
I
can't really say that I fell in love with the space as soon as I saw
it...The barn was full of bat and pigeon feces, which I promptly swept
up and blew out....You can see a green board in the background of the
Heinz Pickle photo....and on that board is this little bat...I think
we'll get along alright and heck, I'm desperate and really want to
start this project. 
So,
I finally took the boat out of the box....Here it is....and set up my
work area....But by the time I cleaned the barn and set myself
up, it was already dark and rainy, and I couldn't do anything
more....Though I wanted to glue together the pieces tonight, I
refrained and decided that either tomorrow or more likely Sunday, I 'll
do this- when the weather is better...Tonight I'm just going to curl up with my video "The zen of wooden boat making" and I'll read the instructions.
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Sept 21 hour-align the panels
1 hour- glue the panels
Today I called the factory where I bought my boat kit and asked them if it was OK to begin gluing the structure, even though there was incredible humidity with Ernesto pouring down on us all day. They actually said it was OK; I spent part of the morning making sure the 8 ft long panels were properly aligned so I could begin the process. Here you can see all of the pieces of the hull exterior, in place on a series of tables (right). The cross bars represent where the scarf joints that I glued are located. So what is a scarf joint, you ask?
Below
is a close up view of 2 sets of symmetrical panels (from the port and
starboard sides of the boat). The ends of the panels are cut along a
bevel, which is then glued to another bevel from another panel.
Apparently, this type of glued joint is stronger than the actual
wood... 
To the right you can see how the beveled edges fit together. I mixed the epoxy (resin, hardener, and silica dust), and glued the panels and the stabilizing rails together. I'm really anxious to see how long it takes the epoxy to become firm. Because it is a bit cool- ~58F, it may take more than 24 hours to cure. I have a super fear that it's going to remain gooey or the clamps that I've used to hold down the joints will not hold the wood evenly. I guess we'll all have to wait until tomorrow....Once the epoxy cures, I will sand the excess epoxy (I was sloppy) and glue the rails to the panels that will hold the deck.
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Sept 3
30 mins- ride to & from barn on bicycle
I rode down to the barn this morning to check on my glue job. Because it wasn't quite totally cured, I decided to let it have another day. In gluing the scarf joints, you're supposed to be generous with the glue- and I was generous to the point of being too generous. Where the glue had been applied too thick (on top of the joints), it was still too soft but where it was applied thin (between joints) it was dry. So, tomorrow I shall check on it again and more than likely, I will end up sanding the panels and applying the supporting rails- a job for 2 people....I think it will be a good labor day!
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Sept 47 hours sanding/gluing
I started the Labor Day holiday facing a bit of sanding...The epoxy (looks wet on the panels to the right) had dried over a 48 hour period and needed to be removed from the surface. I used a very coarse sanding block to remove the real thick globs and and then relied on a rotating sander to remove the thin layers over the panels.
So here is the fruit of my labor....you can no longer see the glue. I'm afraid that I may have sanded some of these scarf joints a little to thin- I guess we'll see. Right now, these joints seem very fragile.
Here are all of the panels waiting to be stitched. They include from left to right: the stabilizing rails, the side panels and the bottom panels.
Before the panels can be stitched, the rail needs to be glued to the side panel. This rail will be the main support for connecting the deck and bulk head pieces. I think I screwed this process up just a little bit because the rails were a little warped and were difficult to glue in a straight line along the edge of the panels. Also, I didn't have enough clamps...I could have used 2 or 3 more but I don't think this will greatly affect the boat....
Tomorrow I hope to stitch the boat together with copper wire so that these planks will look like a real boat.
For now, I'm watching the river...You can see it lurking just below the barn....I think it's crested for now and may even be going down...but we're expecting some more rail this week....
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Sept 5
I had several questions for the company this morning so I rang them up and chatted for a while. Seems I did sand some of the scarf joints a little too thin because I went through the upper veneer on at least 2 of them. They said this wasn't going to be too much of a problem- it's more of a cosmetic thing. Not a problem for me- I plan to paint the hull of the boat white, so having a dark area along the joints is not an issue. The other cosmetic element is that there may appear to be a dimple where I sanded the boat too thin....
The other issue I have is with the epoxy....Apparently I was mixing it at an incorrect ratio. OK- this is not my fault! The video says to mix at a ratio of 2:1 resin and hardener; the literature I read advocates a ratio of 1:1. Because the CEO of the company is the person on the video, and since he says "here at our company, we use a 2:1 ratio for gluing our boats", I followed what he said on the video...Well, they told me that they dispense it differently at the factory...no worries here either- Using the wrong ratio just means it takes longer for the glue to cure, it doesn't factor into the strength of the structure.
So, I'll wait another day to take the clamps off, before I begin to stitch the boat together...
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Sept 64 hours- stitching panels
I spent all day in the field measuring and describing rocks, took Little Kitty to the vet, and then worked on my boat for the rest of the evening. Here's the progress I made today... To the right you can see me drilling holes in the panels. These holes allow me to stitch the panels together.
Next, I stitched the panels together using short strands of copper wire....At first, I did this step too tightly, so I spent a good part of the evening re-doing my work so the wire was loose. I may even redo this again tomorrow because I'm still not satisfied with the results....
This
process was very tedious and really worked on my lower back muscles and
finger tips. I've got to say I'm not a fan of this part, but as you can
see below, this step allows the pile of plywood to turn into something
that resembles a boat!
So
here are the bottom panels of the boat, stitched and ready to be
attached the the side panels (left)....The next step was to bevel the
ends of the bow and stern on the side panels and connect them. I did
this in the dark, and when I connected the ends, they had an awkward
match (I'll worry about this tomorrow when it's light out)...I clamped
these ends (see below) and placed the bottom panels on top of the side
panels (separated by 2 sticks so the bottom wouldn't fall through).
I'll stitch these pieces together tomorrow when I have time....and I'll
tighten the wires a little...
So far, everything that I've worried that I've done incorrectly has worked out....
Even though I've made some mistakes, I don't think they are huge problems....at least I hope they don't become problems!!!!
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Sept 77 hours redoing work from yesterday...
This is me after a long day of stitching and restitching my boat! As I mentioned yesterday, I thought I'd redo the stitching I had already done (see below left)...and I did...Tonight you can see I'm at the brew pub enjoying a white horse porter. Ironically, while eating dinner here, I met another boat builder- a guy who's building a sailboat...Where else can you find 2 people building boats but the Selinsgrove Brew Pub!!!....You'll notice from the photo that I haven't changed my clothes since yesterday....I guess you can do this when you're on sabbatical....
I mentioned yesterday that I made some awkward cuts along my bow (upper left) and stern (right)- today I took the boat apart and planed the wood for a better fit....See, no worries....
After undoing nearly everything I did yesterday, I finally have something that resembles a boat!!!!
I tightened all of my stitches and now will take a little break from boat building....It may not be until Sunday when I next have a chance to do anything to my boat....Hopefully, that's when I will attach the bulkheads to the bow and stern and begin the process of filleting and fiberglassing the interior of the boat.....So stay tuned!!!!
