This was a pretty relaxed and fun day. Dirty but fun. I recruited the kids and neighbors for some help and we had couple of cold ones in between breaks. Lou Jr. had his Coke on the rocks.
Consider having the following ready to go as it will save you time:
Safety glasses60 grit sandpaper (already cut to your sander’s specs)
100 grit sandpaper (already cut to your sander’s specs)
Organize everything in stacks so as the sanding paper wears down you have the next one ready to go.
Dust masks – at least 2 per person
Big brushes for sweeping.
An air compressor or a yard blower.
The day before you sand, make sure you have filled the seams with epoxy. For bigger gaps you can thicken the epoxy with microfibers or fine saw dust. I started with the saw dust as a filler/thickener and transitioned later in the project to the microfibers.
Don’t rush it. Take breaks, stand back, look. Start again. It’s also a fun time to BS with your friends on who has what fishing spot on the boat and who’s catching the biggest fish.
This phase took about a solid 6 hours of work. It was later followed by some smoked baby back ribs later in the evening.
This phase took about a solid 6 hours of work. It was later followed by some smoked baby back ribs later in the evening.
Junior building up those arms!
A quick "water" break! We were covered in dust.
Gil doing his thing.
Note the ship yard manager in the background downing one and slacking off. Can you beleive this guy?
Sanding completed and ready for the glass!
Very nice looking boat. You have done a great job. Cant wait to see more pictures. I am planing on building a dory here in Canada. Where did you get your plans?
ReplyDeleteBrandon
Alberta Canada
Hi Brandon:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the cudos.
You can get the boat information and plan information from the the second post on my blog from May 2009. It has the boat specs website right there.
Have fun building your boat. It will be a great adventure!
Lou
Wow! That is looking awesome! Are you a carpenter or something. I just started working on my boat. Im not a carpenter but Im pretty good with tools. How are you going to waterproof your boat?
ReplyDeleteMichael
New Jersey
Hi Mike:
ReplyDeleteI’m not a carpenter (LOL). Like you I’m just a simple weekend warrior in the garage. The boat’s water proofing comes from the fiberglass and epoxy coating that it got on the outside of the hull. The inside was only coated with epoxy which was brushed on. I have some pics of the fiberglass and epoxy sequence that I will be posting shortly.
Lou
My friend. What nice boat you made. My questions is how big of engine are you putting in?
ReplyDeletePablo in Nicaragua.
My freind. What a nice boat you make. What size of the engine are you going to put.
ReplyDeletePablo - Nicaragua
Pablo - I will be installing a Mercury 30HP EFI engine.
ReplyDeleteLou
Hi Lou,
ReplyDeleteWhat made you to decide on a 30 hp motor? I am thinking of using a 25 hp motor.
Brad
Hi Ron.
ReplyDeleteGood question. Let me see if I can sum it up for you.
I originally was going to install a Mercury 25 TILLER. But after looking at all the other boats at Spira International, I started thinking about adding a center consol that as you know is not on the plans. This would add more weight to the boat but really not a big factor.
I plan to go out to the islands near by and I wanted to make sure I had some giddy up and go if I needed it. Same for fishing with 4 other guys on the boat. I did a lot of research and found boats with much more horsepower than what I chose. I am confident that the 30HP will get the Big Tuna up on plain very easily. In the event I need that giddy up, I have it.
When push came to shove and after months of researching I determined that I was better off with a 30HP. Weight difference between engines was really not a big deal. There was a difference in price but eventually, I accepted the difference and scratched, clawed, saved every penny of the difference. I was not in a rush to get the engine right away so the extra months of building helped me save for the engine. The entire dilemma took me about 4 months to decide upon.
I hope I made sense.
Lou