(Continuation from yesterday's post.)
Resigned myself to a ton of tedious grinding on all the skewers, but they came out amazingly flush.
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Thanks to a Japanese pull saw.
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Made right short work out of sanding, it did! ;D
After two days of sub-conscious alarm bells going off in my head about something I was missing, ??? I realized it was the bench seat rails.
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Woulda been Bad News, :( if I had put those fillets in before I had the rails glued on.
They're not glued on, just clamped for testing and fitting.
This is my foot well grate upside down, showing how the stiffening rails also allow the grate to sit flush with the bench seats when positioned right side up.
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Like so:
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EVERY single piece on a very small boat, has to do double duty; e.g. the stiffeners are also spacers, etc.
With the deck sanded (mostly!) smooth, there was no reason not to re-drill the over-drilled and filled holes.
It will make it much easier to install things later on after painting, when I don't have to guess where the mounting holes should be.
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Just what I like to see: No wood shavings, only epoxy shavings! :D
The cleat was used as a template, for getting the holes drilled accurately.
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Came out good. 8)
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My wife looked over my shoulder, on her way out to go shopping.
"What are you doing, now?" ??? She asked.
"Drilling out the holes I filled in!" :) I replied, brightly.
"Waitaminnit. Let me get this straight: You made a whole bunch of holes ??? and then you filled in a whole bunch of holes, ??? and now you're making more holes, AGAIN?!?!?" ??? :P
"Yes!" :D
"I thought you said you were never IN the Army!!" >:(
I didn't try to explain; the way she said it, it didn't sound logical to me, either. :P
With the weather still too crummy for epoxy, I turned my attention to the mast partners.
Cutting and sanding and shaping can always be done in rain, or shine, or sweltering heat. >:(
The mast requires a 2½º rake aft, which is achieved by off-setting the bottom and top mast partner blocks, that surround the mast.
Started with a hole that matched the upper half curve of the tear-drop shaped mast section.
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And people wonder why I save off-cuts and scraps. ::)
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Cut the block out the rest of the way with a sabre saw and did a test fit, with the mast base casting.
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But the real test was getting a spare section of mast through the block, after a bunch of rasping, sanding, and shaping.
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Succumbing to both Nautical Tradition AND Superstition, I wanted to put some coins under the mast step.
Found some Italian nickels (Hey! It says: "5" right on it!) ;) while antique shopping with my wife and got these coins, because they had Dolphins on them.
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The superstition goes back to ancient Greek and Roman boat builders, who felt the coins would pay the way into the after-life, for all the doomed sailors on board.
Nowadays in our more modern, scientific, Navy, the coins are put under the radar masts and welded in, not epoxied. ;)
Hmmmm . . . . wonder if this means I can never have more than two people on board, with me?!?!? :o
Closer view:
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Temporarily taped the blocks to the mast and wheeled the hull out into the driveway.
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And By Golly!! Stepped that sucker all by my lonesome, without any problems, whatever! ;D
First time my theory on extending my sailing years well into Geezerdom, was actually put to the test!! ;D
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Was also gratified to see that 2½º rake, just like pics of other SCAMPS!!
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Huh!! Trigonometry works! :P Who'da THUNK it?!?!? ???
Lower mast partner sitting nice and square in the mast trunk.
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Finally got a narrow weather window, where the humidity wasn't outrageous and the heat wasn't TOO high and quickly applied the first coat (of 3 coats) of epoxy on the edges of the deck.
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Note to self: Apply epoxy on the inside of the deck edge FIRST, next time!! :P
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Used the excess epoxy to get the first coat on the mast partner components.
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And the third coat on the bench seat rails and the yard spar caps.
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If I can just get a wide enough weather window, I can start the fillets all around the cockpit sole and the bench seats.
In the mean time, there are still tons of odds and ends that can be done.
Charles Brennan
Good morning .Thanks for making time to document your progress .
This is the first year that we wont be sailing for quite a few . One small boat project rolled into a very
long list .
Hopefully it will be worth it
Hopefully the weather will moderate after that "blob" has finally dissipated. You'll still have to work fast to beat the kick though ;D PS Every boat builder has that shirt!
She's becoming a fine sailing vessel!
Quote from: Charles Brennan on Jul 27, 2025, 09:52 AMNote to self: Apply epoxy on the inside of the deck edge FIRST, next time!! :P
My mentor in college (I was a Theatre major) told us a story about a time when he was working on a hollow tree for some play. He was inside the tree, painting epoxy all around, and paying no attention to where the drips landed....
until his thighs started to get warm.
He scurried out, stripped off those pants as quickly as he could, and....there he was, with no pants on.
Looking great! Hope it gets wet soon, you need to enjoy all this work to make it worthwhile! I got Black Pearl off of the trailer, replaced the flat bunk boards, bolted down the roller strip you gave me, and called it a day. That's on top of putting together the new giant harbor freight fan that will make working in the 100 degree temps a little less deadly, mowing the lawn, and digging 3 dump trailer loads out of the pond, and pressure washing the west side of the house. That was Saturday. Sunday I played hookie, and took my wife out to 3 bananas next to Crescent Lake, amazing food, had a cobia sandwich that was pure heaven. She had a grouper reuben that was also awesome. Crescent lake looks like my next sail, very long lake. Good ramp, right next to the restaurant also. Could have sailed Sunday, but it felt like an oven out there. My trucks thermometer hit 100 degrees twice around 4-5pm on the way home. That a/c felt good!