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Sept 8
2 hours bulkheads installation and winding check
I
lied about not doing any work for a few days....it's like I'm addicted
to working on this thing!...I put the bulkheads in yesterday....it took
about 2 hours because I had to reshape them to fit my boat...all boats
are unique in their shape and the bulkheads will always need
trimming....These panels (they have a circle cut in their middles) help
form the airtight spaces located under the deck panels of the
boat....The circle in the panel is where a hatch opening will be
placed...I also checked for winding, the twisting of a wooden structure. I suspended the boat above the saw horses using pieces of wood and placed 2 long pieces of wood 4 feet from the stern and 4 feet from the bow. If they line up when you look down the centerline of the boat then your boat is straight...if they are not in alignment, then your boat is twisted, which means a HELL of a lot of work....Mine was good to go- straight as an arrow, so to speak!!!!....it awaits the interior epoxy job, which is slated for tomorrow. I would have done this today, but it's a long process, and I wanted a good stretch of time....
To the left, I've included a picture of the view out of the barn doors from where I work...if I step too close to these doors, I can fall 1 story....This doorway is my way to a welcome breeze of fresh air...trust me, the bats and pigeons are pigs here, and fresh air is a rare commodity....
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Sept 10
6 hours adding fillets and fiberglassing interior of hull
My
back is killing me! I did lots of work this afternoon which included
basically strengthening the interior of the hull. I started this
afternoon, bending the copper wires with a screw driver (right) so that
they wouldn't interfere with the filleting process.Then I mixed several batches of epoxy and wood flour(fillet) which I applied to the seams of the boat. This almost peanut butter looking substance (below) covers the copper wires and fills the gaps between the seams. When this cures, it's super strong and helps to give the boat rigidity.
It doesn't seem like that big of a job, but it took a while to mix the right amount of epoxy and cover the 3 major seams for over 20 feet boat length. I also used this fillet material to seal the bulkheads- make them waterproof.
Next,
I cut strips of fiberglass tape the lengths of all of the
seams and glued them to the fillets. Again, I laid this out for 3
lengths, over 20 boat feet. When applying fiberglass like this, you
have to take your time, taking care not to get air bubbles in the
tape...I did this step twice which insures the boat will be strong!!!! 
Finally, I epoxied the entire hull interior (below). I think this step makes the boat a bit more waterproof and adds strength.My newest worries:
1. I may add too much weight to the boat using too much epoxy.
2. I may not have used enough fillet in the ends (bow and stern) of the boat. It's very narrow at these points and difficult to stick your hand or other tools into these areas...
3. I used so much epoxy that I may run out early and have to buy more....
Tomorrow I should be able to cut the copper wires from the outside of the hull and begin sanding/shaping the outside of the boat. This will allow me to prepare the hull for the fiberglass....later this week....
You can see my buddy, Mr. Bat, in the picture to the left...He's in the lower middle area....
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Sept 11
30 mins. clipping copper wires
I
had a migraine today and didn't get out of bed today until late in the
evening, so I didn't do much on the boat. I did clip some of the copper
wires that now are not necessary due to the glue job I did yesterday.
Part of the wires will stay embedded in the boat. These short prongs
will be sanded down to be smooth with the surface of the boat.
I didn't finish cutting the wires tonight because of the cloud cover and my late arrival. I managed to clip half of the boat before I could no longer see.
Rain and cold are in the forecast for the next 2-3 days....but later this week it's supposed to warm and dry up....I hope to get the boat in shape to fiberglass it later in the week....we'll see! That's a daunting task that requires a specific temperature range.
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Sept 12
1 hour 40 mins clipping wires and sanding
Today
I finished clipping the copper wires from the hull of the boat and
began the process of sanding. You can see here that I had some fillet
seep through a crack in the middle of the boat. I ground this down
using my Dremel tool (below) and used a rotating 5 in. sander to
remove edges along the seams where I connected panels. I have a lot of
sanding yet to go...Right now I am doing the prep work leading up to the next big step- Fiberglassing the hull- I'm thinking I'll do that Saturday...
I'm
beginning to see some of the flaws in my work, but I think I'll be able
to live with them. Some I will be able to fix using more fillet and
sanding. The biggest flaw I can see is that the edge along the edge of
the boat is high in some areas (see first photo)....So, I'm sanding
this down to make a smooth connection. 
There's still a lot to do yet...mostly sanding....below you can see the bow (top) and stern (bottom).
After I'm finished working for the day, I wrap the boat in plastic....you may wonder why...and why the blue tarp over my work area....??????
Here's the reason....Guano...This is the guano that has accumulated on top of the tarp since I set up shop....Sept 1...see there are a lot of bats in this barn!!!
Here's my work area when I leave at night (below)....
On the docket for tomorrow:
more sanding...
adding fillet in problem areas
and more sanding!
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Sept 131 hour- filleting
I added fillets (pronounced fill-its) along (1) all of the gaps of the boat, (2) where I thought the wood was weak, (3) at each hole associated with the copper wire, and (4) in some places along the bow and stern to help shape the boat. What this means is that I will probably have a pretty strong, water proof boat....I used the fillet in excess, so that also means I have a HECK OF A LOT of sanding in front of me....
Tomorrow-
sanding
Friday-
sanding
Saturday- hopefully
fiberglassing the hull
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Sept 14
5.5 hours sanding
It rained today on and off, but it was too much rain for me to work in the field, so I worked on the boat...Sanding! All day long, I sanded- First with 80 Grit and then with 120...I got so into sanding that I nearly sanded right thru the boat....to the right, you can see where I sanded thru the upper veneer of the plywood....no worries!
I wore a mask and used the rotating sander...The boat looked naked
and was smooth as a baby's butt when I was done...so I put a fiberglass cloth on it in order to keep the chill at bay.I was tempted to apply the epoxy to the fiberglass but it was getting late and I was tired...so I may fiberglass the hull tomorrow...or possibly Saturday...For now, the cloth is smoothed out to fit the contour of the boat and hopefully, all of the wrinkles will be gone tomorrow.....
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Sept 15
2.5 hours fiberglassing boat (layer 1)
Today
was the day! I mixed up quite a bit of epoxy and applied it to the
wooden hull...I bought a spatula from an auto store and drizzled the
epoxy on the surface, spreading it with the spatula. It was real easy!
Now, the fiberglass fabric is (hopefully) adhering to the wood.
When I left the barn, it looked quite good! But I noticed some
problem areas where I may have skimped on the glue. I tried to fix them
before I left but time will tell if my efforts were successful. 
This first coat of epoxy is meant to hold the fiberglass mesh to the boat. The next coat (tomorrow?) will fill the gaps within the mesh fabric...
I may or may not need a 3rd or 4th coat...
I made a special tent to keep
bats and pigeons from messing with my work
and to lift the the plastic off the newly glued surface...My problem
areas actually developed when the plastic accidentally rubbed against
the wet epoxy and lifted the fiberglass from the boat edge.....
My biggest concern right now is running out of epoxy (left)...I've wasted quite a bit!!!! I called the company about the amount I've already used, and they seemed concerned that my boat would weigh a ton...I've used a bit on the fillets, but otherwise, I don't think I've been excessive...
