Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #2-11B . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

LOOKS like an ordinary boat under construction . . . . .
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Until you walk around to look at all the sanding that has been done on it, for a week or so.
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Man!! I left a TON of drops, epoxy coating drips, glue blobs, rough fillets and other Slob Stuff all over this hull, that ALL needed to be sanded down into capitulation! 
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Also put in a fair amount of fairing, (see what I did, there?)    because I wasn't happy with the rail/coaming joint.  It felt fine when I first smoothed out the epoxy squeeze-out, after I glued it.
But after curing, the glue shrunk slightly and left a noticeable seam, that had to be dealt with.
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And all that fairing had to be faired further, by sanding.
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And EVERY time you THINK you've got the whole boat as smooth as silk, you find ANOTHER ding somewhere, that needs filling/fairing/sanding.
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Under the "Stuff Is Getting Real" category, I realized I had not made mounting holes for the eventual pad-eyes that the tiller tamer will require.
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So I over-drilled some mounting holes . . . . .

. . . . . . . filled them in  . . . . .
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. . . . . .and finally re-drilled them.
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Sure don't want to have to do all of that, AFTER the hull is painted.

Guaranteed Boat Building, Part 4:
If We Don't Do It Right, We Do It Over!!   
This was a mistake I made a year and a half, ago. 
Drilled out and epoxied the hole for the power switch, but never over-drilled the mounting screw holes.
Dunno how I missed that. 
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Easy enough fix.
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From all the glue blobs that had to be ground down smooth and whatnot, the hatches had gotten pretty grungy since I had first painted them over a year ago, so they were sanded and washed down.
(Still can't believe I'm doing major maintenance, on a boat that isn't even finished!) 
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And then re-painted.
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Including the cabin, shown here after washing.
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And then after re-painting.
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Boat Builder's Tip:
Always wear Latex or Nitrile gloves when you paint, so you keep your hands clean! 
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Hmmm . . .  . do they make Nitrile opera gloves?!? 

Got a little exuberant with all that sanding and fairing and inadvertently sanded down to bare wood in a few places,    so it required some remedial epoxy coating.
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Taking no chances with epoxy drips this time, I masked off the hull.

Touched up here and there.
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By the time I was done, I wondered why I hadn't simply re-coated the whole thing. 
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The next morning, I discovered that our cooler temps lately, had retarded the epoxy curing process and I could not put on the primer coat of paint, as I had hoped.
The epoxy was still "green" and I wanted no part of all the various Horror Stories I've read and/or heard, about out-gassing epoxy, trashing paint finishes. 
There's ALWAYS plenty of "putter projects" on a boat build, so I busied myself with some of those.

Guaranteed Boat Building, Part 5: (Or is that Part 56?!?) 
If We Don't Do It Right, We Do It Over!! 
Somewhere along the way, it occurred to me that any water running down the mast and getting into the mast step had nowhere to go and could eventually lead to rot. 
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So I drilled a hole and cut a groove for any trapped water to run out.

Also chamfered the drain hole from the inside and re-bored the coin slots that had gotten too shallow, after 3 coats of epoxy and 3 coats of paint.
Had to sand around the mast step circumference as well, since the epoxy/paint had gotten too thick to fit the mast. Hopefully now over-sanded to the point, that another 6 coats of epoxy/paint will fit properly.
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This mod was not something that was a mistake or forgotten, just something that was not necessary to do, until now.
Needed a recess for a screw to go into the side of the mast and hold the mast partner in place.
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Over-drilled for the screw head and washer, then a smaller hole for the screw and filled with epoxy, to be re-drilled after it cures.
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Maybe tomorrow, I can put on the primer paint coats.
Then I remembered that I need Bimini top pad eye holes, for the straps.
And more holes for the Bimini top tracks, that will all need to be over-drilled, filled and re-drilled.
Nothing like getting ready to crack the lid on a paint can to remind yourself, of all that you really need to get done first and just how much you've still missed. 
But, Hey! It IS getting done!! 
Good thing too, on account of: "Stuff Is Getting Real"!! 

Charles Brennan