Front compartment

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.

Meanwhile I did a mock-up of the kitchen.

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Flipping the boat

Big day for me and my boat!
I gathered my friends and together we flipped the boat.

All ready to go. I put wheels under the assembly jig to get it out of the shed.

Outside for the first time!

A couple of old tires are a good pad to roll the boat on.

We used the forklift of our neighbours to lift it on one side.

We put two ropes around the hull to help slow down the roll.

That’s when it starts to roll.

The boat rolled very smoothly, no problem at all.

It went slower and more controlled than expected.

The right way up.

The proud owner, having his first drink inside his boat!

Put wheels under it to get it back inside.

Back inside she goes.

Nice little boat!

Big thanks to all my helping friends!

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Epoxy-coat

I put a thick layer of epoxy on the hull. After sanding (there will always be sanding) I marked the waterline. Easily done with the help of a laser.

I covered the under water part with another layer of epoxy. I changed the color for that layer.

That’s how it looks after sanding (before cleaning):

I am now ready to turn over the boat.

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Almost done with sanding

Done with filling! I just have to round the edges.
It took a long time but I’m really happy with the result.

Next step will be a layer of epoxy. As a test I started painting at the bow. I added a little color to the epoxy. It’s to make sure I cover everything and I don’t sand too deep (yes, this layer has to be sanded as well…)

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Still sanding

I’m still sanding…
After adding filler for the third time I’m finally getting to the desired shape.

I now have the right tool for the job. You absolutely need a long sander. This one is 400x70mm. It’s much faster and gives a more even surface. Should have bought it two months ago, would have saved me a lot of time…

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Sanding

I covered the entire Hull with filler. I used epoxy thickened with a mixture of cotton fibres and micro-balloons. Looks like a huge chocolate cake.

The Idee then is to sand it down as far as possible without damaging the glassing.

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Hull laminated!

That’s it, the entire hull is now covered in three layers of glass fibers!

Instead of adding a layer of peel-ply I covered the freshly laminated part with filler. It looks a bit like the icing on a chocolate cake. I will later cover the rest of the hull with a thin layer of filler as well, so I can sand it down to a smooth final surface.

Laminating took more time than I had originally expected. It’s mainly mixing the resin that takes long. Next time I will look for more people to help me. Then I can have a dedicated mixer, while the others apply the resin and lay the glass.

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Laminating step two

As a pre-step to laminating the hull I added a little filler at the border of the glass-bands to get an even surface. The bands are quite thick and I didn’t want to risk getting air bubbles under the laminate.
We need 3 layers of 360gr cloth. The Idea is to start at the back and move forward with every cloth width by 30cm. So we are sure to get at least three layers everywhere. I drew lines across the hull every 30cm to get it right.

Then we started laminating. First we did the transom and the first two strips of glass (1/3 and 2/3 of the cloth width) around the hull and covered everything with peel-ply.
A few days later we continued. We got to about halfway (evening always comes too soon).

We had to work quickly, because we use a resin with fast hardener (west system 105 with hardener 205). We have to use a fast hardener because of the low temperature in our shed (12-15°C), most other resins need higher temperatures to cure well.

Before we continue we just have to remove the last two strips of peel-ply.

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Laminating step one

I started with the laminating. There have to be 600gr on the chine, so I used two layers of 300gr glass band (and a layer of peel-ply).

I had to put four layers on the bottom chine.

One side finished, peel-ply removed. Still wet and with peel-ply on the other side.

I did 8 layers of 160gr on the bow (leftovers from a previous project). Had to improvise with the peel-ply, it is less flexible than the glass so I cut small strips to get around the bend.

Reinforcements for rudder and daggerboards on the transom.

And here’s the hull with all the reinforcements.

Now I start preparing the glass for laminating the hull. I have 360gr glass so I need three layers to get the 1000gr required.

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