Tips Sail

Finishing the Hull

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the 9/23/08 post. Your comments/ suggestions are welcome.

The bottom received a coat of epoxy and a good sanding. All the seams were filled with the wood flour/ silica/epoxy mix. The front and rear stems were contoured into a smooth curve.

When the bottom was completely prepped, I rolled on the 6 oz. fiberglass cloth. Three coats of epoxy were added to fill the weave completely. All the little lumps and ripples in the surface were then sanded smooth with the random orbit sander.

The deck was then sanded. I removed the brass screws that held the deck on, and filled the holes.

I designed a wave deflector in SolidWorks, to keep water from entering the cockpit. The parts are made of 1/4" (6.4 mm) thick mahogany. The included angle between the parts is 120 degrees, and they tilt forward at a 45 degree angle.

A pencil mounted on a spacer was used to transfer the deck curvature onto the parts.

No bandsaw? No worries!

A sabersaw mounted upside down in the vice was used to cut the curved 45 degree angle on the bottom of the wave deflector.

I really hated to cut through the deck, it looked so smooth, but the front mast step has to go there.

View of rear deck showing the filled screw holes.

The front deck. The beauty of the wood is starting to show through after a coating of thinned epoxy.