Anyhow, besides using the wrong ratio of resin to hardener and mixing too much at times, I think I'm right on track with the boat weight...
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Sept 16
1 hour apply 2nd coat of epoxy to fiberglass
Using
a utility knife, I cut the fiberglass fabric that extended below
the boat edge. You can see this "Skirt" on the left and behind the
boat. You can see it's no longer present on the photo below. As I did
this, I inspected my work from yesterday- not bad, if I do say so,
myself! The problems I worried about yesterday were not issues today.I also used a roller to apply the 2nd coat of epoxy. This was a quick task (in comparison to the original coat)...The epoxy spread on in a thin coat and was full of millions of tiny air bubbles, but as it dried, the bubbles left the glued surface.
Below you can see a close-up of the fabric following the 2nd coat of epoxy...Since you can still see the mesh of the fabric, the surface needs another coat of epoxy- possibly 2 more...It will be ready when you can no longer see the fiberglass fabric. It has to be this thick so I can sand down the surface, making it real smooth, without sanding thru the fiberglass fabric....
For your viewing pleasure....here is a nice picture of my bicycle and the barn doors- closed. You can see the little door I access the barn from on the left side.
Tomorrow....apply the 3rd coat of epoxy...
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Sept 17
30 mins. applied 3rd coat of epoxy
I
didn't spend much time with the boat today. It took only 30 mins. to
apply the 3rd coat of epoxy. Again, I did this with a roller. You
can probably see that the mesh from the fiberglass is a bit more
difficult to see now and the the surface is rough....Guess what
that means? - sanding
Tomorrow I'll determine if I need a 4th coat; I think I will give it one more application and that may allow me to get a nice smooth surface when I sand it.
You
can see from the photo to the left that my supply of epoxy is running
low....I ordered some this weekend, so it should be here sometime this
week...Not all of the epoxy has been used directly on
the boat... a lot has dripped off the sides or
has been sanded off the boat surface....In fact, much of it is
probably in the cup (to the right), which is full of wood flower
and epoxy I sanded off the boat a few days ago!Tomorrow- either give the boat a 4th coat or begin to install the skeg....I'm scared to install the skeg- the skeg is the fin that is located below the stern of the boat....In order to install it, I'll have to cut a new hole in the hull....just when I was beginning to believe my boat was water tight!!!!
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Sept 18
30 mins. applied 4th coat of epoxy and glued deck beam
I
made a fourth and final application of epoxy today. I think the
fiberglass is pretty well covered over now. The mesh is hidden so that
when I sand the hull smooth, I don't go thru the fabric....hopefully....
I also glued the two pieces that make up the deck beam...Tomorrow, I hope to install this beam, and then later this week, I'll be able to place the deck on the boat. This beam is a supporting rail for the deck.
Also, if I have time tomorrow, I hope to begin to put the skeg into place....
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Sept 19
20 mins installed deck beam
1.5 hours cutting hole for skeg socket
This morning when it rained, I took the opportunity to install the deck beam (right). First I had to cut it to fit the space 44 inches from the bow. Then I glued it into place and left for school. Later in the afternoon, when the glue had almost cured, I pre-drilled 2 holes and screwed the beam into place using brass screws.
After installing the deck beam, I worked on making the slot for installing the skeg. Yikes!!!! I hated doing it, but I drilled a few holes using my Dremel tool and then used a hand saw to cut the slot.
This work took a while because I didn't have a jig saw, and I could feel how fragile the hull was, with the increasingly large hole, so I took my time. Above you can see me looking thru the hull. Yes, the slot is a little off center, but I'll fix this tomorrow...It may look sloppy, but the socket fits right in this hole
To the left, you can see how the skeg system should look with the skeg and socket in place...
I will align and glue (using fillet) the socket tomorrow but will add the skeg later, after I've sanded and painted the boat....
The new epoxy should arrive tomorrow (it was supposed to be delivered today), so I shall make the hull waterproof once again....Because of the gluing I have ahead of me, I anticipate planing the supporting rail and putting the deck on the boat Thursday or Friday....
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Sept 20
30 mins filleting the skeg socket
I wasn't able to do much tonight because the skeg needed to be installed. First, I sanded the slot a bit more in order to align the socket properly. Then, I ensured the socket wouldn't fall through the slot while I worked on it; I wedged 2 pieces of wood between it and the boat for a snug fit. Finally, I filleted the socket, making its position permanent. This involved righting the boat. The fillet filled the gaps between the skeg socket and the boat. You can see the brown fillet "putty" in both of the photos.
Tomorrow, I will plane the socket down to the hull surface and glue some fiberglass tape to it (above) to make sure the boat remains water tight.....
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Sept 21
2 hours planed skeg socket, installed stern deck
When
I left last night, I was really concerned about the skeg socket
alignment; the socket was only held in place by several wood chips when
I filleted it into place. You can imagine how relieved I was to see
that it was perfect! I planed this bit of wood down to nearly the hull
surface (right). Though I was supposed to apply some fiberglass tape to
this area, instead, I may fillet the area before I take that step.
I
also planed the edges of the boat, along the supporting rail so that I
could attach the deck. The rail height was variable because the
rails were warped (see Sept 4), but also, the contour of the bulkheads
doesn't match the shape of the rail, where the deck is installed....I
used a special hand tool to gage how much planing was necessary (see
left).
Next,
I mixed some unthickened epoxy to seal the underside of the deck panel
and mixed thickened epoxy (mixed with silica dust) to attach the deck
to the rail and bulkhead. After placing the deck on the stern, I
used a hand special tool to determine where the brass nails should be
driven.
I flipped the boat over to allow the epoxy to drip into the seam between the panel and the stern. Tomorrow I'll cut off the excess deck material and plane the surface to coincide with the contour of the boat. I may install the bow deck panel depending on how much time I have. I didn't attach it tonight because there were two pieces to this panel (held together with a scarf joint), and they needed to be glued before the panel was installed....
Two passing notes: 1) I can feel the boat getting noticeably heavier...
2) I have glue in my hair....
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Sept 22
4 hours trimmed stern deck, installed bow deck
I
have more glue in my hair tonight....My tasks today were pretty messy
and of course, I'm always messy....The first task at hand was to trim
the stern deck. I planed off the excess wood, sanded down the surface,
and rounded the edges. The picture to the left represents my progress
at the halfway point....Next, I planed the bow to prepare the rail for the installation of the bow deck. Like yesterday, I used a curved wooden tool...
Before
I installed the deck, I named, signed, and dated my boat in the bow
using a permanent marker (below)....This will hopefully be the last
time we see the inside of the bow... (unless the boat leaks)...Below you can see that I coated the deck with epoxy and then bent it over the epoxy coated rails using red boat straps ( what I use to attach my canoe to my truck).
Then I nailed the deck into place using brass nails...(below)
When I was finished, once again I flipped the boat over to allow gravity to pull the excess glue into any gaps between the deck and the side panels.
For the first time since I started, the epoxy began to cure before I was totally finished. As it cured, it gave off heat- it looked like steam!!! It was pretty cool!
