Randy's Boat Shop

Lake Oswego has been having a heat wave; we had a high of 82°F yesterday, 80°F today and an expected 85°F tomorrow.  For most of the boat build the temperature in the boat shop has been in the 50’s.  At those temperatures I use a fast hardener designed to cure between 40°F and 60°F.  As the temperature started to climb I switched to a slow hardener designed to cure at 60°F and above.  Yesterday I used all of my extra slow hardener designed to cure above 70°F.  I have very little need for the extra slow hardener since I don’t do much boat building during the summer so I had just enough to primed the inside of the hull.  I was able to finish fiber-glassing the inside of the hull by saturating the fiberglass cloth using the slow hardener.

So far on the build I have used about 3 gallons of epoxy and hardener; I expect to use at most 1 more gallon.  I have gone through 22 yards of 6oz, 50 inch wide fiberglass cloth and I should use a another yard to a yard and a half.  For peel ply I have gone through 16 yard and I might go through 1 more but I have 4 spare yards just in case.  I purchased different epoxy fillers per the designers recommendation and I will have enough left over for two more boats.  It is better to have a little left over than to run out and waste time and money getting a little more to finish the job; actually the time cost from running out exceeds any savings by buying just what is needed.

The thwarts, bridge deck and anchor deck don’t have any anti-skid coating so I am thinking of using Dynel fabric which has a texture similar to coarse cotton duck.   By not filling the weave all the way I will be left with a very abrasive resistant non-skid surface.

In the last two weeks I have almost finished sanding and priming the outside of the hull and the boat was turned over.  Turnover day is always a milestone in boat building; it marks the day the boat goes from a project to a real boat.  I modified the plans so the hull would be 13′ 10″ long.  I measured the hull and it came out to be 14′ 1″; oh well that’s bodybuilding.  Now it is time for sanding, taping, sanding, glassing, sanding, filling, sanding and priming the inside of the hull which means I am still 2 months away from launch.

The Candlefish 13 has a bridge deck in the center of the boat which is great for storage but can be in the way.  I decided that I am going to move the bridge deck forward by about 6 inches to make more room just behind it.  Lots of fun work ahead and it is now a real boat.