Justin C

@lenm Amazing work! It looks just like my Jessy 15' except yours is larger, more complex, prettier and it has a person building it who knows what they are doing. 😎🤣

Ken, I'm a little late to the party, but CONGRATULATIONS! Amazing build and helluva achievement!

I realized I spent entirely too much time finishing compartments that when completed, will never see the light of day. However, it wasn't a complete waste as it allowed me to move a bit further up the learning curve of boat building. Well, heating the garage was a success as the epoxy and glass pieces were set up real hard this morning. I scraped the edges of the glass and will do a light sand. I have a few more interior joints to do, namely the center bulkhead. I expect to get this finished up this weekend. I may have mentioned a while back that I ordered two sheets of 1/4" okume. I am going to also use the colder months to fabricate myself a small center console. I have a rough design in place and will mock up with cardboard over the coming weeks/months. Stay tuned...

Small update - With the temps lower and not having a lot of free time on the weekends, I spent the last few weeks coating the smaller pieces with epoxy in my basement. I’ve been using a 3” foam roller to knock out the work. I set up a propane heater in the garage this weekend. Temps outside are in the 40s and it’s 80 in the garage! I glassed the forward bulkhead compartment and bulkhead 2. Both of these also sit underneath the casting platform. I used the small bit of epoxy leftover from glassing to coat the top of the hardwood transverse member.

Chick, thanks. As you’re well aware, it’s easy making it look like this. I still have quite a bit to do before I get to the finish work.

Just to bulkhead 2. I have it overhanging by 1/2”. Thanks. I’m still learning the fine line of making it look good and getting the job done.

Thanks Alan. The temps got into the low 30s over night this past weekend but would warm to the 60s during the day. I did coat a few pieces but the set up time was nearly 12hrs. I brought some smaller pieces and epoxy inside and did some coating. I also cut out a small section of each side stringer to accept the transverse hardwood piece. I could not get that piece in between the side stringers any other way. I’ll update with a picture when I can. The hull looks fair and I did bend a batten to check for flat spots and bulges. I am going to continue to glass all interior joints. I have interior primer and paint chosen but have not purchased. I also need to get board foam for the forward and two aft seat compartments. I’m also considering flipping the boat to trim the gears and lay out the glass fabric.

It was a rainy weekend up here and with the kid's sports being cancelled it left me with some free time. I removed the temporary 2x4 spreader that I had installed to widen the hull sides forward to allow the 2 forward bulkheads to be installed properly. I also removed the rest of the temporary screws I had holding the bulkheads in place and filleted the rest of the gaps. Once the epoxy fillets cured, I sanded them smooth. I have a small overhang (1/2") over the forward bulkhead where the hatch goes. From looking at the plans, this seems about right. Once I had this overhang measured, I clamped a level from once side to the other to get a consistent set back for the hatch hardwood drainage pieces. This will allow me to place the transverse drainage piece properly. I also spent time dry fitting the casting platform. I did round off the forward point of the casting platform where it meets the stem to allow it to fit nicely with the bead of thickened epoxy already up there. Next up is to rough up the epoxy on the interior pieces in preparation for taping all the seams.

Alan, All good pieces of advice I incorporated into the recent work. Here's a quick update: The forward bulkheads 1 and 2 have been installed. I scribed them as Alan has suggested and this took a few back and forth installs/sandings to get it just right. I only filleted them to the hull bottom and left the sides open. The reason I did this was to set their vertical positions and it will allow the hull sides to come back into positions when I remove the 2x4 spreader currently installed. I epoxied the forward box hardwood support drainage channels and clampled the pieces together. I also rounded over the inside bottom edge of these pieces with a trim router. Presumably, this is done to remove a sharp edge where you would later 'reach into' the box. Good forethought! After the epoxy set up, I cleaned up the squeeze out, sanded the underside of the butted joint, then glued the small butt piece with thickened epoxy to further strengthen the joint.

