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...

All I was able to do today was fill the seams on the outside of the Annapolis Wherry hull.  I used large tongue depressor craft sticks to get the rounded seams filled with epoxy thickened with silica.  It looks pretty good. Will sand the entire bottom tomorrow and then probably get the fiberglass on the #1 planks.  Stay tuned!

Today I sanded out the entire inside of the hull again, and epoxy-coated the entire inside, again. Phew.  Here's how it looked at the end of the day.   First I used a cabinet scraper to cut down the really big fuzz that is created when you epoxy bare wood. I used it on the entire hull because it's a great tool for finding raised epoxy bits too. Then power-sanded where my 6" sander could reach. I hand-sanded the rest using a foam block with 80-grit sticky sand paper backing. I buy the rolls of sandpaper. The sticky back works really well.  Then I used the cabinet scraper again to cut off the tall scratches that the 80-grit paper leaves. This gave a nice surface for the epoxy.  Here's a close-up of how it looked after sanding. Then I epoxy coated the entire inside again.  I mixed up about 10 pumps of epoxy and poured it along the keel in the second section (I'm not epoxy coating the fiberglass again in the bow and stern... will leave the weave rough in those areas...

Yesterday I brushed on a coat of epoxy into all the seams on the Annapolis Wherry. I then wiped the planks down to get rid of any drips but made sure to allow epoxy to settle into the seams.  Today I gently hand-sanded the seams just to rough up the epoxy so that the next coat would stick.  I then epoxy coated the entire inside of the hull. Remember that I had already sanded the fiberglass on the bottom two planks and they were ready to go.  This coat was to add a second coat to the fiberglass to start to fill the weave, and to add a first coat to the bare wood on the upper three planks on each side.  I used three tools: An epoxy spreader, and 3" roller with an Wooster Tiz epoxy roll on it, and a 2" foam brush.  The Annapolis Wherry is an easy one to epoxy coat because the boat is neatly divided into five separate sections. That way you can completely take care of one section without feeling like you have to rush to the next one.  I did one section at a tim...

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. Ther...