Working late last night I was able to get the stern trimmed and final sanded the hull. So this today was a good time to fiberglass.

Photo shows the West System epoxy resin that I use. I always keep some in the shop as I use it on a lot of different projects. I chose the #106 Slow Hardener as I like the work time on it. Since it is always tends to be warm weather here, epoxy sets up a bit faster. The 106 gives me a Pot Life of 25 minutes and a Working Time of about 90 minutes. Gets real hard in 12 hours and continues to fully cure for about 4 days.

NOTE, the fiberglass cloth shown is LAST RESORT DUE TO LOCKDOWN. I was out of fiberglass cloth which I usually buy off a roll at the boat supply houses nearby. Due to Covid, I was not able to get it. The Bondo cloth shown in the package photo is what the open hardware had. Its disappointing because the packaging creates some bad folds. I laid it out for several days but it still looks troublesome- see photos.

Laid the fiberglass cloth on the hull which is still attached to the building board. The cloth can be smoothed on the irregular form by gently smoothing it with your hands or a light brush. I use cheap plastic gloves and work out as much of the kinks as I can. I do not do videos well so I will try to find a link that I have seen on the net that shows this method well.

Trimmed the cloth to allow for about 2 " margin all around. The binder clips at the bow and stern hold the cloth until I get enough resin on it so the cloth doesn't move.

I start in the center applying the resin and work my way slowly in all directions using a short bristle brush about 2 1/2" wide. Again, was not able to video it so I will find that good link and post it.

I was able to smooth out those wrinkles but I won't know if I have bubble problems for a few more hours.

Because of this, rather than do additional coats now, I will let it cure, then wash and sand prior to further coats.

Joe 😎😌😴😴

This morning I put a second coat of resin on the hull. But first I washed the off the amine blush, couldn't really see it but scrubbed the hull with warm water and dried anyway. I've read that it is sometimes transparent, so wash away.

Sanded the high spots and roughed the hull for a second coat. I applied this coat using a brush only and considered applying a third coat while the second was still tacky. I decided I was not in a rush so I would wait overnight, sand and then do a third coat. No need to rush this build, just enjoying it.
Joe 😎😎😎

The hulls second coat of resin went well and I decided that if I do a third resin coat it will happen after the deck is on. So I cut the hull from the building board support. I was amazed at how light the hull is, almost nothing. That cedar bottom was very light after all.

Installed king planks. Now comes the fun part, locating the mast, keel and rudder. This is a proven design but these location are always critical and it doesn't hurt to leave some tolerance for adjustment once it's ready for the pond. Framed an opening for the mast which I will place through the deck and will sit on a base just above the hull bottom. The mast will be removable for easy transport. Keel slot started as seen in the photos and will be 3 1/4" long to accommodate the keel insert. Planks cut from pine were installed on both side of hull to act as shroud hardware support.

Still having fun.
Joe 😎😁

For this build I will be using what I have on hand whenever possible. The lead bulb shown is about 6 lbs and is one of several bulbs that I cast back in 2006.

The keel and rudder are VERY ROUGH at this point. They are laminated layers of plywood which will be shaped further to a more aerodynamic shape. Once shaped, I will fiberglass and paint them.

The hull "design" has a center of bouyancy 0.4" ahead of the station shown, I put a brass screw to mark this spot so I can see this point on the bottom of the hull. 3 1/2" slot was then marked and cut. Next photos show the mockup of the rudder and keel fin on the hull. Looks okay to me, just need to refine both.

More on the hull work later today.
Joe 😎

I've determined where I want the feed openings for the sheets to be for the main sail and job. ("Sheets" is the term for the lines that will run from the servo arm to the booms to control the sails). Since these want to be centered along the boat centerline they will puncture the King Plank, so I am reinforcing the king planks to allow for a cut opening.

The Mast has a base with a 1/8" dia pin that will sit in the mast step. Made a mast step out of 1/4" x 3/4" aluminum bar. Cut and drilled, then set in place on bottom of the hull, see photo.

Did a simple plywood support for the rudder servo, see photo with servo set in place.

Keel slot needs a box that encloses it to a height above the boats water line. Built of 1/8" plywood, then coated inside and out with resin. Set in place with epoxy. Will get a sealed top...coming soon.

Always put my Titebond in my little containers. Back to work.
Joe🤞

Photos show drilling of sheet openings at two points. Shown with vertical pencils in photo.

Continued with keel box, added lid which is epoxied in place. Hole accepts metal rod from keel and bulb. Once keel and bulb are installed, the metal rod will be in tension. Keel and bulb can be removed for transport if desired.

Now in the process of costing the interior of the hull in epoxy resin.
😌😴😴😴Joe

I needed a clear path to run the Jib Sheeting from above deck down and to the sail servo arm. Rather than just run the line loose and risk snagging I decided to bend a brass tube to use as a conduit. The problem is I've never bent brass tube before. Of course the internet knows how....😊.

Took the straight brass tube and heated it red hot with my butane torch, let cool. This aneals it. Then I packed the tube with table salt. Tamped it down and taped each end shut with duct tape. Yes, just tape. Bent slowly over a curved scrap of wood. It worked! 😋

Photos show it it mocked up in boat, I'm happy.
More to come,
Joe😎

I usually build my own deck fittings for my sailboats, methods of attaching shroud lines, stays, etc. Sketched up some ideas and gave one a try. It uses a solid brass 3/16" rod that I thread one end and beat the #*×## out of the other end with a hammer. Then I drilled a hole in it, got out the files, shaped it a bit and within minutes had something that may work pretty well and not bad looking.

I reinforced the bow to take the jib stay. Used fiberglass with some milled glass fibers. I installed a brass insert that provides 10-24 thread to accept my threaded fittings. Not screwed in all the way yet, just a mockup. I will probably do some sort of round escutcheon plate. More later getting late.
Joe 😌😴😴😴

Time to determine the location of the Sail Servo. I need to have all equipment locations set so that I can design the deck and it's hatch locations. Main items are the rudder servo, sail servo, deck penetrations and all required blocking (reinforcement) needed, sheet location, etc.

The Sail Servo is a beast, the Hitec HS-815BB has 19.8kg/cm of torque at 4.8 volts! Gone are the days when only drum winches worked well with sails, I have been using sail arms since 2004 with great luck. Easy to setup, adjust and keep tuned. Best of all, cheap at about $50usd. A word of caution, don't get your hands in the way when these are activated. They are quite capable of breaking fingers and even arms....caution!

Built a sturdy servo mount for placement in the hull. Once installed it may required additional bracing, we shall see. The carbon fiber sail arm is from my older Falmouth Gaff Rigged Cutter. This is an example of what I build for the sail arm. But first, to determine the proportions and design, I just mock-up an arm with a stick of wood. Drilled with different centerline and distances, I set it in place. Next step will be to mock-up the mast, main boom and jib boom so that I can mark the travel of the sheets / lines. I will setup and mark travel from min to max and calculate best arm lengths. Shorter the better as a long arm reduces the available torque considerably.

I enjoy the next step but it must wait until I am fresh in the morning. 😴😴😴
Joe

Not a lot to photograph for a few days. Designing the sail arm based on my measurement of the boom and jib travel. The main boom has quite a bit of travel so I will probably do the 1:3 design shown in the first diagram photo. Jib will probably be 2:1.

Ordered some 2mm Carbon Fiber Plate off of ebay, hope to get it soon so I can make the Sail Arm.

I ordered some sail cloth, I am using Sailrite's Ripstop 0.75oz 60" Nylon Sailcloth in both white and red.

Sail Servo Mount was epoxied in today, curing now.
Joe 😎