I was able to get the forward bulkhead into its proper place. It’s still sitting a bit elevated, which I attribute to the rounding of the inside keel when thickened epoxy and two strips of fiberglass were installed. I think I will dremel out a small amount of material to allow the bulkhead to sit better. I also have a few questions about the drain channel hardwood supports for the box in the forward casting platform. Will a butt joint with thickened epoxy work to properly join these pieces? With regard to the athwartship hardwood piece mentioned above, this looks like it will run flush with the inboard hull stringers? Does the set back of the athwartship piece meet the hull stringers the distance back from the vertical bulkhead #2? If so, I have a 1/2” on either side where I have to widen the hull. See here:

Ok, I have still been working, albeit slowly. The temps have been getting to the 50s the last few weeks and it certainly extends the set up time for the epoxy. I have 3 full coats on the whole interior of the boat and all the large pieces (and some of the small pieces too). I sanded areas that would be joined to the interior before installing. I used drywall screws to position the longitudinals as well as the centerframe. I sunk the screws an 1/8” into the inside hull to properly position the pieces then filleted thickened epoxy into the joints. It worked nicely. I’m having a bit of difficulty installing bulkhead 2 (the forward bulkhead). I clamped some sacrificial strips of wood to the interior hull above where this bulkhead is to be installed. I then pounded in a 2x4 to widen the hull to allow the piece to fit. I can’t exactly get a good fit and the piece is installed in there under a lot of pressure. I have a few options: 1. “Modify” the bulkhead to make it fit. 2. Continue to further widen the hull laterally to allow it to sit properly. 3. A combination of 1. & 2. The casting platform will be installed on top of this and I’m not sure what will take the flex out of the bulkhead unless I do something like above. Any and all advice is welcomed.

Alan, thanks for all this information. I’ll check out the store for supplies. I have the whole interior and most large pieces coated with three layers of epoxy. I sanded in between one of the coats and hot coated the other two. It actually went very fast and I’m close to the stage of actually assembling the insides. Would priming everything I epoxied (boat interior and most large pieces) now make sense? I would still need to grind down areas that would be assembled - bottoms, corners, etc for filleting and taping. Before: After:

That's good to hear and in-line with other advice I received. I really don't have a place to spray and would rather not atomize the paint, so brushing it will be. To be specific, this is what I plan on using: AWL-D8001 545 epoxy primer AWL-D3001 545 epoxy primer converter AWL-T0031 topcoat brushing reducer The 545 epoxy primer and converter will be mixed 1:1, then reduced 10% for brushing. AWL-F8215 AWLCRAFT 2000 in cloud white AWL-H3002 AWLCAT #3 topcoat brushing converter The topcoat will be mixed 2:1 (base/H3002) then reduced with T0031. Since this stuff is expensive, and I'd like to be clean, do we use syringes to measure? Or just pour into calibrated mixing containers?

The bulkheads, longitudinals, seat tops and fore deck have received 3 coats of epoxy. I applied the first coat, then sanded. As Alan mentioned, sanding with 150 first would have been smarter, but, I'm learning. I mixed up about 2 cups worth of epoxy and poured it into a disposable paint tray. I was fortunate when I purchased them I left 3 nested in place that I would later realized would be smart. I used a 1/8" nap foam roller and got an even coat applied in no time. I remembered a heat gun I had would come in hand to knock down the air bubbled the foam roller incorporated into the epoxy coat. 4-5 hours later, when the epoxy was still tacky, I applied another coat. All the pieces got flipped, then the same process took place for the other side. I realized why leaving 3 disposable paint trays nested in place would prove to be smart - I left the used roller in the tray to dry up a bit before I removed it. I waited a bit too long and since the trays are made with very thin plastic, I cracked and removed some of the tray when trying to remove the roller with partially cured epoxy. The two trays underneath it are the backups - lesson learned. I preparation for installing the fore deck, I also removed a section of fillet from the top inside of the stem to allow the fore deck to fit. I have also decided on topside paint: AWL GRIP 2 part epoxy primer and AWLCRAFT 2000 topcoat. I plan on testing this out in the forward compartments and also under the seat tops, where the insulation will go. These areas will not be seen and it will allow me to become comfortable using the paint/primer/reducer. Next step is to install the center frame bulkhead and the longitudinals bulkheads, sand down the areas that will be filleted then get the fiberglass tape into place.

All great info but above, in particular. I should have known it would be easier to sand ply than epoxy by now. All the sections I mentioned will be 3 coats of epoxy before paint. I’ll rough up the perimeters where I will apply the glass tape before install.