Progress again

 I was away on a business trip and then came home with a flu of some sort, so I've been down and out for a good 4 weeks.  But I got back at it this weekend.

 

I was able to sand the inside of gunwale by using my oscillating tool, but instead of using its sanding attachment I stuck sandpaper onto an old metal blade using hook and loop material. It worked quite well.  

Also mixed up some epoxy and filled the cracks of the fore-deck.  Why the ugly brown color.  The epoxy is nearly clear and is very thin and runny, even thinner than paint somewhat.  To make a crack filling putty I added 'wood flour' which is just sanding dust.  I had some very old stuff in a jar.  I think it is cedar wood which is why it made the putty a dark reddish brown.  This picture shows the cracks over-filled, so it should be able to sand flat.  We'll see.

more later. 

 

WIG Post

 WIG Post (definition): A "While I'm Gone" post to fill in during delays or times of absence.

Here's a Redwing-18 'launch style'.  Built without the sleeping bunks, making for a shorter cuddy cabin and a large open day-use cockpit.

 

WIG Post

WIG Post (definition): A "While I'm Gone" post to fill in during delays or times of absence.

 

One thing I've noticed on pictures of the Redwing-18 on the internet is how the size of the motor well varies.  Some are longer, some are higher.  This is the shortest one I've seen.  I had to zoom in to 400% before it dawned on me what I was seeing.  He's got the tiller handle of the outboard motor sticking through an open front.  He didn't bother with remote steering by a ship's wheel.

 

WIG Post

 WIG Post (definition): A "While I'm Gone" post to fill in during delays or times of absence.

 

The plans call for the ship's wheel on the front of the motor well.

But I may do like many others and place it on the cabin.

More Wherry work

Here is a picture of the inside of the wherry.  What appears as dust in the bottom is actually the top layer of varnish peeling and flaking.  The refinish painting project of the wherry includes doing a lite sanding of the inside and at least one coat of varnish/polyurethane (two if there's time).  The project of refinishing of the wherry was only meant to get it good enough for sale.

 

Gussets and Braces

 I promised myself not to build the boat-building shelter (boat shed) until my prior commitments were done, which are repainting the Cosine Wherry and a project of rebuilding shelving and coat hooks on the back porch. But I'm excited enough about this project that 'preparing to build' the boat shed is somehow justified.

The shed's 2x4's will be assembled using plywood gussets and corner-braces.  A total of 36 pieces.  CAD drawings allowed easy design and cutting dimensions.  The curves are mostly to make it look good. I also rounded their edges with a router.  Don't want to bump my head on a sharp edge.

 

 I managed to make them all from scrap pieces of 3/4" plywood lying around the shop, leftover from previous projects.  I rarely throw out bits and pieces of good wood.

Wherry Gunwales

 The easy parts of the gunwales have been sanded, but the edges against the hull and all those holes between gunwale and inwale still need to be scraped and sanded to at least remove the loose paint.  To get at the bottom of the gunwales on the outside I tilted the boat up.  The boat has been hanging from two straps and tilting the boat only gets you so far then it slides back down.  I added a third strap with one end hooked to the opposite gunwale and that allowed me to really tilt it.

While it was up, I washed a few years of dirt and grime off the bottom.

I also realized the keel has been scraped and scratched a fair amount.  All those times of running it up on the beach.  Not all of those beaches were pristine white sand.  It should only be paint damage, as the bottom and keel have multiple layers of fiberglass.