Up to our glass in epoxy!

 Fear not loyal readers, we have returned at last with new and exciting reports of our trimaran construction adventures!  Its been about two months since our last update, and I wish I could say the hiatus was due to fantastic sailing in exotic locales, but alas we were just busy with other things.  Between vacations, and softball games, and getting the old monohull ready for the sailing season, and the occasional head cold, progress on the tri slowed to the pace of a ferroconcrete sloop on a windless morning.  Nonetheless, we did make some progress up to today, including filling and sanding the interior surface of the port side of the main hull in preparation for laminating.

Today was the "Big Day" when Dawna and I finally recommitted ourselves to transforming this construction from a work of modern art to a wind-driven hot rod worthy of Nereus's admiration.  So today was the first of four remaining glassing marathons leading to the completion of this boat.

Friday I sanded the entire surface with 80-grit to smooth the filler in the various screw holes, gaps, and other blemishes.  The filler was well cured, having sat untouched for about a month.  The surface was already nearly perfectly fair, thanks to my expert planking skills (I am sure Napoleon Dynamite would be envious of my skills).  Yesterday I precut all of the glass, including various reinforcements.  This morning I did some final blemish blending with epoxy filler prior to glassing.  Then Dawna and I started laminating.  As you can see in the photos, five hours later we had a beautiful .. . er, pool slide?!  Yeah, kinda looks like a water slide from this perspective, but in actuality it is the lower port side of the main hull.

I like the way this view accentuates the complex curves of the hull.  This inward bulge in the hull will eventually cradle the port float when folded, keeping the boat street legal when trailered, while still a speed demon on the water!  Next we will finish planking the upper section of the hull, including the deck and cockpit.  Then a little more laminating (more like a 10-km bike race than a 26-mile marathon), and we will be ready to add bulkheads.  More fun yet to come ...