I've been distracted the last couple of weeks. I was headed to a class reunion. Really, more of a reunion with a few fellows I went to school with--but we ducked into an actual class reunion event while we were at it. It was a wonderful experience, but it wasn't boat building. Whatever that means.
Leading up to the trip, I glued up an assembly of center bulkhead, center thwart and daggerboard trunk. I found it challenging to get everything square and plumb and lined up, but I think I got it all pretty close.
This was the 600th time I've mixed up epoxy thickened with wood flour in order to make fillets--and the 600th variety of consistency I've managed to create. This time it was just a bit thinner than it ought to have been, and I'm concerned that the fillets might be just a bit skinny. That would mean that the joints are not quite as strong as they ought to be. But maybe I'm just worrying too much. We'll see how it all works out.
The next step, according to the manual, is to glue the bulkheads and center assembly to the hull interior. But I am not ready for that, because I'm still concerned that I didn't get a good, solid coat of epoxy, without blotches, on most of the interior "furniture" (seats and bulkheads). So I've decided to add another coat before moving forward.
This may have the effect of adding 600 pounds of weight, not to mention an extra $100 in epoxy costs, to the boat. So be it. Just learning ...
College reunion. Wow, for a few minutes, I was 19 again--but drinking Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc instead of Mad Dog 20/20. I liked it.
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