All Finished But Not Wet Yet

The painting is done - it seemed to take forever. Not a lot of work involved but a lot of waiting for paint to dry. The paintwork will pass the 10 foot test but doesn't bear close examination! Nor runs or sags but there are brush marks due to the hot weather - the paint is drying as you put it on,

The last job, after the bottom paint had dried overnight and the decks for 48 hours I fitted a bow eye and the 2 inspection hatches then took some photos. Here she is:

The photos in the sun have got the colour wrong. Her name is "Rakali" the Aboriginal name for a water rat. I painted the name myself, my first attempt at sign writing; it is something that needs years of practice!

 

Rakali weighs in somewhere between 17 and 17.5 Kg. I'm happy with that, I will be able to carry her short distances to the water with a rope or webbing loop over my shoulder or simply drag her by the bow.

 

What is still to be done: sort out something to sit on, lean back on and brace feet against. My plan is to use high density foam blocks fixed on somehow so they don't float away when there is a capsize. Need a double ended paddle, I have a really scruffy one that I found floating in the Brisbane River that will do for a first paddle, After that, I could make one or splash out and buy one (cheap $90, middling $120 and carbon fibre $180).

 

When's the launch, sometime next week after the paint has hardened a bit in the Brisbane sun, 

 

This has been an interesting project. I learned about the stitch and glue technique and decided I don't like it. It is certainly a quick way of putting the basic hull together (3 days, 1 full day and 2 part days). Then the seams have to be taped (another day) and the outside fibre glassed (several days unless you are brave/clever enough to do it in one go). After that the filling and sanding cycle seems to go on forever. I don't think I did as much sanding on my bigger glued lapstrake boats. Overall, my diary shows 79 hours work spread over 24 days between December 22nd and January 31st.

 

Another thing I learned (should have known better) is not to use cheap plywood. The saving in money isn't worth it when compared to the overall cost.

 

What did it cost? quite a lot of paint, glue and timber were already in the shed but a rough estimate would look like:

 

Plywood                       $60

Epoxy (a 3 litre kit)      $100

Glass cloth and tape      $80

Paint (about 3 litres)      $150

Boweye and Hatches     $50

Miscellaneous                $50                (sandpaper, Sikaflex for hatches, thinners, etc.)

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Total                              $490