Wacko Ways to Build a Boat

If you haven't yet, please read my previous post regarding amine blush and primers.  After thoroughly washing the hull with water, and then priming, I was now ready for top coating.  I used Interlux Toplac Plus in Matterhorn White. What a great paint! OMG... this stuff seems to have magical properties! I've never used a paint that does not sag or run, even on vertical hull sides.  Of course, you have to roll on a light coat with a foam roller, but even with a thin coat like that, most paints would still have runs. This one doesn't! And you don't need to tip it either! Just roll it on and walk away.  It gets better too... you don't have to sand after each coat! As long as you roll on a second coat after 16 hours but before 3 days, you don't have to sand. Nice! I did three coats in three days with no sanding between coats. There's a slight bit of orange peel, but most of the surface issues are due to my poor surface prep instead of orange peel. To be honest, ...

The long finishing process has begun on the CLC Annapolis Wherry.  First, let's talk about amine blush . The MAS epoxy that ships with the kit claims to be blush-free. It may in fact be much lower blushing than other epoxies like WEST System, but all epoxies blush.  Do this if you don't believe me. After your final epoxy coating of the bottom, but BEFORE you sand it, take a bowl of water and a clean sponge and wipe down the hull. When you are done, you will clearly smell the amine blush in the water and you will see that the water has turned a slight color.  Amine blush is water soluble. Wiping the hull down with soap and water removes the bulk of it. I wiped mine hull down twice and could still slightly smell the blush in the water bowl. After a third time it seemed to be gone.  Why does this matter? Most primers and paints will not stick to, or cure on, amine blush. Think of amine blush as you would a coat of wax. You wouldn't consider painting over a coat of wax k...

The CLC Annapolis Wherry manual says to drill through your hull and secure the skeg in place until the epoxy dries. I don't want any visible holes in my hull, so I am only epoxying it in place. It will be plenty strong.  I clamped my 4' level onto the skeg as a straight edge, and then used blue tape to securely hold it. I also used large pushpins slightly pushed into the hull to keep the edge of the skeg where it meets the hull from slipping out while the epoxy cures.  I used clear epoxy on the edge of the skeg that meets the hull, and then added a lot of silica to thicken the remainder of the epoxy and spread that on the hull.  The next day I removed the tape, level, and push pins, and then epoxied on the wormshoe and added a nicer fillet. The day after that I sanded the fillet and skeg, and added another skim coat of thickened epoxy to the fillet. When that was cured and sanded, the fillet was good enough. So that's it! The construction phase of the this build is comple...

This boat is for my wife, and she wanted the seats dyed. She picked a "Vintage Cherry" from General Finishes. They look great. I dyed them a couple weeks ago and have since added two coats of epoxy to all of them, sanding between coats. They're ready for varnishing.  Today I installed them, but I'm doing it in a few steps instead of all in one shot as the manual says to do. I am first just tacking them down and using weights to keep them in place. Tomorrow I will sand those "spot welds" and then run nicer looking seams. The weights will be out of the way by then and it will be easier to make the seams without the seats moving.  For the thwarts, I first sanded a line down the middle of the underside of the thwarts so that epoxy would stick well, and then also lightly sanded the top of the bulkhead too. A small bead of thickened epoxy was added to the top of the bulkhead and then the seats were set down on top. When cured, it will be much easier to then add...