I'm writing this blog as a journal of my build of a Duo-660 catamaran. Most of the content will be dedicated to this endeavor. I try to populate posts with pictures since it is instructive. The notes tab is for misfit posts. Always nice to have a place for the misfits.

-Esteban

Friday, April 15, 2016

Redeeming My Original Sin

Long day in the boat shed. Mostly because of the hours spent sanding. I'm done with that, although I'm a bit worried that I have not rounded the edges enough for the fiberglass to adhere properly. Perhaps a "see how the fiberglass lays on the boat" test is in order.  I trimmed the last plank and sanded everything including the BH3 filler. Here is a picture of that.


I may have gotten a bit carried away with the belt sander but overall I'm happy with the outcome. I was getting frustrated with taking poor pictures of the hull so I tried to take a video of me walking the length of the hull.


Finally I had to make up for my "original sin" of not double epoxy coating all the sheets of plywood on both sides before doing anything else (as the instructions instruct).  I'm halfway to redemption in that I got the first coat of epoxy on today. I was a little worried that I would have a hard time with it since the hull walls are basically vertical. Turned out that was no big deal. I used brushes to thickly dab on epoxy in an area and then used a squeegee to distribute evenly. The side benefit to this is it makes the hull look really good. I feel better about this entire project now that it looks better. I know that is silly, but it is also true.


Tomorrow is the last day before I have to be a parent again. I will lay some fiberglass over an edge of the boat to see if it bends to the radius, then if that works it will be time to complete my redemption and apply the second coat of epoxy.  Since I should have some time left, I will start making anti-vortex panels as well.

  

2 comments:

  1. A 3 mm radius is sufficient to bent over the edges. A dry test will not give the right impression. Glass cloth is relative stiff when dry.When it is wetted out with Epoxy it is more pliable. To have sharp corners on the chine is most important on the chine in combination with the anti vortex panels for the least amount of vortex and best effect for sailing to windward. The bow chine area should be around for about 15%. Gradually getting less round till the "sharp" edge. After the glass is applied use Epoxy putty to re make the sharp corners. The water exit at the transom should have also a sharp exit. Cheers Bernd

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  2. Once again you are here with pertinent expertise at the right time.
    Thanks Bernd!
    -Esteban

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