Stringer & Bulkhead Templates

This weekend I worked on creating some of the stringer and bulkhead templates. I will use those to make the cuts in plywood. I have finished the center and both left and right stringer templates. One thing I got lucky with is that both the left and right stringers are the same size. So I will be able to use the same template when I cut both of those.

Next I have made the left and right front bulkhead templates and also the left middle and left rear.

The hull has a concave curve to it. So I measured out the area and then I drew the curve of the hull freehand.

It had a pretty big gap in it so I used a small strip and some duct tape to get the curve just right.

Then I took

the template with the duct tape forms and created a new template.

And wa-la here is the finished product

This weekend I am going to finish the other bulkhead templates and I am going to build some racking to hold the stringers and bulkheads in place while I fiberglass them.

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Vacation

We went on vacation last week to Colorado and Utah via Kansas and Missouri. We saw 7 states in 9 days, took off on Thursday July 3 around 2 in the afternoon and headed west. Our first stop was in Topeka, Kansas where we spent the night. The next morning we got up and left after a good breakfast. Around 3 in the afternoon we got our first sight of the mountain and it was Pike's Peak over looking Colorado Springs, Co. That is where we spent the next 3 nights and the sights that we saw were Pike's Peak, Seven Falls, Garden of the Gods, and Manitou Springs. So we spent Friday, Saturday , and Sunday nights there. On Monday we took off for Cortez, Co. That is close to Mesa Verde. On the way there we were able to take in some good places like the Continental Divide and Treasure Falls. Once we got there we packed it up for the evening. The next day Tuesday brought us to Mesa Verde. There we spent the day looking at the ruins of the ancient Puebloan people who built the famous cli...

Glued...

April 1, 2012 The Stringers and Bulkheads are now glued into the boat. It has been a long day. We (my brother in law, Jack came over to help) started the day by bracing the center stringer that comes out from under the bow section. Onc e that was done we mixed up our first batch of "Peanut Butter". We started with 1 cup of resin and the right amount of hardener, then about 3 pinches of 1/4 inch Chopped Strand Mat and then Cabosil to thicken up the mixture to the consistency of "Peanut Butter". It worked out pretty well. While that was hardening we went to work on scuffing the resin that was spread on the stringers and bulkheads. We wanted to sand those before putting them into the boat. That took about an hour so then it was lunch time. We noticed that the thickened resin we made was still pretty soft so we moved the boat out into the sunlight while we ate lunch. Sure enough when we came back out the resin had kicked and was already pretty solid. We...

Deck Gel Coated...

May 25, 2012 I took this day off of work to work on the boat. I wanted to get the deck ready to be Gel Coated which was ordered and received. First I gave the deck a good sanding. It had been a while since we fiberglassed so I wanted to make sure that the surface was ready to receive the Gel Coat. After I was finished with the sanding I moved the boat outside for a good cleaning. Using an air compressor (Thanks Jack) I blew off the deck and then gave it a good acetone wash. That pretty much took up the entire day. I had to wash the van because it got covered with dust. Sorry no pictures of the progress today. May 26, 2012 The deck is now Gel Coated. The four person team of Jack, Sally, Nina and myself worked for a long time again to get this job accomplished. We took the pigment for a gallon and added it directly to the container and then took turns shaking the can to thoroughly mix the color. I believe that it looks great!...

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