Day 41: Fiberglassing the Bow Hatch, Fairing

Laid glass on the bow hatch deck today.  It was a little cooler in the shop so the epoxy was thick.  It definitely takes more epoxy on cold days.   I think this would be a lighter boat if we could keep the shop warm.

Also put fairing compound along the edges of the gutter tape as well as some corners that needed it.

This fairing compound is really light weight stuff.  I made a small bear sculpture out of the extra last night and when I picked it up this morning it was as light as air.  Pretty cool.

-I also cut off the excess glass sticking up from the gutters.
-Cut out any air bubbles from the glass tape and filled with fairing compound... not many. -yeah!
-Coated the end grain of the exposed inner gutter wall with epoxy.
-Glued the drain pipe to the boatman's footwell.

When I glassed the gutters yesterday I left the tape heavily wetted-out in hopes that it would produce a smooth surface on the bottom of the gutter.  It worked in all the areas where I had sufficient epoxy in the tape.  There are just a few areas that I may have to fair.  everything looks pretty good.

Christmas begins tomorrow so I buttoned up the shop for a few days.  Unplugged and cleaned up.  Its lookin pretty spiffy.  I'm dying to sand and finnish the gutters but it will be easier with a few days of curing anyway.

Came home to a beautiful night on the bay and a message on the phone that my Dad has found some good ash for the oars and the oar lock blocks are in production.  Things are getting exciting!