Varnishing sailing kit

August 4, 2011
I'm coming down the final stretch in boatbuilding.  Today I put the first coat of varnish on the daggerboard, boom, mast, tiller extension, and rudder.  I have several coats to go, but I should have the dory ready to sail in another week.  Of course, I still need to figure out all the directions to install the bags of hardware that is in the box.

The rudder has its first coat of varnish

Varnishing the tiller extension, boom and mast is a little tricky because one side is in contact with the plastic.

It doesn't look a lot different but now the daggerboard has its first coat of varnish over the epoxy.

Rowing with sliding seat

 August 3, 2011
The morning was cool but there no fog when I took the dory out.  Although I'm still having trouble backing up the trailer, I was pleased that I managed to get it close enough to the dock that I put the dory in the water without getting my feet wet.  I've rubbed the top of my foot raw near my big toe from the strap that goes over my foot to hold it to the footrest on the sliding seat, and the water would just make it worse.  Today I focused on getting a good rhythm going.  I discovered that if I mentally went through the steps, I could keep a steady pace:  Exhale on the stroke, then lift the blade and flip my wrists toward my body, inhale and push my arms forward to bring the oars back and flip wrists back to where they were to "lock" the blade in position.  Repeat. Because of the D-shaped oars, then make a satisfying thunk as I twist them back and forth, I could hear the rhythm as well as chanting to myself.   Flip. Lock. Stroke.  Of course at the same time, I need to slide the seat back and forth in order to get full power in each stroke.  Sometimes I just focused on breathing--inhaling as a brought the oars back and exhaling on the stroke.  I don't know if this is "correct" for sculling but it help me to stay focused. When everything was coordinated, it felt great moving smoothly across the water.  When I flubbed up, I felt ridiculous, but at least there are only a few people on the river early in the morning.

Shaping boom and tiller extension; Cotton swab test for epoxy

In the afternoon, I shaped the boom by tapering one end and rounding off all the edges.  Using my power planer and router, it didn't take long to do it.  It took me awhile to find a drawing in the manual to show me how much it should taper because it really wasn't spelled out in the text. 

I also shaped the tiller extension, but there wasn't much in the instructions. Fortunately I had some pictures from the Okoume Fest.  Except for the last couple of inches on each end, I just rounded off all the edges and then sanded everything with a fine grit sandpaper.

In addition to the mast, the boom and tiller extension are almost ready to varnish.

I put another coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.  Once I get another coat on, it should be ready to varnish, along with the rudder and spars.  I was glad to find the cotton swab test for epoxy coats in the CLC web site.  I had heard about the test at epoxy workshop at Okoume Fest but because I wasn't sure I remembered it right, I was glad to find it on the site.


The Cotton Swab Test shop tip on CLC web site:
"When is the best time to apply the next coat of resin? It all depends. But if your schedule allows, you will get the strongest bond when the prior coat is not yet cured. But if you do it too early, when the prior coat is still wet, you may float up the fiberglass, or you may not create the build you want. If you wait too long, you will need to sand.
MAS Epoxies suggests a "cotton ball" test. When the epoxy is still wet the cotton ball will not stick. When the resin is too dry, the cotton won't stick. In between this two extremes is a period when the epoxy has stiffened up somewhat but is still tacky. During this period, the resin will grab the cotton fibers and pull on the ball or swab. This is the best time to apply another coat.
While the epoxy is tacky, new coats will not mix in with the prior coat, or get under the fiberglass. If you wait longer it is not a big deal, but you will need to check for blush, and clean it off, and then you will need to sand. As long as you can push your thumb nail (the "rule of thumb") into the dry resin, you do not need a heavy sanding, but a light sanding will promote a better bond."

Lost in the fog

July 31, 2011
I got up early this morning and took the dory out on the Connnecticut River at Herrick's Cove. I'm getting better at backing up the trailer, and this time I put the oars in the oarlocks before I put the dory in the water.  This was a much better way to do it because everything was ready to go once I had the dory in the water.  The morning was cool, the water was still and the fog danced on the water.  I rowed steadily for half an hour upriver, and then took a break, had some water and got out my ipod.  I drifted along while I got the cords untangled and put the ipod in the pocket of my life vest.  Finally ready to row again, I realized that the fog was thicker and I really had no idea which way was back to the landing.  Having no choice I picked a direction and decided I would row for 15 minutes and see if I could see a landmark.  When a concrete structure came into view I realized that I was still going upstream and needed to turn around.  I guess I should put the kayak compass in the dory or bring along a GPS.  It's a good thing I was by myself--it's kind of embarrassing to get lost on such a short outing in a place where there are only two choices, and if I had done nothing I would have eventually just drifted back to my starting place.

