Since the last post, I cut about 150 plugs to fill the screw holes in the floor boards. This was a real chore for my little $69 Harbor Freight drill press. It ran hot, smoked, and stalled frequently, but in the end it got the job done. Pounded them all in place, trimmed, and finished them. Ooops... forgot to take pictures. Take my word they look great!
So I'm at the point where I begin construction of the cockpit decking the footwell. It is almost a shame to cover all my nice interior with newsprint so that I can continue the process.
To my surprise the decking required very little "tweaking" to get it to fit correctly. Every time something like that happens (an it has happened often) it reassures me that I got everything straight and true from the beginning.
After placing the pieces in their position I used the "compass trick" to mark where the edges would have to be trimmed. Then I used a plane to nibble it down. Just to be anal about it I also beveled the edges slightly to match the angle of the hull at that point. Final result is an almost perfect fit.
The trial fitting of the boards for the footwell went even better. All pieces fit snugly without any trimming/alterations required! Way to go Chesapeake Light Craft!
I did deviate from the instructions at this point. I decided that I wanted a little bit more strength from the decking so I fiberglassed the underside of both pieces. In my usual fashion I used peel ply over the glass so that I could get it all done in one step. The only hitch in the process is that it is Florida's "Love Bug" season. Hundreds of them committed suicide in the epoxy. Luckily they did it on top of the peel-ply (except for just one couple who ended up on top of the fiberglass). A little gross but in the end no-harm no-foul. Of course the bugs may have a different opinion.
The footwell sides and bottom won't get the fiberglass treatment. They seem strong enough as they are.
The decking and footwells haven't been glued in permanently yet. I've got to add the supports to the side wells and then epoxy seal the three pieces. Hopefully I'll get this done this weekend.
Hours this session: 12
Hours total: 285
Hours remaining: 135
Note: Since I know there is NO-WAY I'm going to finish this in the allotted 500 hours. I'm going to remove the "Hours remaining" from the bottom of each blog from here on out. One less piece of math I have to do!
I agree about being not being able to finish in 500 hours. It is pretty amazing to me that Geoff Kerr managed to get the hull done in 575 hours, or whatever.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this was one of the most exciting phases of the build. The decks go on really quick and completely change to look of hte boat. Then, once the footwell and decks are glued down, the boat really transforms quickly as the topsides rapidly come together. You really start to get the feeling that you've rounded the corner into the home stretch!
Looking forward to more updates!!!