AmosSwogger

Great pictures. How was the Gulf Stream crossing?

I am going to take your advice and just do the transom; it is the most noticeable. Although after I level the surface I may just re-paint the transom instead of polishing. For future builders, one quart of Awlgrip paint (along with the associated catalyst and thinner) was enough to put on three coats if you are painting between the waterline and the rub rail. Alan told me one quart would do it and he was right. I even have a little left over.

Yours can only look better. The paint sagged and dripped on me; it wasn't drying fast enough. It was 60 degrees (and the temp was falling), and I thinned the paint too much. If I had to do it over again I would wait for a warmer day.

I need to catch up on pictures; here goes: Masking off the waterline. Rolling and tipping the Awlgrip. Topside painted with Devthane 379. Suspended: Successful landing. Installed the keel rollers.

How are you planning on making the wishbone sprits? Bent laminations (clamping the laminations together utilizing a curved form)?

Dont forget a pencil along with your cassette tapes. You can jam the eraser end into the geared wheel and wind back up the cassette tape if it ever comes unwound. You can also include splicing tape if the tape ever breaks. On a serious note I like the utility of the three level space.

Nice work. On a unrelated note, Saturday, 4/14/18, you posted "This is almost over!". I don't believe you.

You have actually been boat-building? And here I though you have just been lounging around, sipping iced tea, and researching Appalachian history.

I made the skeg out of Southern Yellow Pine (SYP). I bought 3/4" stainless steel hollowback and shaped the skeg to match the shape of the hollowback. A block plane worked well for this, then following up with sandpaper wrapped around a cut off section of hollowback fine-tuned the fit. I did this on the bench prior to attaching it to the hull (this worked out very well, shaping it after attaching it to the hull would have been more difficult). I epoxied it in by screwing it down, then removing the screws and filling the screw holes with epoxy. I didn't feel the need to shape the skeg to fit the shape of the hull; it bent in place just fine. I didn't join it with any fiberglass, but I did use generous fillets on both sides. Then I drilled the holes for SS screws, re-drilled the holes oversize and filled them with epoxy, then drilled the epoxy to accept the SS screws. The hollowback was put on with clear cauk. I didn't want water to get trapped in any of the small spaces between the hollowback and the skeg. I used DAP gutter and flashing cauk; it wasn't labelled as containing silicone but it behaved as though it did. I'm not sure if this is the best kind of cauk to use; I basically just bought the most expensive clear cauk I could find at Home Depot. Cleaning up the squeeze out was a pain; I should have used masking tape laid down on either side of the hollowback to make cleanup easier.

Thanks for the pictures Randy. I'm looking at a very similar EZloader (the bunks look exactly the same). Question concerning the bunks: did you need to modify them? Did you shape them to fit the hull, or they were flexible enough to conform to the hull?

Enjoyed the pictures.

Your view is better than mine! I've been looking at the ugly end of a sander all week.

Good advice Ken! I might actually be strong enough to lift both of them up with my new muscles developed from hours and hours of sanding. Recent progress: mizzen mast rest fiberglassed and installed . . . . . . and after some sanding, fairing fiberglass edges, and more sanding, a coat of epoxy was laid down in the cockpit.

I didn't have the heart to tell him the mast was exceptionally light. He thinks he is strong enough to pick up just about anything now.

B&B sure makes their masts too heavy. They make them so heavy my 5 year old can barely hold one up off the ground.