Laminated port float

 This was a very productive weekend as we glassed the port float.  Here are a couple of views of the fully glassed hull with reinforcing along the side.  Dawna had to help a friend on Saturday, so I laminated the outboard half by myself.  I found that I could laminate approximately a meter of hull in 30 minutes with 600 mL of epoxy.  Final score: 4 hours of epoxy work and three bubbles.  Dawna and I did the inboard half together at a rate of about 20 minutes per meter with 600 mL epoxy.  Final score: 3 hours and no bubbles!  It is very difficult to see air bubbles under the saturated glass fabric, and my crappy eyesight doesn't help.  The bubbles are easy to repair, so no big deal, but I much prefer a perfect lamination.  The stern end is another tricky spot due to the point.  I think I laminated it three times on the starboard float before I got it right.  It is easy to sand through the glass, and the fibers tend to not stay where I put them resulting in air gaps in the lamination.

The laminated hull is very fair, so I don't think I will need to do too much tweaking.  We will skim coat the entire hull once the bow is installed and the various reinforcing patches are laminated.  But I am hoping for minimal sanding aside from the initial skim coat.  I hope to attach the bow cap and add the reinforcements next weekend.  Of course we only have a couple of weekends left in the sailing season, so we might head to the lake for a daysail.  Sounds like another busy weekend coming up ...

Keel'd over

 We finished fairing and sanding the outer side of the float with a single pass of putty.  I must be getting better at applying the fairing putty because it only took about an hour to fully sand the float, and very little putty was sanded off.  Next we flipped the float over to work on the keel.  Here you can see how we supported the float with a couple braces on each side.  Bracing the hull like this made it much easier and quicker to grind down the keel.  Once braced, it took about an hour to form the keel with the belt sander and the 30" fairing board.  The black "handles" sticking out are actually pieces of insulating foam so I don't impale myself on the protruding braces.

 After fairing the keel, I carefully inspected the entire hull (except the deck) and filled any remaining imperfections, open seams between foam planks, screw holes, etc.  I only used a single batch of putty (150 mL epoxy + 1.25 cups microballoons) for the entire hull.  It should take a very light sanding with the fairing board to fair these patches.  Once the putty cures, I'll sand the keel and lower hull.  Then we will turn the hull back on to its side and finish sanding.  After that, we will be ready to laminate the outer surface with 18-oz. glass.

After I finished the last patches, I prepped all of the glass fabric.  The big rolls are the 18-oz. glass that will cover the entire hull.  There are also several smaller pieces used for reinforcing the hull in key areas.  I am excited to get the hull laminated for the sense of progress it provides.   Of course after laminating, we skim coat it with fairing putty and I am back to fairing.  At least the cooler temperatures make the work more pleasant.  And we are close to moving on to the main hull!