Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #2-8B . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Woke up to the best weather we've had all month, in August.
Immediately put the first coat of epoxy on the poplar boards, that will bridge the bench seats.
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Take a look at all the "flat" spots on the wood.  I was surprised to see the Poplar soaked up epoxy, to an even greater degree than Okoume plywood does.   

More "flat" spots on the Poplar.
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Added graphite to the mast step block and the mast partner; since they are going to get a lot of wear and tear (stepped/un-stepped, etc.) and they'll need more abrasion resistance.
Everybody else just got a regular coat of epoxy.

The 2nd coat of epoxy looked a little more normal, in terms of coverage.
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Everybody else looked about like you'd expect, in normal epoxy absorption.
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Finally!    The third coat was charm! 
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Flip all these guys over and I'll be ready for the next three coats of epoxy.
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Best of all: The weather was soooooo good, that I was able to get all three coats done in a single day!  A New Record! 

While the epoxy was curing, I stayed busy sanding the fillet on the bulkhead #2 to deck joint and taking it from this:
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To this:
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Flipped all the boards over and began the first of another three coats of epoxy.
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Also flipped over the mast partner blocks and hit them with graphite-infused epoxy.
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Had some black graphite epoxy left over and decided to touch up the oar holder cutouts, since that will be another wear-and-tear point, that would benefit from abrasion resistance.
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A continuing argument in my sub-conscious was where to store the upper half of the oars.
Try as I might, I could not  get both sets to fit behind the (future) coamings.
There simply wasn't enough room to lay them in there, side by side.
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So I got on-line and queried other SCAMP owners as to what they had done.
Turns out, they cut TWO sets of holes so that the oars sit on TOP of one another, not side by side.
Since all the pics I had seen already had the coamings in place, I was unaware of the upper hole.
DOHHHH!!! 
Beginning to wonder if when I get this boat finished, I'm going to be too senile to know which way to point the tiller!! 
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Sure, it's an easy fix if you can only bring yourself to: THINK!! 
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Ah, well.

Fewer and fewer pieces all the time!!    What happened to all those small blocks? 
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Glued to the underside of the cabin roof plywood.
Couldn't really clamp them like I would have liked and relied on diving weights, to hold them in place.
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Slathered glue on the sides of the bulkhead cabin cleats and fastened the sides on.
Catch that gap on the lower left side of the cabin side panel.
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While the epoxy glue is still a little "green" I'll remove the screws.
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With the last of the glue, I was able to attach the bulkhead doubler, that also acts as an oar stop.
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Since everything on a small boat has to do double duty.

Cleats re-visited, part 3:
My sub-conscious, which keeps track of EVERYTHING. wasn't happy with the cleat positioning    and so I compared it to pics of SCAMPS, on-line.
Did not agree with typical cleat placement, because I think they are mounted so high on Bulkhead #4, that coiling lines on the cleats would be problematic.
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This is an older SCAMP with the bulkhead cleat mounted pretty far over to the side, because the original design that had a wider bulkhead cut-out.
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But that gave me a good clue as to where I needed my cleats.
Straddling where the added bulkhead insert went so it's not too close to the sides and has room for coiled lines.
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Just had to move the holes over to the side one "cleat width".
More holes to fill, but at least my subconscious will stop nagging me.    (Maybe.) 

Having rashly    flush-trimmed the deck where it is supposed to support the cabin sides, I had to apply duct tape inside the cabin, to support the gap in the cabin side fillet.
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This will keep all the filleting material from dripping down the the inside of the walls
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Worked! 
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Look, Ma!  No gaps!! 
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They will also get a strip of fiberglass tape, to re-inforce the cabin sides, after the fillet cures.

Had just enough left-over fillet material to finish the fore-deck drainage doublers.
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But not enough to finish filling the gaps around the fore-foot.
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A job for the next left-over filleting material.

In a burst of enthusiasm, I was going to glue on the roof, but inclement weather dissuaded me.
I also realized that it will be FAR easier to do all 8 of the vertical cabin bulkhead fillets BEFORE the roof goes on. 
Thinking about it some more, figured I was starting to get "Get 'er Done-itis" and needed to keep myself disciplined and on track.
It would be a shame to slop through it at this stage, when I have been fairly steady so far.
As I originally decided: It will take as long as it takes and that's all there is to it.
20 months and counting. 
Ah, well.

Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

Man, that's a lot of epoxy work for one day! Glad for more cooperative weather.

20 months... that's how long it took me to build Disciple Ship. That included a 2 month hiatus. Because I finished at the holiday season, it was another 2 months before her maiden launch which happened to be on my birthday (that'll be one I'll never forget).

Yep, stay the course. Too much invested to not finish well.