Many things have gone by since the last post. In two weeks worth of time I was in the classroom only three times, went to AZ to hike in the Grand Canyon, met and collaborated with Darby Nelson who is the author of For Love of Lakes, went to my son's Destination Imagination Tournament, and we kicked off spring with a great Inspiration Peak 25 mile bike ride in the rain and cold of 37 degrees.
Enough of me, let's talk about the boat. I sanded the hull with an 80 grit paper on the ROS hand sander until I had a milky white surface. This exposed some of the bubbles that I could not get out earlier in the application of the hull fiberglass. A little compressed air took care of the dust collected in the holes.
I strayed away from the Pygmy company a little bit and followed the ideas from Laughing Loon kayaks on the other side of the continent. I am putting two coats of epoxy on the hull and then going through the finishing process. Unfortunately I won't be able to show you the finished boat until mid June. I am going to get the boat water ready for the South Dakota Kayak challenge and then finish up with the varnish. The varnish will protect the epoxy from UV damage, but I should not have to worry about it if I paddle the boat for a few weeks periodically.
In the pictures below you can see that I have installed the hip braces and finished the cockpit coaming. The coaming gets another quick layer of glass tape on the seams and it is ready for the stress of the skirt that will go around the coaming.
I tried to be very careful with noticing any bubbles, but once I got the boat outside it was easier to see any imperfections. But, I will probably be the only one who will ever know about the faults.
I took the boat out of the shop and brought it home to work on the deck lines, seat, and foot braces. I played with the idea of having hidden foot braces, but I decided to have the ones attached with a set of screws through the hull so I could measure them properly the first time. I am glad I did, they just fit me, but will fit Jill well.
We don't yet have the ice out here in MN, but I put the boat in the yard and sat down and the Sealine seat is quite comfortable.
Well, I won't have a post until I can put the boat in the water and test the lines, but until then here is what the finished boat will be ...
