My Part is Done

On Tuesday, I put in my last day of work on Helen's Dory. Tony and I started off the day sanding the chines and then installing the chine rub rails.

With the rub rails in place, we started sanding the rest of the boat. Seriously, Tony used two sanders, at least on the bottom of the boat.

We got the bottom skim coated before lunch. I used slightly thickened epoxy to overcome the significant texture - even after sanding - of the 17 oz. cloth. The thickened epoxy has a milky tint.

After lunch Tony went to work on fabricating the bow and stern handles while I continued skim coating the sides.

Not welded yet but you get the idea. The handles will bolt to the bow and stern posts using the same holes that the "flipper" attach points used.

Tomorrow, Tony will be back on the sanders, doing the final sanding to the skim coat before starting to apply the three coats of paint to the hull.

Meanwhile, I'll take my house and go home. I've got to get it cleaned up before we head to Quartzsite for the annual gathering of fiberglass trailers.

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If you want to see similar dories in action, I highly recommend the Historic River Boats Afloat report of their 2012 trip through the Grand Canyon.

The boat we're building is based on the Susie Too which was built for a 1962 trip highlighting the impact that proposed dams would have in the Grand Canyon. The original Susie Too was renamed the Music Temple and used commercially in the canyon for a number of years. It now is part of the museum collection at the Grand Canyon. An Oregon built replica of the Susie Too went on the 2012 trip. Helen's boat will be painted the same, at least for this first trip.

We are planning to be at Lees Ferry for Helen's trip launching in early March. In addition to this boat, a replica of the Flavell II currently being built, and the replica of the Portola which was built for the 2012 trip will be joining her along with several rafts and catarafts. I'll make sure to post some pictures from rigging day and launch day.

Sunday - A Day of Rest

We planned to glass the sides of the dory Sunday afternoon but a quick check showed that while we had enough resin in stock we were still short the appropriate hardener. The end result was a wonderful day off. We did get the locations for the safety rope retention padeyes marked.

Locating them was a bit of a challenge - we've been working from some photos and an 8 1/2 x 11 inch survey of the original boat marked off in 1' increments. Let's just say scaling from that involves some eyestrain and guesstamation...

On Monday, we got the sides glassed.

Once I got a head start on the glassing, Tony started installation of our version of the safety rope padeyes.

It's a challenge building a boat to replicate a boat that Tony and I have never seen. We're working from photos that someone else took and typically don't highlight the details we'd like to understand. I suspect the original safety rope padeyes were either machined from solid stock or cast and then machined. We didn't have the time or the money to be that historically accurate.

Ours were molded in a jig from three layers of 17 oz fiberglass

and then cut from the resulting stock.

They're not the same, but will look similar from a distance once the boat is painted, and don't require holes in the hull to mount them.

With essentially all of the structural glassing done, I'll be headed home soon, leaving Tony and Helen to finish the project they started. Tony is an incredibly skillful guy in so many areas. Now he's learned the joy of working with scratchy fabric and sticky stuff and will be able to finish up the final glassing details on his own.

Flip It!

We apparently raised some eyebrows with the last picture in my previous post. More than one person called Helen shortly after the post was published with "don't you know motors aren't allowed in the Canyon in March?" questions. If it were my boat and it wasn't a potential danger to a backseater, I'd be tempted to mount it permanently, as a conversation piece.

I think this is about as clean as she's been. I finished up some details with some of the hatches while Tony built some special sawhorses.

Up to this point, we've had the boat mounted on a pair of engine stands which has allowed us to rotate it as needs be. Now the attach points for the "flipper" need to be removed and it would be nice if the boat was a bit lower for the next step so two special sawhorses were constructed. The other one picks up the intersection of the back seat and rear bulkhead.

It pays to have a neighbor with a couple 4x4 laying by the fence. One temporarily became part of the lift system.

Once the boat was settled on the sawhorses, the bow and stern posts were faired, and I started marking the location of the various pieces of fiberglass that would coat the exterior of the boat. It's certainly easier to mark when you know the boat is not going to be clear finish like mine normally are.

We finished up the day by filling any screw heads or other marks.

This boat is using a fiberglass fabric that is much thicker / heavier than I normally use. Most of my boats use 4 oz fiberglass fabric (right), and occasionally I'll use 6 oz (center) if I think the boat will see some abuse. This boat is using multiple layers of much thicker and stronger 17 oz biaxial fabric.

We trimmed the four pieces that would make up the covering for the bottom of the boat and rolled them before we mixed up any resin.

The first piece is in place, ready for the resin. It's approaching 11 a.m. ...

Tony mixed batches of resin and other prep stuff while I applied the resin.

Six hours, 30 minutes later, we had four pieces on the hull as well as pieces on the bow and stern posts. So much for hoping that we might get the sides glassed today as well, or lunch for that matter!

Tony finished up the day by scarfing some wood for the chine rub rails while I worked on fabricating some parts for the safety rope retention system. Think glorified padeyes.

It's been another long day but I'm seeing my time on this one winding down. I've got another smaller boat project to help with as soon as I'm done here.