Building the skeg was quite complex. First I made a mould out of plywood scraps. I painted the mould and polished it with release wax.
Then I laminated 7 layers of fibreglass (350gr) onto the mould. I got my vacuum pump out of the cellar and vacuumed the laminate so that it would be even and compact.
Thanks to the release wax, the finished laminate came off the mould very easily.
I fixed the required 6 screws to a wooden frame so that they wouldn’t move when I glued them in.
Then I filled the mould with a mixture of epoxy and glass fibre shavings. I had to be careful never to fill in too much at once, otherwise the mixture would get hot.
Of course, I also had to drill the holes for the 6 screws. It was a strange feeling drilling holes in the bottom of the boat…
Checking if the skeg fits the hull.
Before I definitely screw the skeg on, I’m going to paint it
Making progress with the bunks. The storage spaces under the bunks have been painted. I have also cut the openings for the lids. In the picture you can see the little Platform I made for the battery. There’s one on each side.
I started painting the inside of the compartments that will be closed soon.
I started with the frontmost compartment. After the first brush strokes I realised that was not very clever because I can’t do all compartments in one go: where do I stand while painting the last one?! I will do the last one next time…
The angles of the battens are all correct, the panels fit nicely.
I will not glue the panels in just yet. I have to decide how I want to do the windows first. I don’t know yet if I will make them myself with plexiglass or if I will buy ready-made windows. Speeking of decisions: I think I found a good place for my bilge pump.
We were hit by a massive heat wave. Temperatures in the shed reached 40°. That’s too hot for me to work with epoxy (too hot to do much at all). I started fitting the battens for the roof.
I’m also working on the inside of the boat. It’s time for some important decisions: Where do I put the batteries, where the bilge-pumps, the electronics,…
I started work in the front of the boat. There will be five separate watertight compartments under the bunk. The front two of them will be filled with foam.
I fitted foam blocks to fill the front compartments.