| 08/07/30 |
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Back to build the Eastport Pram started at Brest .
I recoated the joints on the inside and the stitches holes. On the outside, I have already plugged a goodly number of finger prints... |
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No, I am not starting a sideline in avant-garde photography... I am just back building the Jimmy Skiff, which I had put on hold end may, while I built the Chester Yawl. I have taken the major pannels outside for a light sanding prior to epoxy saturation. |
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It's Sunday and I am wearing my pink shirt to go row the Skerry on the nearby river Aisne. On the picture, launching at Choisy-au-Bac. I am loading survival rations, one is never too prepared. |
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Click on the photos to see larger versions. |
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Stop over for a picnic with my wife and passenger. One can indeed see that the oarlocks are in the forward rowing position, since we are two aboard. |
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The Skerry is as much pleasure to row alone in the middle position as in the forward position with two aboard. I am wondering whether it's even lighter to row than the Chester Yawl... |
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Its wider beam than the yawl's (almost 30% wider) makes it a bit more stable but one doesn't feel having to "pull" a bigger hull. |
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| This duck family just read in the newspaper that hunting season on waterfowl is opening earlier this year, and they hurry to enjoy a tragically short life... |
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Fiberglassing the inside of the pram: bottom pannel as well as planks 1 and 2. |
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Oops, I have been too slow using up my epoxy and it "kicked" in the glass. The current temperature in the shop is 32°C... Too bad I can't store calories against the next winter! Theoretically, the temperature can reach 170°C during the exothermy phase, but there was not enough epoxy left in the container to heat really seriously. |
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| I have saturated the skiff's bottom pannel with epoxy and I am now using it as a worktable to put together one of the two thwarts. The small pieces of plywood scrap are lightly nailed to hold the sides perpendicular to the seat while gluing. |
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And here are the two thwarts glued. |
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I am now sanding the bottom panel because I have finally decided to fiberglass it on the inside, in order to withstand booted feet aggressions. I took my supertable outside to lay the long pannels on it for sanding. |
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| The building manual doesn't recommend that step, only the whole outside of the hull is fiberglassed, after stitching and gluing. But I find so easy to do the inside before stitching, and the advantages are so large against a little added weight that I can't resist doing it! And it's just the right width for my cloth! |
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Once started on fiberglassing, nothing stops me! Here, I am doing the outside of the pram (bottm pannel and planks number 1). |
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And here are the joints around the middle frame in the pram. |
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| Meanwhile, I have quickly stitched the Jimmy Skiff hull (3 hours by myself). I have "dry fitted" the thwarts in their proper position to check that the hull took the right shap by itself... and it did, with no internal structure to bend it in place! I am totally bluffed... |
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View from the stem. I have added a cross member a foot forward of the transom to "enhance" a fuller curve there, because my side pannels got bent a bit in the tow months wait (poorly stored, my fault). The reverse curve is visible on the previous picture. |
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The we go on gluing. I took out the middle thwart for access to the joint and replaced it with this spreader (which doesn't really spread much in view of its lack of thickness, but I am thus sure to have the proper maximum beam).
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Another wider view of this step. In the background left, the Yawl has received a new coat of paint after the voyage to Brest, and is waiting for a couple of new coats of varnish on the inside before leaving to the Rance river. The Skerry is rigged again for minor alterations. This angle is not kind for the skiff's backside...
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Opening the sail kit for the skiff. On the left, the three pieces of the mast (two scarfs to glue), on the right the two pieces of the sprit-boom with one scarf only, and a lot of stuff in the middle, including the sail. |
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I have very generously saturated one of the daggerboard sleeve sides of the pram and glued the structure. The goal of applying so much epoxy is to protect the plywood it this hard to reach place, where the daggerboard will chaff with sand and small stones. |
