Today, after helping an Easy builder move his first hull (there were 20 guys on hand so it was an easy half hour – pun intended!) I got onto taping the outside of the port inside bow panel shut and glassing the beam outside. The plans call for 2 layers of glass overlapping 150mm and 300mm in a circle from the centre of the beam at the hull panel edge (I also taped it all around with a 200mm tape). Just a side note here, unless I am reading the plans wrongly, Schionning’s call for 2 layers of tape on most of the taping jobs, 150mm and 200mm with the 200mm on first then the 150mm over the top of it. The builders in my shed have both commented on this independently of each other, that this is an incorrect method and that the correct method is that the thinner tape goes on first then the wider layer overlaps it. This has 2 benefits, firstly both tapes are in contact with the glass skin you are taping (in the other method only the bottom layer is in contact) and the second benefit is that you inevitably get frayed edges on the tape and with the wider tape completely covering the narrower one you only get 2 frayed edges instead of 4 to sand. So since James taught me this I have been taping the thinner layer first then the overlapping layers next. The only caution to this is that you must make sure you get all air bubbles out from the edge of the glass below the top layer and ensure proper contact all over.
The first task was to remove the tabs, sand back the glue line and back fill under the tabs. I also had to sand back the bog so the glass goes onto bare glass. I then coved the beam (after removing the bog from the beam also). Some might suggest that perhaps it would have been better if I had not bogged and faired the beam and I guess they are right but with the bog sanded off again to reveal the glass I am back to where I would have been only when the glass has set I can re-bog to the faired area and fair to it. Easy.
I let the coving go off a while as it is a larger cove so the chance of getting the glass on without disturbing the cove is increased by letting it go off, but being winter, it takes all day (and I am impatient) and when I taped onto it I did get a few dimples in the bottom rear part of the port beam cove. No matter, bog will fill them and it will fair out but also it is below the tramp at the back of the beam so basically invisible even if I left it the way it is (which of course I wont).
While I was waiting for the coving to go off a little I painted the rest of the inside of the 2 hatches. It is still green so the paint which is basically epoxy with pigment in it, will adhere well. I still have some sharp glass ends that I will need to sand down but I will touch the paint up after I sand them.
Believe it or not, just this glassing work took 6 hours. It does not look like much but I didn’t stop for lunch and before I knew it it was 5.00. I took the other (starboard) panel off and started sanding the inside of the hatches on that side but I did not get far into it. I still have a bit of work to do on the area directly in front of the ensuite. I did not glue the floor in on that side, as I have an idea to extend the ensuite by putting the toilet in on the other side of the bulkhead and cut a door into the bulkhead to separate the toilet from the bathroom (so the toilet does not get wet if you have a shower in there). I am still working on the details so I will start to explain it as I do it. I don’t want to cut too deeply into the reserve buoyancy of the bows so I have to figure it out so as to keep most of it like I did on the port side with the floors in the hatch areas.
Tomorrow I will start to measure up and cut the parts needed for the ensuite extension. And I will probably bog the glass around the beam ready to fair it back out. The glass will still be green. It is taking 48 hours or more to fully go off at the moment.