I packed up the shop and retired for the night.....
Tomorrow...I plan to trim the bow and begin installing the coamings (splash guard)....
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Sept 23
4 hours trimming and sanding the bow deck panel
In
the late afternoon, I took this saber saw (right) to the extra material
material around the bow deck panel and trimmed the wood. I left a
pretty wide margin because I didn't trust myself with this saw...
Then I planed the surface so that the location of the deck panel was flush with the side panels of the boat.
The result:
Because I'm going to be busy helping to make wine in Tunkhannock tomorrow, I may not have much time to work on the boat in Selinsgrove. So, I may just take the rigging system (still in the box) with me to Tunkhannock and assemble it there, in between glasses of Merlot....Yah, that sounds like a REAL good idea! This little hiatus will give me time to consider how to deal with the part of the deck that overhangs the rowing area. You see, when I installed the deck, I allowed a little wood to overhang the bulkheads and I think this needs to be trimmed...Any little weight I can remove now, before installing the coamings is welcome- as long as I can do it neatly- I've already had a few mishaps, which I hope I can eventually hide from you....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept 24
1 hour assembly of rigging/seat system
Talk about disappointments!!!! Two things happened this weekend that really sucked!(1) The "saber saw" I used yesterday was not really a saber saw; it was a reciprocating saw. Now, I knew this when I bought it, but only because the guy at Lowes said they (reciprocating and saber saws) were the same thing....What I needed was a Jig saw of sorts....Now you might wonder why I'm making the big stink... Look to the right- the vibrations of the saw caused the epoxy on the boat, where the epoxy was thin, to flake away from the fiberglass fabric. The white line in the picture is fiberglass fabric....Now, because the guy at Lowes steered me in the wrong direction, I will have to re-epoxy the sides of the boat where this happened!!!! Needless to say I returned the saw and raised a little Hell concerning the damage....I think the people at the local Lowes just humored me, so I plan to write an angry letter to the central store.
(2) I opened the box containing my rigging system and found that the seat and foot stretchers were made of plastic (right above)!!!! The company who makes this product advertises that it has wooden pieces, and the boat company who sold it to me also shows it with wood in their catalog (see left)...so why the cruddy plastic???? Cheapness!!!! I called to see if they could switch my seat and foot stretchers because, surely they made a mistake- I bought wood....Nope! False advertising!!! They would charge me $35 more for a wood seat, and they no longer offer wooded foot stretchers.....Well, if this isn't resolved quickly, I may send the whole system back! I set up the above right, but all of the nuts and bolts are loose (note upside-down oarlocks) for when I make my changes (or for disassembly)...
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Sept 25
2 hours trimmed the deck and placed coamings on side panels
I
spent most of my time today measuring and describing rock. When I did
get to work on the boat, I spent my time fixing prior mistakes....I did
a pretty good job- Bet you won't be able to tell they were
mistakes....In the photo to the right, I removed the overhanging deck
from the bulkhead.....There was about 1.5 to 2 inches to remove....
I
also installed the side coamings, which you can also see above and to
the left....I used fillet to adhere them to the side panel, but I'm not
sure this was correct....The instructions didn't really say what type
of epoxy to use...right now, I'm beginning to think this was the wrong epoxy....
clear epoxy has been used to fiberglass
fillet has been used to fill gaps
silica epoxy has been used to bond wood
I think I should have used the silica, but I ran out of it a few days ago....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept 26
20 mins just a few comments...glued point on the coaming
The company owner of the Piantedosi Row Wing System called me this morning, and said he would be sending the wooden seat and wooden foot stretchers (as well as a few other small parts) to my Selinsgrove address. He was puzzled as to why the Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) Boat Company still shows his system as having wood, but he wanted to make good with the advertising and with me...I was very appreciative....he's actually crafting the wooden foot stretchers because they no longer offer them for sale....
I asked the CLC people if I used the wrong epoxy yesterday...yep....but it really shouldn't matter too much. In addition to the epoxy, I used a few brass nails to place the coamings on so they should be ok....
Speaking
of coamings...today I glued the bevel between the last of the coamings
pieces to form a point (left). When I return to work on the boat,
I will have to glue this component to the side coamings. You may be
wondering why the epoxy at the point in the photo is dark grey....Right?
Someone
is being a little adventurous!!! The coamings are supposed to be glued
with epoxy and silica powder. In previous photos, this mixture is clear
to off white....Well, I ran out of silica powder when I installed the
deck...so I called around to boat dealers in the area but no one had it
in stock....Then I recalled that the DVD on boat making referred to
silica powder as crushed sand...so what do I have in abundance that's
like crushed sand???? How about volcanic ash (upper left and right)!!!!
Now this is a geologist's boat!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept 27
1 hour gluing point again...sanding
Ok...I have to admit that the volcanic ash didn't work! When I checked on my glued coaming point, the epoxy crumbled into a sticky mess. This may have happened because the ash is a smectitic clay and the smectite may have absorbed too much of the resin. So I used fillet to re-glue the point and worked on sanding the side coamings. I did this pretty late on the day because I was out of town today.
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Sept 28
3 hours re-glued coaming!!!!, installed coaming, & sanding
Well,
it happened again! I picked up the coamings I glued yesterday, only to
have it fall apart in my hands. I figure I'm having problems with this
piece because the temperature has lowered and that may affect the glue
curing time. Also, it's just a very very very weak point on the boat.
So, I decided to use the heat from a lamp (right) to speed up the
curing time after I glued these pieces for the 3rd time. Oh, ya, I've
got to mention that I was able to procure silica powder from a local
boat shop. They found it in a back room; I was told it was probably 30
years old, but that fact shouldn't affect it's strength.
While waiting for the glue to cure, I sanded the area along the side coamings...This area was coated with glue fingerprints and smears...yes, I've been a little messy here and there, but I figure I can fix my messes through sanding....
When the glue along the coaming point had hardened, I glued it to the deck of the bow (see photo above). It didn't quite fit very well, so I manipulated it using the weight of a few objects (bag of birdseed, saw, paint and duct tape) and several clamps. Honestly, putting the coamings on the boat has been the most frustrating thing!!!
It became dark early due to the thunderstorms, so I quit early. I won't be around to work on the boat tomorrow, so I'll let the glue cure until Saturday (?)...then I can sand the area around the coamings (my mess) and fillet the gaps.
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Sept 29
3 hrs sanding coaming
I took the weights off of the point coamings to see if the epoxy had hardened and discovered that despite the cool night, it cured hard and fast. You can see the coamings to the right. Note that the point is off center. Yes, this kind of sucks, but I was so happy to get the darn thing on, that the alignment is not super important! This view is looking up the bow end....
And this view, to the left, is looking toward the stern....the tip of the coaming should be in the center of the circle...After a few beers it might seem to be centered...This piece of the boat was extremely difficult to install! Perhaps if I had been drinking it might be centered...
I made such a mess with the epoxy that I had a lot of sanding to do....When I was finished sanding the silica thickened epoxy, I used wood thickened epoxy to fill the gaps between the deck and the coamings....Sunday, I'll sand this surface a little more....
