Sanding and varnish

Finally got back to the Coot.  I spent about 4 hours with the sander.  Went thru 30 disks.  But the results were worth it. 

Outside, finally!

It's finally starting to act like spring.  I got Coot outside for some more resin on the bottom.  lots of sanding and varnish coming up.

Fit and finish

Seats are in and one coat of resin on the entire inside.  Looks good.  Also put the oarlocks on.  They will come off for final varnishing.

Seats glued in

Both seats are glue in.  Next is the finish.  The designer put long flex sticks from his ceiling.  I did that a little differently. I clamped flex strips to the shear and then did the wedge.

Woodwork is done

I got the rear seat and the bow seat fitted.  Once the shear clamps were on it gave a definitive shape to the boat.  The fittings on the seats that I did the other day didn't fit now so it took me another hour or two to get things right.    I think she looks good!

Never have enough clamps

I decided to put the outwales on the boat before putting in the  seats.  I did this because the sides of the boat were flexing too much to get an accurate fit for the seats.  I'm about 99% fit with the seats but each time I put one in it is just a little off.  With the shear line fixed this should allow a good seat fit.  I'll put the inwales on tomorrow.

                                                    Added the inner shear clamp

Lot's of futzin

I cut all the seat parts out exactly as the plans called for.  I was careful to get this right.  Of course nothing fit.  It's going to take a lot of futzing to get this back on track.

Glass is done

We have had some real nasty weather here on the east coast.  The temp yesterday never got above 16 degrees.  Not any weather for glassing.  Today it got up to a balmy 37 degrees.    I fired up the kero heater in the garage and managed to get it up to 55 degrees. The glass is 6 oz cloth 50 inches wide.  I layed it thort to thort, overlapped in the middle.   Hope the glass kicks tonight!

Off of the molds

I had an issue with the resin drying.  The weather has been cold here and it just would not go off.   Yesterday it went up to 65 degrees and the resin kicked.  For good measure I skimmed the bottom with a hot coat of resin.  But that's done so here we are.  Had another fumble too.  Just the other day I cut up and trashed the excess wood that the molds were cut out of.  With hindsight I should have kept two of the female molds to make a cradle to hold the boat upright.  live and learn.   She does look good.

Glass is on

Spent another hour with the longboard.  Sanding and finish sanding are not my favorite sport.  But it's done and the glass is on.  I used two layers of 50 inch wide 6 oz cloth.  That way the bottom has a double layer.  I'll put two more coats of resin on then we can flip the boat and start on the inside.