Annapolis Wherry Hull Fiberglassed Inside

Yesterday I was able to fiberglass the inside of the CLC Annapolis Wherry hull. 

It went well and looks good. 

I did the epoxy work and then came back a few hours later while the epoxy was still in the "green" stage and trimmed the edges of the fiberglass. Then pulled the blue tape up. 

 

While I'm a big fan of CLC, they could do a lot more in their manuals to help the first-time fiberglasser!

This is what I wrote in an earlier blog post back on September 27th, 2021 while building an Expedition Wherry. It still applies to the Annapolis Wherry manual. If you are doing fiberglass for the first time, please read some of these hints and tips. You'll end up with a much nicer, and flatter, weave...

"The CLC manual does surprisingly little to walk first-time builders through any fiberglassing tips and tricks. 

First, they only suggest that you use a roller to apply the epoxy. Rollers are notorious for pulling up the cloth as you roll. Skip the rollers entirely. There is a much better way to spread the epoxy...

Just use plastic epoxy spreaders. You'll start in the MIDDLE of the boat. Mix up about eight pumps of the MAS epoxy and pour it onto the keel on ONE side of the boat and work it gently back and forth in a roughly two-foot wide section. Don't work it too hard or you will create bubbles and/or starve the wood. Gently work it down to the sheer. It will create drips but less than you might think. 

Secondly, and this is a hugely important step that they don't talk about. YOU MUST SQUEEGEE THE WETTED-OUT CLOTH! After you have completely spread the epoxy on that section, then go back immediately and, using the same spreader but with an empty epoxy container, methodically squeegee off the excess epoxy. Your cloth will lay down much flatter without floating on top of the excess epoxy. 

You'll quickly see that a large amount of epoxy comes up. That's okay. Squeegee a little way and then scrape the excess into your cup. Continue down from the keel to the sheer. Use a slightly higher pressure than when you were spreading the epoxy. The goals are to squeegee up excess epoxy and to have the cloth lay flat on the wood. If you don't squeegee, the cloth will 'float' over the wood and have noticeable ripples and waves and will not lay flat.

While squeegeeing, be careful to avoid taking up tooooo much epoxy. You do not want to starve the wood or turn the cloth white. If the cloth is looking anything but completely clear then you are squeegeeing too hard. You want to help the cloth lay flat and to conform to the hull. You should bring up enough excess epoxy so that the weave is showing but still looks mostly wet. See pictures below. 

Now squeegee that same area a second time to clean up the lines and get the final excess. However, don't wait too long. Do this immediately before going to the next section or you will be working with epoxy that is starting to cure. At that point you can make white streaks and ugly bits. 

Whatever you do, don't use your fingers to squeegee anything! You will quickly see that you can easily make a depression in the cloth that will squish out epoxy where you pushed and it may not come back up. Always use the squeegees and try your best to maintain a consistent pressure. 

In the end you should have a nicely squeegeed hull that shows the weave. Don't obsess about getting every run and drip... they will all be sanded on in the future. The hull won't be perfect but it should look something like the picture below.

Once you've spread and squeegeed epoxy on one section on one side of the boat, now repeat the same sized section on the other side of the boat. Then go back to the first side and do another section. Go back and forth from side to side, working forward and aft out of the middle toward the ends. It will take you a few hours to do this properly. 

WARNINGS: 

1. DO NOT USE THE EPOXY THAT YOU HAVE SQUEEGEED ON ANY OTHER CLOTH! It has too much air mixed in at that point. [Although, in the future when you're epoxying the inside of the hull, excess can be used to clear-coat the bare-wood bulkheads]

2. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR HOW MUCH EXCESS EPOXY IS IN YOUR SQUEEGEE CUP! Epoxy creates heat as it cures, and the more epoxy that is curing, the hotter it gets. YES, IT CAN CATCH FIRE! I pour my excess all over my garbage box to let it cure without puddling up. 

3. Once you've moved to the next section, avoid the temptation to go back and squeegee that run you missed.... you might create a streak.

So, to review, in ONE SECTION at a time in the middle of the hull, on only ONE side of the hull, 1) spread epoxy with a spreader until the entire section is wetted out, 2) Squeegee the excess into a SEPARATE cup, 3) Do a second, light squeegee on the same area, 4) Move onto the same section on the other side of the boat."

 

Here is a close-up of what the fiberglass looked like after squeegeeing properly. 

 You don't see any drips, runs, etc... If you look in the CLC manual, you'll actually see drip and puddles and rolly cloth and so on. Yikes!!

Today I sanded the fillets on the bulkheads, the fiberglass (LIGHTLY... you don't want to cut into the glass too much, or at all if you can avoid it), and all the plank seams. 

I then filled the seams with a layer of epoxy and wiped up the excess. This will be the first of three coats of epoxy in the seams. 

Tomorrow I'll lightly sand the seams and then coat the entire interior of the hull with epoxy. The next day I'll lightly sand the inside and apply a second full coat of epoxy. That second coat will also be sanded prior to varnishing later on. 

Stay tuned!