After I sand the whole thing (probably Sunday), I'll coat the deck with epoxy.... I may also begin installing the foundation for the Piantedosi Row Wing System...
I'm getting closer to painting/varnishing the boat.....With luck, I may start next week!!!! The painting/varnishing will take a bit of time, especially if the weather continues to be very cool....The spider web to the right is coated with dust from sanding- kind of makes it difficult to catch flies!
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Octo 1
2 hours sanding and coating the deck area with epoxy
I
didn't do too much today except sand a lot...I was still moving a bit
slow from my migraine yesterday....I even wore the same thing today
that I did yesterday, right Brendan???
I invested in a respirator because I have so much very fine sanding ahead of me...especially when I start to smooth down the epoxied surfaces....the epoxy itself isn't too harmful, but the dust is toxic....
When
I was finished sanding the deck (using 80, 120, and 220 grit papers), I
coated the deck and coamings with epoxy (left) and touched up some of
the problem spots where fiberglass is exposed. The epoxy will serve as
a sealant and as the foundation for paint and varnish. After another
coat (probably tomorrow) and some minor touch-up work, I'll sand the
surface smooth- leaving a thin layer of epoxy for the finishing
touches....
It looks a bit pretty doesn't it?! Okoume is the name of the wood; it's a kind of mahogany, known for that rich honey red color.
Tomorrow:
coat the deck with epoxy again
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 2 & 3
I haven't done any work on the boat over the past two days. This evening, I rode my bicycle to the barn only to find that I didn't have a roller to apply the last coat of epoxy. By the time I rode back to my apartment, rain was beginning to sprinkle down and the clouds made it dark early. Even though I bought a few rollers, I decided to wait on the work until tomorrow...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 hours sanding and coating the deck area with epoxy
I
didn't do too much today except sand a lot...I was still moving a bit
slow from my migraine yesterday....I even wore the same thing today
that I did yesterday, right Brendan???I invested in a respirator because I have so much very fine sanding ahead of me...especially when I start to smooth down the epoxied surfaces....the epoxy itself isn't too harmful, but the dust is toxic....
When
I was finished sanding the deck (using 80, 120, and 220 grit papers), I
coated the deck and coamings with epoxy (left) and touched up some of
the problem spots where fiberglass is exposed. The epoxy will serve as
a sealant and as the foundation for paint and varnish. After another
coat (probably tomorrow) and some minor touch-up work, I'll sand the
surface smooth- leaving a thin layer of epoxy for the finishing
touches....It looks a bit pretty doesn't it?! Okoume is the name of the wood; it's a kind of mahogany, known for that rich honey red color.
Tomorrow:
coat the deck with epoxy again
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 2 & 3
I haven't done any work on the boat over the past two days. This evening, I rode my bicycle to the barn only to find that I didn't have a roller to apply the last coat of epoxy. By the time I rode back to my apartment, rain was beginning to sprinkle down and the clouds made it dark early. Even though I bought a few rollers, I decided to wait on the work until tomorrow...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 mins. 2nd coat of epoxy & fiddled w/ Row Wing System
I
only spent half an hour working on the boat today, but thankfully, I
was able to finish what I started before the thunderstorms roared
through the area. All I did was apply a 2nd coat of epoxy to the deck
and coamings. So, this leads up to the last thing I have to do before
the all-important finishing touches...This last thing is installing the brackets for the Row Wing System in the cockpit area. I'd like to do this tomorrow...Here, you can see the empty cockpit (right)...
To
the left, you can see the RowWing System. I'm hoping my new wooden parts arrive soon- I can't wait to take that plastic seat off. I've already removed the plastic footstretchers. Today, I tightened the oarlocks into place and added the 2 L-beams upon which the system stands.
After the Row Wing brackets are glued into place (a 2 day affair), I can begin sanding the boat smooth, getting it ready for the primer, paint and varnish....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OCTO 5
30 mins installed mounting bracket for Row Wing System
During
my lunch break today, I ran down to the barn to install the
mounting bracket for the Row Wing System. To the right you can see how
the Row Wing system is supposed to look sitting in the boat cockpit. On
each side of the system, are a few small pieces of wood that are
supposed to hold it in place. Of course, these pieces of wood need to
be glued and screwed into place....
So
I mixed up some epoxy thickened with microballoons and glued the wood
platform and small spacers into place. To the left you can see the
pieces glued to the boat. On top of the wood pieces closest to the
camera, you can see a little level. I had to make sure the wood
platform was level with the boat. Also, you can see a puddle of glue that leaked from under the wood- looks like chocolate. I didn't add enough microballoons into the epoxy, so it was too thin and ran....
No worries! I ripped apart some plastic from a plastic bag and used it as a dam to move the glue back into place.
Now I know that this step looks pretty messy...I'll clean up my "mess" tomorrow...
Tomorrow: I plan to begin the long process of sanding the hull and decks. This is the last step before I paint/varnish the boat....This may take a few days....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 6
2 hrs bracket, socket, Row Wing switch
I
made some finishing touches before I begin sanding the hull and deck.
The first thing I did was screw in the bracket for the Row Wing System.
I pre-drilled the holes with a 1/16 bit and then a larger bit (to help
recess the screw heads), but even though I did this, I still ended up
cracking the wood when I hand screwed the board. Because the brass
screws didn't seem to reach into the thin wood spacers below, I used
epoxy with microballons to glue the wood block on and then screw it
into place. My faith in this thing holding is not very good.
While
I was gluing things together, I decided to take the opportunity to glue
a strip of fiberglass to the skeg socket for strength. I was supposed
to do this a while ago...but it really didn't seem like something that
needed to be done in a timely manner.Tomorrow, I'll use a razor blade to open the slit of the socket.
Guess what arrived in the mail today??? The mahogany seat and footstretchers!!! Look, a giant kitty cat!
So I took apart the plastic pieces and assembled the Row Wing System with the wood pieces. What an improvement!!!!
Tomorrow, if I have time, I will begin the sanding...I have Saturday Science in the morning and rowing practice in the early afternoon....
I probably won't get much sanding done...until Sunday.
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Octo 8
2 hrs sanding sanding sanding
I had a late start in the morning and really only began my work after noon...I started the day by cutting a slit into the skeg socket using a razor. Not too difficult!
Then I went to work sanding. And sanding And more sanding....Sure, I only worked for 2 hours, but the whining of the sander and the vibrations that are amplified by the hollow boat get to you after a while.
As you can see, I moved the boat out of the barn and into the yard (it's pretty darn heavy!!!). I really needed the intense light to see what I was doing and the afternoon breeze to move away the toxic epoxy dust.
The sanding removed that pretty honey-red color and replaced it with a
light gray color. You can see this in the half sanded side panel to the
right....In few small places, I accidentally sanded through the
fiberglass!!! They say in the instruction book to expect that to
happen. When I finish sanding the boat, I'll go over these raw spots
with some epoxy and then sand a little more.This sanding may take a few more days....expect some grumbling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 10
1.5 hrs sanding
Argh!!!! This boat is heavy!!!! I moved outside again today to work on sanding, and as before, I could only stand a short stint. I went thru quite a bit of sand paper too....