Shaping the daggerboard and mast

July 30, 2011
I finally got motivated to do some more work on the sailing kit.  I had previously glued the daggerboard parts together and today I started shaping it by rounding off the front edge and making a big taper on the back edge.  Following the manual, I drew a line one inch in from the leading edge and three inches in from the back edge, and then used the belt sander to taper the plywood.  I put the daggerboard in the dory to draw a line to show me which part would be in the water and then just stopped the taper when I got to the line.  Okoume is really pretty soft and it didn't take long with the belt sander to do this job.  Then I followed up with the orbital sander to smooth everything out.  I went over everything a second time with fine grit paper, and put the first coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.  I had it hanging from the deck above so that I could do both sides at once.  I was a bit windy today and it kept swinging back and forth but I finally got a coat of epoxy on it.  When I checked it later, I was disappointed to see some runs and it was sticky enough that little black flies were stuck to it like flypaper. Oh well, I was going to sand it anyway before doing another coat.

Sanding the large feathered trailing edge.

Putting the first coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.

I had also previously glued the pieces of the mast together and had the basic shape cut out.  Today I used a power plane and the belt sander to shape it to the template that I had from CLC.  I had to keep carrying it around to the front of the house and trying to fit it into the mast step in the dory.  After three tries I finally had the right shape for the bottom of the mast.  Then I turned my attention to the top of the mast.  I had to get out the template again and draw new lines.  Using the power plane I cut the mast down to the right size, and then finished with the sanders.  Finally I used a router to round off all the edges.  I was surprised how small the top of the mast looks--I hope it holds.  It's nice to have a set of directions to work from; I can trust that someone has worked out all the details and I just need to follow them closely and everything will work OK.

Shaping and rounding off the edges of the mast.

Rowing continued

July 28, 2011
Took the dory out again on the Connecticut River.  This time things went a little more smoothly and I was able to go further up the river in the same amount of time. I went out early before the fog burned off and there was no wind. I discovered that water does splash up out of the daggerboard trunk--I'll need to make something to cover it.  I've also been thinking that I need a big rear view mirror.  This time I was careful to stay away from the river bank because there were some trees and logs stuck in the shallow water that I almost hit the last time I was rowing.  The biggest disadvantage to rowing is not seeing where you are going.  Fortunately there are not many people out on the water.  I saw a couple people fishing from their boat in the mist but I never came that close to them.  However I had some close calls with logs stuck in the water.

Learning to row

July 26, 2011
For the past couple weeks, we have been too busy and I haven't had a chance to do anything with the dory.  I keep telling myself to get moving on the sailing kit, but I also want to enjoy the boat now that it can be rowed.

I took the dory down to Herrick's Cove by myself, and got it into the water without incident.  I had put the sliding seat back in and managed to get one sculling oar in place but could not reach the other one from the dock.  I decided to get in in the dory and got the other oar in place and then managed to get far enough away from the dock so that I could use the oars.  Unfortunately, I no sooner got out in the river when I realized that I had left my life vest in the car, and had to go back.  I went through the whole procedure again and finally at long last I was out in the river on my own.  Coordinating, arms, legs and sliding seat took awhile.  I decided to practice each part before trying to put it all together.  For awhile a rowed with just my arms, then I put my feet in the footrests and practiced sliding and keeping my back straight.  I thought I had mastered the movements but then realized that I wasn't turning my wrists.  To get that movement down, I again rowed with just my arms but turned my wrists on the return to let the blades just skim above the water.

Once I had the movements synchronized, it felt great.  I'm not sure how good my form was but it felt great.  I had the same feeling I get on a good day cross country skiing.  When I hit the groove, everything else just falls away and I feel like I'm gliding effortlessly.   For a little while today, everything was moving perfectly and I was just flying across the water.  It gave me a glimpse of how much fun this dory can be.

The sliding seat is definitely worth it.  Sitting up a little higher, and the longer oars give a lot more leverage, and the sliding seat lets me use my whole body to good advantage.  Although I've never been in a sculling boat, I also like the stability of the dory even though I can't go as fast.  Sculling boats look like fragile water bugs to me; one false move and I'd be in the water instead of on top if it.