Boat building for us is a trudge. It's not an obsession. It's not joyful. It's not a dream. It's not a passion. It's not even something I wanted to do. It's a chore. Something we have to do. It's all we do. We cannot stop. We can only trudge on, grasping at small joys to enlighten our existence. We want to get an early start before the day gets hot. The hulls are outside and covered with dew making them dangerous to walk on. Any epoxy work cannot be done in moisture. When the condensation burns off, it's hot. It's a lose-lose situation. Top it off with enough intermittent rain to put the kibosh on any momentum accumulated. Nevertheless, we did something.
This was concept number one to hold the dorade through hull tubes in place while we glued them into place. The two pieces of wood is our guide for getting the tubes in place relative to the dorade tops, The long piece of wood rests on the dorade sides and the short piece of wood places the tube far enough down to allow air flow while being higher than the dividing wall so water will not enter. This all held together with a bungee. Option number one turned into number two and we rejected it.
Meanwhilst the true number two option consisting of the same spacer and a hose clamp was decided upon. Me up top holding everything in correct placement using the wooden spacer and hose clamp.
Ben below deck gluing and filleting the tubes in place, all eight of them. This took a couple days as maverick rainstorms plowed across the terrain.
Ben had to fillet top and bottom. I kept waiting for everything to dry out in the beam troughs,
Ben's failed epoxy application tool for tight spaces. Patent not pending.
Ben had me make a step of scrap wood so we can access the deck easier off the platform. Yeah, clamps!
Ben painted it.
I final glued in the side cheeks of beam one. One hull each day. Before the heat. Between the rains. Behind schedule (what's that?).
Epoxy, being a cantankerous muthah, must be utilized or it goes off on you. This is a one ounce cup that I mixed 30 ml worth of epoxy. Ben is a regular mad scientist in regards to epoxy. He will mix a batch and immediately put it in the freezer to give him time to work it. He will transfer it to a plastic sandwich bag and smoosh it down in the cold freezer to chill it. If needed he will put it in the sun to increase viscosity. All this to assure maximum usability of an expensive commodity. No batch is too small. Our motto is "You can always mix more", but, once mixed, the clock is ticking and too much is wasted. Ben is the expert of small batches.
I screwed the ptfe to beam 2. The code is "beam two, port hull, outside side, forward".
Only beam one to go! Same code!
Ben found this flower. We think it's a baby mesquite tree flowering it's heart out. You should too! We will finish this boat.
The Music: Jerry Jeff Walker "Pissin' In The Wind"
A sailor's lament.
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