Attaching the bow

 I didn't get too much done on the trimaran this week because we are getting the monohull ready for the sailing season.  At this point I just want to get on the water.  Nonetheless, I spent a few hours today sanding one side of the hull in preparation for final fairing (yeah, more sanding and fairing!)  The biggest difference being the dust is now super itchy thanks to the glass fibers.  Of course the intent is to not sand down the glass fibers since that is the source of the strength of the boat.  Rather, I am just trying to take off the gloss so the next layer adheres properly.  Epoxy doesn't adhere to itself very well, so the scratches from sanding provide a mechanical grip for the next layer.

We also glued on the bow foam.  If you recall, we glued up a block of scrap foam a while ago, and then trimmed it to rough shape on the band saw.  To attach it to the hull, I mixed a thin batch of epoxy putty following this recipe: 150 mL epoxy + 1/2 cup microballoons + 1/2 cup cabosil.  The balloons provide extra volume to fill gaps and the cabosil helps reduce dripping.  It is still a thin mix so I could press the bow on and squeeze out the excess.

I used two screws to hold the foam bow on to the hull while the putty set.  The screws tend to pull the foam up, so I loosened them slightly and put a couple wights on the forward edge.  This balancing act seemed to align the centerline of the bow foam with the hull.  It doesn't need to be perfect since the next step is carving the foam to a finished form.  This might be a good job for Dawna, the artist-extraordinaire.

You may also notice the shiny area on the forward end where I squeegeed out the extra putty.  I am testing an idea to apply a thin fairing putty to fill in the glass weave without requiring to much additional sanding.  Being thin, it tends to settle smooth like glass.  It also spreads uniformly so there aren't overly thick or thin areas.  The hull is very fair at this point, so this might allow me to finish fairing in one last pass (fingers crossed for luck).