With Kelli's wedding in the rear view mirror, I grabbed the trailer and headed out to Bullhead City to help Helen and Tony build a dory. Not just any dory - this one is a replica of the Susie Too - an early commercial boat in the Grand Canyon. This one is being built for Helen to use on a private Canyon trip in March.
Tony is furnishing the garage and
lots of labor while Helen keeps her kayak and canoe livery running.
We finished drilling the bottom for the bronze screws
which took three steps, pilot and clearance bores plus countersinking. Went much faster with two people.
With all the holes ready, we tipped the 1/2" plywood bottom skin up again, painted epoxy on the mating surfaces and added thickened epoxy to the ribs and chine before lowering the bottom skin to the boat for the last time.
After installing six gazillion screws, Tony marked and trimmed much of the excess from the bottom skin while I crawled under the boat to remove any squeeze-out of epoxy from the ribs. This is one time when it was nice that it was a cool (nearly cold) day so the epoxy didn't set too quickly.
We filled all the screw heads with thickened epoxy and set an electric heater under the boat, hoping the little heater would create enough heat for the epoxy to finally kick in the cool (nearly cold) weather we're experiencing. Can't do anything more until the epoxy cures!
The cold weather is tonight when it's supposed to drop below freezing.
I never know what I'll find on your blog. I never expected a lesson in boat building!
ReplyDeleteLoved it! :)
Glad we could keep surprising you. I have one more Scamp mod up my sleeve one of these days. Speaking of surprising - frankincense & myrrh hard lotions aren't typical of fiberglass RV blogs, either, but I loved it!
DeleteYou guys rock. She looks so pretty. Had diner with Stephen Verschinski tonight and we toasted you both Thank you form the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work.
ReplyDeleteWe're making progress but the cool weather really increases the time between epoxy coats. If the screw head filling is still a little soft this morning, I think we'll flip the boat to get started on the inside - we can finish the bottom sanding just before we glass it later.
DeleteGlad you're enjoying it! I hope your Gulf Shores weather is better than what central Texas is experiencing right now!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking project. Would love to work on something like that.
ReplyDeleteIf you were here... Helen hopes to have it ready for a mid January trip and Must have for very early March. Schedule is tight!
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