It's a bit frustrating in that the paper doesn't seem totally spent, but it quickly becomes inefficient at cutting thru the epoxy. So, only after a little bit, I find I have to change the paper...
While sanding, I went thru the epoxy on the coamings, so I'm going to have to call the company to see how better to approach areas where the epoxy is very thin, like the like the coamings and deck.
This is a s l o w process...You can see on the picture above where I have sanded the boat and where I haven't AND you can see to the left, where I have sanded thru to the wood....
The reason for sanding is to make a surface to the paint/varnish to adhere to while the boat remains structurally strong and water resistant because of the epoxy and fiberglass....It takes a while to sand the boat because the epoxied surface was rather rough with drips and spills etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 11
1 hr sanding
I
caught the remaining light of the day before the clouds prevented me
from being able to see where I was sanding, but not before a few minor
sanding errors...It looked like it was going to rain, so I didn't move
the boat outside. Instead, I sanded in the barn. Because there is less
epoxy on the deck, I sanded this area using a lesser grit size and
slower sanding speed. Had I known to do this on the coamings, I could
have prevented myself from sanding thru the epoxy. Yes, I follow
instructions...No, I don't have intuition...Yes,it might seem like
common sense, but I don't have common sense...and so, I rely on making
mistakes and learning to fix them.Tomorrow- more sanding!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 12
2.5 hours sanding....
I'm
making progress....I know it...I've made fewer mistakes today...The big
one, however, was working while a front was moving through the area.
The high winds knocked the boat over, off of the saw horses, 2 times.
That's how the deck got scratched (right)....Not sure I'm going to try
to fix this one- stupidity should be rewarded on occasion.I finished with the 80 grit and moved to 100...I'm only sanding by hand now...
I think I have only one more day of sanding...I want to make sure get all of the detail work done...
Tomorrow- finish sanding using 150 and 220 grit
AND
epoxy the over-sanded surfaces (repairing my mistakes)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 14
1 hr re-glued over-sanded spots
The
high winds forced me to work in the barn this afternoon. I mixed up the
remaining bit of resin and hardener to make epoxy and then applied it
to the over-sanded spots on the shell (wet spots on shell to the
right). I also mixed in some micro-balloons to thicken the epoxy and
then filled any last gaps and indents. Tomorrow I hope to finish this
sanding insanity. I'm going to do most of it by hand and use a high
grit....It will be slow going, but I want to avoid any possibility of
over-sanding....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 16
3 hrs sanding
The epoxy I applied on the 14th was still not cured yesterday, so I waited until today to sand the hull. It was my fall break at Susquehanna, so I felt good about sparing 3 hours to do this; I'm still not finished!!!! I'm sick of sanding!!!! I'm ready to move on but the boat is not ready yet! It's frustrating to feel like I'm not getting anywhere, but I am, it's just taking lots of time. And yes, today I sanded thru my repair in 2 small spots. Guess what that means? More time sanding!!!! My landlord, Marge, said I should just move forward (skipping the sanding), but if I do this, there's a good chance water will get into the boat and ruin the wood. So...I'll keep on keeping on...repairing and sanding...
Of other news, I didn't see my fox friend on the farm today, so there was no wrestling with wildlife this afternoon....
One of the biologists at SU told me that there is a family of foxes on the Isle of Que and I may have seen the mother...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 18
3 hours sanding and repairing the hull...
I
took advantage of the sunny warm weather, before the clouds rolled in,
by sanding and repairing the hull this afternoon...I kept thinking of
the end of the month, which is creeping up on me, and which will force
me to rent out the barn another month (if I don't finish soon)...I'm
getting closer to painting the boat, but this week it's supposed to get
cold, which will prevent the varnish from drying....I think I want to
varnish first and then paint....
Before the final touches can be applied, I repaired the
over-sanded patches (again). No wood can be exposed under the varnish
and paint. So, I used a new fiberglass epoxy (white patches) on the
hull to the right. It was nice, because it was quick drying, I only had
to mix a little, and it went onto the boat as a thick paste which I
applied with my finger (and then sanded).I also began to sand the cockpit, where I will sit on the ROW WING SYSTEM. I'll paint this area white like the hull, while the bulkheads, coamings, and deck will be varnished....I still haven't figured out how to add the coloring of the oil slick...Does anyone have any recommendations? Send them my way.....
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Just a side note-
Years
ago, when John first named my raft the "Oil slick", I had ugly visions
of black goopy oil. The idea of naming this Oxford shell the "Oil
Slick" is based on beauty, not a killer sludge...I saw a satellite image of an oil slick off of Indonesia from a tanker that hit a reef....The image was beautiful from a distance- like my boat...
So, if you have any ideas as to how I can add the psychedelic colors of an oil slick to my boat, I'd be appreciative. elick@susqu.edu
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Octo 19
1 hour more sanding and repair
Not
sure that it was worth the hour I spent on it, but I took the boat
outside the barn and, once again, added a little epoxy to several very
small over-sanded patches. I spent the rest of the time sanding
the bottom of the hull.I also continued to sand the inside of the cockpit...
I'm sure you're just as anxious as I am to begin painting...it will happen any day now...although I will be leaving for a few days to attend a geologic conference in Philly....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 20
1.5 hrs what else??? sanding....
Look
who's waiting on the door post? It's the 3 tinners....primer,
paint and varnish! They're waiting for me to finish sanding! So that's what I did once again today...I sanded a bit more and then washed the boat with water to get rid of all of the epoxy dust. I did this so I could see how much more sanding I need to do. What I found were small patches of shiny epoxy...(lower right)....
So instead of beginning my varnishing tomorrow, I'm going to continue sanding.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 21
3 hrs SANDING!!!!!!
It
was my goal to complete the sanding before I left for the national GSA
meeting in Philadelphia tomorrow, but it seems there is no end to
the sanding!!! I actually had fantasies about varnishing the deck right
before I left on Sunday....but this will only remain a fantasy! I'm
still not done!!!!!! I used 120 Grit paper and went at 3 of the 4 panels- sanding down to the ultimate layer, before having to leave for rowing practice. So, one remains! And of course, I had to make some minor repairs...so just a few more places require sanding touch-ups...these are the same places I have been touching up over the past 2 weeks.......For the next few days I'll be in Philly....who knows, I may check out the old rowing haunts!!!
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Octo 28
2.5 hours sanding
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Octo 29
1 hour washed, cleaned, and taped boat for painting
As
soon as I entered the barn today, I could sense something was wrong.
The wind had blown the back doors of the barn open and had blown the
boat right off of the saw horses! Luckily the boat was not damaged.
Because of this wild wind, I decided to wait on painting until
tomorrow. Instead, I washed the boat with water, and when it dried, I
washed it with lacquer thinner. Then I built a little scribe (above left) and identified on the boat where I would place my tape lines for painting. 
