An inverted hull and nearly no way for an arthritic, overweight, no-longer-limber Septuagenarian, to get to the forward deck to fillet deck/hull joins. :(
Gave it my best shot, fabricating a plank to lay on. :P
20250924_142722 1024X768.jpg
Clamped on an LED lantern, so that I could plainly SEE that there was no way for me to reach inside that space and apply fillets. :'(
20250924_142730 1024X768.jpg
First time on this project, that I felt True Discouragement. :(
Started mentally going through a possible Rube Goldberg list of remote-control filleting inventions; perhaps involving a pastry piping bag, two yardsticks, some monofilament, and a grabber. :P
Grabber.jpg
Fortunately, I was spared by the Fates, when my Grandson came over to work on a bookshelf he and I are building together, in between his college classes. :)
He was MORE than lean enough, long enough, and limber enough, to fillet the fore deck area! :D
20250925_151526 1024X768.jpg
Color me: HAPPY!!! ;D
Check the left side back corner.
All filled in. 8)
Remember this gap in the upper right corner, from July? ??? (Hull wasn't upside down, then.)
A wood screw had stripped out after gluing, and the deck sprung a little and I didn't notice it, until later.
That's what got filled in, in the picture above, along with all the rest of the seams.
20250720_115053 1024X768.jpg
The next day I was STOKED, :D to go out and fillet the other two cabin/veranda sections.
The Weather had other ideas. >:(
So what do you do, when it's too rainy and humid and hot, to epoxy, paint, or fillet? ???
You do what you can. ::)
In this case, I decided to start working on my lines.
For reasons known only to Amazon, and the Logistics of Scale Manufacturing, :-\ I got 600 feet of ⅜" tri-laid nylon line for much less money than I was going to spend on 300 feet of ⅜" tri-laid nylon line.
Rigged it up, just like in my construction wiring days:
20250927_110138 1024X768.jpg
And ran 4) 105 foot lines and one 80 foot line.
Why 105 foot lines? ???
So that I'll have the ability to re-do eye-splices or chain splices, whenever necessary and still know that I have at LEAST, a 100 foot rode. 8)
20250927_111941 1024X768.jpg
I divided the 80-foot line into four 20-foot lines for dock lines; bow, stern and 2 spring lines.
I will still need to make some "anchor painters" (I deploy and retrieve anchors exclusively from the cockpit and tie them onto the "anchor painters") but I won't be able to know the length/geometry, etc. until the hardware is on the boat; in case you were wondering how part of the last 100 feet of line was going to get used.
20250927_114318 1024X768.jpg
Next, I needed to make 8 eye-splices, for the four anchor rodes and the four dock lines.
20250927_133315 1024X768.jpg
Like so:
20250927_191538 1024X768.jpg
BTW, those Velcro straps stay with the anchor lines. They are threaded between two of the three strands of tri-laid line, about a foot or less, from the eye-splice.
Always neat; always ready.
Then I put on 5 Sailmaker's whips; 4 for the dock lines and 1 for the end on the beach sand stake rode.
20250928_155154 1024X768.jpg
Came out pretty good, for a change.
20250928_170952 1024X768.jpg
Finally, was 3 chain splices.
20250928_140035 1024X768.jpg
This is all the ground tackle for the Irish Pennant.
From L - R:
Sand stake, Lewmar 4.4lb Claw, 8lb. Danforth and Folding Rock anchor, each with chain and 100-foot+ rodes.
20250928_170843 1024X768.jpg
Hey!! >:( I LIKE to wake up in the morning, where I went to sleep the night before!! ;D
Don't let that bright sunlit pic fool you: It was as muggy as a swamp, after raining most of the day.
Took all day to do this, and I was glad it was done and out of the way, since I would hate to have the boat finished and be champing at the bit to go out, and then have to do all that line work, first.
This morning, I got a weather reprieve and wasted no time filleting everything on the cuddy and veranda.
20250928_165203 1024X768.jpg
Even the hardware backing doublers.
Pretty much anywhere wood touched wood at or close to 90º, got a reinforcing fillet.
20250928_165210 1024X768.jpg
Even the cabin roof beams and underside of the SCAMP ramp. :P
20250928_165219 1024X768.jpg
Before I can flip the boat over again (for the final time!) :) I have to fillet the hull/deck join along the entire length of the cockpit and prime and paint the underside of the deck, cuddy, and veranda.
I'm going to invest in a few cans of Easy Poxy white spray paint for the fore deck, since that's the only way I can think of, to get 'er done, short of conscripting my Grandson.
I don't see that happening before October.
But the part I was the most worried about, is DONE!! ;D
It's all downhill and very straight forward, from here! ;D
Charles Brennan
A good post. ;D Every morning I awake (and sometimes in the middle of the night) and go over the planned tasks for the day and what innovative things I can do to get it done with limited mobility and an arthritic structure. It is good for the mind to ponder these things. I have a half dozen grabbers in the shop and most rooms in the house. I prefer the Harbor Freight versions that I can drill out the rivets and put stainless machine screws in the rubber grips to make them more durable and suitable for picking up fallen tree limbs.
No young relatives close to me only old, broken down folks. There is a kid up the street who I can sometimes get if he isn't involved in his many activities.
Nice line work, reminds me I have a bunch of whipping that needs to be done and one eyesplice.
Those splices and whips look fantastic!!!