Then the hull was reassembled using the official method of stitching the bottom boards together along the keel, placing them in the moulds and carefully folding them apart so they could be screwed onto the moulds.Success!
Then I put the sides in place and started stitching them to the bottom. All went well, until I began to tighten them up. Suddenly, both bottom boards split within seconds of each other. Disaster.
Luckily, the splits are not nearly as long as they were last time, and they are symmetrical on either side of the boat so repairing them may not result in a banana-shaped hull.So I screwed a patch on the outside, with a plastic sheet inside to stop it sticking to the plank. The inside was lavishly epoxied and a permanent patch screwed in place.
Tomorrow, I will take the outside patches off. If the repairs fail I think I may torch the bloody thing.
5 comments:
I do love the look of that hull. And now at least you've got matching patches - much better, aesthetically, than a unilateral one. Is there something you can fix to them so it looks as if they were always supposed to be there? Eyes for lashing down a beer cooler, or something useful like that?
Patrick
Just about the only redeeming feature of this fiasco is that the breaks are inside the buoyancy tanks so they won't be visible (unless they create a flat spot in the hull, of course).
Couldn't you just explain that this is intended to be a four-season boat and that those are expansion joints?
Hang on in there Chris. She'll be worth the effort!
Tim.
What kind of wood are you using that it splits? Must be pretty thin stuff. Although it's too late now, fiberglassing one side of the panel would keep it from splitting.
It's going to be a great looking boat.
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