Continuing on the Skerry Hull construction

Second coat of resin on bottom, first coat on panel 2 and 3.

Finally put a second coat of resin on the bottom and on the first panel (garboard), and a first coat on rest of the interior. Looks pretty rough but I'm happy. Long day but lots to show for it.

Outside hull gets a good sanding, and any hole has been filled. I rounded the front and back and the bottom. A bit nervewraking!

Cut the fiberglass about an inch larger than required and taped the edge of the second panel. I'm ready for resin. I've also cut and put aside the fiberglass strips for the front and back.

I'm much smarter than I was when I did the inside. This time I worked a small bit at a time applying resin as I go. When I run out I just measure another batch. I like this slow set feature.

The outside was much easier to work with than inside. Experience and positioning both added to make it easier to control the resin. Now everything has to set a little before I trim the extra glass and apply the strips front and back. Heavy duty fancy extractor fan in the kitchen is showing its worth today.

The outside hull gets 3 coats of epoxy. Here it is after the first overall coat. Its so magic to see the wood just come alive with the resin. Its a shame I'm planning to paint the outside hull. I think it would be just too much wood but I am tempted. Surprising few drips. I applied quite a thin coat. It needs to harden now for a couple of days because I'm planning some serious sanding on the outside next.
It is a pretty shape.
While it sets I am working on wooden cleats.

I found a fabulous mahogany board and cut it in 1 inch strips. Then I was able to sand a scarf and glue the pieces together to make 16 feet lengths. The annoying thing is that they had 16 feet long board but I simply could not handle the length. My table saw lives in the basement and that's a 10 feet limit to bring it upstairs. Plus I don't have that much room to feed to the table saw. Never mind. I managed a nice joint using a belt sander first then a sanding block. Glued everything alongside a straight board and let it set for a couple of days.

After cleaning up the joints with my sanding block I reinforced the joints with clamps and started bending the boards.
The wood is exceptionally rigid and I was afraid the rubrails would break or fail at the joint if I just tried to install them on the hull without prebending. I've been wetting the boards and adding weight. It seems to be working. I will let it bend for a couple of days increasing the weight gradually.
Every one is making fun of my poor living room but no permanent damage yet!

Note: I was right to be concerned about the rubrails. One failed a couple of days after I launched the boat. I was lucky because only the outside thickness gave way. The inner thickness stayed good and solid. It had been a scorching hot day and I suppose the epoxy gave way under the tension. The wood was very stiff and I think that my joint had sucked out the epoxy to the point where the joint was a bit starved. I eventually re-glued AND added a layer of cloth top and side. It has held perfectly all summer.

After prebending the rubrails for 3 days I started installing them. I dry assembled the first 2. One scarf joint failed while I was adjusting the other side and since it was perfectly clamped in place with only a partial delaminate I just reglued it in place. The other side went on relatively easily. The shape was improved slightly. Side curves are more smooth.
You see pretty much my entire clamp collection! Only one side is glued the other just clamped to keep the shape true. I will take my time and allow things to set properly. Meanwhile I am working on the mast step and the daggerboard well. Also I am adding epoxy to the mast and sprit. I've also been putting paint on the rudder pieces and the daggerboard.

Transferred my clamp collection to the other side! I now have a first layer of rubrails applied to both sides. I am a nervous wreck! Even with the pre bending, my wood is very stiff and resistant to bending. If it does't pop off it will add considerably to the rigidity of the boat.
The scarf joint that had partially failed open seems to have glued well. I will have to even up the edges a bit because when I cut the sides with my little saw I waved a bit and this is now showing up against the mostly straight gunnel. I don't think this will be a problem though.
Clamping the tip is a bit tricky. Here I have a clamp on the opposite side and I am clamping against it. It seems to be working and has pulled the front of the rubrail tightly against the side and front.

Coaxed the second layer of the gunnel this time both sides at once, I managed to convince George to give me a hand. Used every clamp I owned. I will now leave the boat to set for 2-3 days. The gunnel has made the boat absolutely rigid. Its amazing how much influence it has structurally.
I used cut up water pipes to supplement my clamp collection. They worked quite well and were surprisingly useful just to tack stuff in place before I put on a c clamp. I found that a section about 1.5 inches wide worked quite well. I doubled up the narrower sections to give them more spring. Its easy just put one section inside the other and the clamping power is pretty much doubled. I dont think only pipe sections would have worked in this case but they were very useful. The price is right!