The long
nails on the scribe ride along the boat edge, while the small nail near
my thumb scratches the surface of the boat. You can see the scratch on
the picture above too...To the left is the bow and to the right is the stern- taped and ready to be painted...I may move some of the tape, and I may add a little paint where I've had issues- so more tape may be necessary...
as always, we'll see...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 30
1 hour painted on primer
Yep,
that's right! I finally painted the hull today with a white primer, and
what I revealed was that I should have waited until I had more
thoroughly prepared the hull. I started the day applying more blue tape and checking the alignment on my tape lines. Then I broke open the primer and began rolling. Here, below, is the finished product...the first coat of primer...
I'll
have to sand this down and then apply another coat. But before I paint
anymore, I plan to sand down the big bumps, like the one below....
There's still a long way to go!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octo 31
2 hours sanding and gluing
I had little time to deal with the boat today. I spent it filling low areas with white epoxy, which had a rapid curing time, and then sanded the bumps and humps away. Late in the afternoon, when talking to coach about the amount of sanding I was doing, I learned that there are different types of rollers for painting. I'm going to try using a smoother roller in hopes of preventing myself from generating more bumps and humps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 1
2 hours sanded primer, rolled second primer coat
Before
the clouds rolled in, I finished sanding the 1st coat of primer using
150 and then 220 grit papers. I wanted to make the boat as smooth as
possible before I applied the 2nd coat. When I applied the 2nd coat of primer (using a foam roller), I was amazed at how smooth the paint rolled on to the surface.
Yes,
there are still a few large flaws in the hull -located where panels
connect and along the skeg, but I think I can live with them....hell,
this is the OIL SLICK- one expects flaws!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 2 & 3
2 hours making the hull smooth
Sand Sand Sand....I sanded the primed hull until the surface was smooth...or at least as smooth as possible. I sanded down the bumps and humps- Again! I'm hoping to make them less prominent. I'm debating whether or not to roll on another coat of primer. I'm conflicted because it will take more time and yet one more layer may make the difference in ironing out the last of the bumps....Right now it's too cold to do anything else but wait.
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Nov 6
1 hour painted hull
I ran out of gas today, and in more ways than one....I was tired from the boat race yesterday and when I was finished painting the boat, I found my truck was out of gas...at least I hope that's the problem. I decided to leave it at the barn and walk the 3.5 miles back to my house.
Instead of applying a third coat of primer,
I
decided to go ahead with painting the boat with white enamel. Wow!
What a difference a little enamel makes. The boat is now shiny and
bright (look at teh reflections on it's surface to the left), but there
were a lot of air bubbles on the surface that I was unable to remove.
I'm hoping that the wet sand tomorrow will help remove these. Also, a
few bugs and a little dust became stuck to the painted surface. Before I left the barn for the long walk home, I made a little tent to en capsule the boat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 9
2 hours sanded and painted 2nd coat
Today I took the boat outside and smoothed the painted hull surface by using a wet sanding technique (using 400 grit paper dunked in water). This is a sloppy job because the water dripping off of the boat is an off white color and it seems to get everywhere! I sanded the hull the best I could without going thru the 1st coat of paint, and I cleaned this surface of paint and barn dust.
After the boat dried in the warm sunshine, I painted the surface for 2 second time using the Brightside white enamel. Boy, did this attract the bugs!!!!! They seemed to come out of nowhere and either left their tracks in my wet paint, or they became part of my boat where they stuck to the surface. When the boat was dry to touch, I covered it with plastic and left it outside for work tomorrow.
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Nov 10-11
6 hours wet sanding and painting
On Friday I wet sanded the hull SMOOTH until it was a marvel to behold!!!! This took a while, but such a pleasant sunny afternoon really helped me keep at it. When I was finished, I cleaned the surface with lacquer thinner and then painted the final layer of enamel on the hull. All I can say it that it seemed pretty, but I wasn't alone in this sentiment- bugs (spiders, flies, fleas, ticks, spring tails, etc) from all over congregated on the wet surface and adhered. A few of them struggled and left track ways...Others waited until Saturday for me to wipe them away, leaving their legs and such attached to the hull.
I didn't have a huge amount of time to devote to the boat on Saturday- just one final task with the paint....I decided to flip the boat over so that the deck sat upright, and I painted the sides of the deck using a foam brush and the remainder of my Brightside paint. For those of you wanting to build a boat, the instruction don't really tell you to do this, but I found it to be real helpful! I pushed the brush from the tape to the edge of the boat (all around the perimeter) and which made for a nice coat of paint over previous poorly painted layers. I forgot my camera- so no pictures today!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 12
no time spent on boat due to rain and cold
I
stopped at the barn to pick up the garbage I've accumulated over
the past 2 months and to take a few pictures of the boat. I took off
all of the blue painting tape, so you can see better what the
boat will look like when it is finished. Here are the pictures of
the bow (left) and the stern (right). The boat kit company (CLC)
recommended using a cup to round the point at the boat ends, but
I prefer leaving acute angles, giving the boat a more stream-line
appearance. Eventually, I will place a bow ball on the end of the bow.
Do we have another warm trend in the near future? I need another so I can begin/finish varnishing the unpainted surfaces.It's starting to look pretty...I almost don't want to show you anymore pictures until I am finished....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 13
1 hr sanding and tinkering
There wasn't much I could do with the boat today; it was too cool and humid to begin varnishing the boat. So, during my lunch break, I sanded the cockpit a little more to make sure that when it is "finished", it will look nice. I also tinkered around with different parts of the Row Wing System- raising the left oarlock and lowering the right hand one. This will prevent the collision of my hands when I bring the oars in to my ribcage at t he finish of the stroke.
Because I am out of paint, and because I will have a lot of varnish left over, I think I may varnish the cockpit. Originally, I was going to paint it white to hide some of my mistakes, but I think it makes sense to work on making the cockpit pretty by varnishing it...and I 'm eager to varnish...and eager to finish the boat. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer and less humid day...
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Nov 14
1 hr applied 1st coat of varnish
My time working on the boat today was very brief. In fact, I may not have even
spent an hour! I weighed whether or not to varnish the boat due to the
humidity and temperature; in the end, I decided to go ahead with
the 1st coat...First I applied the painting tape over the white boat
edge. Next, I cleaned of the surface of the boat using lacquer thinner
and then applied the 1st coat of varnish to all of the exposed,
epoxy-coated wood surfaces. Doesn't this boat look pretty???? It's like honey!
Tomorrow, I'll quickly wet sand it and then add the 2nd coat of varnish....It will be another short "lunch" session.
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Nov 15
1.5 hrs wet sanded wood & applied 2nd coat of varnish
It
nearly killed me to wet sand the boat because that shiny, honey-like
surface disappeared as soon as the paper hit the deck. Already the oil
slick is skunking up the water (see to the bucket to the right)....This
water is the product of wet sanding varnish.Once the wood dried, and I cleaned it using the lacquer thinner, I was able to apply the 2nd coat of varnish, which hid the ugliness.
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Nov 16
30 mins installed skeg, impeller, and bow ball
It
rained all day in Selinsgrove, so I really couldn't do much work
on the boat. Now that the hull is painted, I figured it would be safe
to turn the boat over and glue on a few of the "finishing" touches. I
started with the bow ball (left), gluing it to the bow using silicon.
