Skip to main content

Expedition Wherry Hull Sanded and Taped

The hull has now been sanded on the outside and is looking good to go. The thickened epoxy around the bow has been nicely shaped. 


 

The CLC Expedition Wherry manual has you fiberglass the inside of the hull before the outside, and they have you add fiberglass tape to the outside keel after you fiberglass the outside. They have the tape on the outside layer. 

I'm switching it all around and doing those things in reverse order. It just makes more sense to me. Here is what I'm doing:

1. I'm adding the keel tape first. The tape is intended to be an extra guard against rocks and dragging on the beach and such. The idea is that if it wears away that you can epoxy on another strip of tape in the future. I agree, but there is no reason that you must SEE the tape. Even the CLC manual has you sand the hull smooth, and so the tape would somewhat disappear anyway. However, putting the tape under the main fiberglass layer helps to hide it more. It also acts as a way to help hold the bow and panels together for the time being. You can always still add future tape if needed. 

I installed the tape by first painting on epoxy about an inch and a half on each side of the keel from the bow to where the skeg will be installed. 

Then I placed the tape over the epoxy. The epoxy helps to keep the tape from sliding while you wet it out. I used my gloved hands to press the tape as best I could into the epoxy. 

I then wetted out the tape with additional epoxy. The tape along the curve of the bow tended to buckle a bit, but that is easily fixed. Once all wetted out, take your GLOVED hands and starting from the front, gently pull and smooth the tape aftward and downward. The wetted-out tape will conform to the shape of the bow. You'll see that you then have to continue this pulling and smoothing all the way to the end of the tape. 

This pulling and smoothing also spreads the epoxy out from the tape, essentially squeegeeing the tape a bit. This is good! You do not want the tape to float over the wood. Instead you want it to tightly conform to the hull shape. 

Today I will scrape and sand the tape in preparation for the entire outside to be glassed. 



2. I'm fiberglassing the outside of the hull before the inside. If I were a first-time builder, fiberglassing the outside (convex) side is much easier than the tricky concave bits. Secondly, this will give the hull a huge amount of added support while the inside is glassed. There's no reason that I can see to glass the inside first. Let's get it done. 

Here's how the seams look now. 



More later,

Aloha!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rogue Manual

I've posted about this earlier, but thought it might be good to post it again for anyone who may be interested. I've started to write a manual of tips and tricks for Pygmy solo kayak builders. It covers the taping method, so that your boat doesn't have hundreds of holes all over it. I'm on version 2 now. Version 2 covers several other tips and tricks from myself and from others as collected over time. ATTENTION : Use the manual at your own risk! The only person responsible for any mistakes or problems with the building of your boat is you. Always use the official Pygmy manual that came with your kit. Only do those tips and tricks that make sense to you. If something in the manual doesn't sound right to you, then don't do it! Neither I, nor Pygmy Boats, nor anyone else except YOU is responsible for the safety of your boat and the quality of your build. It's in very rough draft form right now, but if you'd like to read it, please send a $10 donat
11 comments
Read more

Pinguino End Pours and Other Jobs

I've spent the past day and today doing a number of jobs that just need to be done but aren't that noticeable. First, I added a saturation coat to the bare wood on the #4 panels above where I cut the fiberglass the other day. I also added a layer of epoxy over the area where heels may rest. Today I scraped the sides and heel area and added another coat of epoxy.Here's how it looks now. It's technically a third coat, but really only two as much of the first two have been either scraped or sanded. I may add a third layer once this is cured. I also worked on the end pours. The Pygmy manual says to do the end pours later on after the boat is complete. It says to take the boat outside and prop it up on a wall with the end in a bucket of ice water. Then you contort yourself and pour thickened epoxy down into the end and let it cure. Then you do the other end. THEN... you have to guess where you can drill holes through the ends for your painters (the lines that you t
4 comments
Read more

The "Rogue Manual" - A Supplementary Manual for Pygmy Kayak Builders!

I've mentioned a few times that I'm writing a supplementary manual for Pygmy kayak builders. It's currently up to 30 pages with lots more to go. About half of it is dedicated to the "strapping tape" method of building a boat and not using wires and holes. The rest is other techniques, tips and tricks that many builders have used over the years. If you want Pygmy kayak building tips and tricks then hopefully this will be the place to go. Here are the first few sample pages: The cover:  The Table of Contents and first few pages: Rogue Supplemental Manual Table of Contents Those are the first eight pages of the thirty page manual. I'm sure it will be larger by the time I'm finished. Let me know if you have ideas of what should be included, or what you think of the manual so far. Thanks! Aloha!
3 comments
Read more