Started fitting the seats. I had not cut the front seat very well. I will have to check the plans. The middle seat was also too large. This is definitely a discrepancey between the plans and the measurements. The stern seat was relatively good and will go in with a minimum of coercion. They were all a bit big so I'm wondering if the plans I got had been reproduced / photocopied correctly.
Cut a round hole for the mast. I cut the mast holes in the step and on the seat a bit big. I intend to pad the holes and use the play to adjust the rake of the mast and experiment. This boat is essentially one big toy! Everything has received a coat of epoxy and is hardening as we speak.

It seems like all I've done today is sand but I've actually done quite alot. I marked and cut out the holes for the flotation compartment opening gizmo. I should have done this before assembly. It was difficult to do. Eventually I turned the boat upside down and sat under it. This make the access to the front and back bulkheads much easier.
I coated the inside of the bulkhead with another layer of resin and sealed the opening edges. I also added a bit of glass cloth where the mast is backing to strenghten the wood. With the mast attaching there I was worried it would not be strong enough. I'm a bit paranoid I think.
Speaking of paranoia, I have not removed the clamps that hold the gunnels at the point where the scarf joints are. I'm hoping the wood will settle in its new shape and not stress the joints too much if I wait a bit. I think that once I have a couple layers of resin on the whole gunnel wood, they will be quite solid. I have sanded the top of the gunnels so that the boat and the 2 layers are nice and even except at the breasthooks and under the clamps. I was too chicken to do those yet.
Applied the fillets to the 3 bulkheads. No one is going to run after me to give me a prize for these but I think they are resonably smooth. I can always sand them!
Best of all I sanded and sanded and sanded. The inside is vaguely coming together.

Glued in the seats today. Had to collect all kind of bits and pieces to weight down the seats while the glue sets. Once again my clamps come in handy, the box is quite heavy!
After fretting, measuring, and fretting some more I decided on the placement of the daggerboard well and screwed and glued it in place. I also added a bit of fiberglass cloth on the bulkhead facing back. I will also add a bit on the well where it connects to the middle seat. I am just a bit paranoid and like to overbuild everything. The whole assembly feels rock solid even before the glue really sets.

I added a couple of inserts at the bow and stern on the seats to allow me to attach things to them. I am considering changing the rig and it might be useful to be able to attach cleats or padeyes.
At the bow I also fitted a piece of mahogany cut off from the rubrails along the stem. I plan to add an eye to attach a painter at the front, and this will back up the bolt. I made it long enough to allow a surface for attaching stuff if I need to. Notice how nice and even the gunnels are now that I have sanded them.

Used my router to make the openings for the daggerboard well. Predrilled a starting hole and used a flush trim bit with a little bearing. Worked very well and quickly.
I had to try the daggerboard in place. It fits with a fair bit of slack front and back. Not so much side to side. I can imagine gluing a bit of rubber padding to the inside to cushion and tighten the fit. I'll keep that in mind. I have lots of old bike inner tubes that would work I think.

After giving the hull a final coat of resin, I started to sand it. Since I've had so much trouble sanding with coarse paper and sanding right through to the wooe, I'm using 220 and so far I have not sanded through to the wood yet. It is harder than it looks. It is also B O R I N G! I have to change the disk quite often because the resin clogs the paper and it becomes useless. I have to tell myself that this is important and has to be well done. I suspect that it will become "good enough" soon. I have to keep reminding myself that its about sailing, not about a perfect finish that will soon be scratched anyway. It is not fine furniture.
I've been talking to myself alot.
My little Makita sander is showing its worth. It has proved to be a very good tool and I would recommend it with no reservations. (even if it croaked tomorrow!)

The primer has dried and now I take most of it off. Funny how that works. Went around and filled a couple of holes, then you guessed it, I sanded it.

I had planned to continue priming and sanding and improving the finish, but it looks like we are getting busy so I decided to accept a less than perfect finish, or rather a less than not quite perfect finish, in exchange for sooner in the water. As many suggested in the Skerry forum, I diluted my paint a bit and applied it quickly tipping it off with a foam brush. It worked quite well. No one will begrudge me a cat hair or two n'est ce pas?
I'm deliberately not showing you the somewhat bumpy stern where the different boards merge. Otherwise the finish is quite smooth.

After lots of sanding and a final coat of paint on the outside the boat was turned over and the gunnels were rounded and coated with a coat of resin. I had put some on the lower edge to help protect the scarf joints. They had detached themselves while bending and attaching to the boat.