Glassing & Epoxy

Phase 5: Removing the Stitches

The next step is to flip the boat back over, right side up, and start removing all of the metal stitching.

It's possible that some epoxy will get stuck on the metal. That happened on one or two of mine. If you can't get a piece out, cut it as short as you can and sand it down as low as possible. Beyond that, there's nothing to be done. It stays part of the boat forever.

Phase 6: Fiberglassing the Bottom

This next step is fiberglassing the bottom and the first panel. It's a lot easier than it sounds.

If this is your first time fiberglassi...

Phase 8: Building the Rudder and Seats

While the boat was curing, I used the downtime to start on the rudder. I also bought a flip-up rudder kit, but honestly, I never ended up fully building or using it.

Around the same time, I started building the seats out of lumber. Everything gets epoxied on wax paper and then sanded flat, as you can see in the photos.

Phase 10: Epoxying the Entire Exterior

The next step is epoxying the entire exterior. Only the bottom and the first panel were fiberglassed, but the whole exterior gets a coat of epoxy to protect the wood.

By this point you're an expert with epoxy, so this part is fairly easy. I'd just recommend sticking with less is more and watching for drips. Drips just mean more sanding later.

I removed the fillets and tried to clean the areas as good as possible. Finally I swept everything with cloth dipped in Alkohol. Than I did new fillets. I used a wooden scraper with a slightly bigger rounded end to come around remaining edges that had cured on the surface. When that was done I did the glassing in the two first compartments from bow to stern. It felt good to move on. I finished gluing the rails and attached the „arm“ (can’t remember the english word, sorry) to the rudder.

After a fun night out with Compass Mike, lots of drinks, good music I started the morning with a good breakfast to get my head straight. Starting around noon I finished the glassing on the inside bottom and cut off the fiberglass edges along the masking tape in the first two compartments from the bow to the middle. I am quite happy with the result and allow my self some tiny bumps as it is my first boat building experience. In the evening I glued the first thwart and started the mast thwart with cutting the hole for the mast and adding the rails. I had some thickened epoxy left and not enough...

This weekend I was a bit lasy with writing the blog but I worked on the boat. I added the fiberglass to the outside of the hull. First I shaped the bow a bit more than I spread out the fabric and rolled out all the wrinkles and bubbles. The glassing went pretty good!