Dinghy Day Six

Well, I can it day 6, but I have not really done a days work since the last post. The fact is that I have been having terrible problems with the West tropical slow hardener. It seems to take weeks to cure, and clearly something was wrong. I did not bring pumps out with me so that could have contributed to the problem, but not in a huge way as I am mixing the resin using measuring spoons and this is fairly accurate. So after having wasted a litre of epoxy on encapsulating the outside of the hull in something that resembled honey (with the associated flies and insects attracted to the thing), I have decided to recoat it with a stronger mixture. This time by doubling the hardner quantities I am getting results. I only have one litre of epoxy left to finish an entire boat though.

Anyway, here are a few shots. The sheerline is coming to life after I added a rubbing strake. I will do the same on the inside of the boat too. I think it will give more deifinition to the shape, and is something nice to hold onto. You can see the rather natty clamps I made from half PVC tubing.

The oar is there as I am trying to figure out a way of storing the oars inside the boat when sailing - the problem is not dealt with in the plans. Quite a lot more work to do - its these little things that take the time. Will keep you posted though...