Friday, September 11, 2009

finishing the petrel




At long last I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
This weekend I am joining the deck and hull together. That`s number 49 out of the 71 steps listed in Nick shade`s book . So only 22 more things to do and then its launch day.
Because the deck meets the hull at a right angle at the ends I decided to use a sheer clamp here as it`s quite difficult to get the fiberglass tape down this far. A sheer clamp is just a strip of wood clamped and glued onto the inside of the hull making the edge a bit wider at this point and thus giving a larger surface area of contact for the epoxy to stick on to.


Here`s a picture of the sheer clamp being glued to the hull.


Before joining the hull and deck I made loops of nylon to hold the decklines and bungees. This is a nice way to have the decklines attached without having any hard padeyes sticking up from the deck. In the picture you can see the white shock cord which I will change to black when the boat is finished

Next is to tape the boat together and then place fiberglass tape on the inside seams. This is easier said than done and taping the inside seams is a job that requires patience and persistance.
Now that the boat is assembled its nice to see and appreciate the shape and nice lines of the Petrel.

3 comments:

karel said...

Very Nice steve keep us informed its inspiring.

Silbs said...

What beautiful work, Steve. I know dentists have great hands, and I envy guys like you and Greg who can build these lovely crafts. I still find it much much easier to do a heart biopsy.

Unknown said...

thank you guy.