Next, I attached the skeg to the skeg socket (lower picture-
left) also using silicon. The last item, an impellar (lower left-
right), didn't require glue. 
It
attached using double sided adhesive tape. The impellar is part
of the speed coach I purchased, that will help tell me how fast and far
the boat has moved, rowing time, my stroke rate, and heart rate. I
ran into a problem with the impeller- it's supposed to be placed 5 m
from the bow, but if I followed this guideline, it would be in a poor
place on the boat. So I placed it at 4.3 m and will try to recalibrate
the speed coach.I hope to turn the boat over tomorrow and wet sand/varnish the wood during my lunch break.
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Nov 17
1 hr wet sanded and applied 3rd coat of varnish
I thought
this might be my final coat of varnish (the boat
requires an minimum of 3 coats), but I think I'll try to use the rest
of the can, putting on 4 or possibly 5 coats of the stuff.
The only
factor limiting this is the weather. The recent cold snap has put the
kiebash on my work, but at the same time, it has given me sometime to
think...and what I
think is that I don't want to rush finishing the boat. The river was
was high today due to the rain from yesterday; I was told not to
bother coming down to the barn due to it going over the road leading to
the farm. With this cold, humid weather, I really didn't have any work
to do....I bought another can of paint for the hull. Even while I was installing the bow ball, skeg and impeller the other day, I was feeling unhappy with my last paint job. So this morning I bought another can of paint and will give it one more try. Yes, I realize it was foolish of me to jump the gun the way I did, for now, color me foolish.
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Nov 24
1 hour wet sanded and repainted hull
What
a beautiful day!!! My thermometer read 82 degrees which screamed
painting weather, so I wet sanded the hull very quickly, cleaned it,
and put another coat of paint on the boat. It's beautiful! The last
coat I painted was not to my liking; this coat really went on well!!! There still are a few places that don't meet my expectations, but overall, I'm happy. Yes, lots of litle bugs stuck to her too but no worries with these.
The next question I have is- should I paint another coat on the hull for good measure or should I spend my time tomorrow varnishing the final coat on the coamings and deck???
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Nov 25
1 hour wet sanded and varnished deck
I decided to leave the hull the way it was and instead, worked on the deck, coamings and cock pit. As always (ha ha), I wet sanded the surfaces, cleaned them with denatured alcohol, and then varnished the wood. In addition to all of this, I cleaned up my work area.
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Nov 26
1.5 hours installed inspection plates, painted trim
Today,
I spent just a little time with the boat...First, I installed the
inspection plates (black circular things) by spreading silicon on the
surface and screwing them into place. Then, I removed the painting
tape to expose the varnished surface on the deck and added more tape on
the varnish to paint over the white trim on the deck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 28
0.5 hours added pin stripes to deck
Not
much to write about today...I cleaned the surface of the boat deck with
Windex and placed pin stripes between the varnished deck and the
painted trim. This is an original Jenn Elick idea...I think it
frames the deck and hides bad lines. It just looks sharp. I chose
the red color because of the honey red wood color; it goes well....I
have more pin stripes to place on the side panels, however I will not
put these on until I have the boat name decal ready.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dec 2
moved out of the barn.... sort of....
The
boat has been finished for a little while, but several set backs
(poison ivy and bad weather) have prevented me from moving it. The
severe weather yesterday blew off part of the roof of the barn and
upended the planks near where I built the boat. I was very lucky to
have reoriented it in the direction of the wind and tied the boat down
before the storm yesterday. Today, I packed it onto my truck and slowly
drove it to another temporary storage space. I guess that brings the
saga of the boat to an end until I take it out for the maiden voyage at
Christmas time. So, here is the last picture of the boat you may see
for a while. John has encouraged me to take it out on Lake Winola over
Christmas break. Expect great things then, unless it is frozen!!!Tomorrow I will help Marge fix part of her barn. My tools and stuff were blown all over. Imagine that the wind was able to lift the floor planks, blowing them across the barn. It may be a challenge to find a lot of my stuff; the wind scattered paint cans, sand paper, and little things all over.
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May 10th, 2007
I loaded the "Oil slick" onto my jeep and drove it to the river. The water is still flowing a little fast, so I'm going to wait a little while until I put it on the water. Below you can see how it overhangs my jeep. I drove real slow- 30 mph for my 5 mile trip to the boathouse...
Now it is located along the river on saw horses...
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May 20th, 2007
Today the Oil Slick made it's maiden voyage and a bunch of my friends were around to help me launch it. Our rowing club had its spring picnic, and while I had an audience, I decided to take my boat out for a short spin. With the rigging in place, I finally got a sense of the full weigh of the boat! Wow- it is heavy!!!! Nearly 60 lbs!!!!
At
the dock I christened the Oil slick with a bottle of champagne that has
been in my fridge since I earned tenure. Thanks Lauren!!! I finally had
an occasion to open it! I poured some on the boat and poured some down
my gullet and away I went...up and down the river...
One of my geology colleagues from Dickinson took the photos you see on this page. I think he stuck his finger in bbq sauce and then on the camera lense before taking the pictures, which explains the
foggy appearance of the picts. Despite
the smudges, I am very proud of my boat. It's a pretty craft and
seemed to run pretty well in the water. I flew with the first few
strokes of my blades but struggled to maintain my balance. I have a new
appreciation for scullers! It is tough, even with a wide boat like
mine, to row well, especially for the first time sculling in a single.
The crowd of onlookers, possibly 20 or so people, plus all of the
diners at the restraunt on the hill didn't get much of a show. The wind
was a big factor in my very short stint on the water...
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June 4th, 2007
Just a side note...I've been on the water at 6 or 6:30 am nearly every morning for the past week. I LOVE my boat. I LOVE the feeling of propelling myself across a surface as smooth and reflective as a mirror, with fog lifting off it's surface, sunlight just starting to shine, and the sounds of hundreds of birds calling to each other along the bank of the river. It's surreal and sublime and beautiful. Picture me launching from our dock, paddling past ducks and geese with their offspring, hurons flying over head- making their way up river, white gulls watching from a distance, and the occassional bird of prey stalking it's prey from above, along the cliffs of Shickellamy Overlook. I use every muscle in my body equally and get an incredible workout in the process. Mostly, I am the only person on the river, except for possibly a few quiet fishermen.
Each stroke I make sends me nearly 10 meters ahead. Though I'm still pretty sloppy at my technique, I splash the water and my blades skid across the surface, I'm the only one to blame and that's ok with me. I feel like I am improving as I splash a little less now. The riggers and footstretchers have been giving me a little trouble, but I am still in the process of tweaking them into position, and I bought a kayak dolly to help me move the boat more easily. It is way to heavy and fragile of a boat to carry on my shoulder all of the time. Now I just wheel my boat, loaded with the oars, down to the dock and drop it in the water.
Yes, I love my boat...I could have bought a new or used boat that was much nicer, faster and lighter, but I wouldn't get the chance to realize how beautiful it is to produce something so lovely! And when I am on the water, I think to myself- I made this boat...everything about it...the way it glides across the water, it's speed, the weight, the sounds of my blades..all of it I have made and it's wickedly wonderful!!!!!