SeaNova – between the hammer and the anvil 

Late last night Lynn and I decided to try and put on the starboard trim piece using the tips I saw in the Glen-L fiberglassing HOWTO video. Knowing how much Lynn hates working w/ me made me even more nervous and tense than I would have been working on my own. So, predictably, things went poorly and I reaffirmed all of Lynn’s fear about working w/ me….ah well…

We started working at dusk and the first thing I hadn’t anticipated appeared – a swarm of mosquitos! We don’t see them much around here, so they were a bit of a surprise. Then we discovered that we couldn’t use the same technique as Glen-L’s video as we were drilling into epoxy – requiring a predrill. This meant that we had to switch from countersink to drill bit and back. My hands were covered w/ epoxy putty, the mosquitos were attacking and then I broke off the countersink bit! Then we moved the boat into the garage to escape, only to bring every mosquito into the shop and locking us into the swealtering heat….

I’ll spare you the details – only to say that Lynn was very brave to continue holding the trim while the mosquitos attacked her feet.

Here’s the result, quite pleasing in the end:

Here’s another view, from under the bow, looking up at the trim as it arcs around the hull:

After consulting w/ Lynn about size and shape of the trim, I decided to try a slimmer and wider trim, 1/2″D X 1 1/4″W, with the two edges rounded over w/ a 1/2″ round-over bit on the router table:

Here’s the setup I used (on Mike’s advice) for timming the 3/4″ stock to 1/2″:

I then rigged up a soaking tube from PVC for the two trim pieces to try and soften the first ten feet or so:

I got lucky and the tube filled w/ a single tea kettle of hot water…

It turns out that this was one of the hottest days of the year and it became clear that any epoxy butter I made up would set in seconds, rather than the 45 minutes I would need to get the trim in place….

I glued up the scarf’d trim the night before last. No pictures but I clamped one piece to my portable table – over a piece of aluminum foil (no waxpaper in the house) – slid the second piece into the first scarf, clamped the second length, and then ran a screw through the joint. It set up nicely and is ready for action – when I get the courage to start.

I wanted to get something done, so I stained in the stripe on the deck. I think it looks great. Here the view of the stripe from the stern, along the motor well trap door, the rear deck and then continuing over the foredeck:

And here’s the view from the side of the foredeck:

Man! I think this looks sexy!