Sanding land!

Although I rashed to cut the forward bank last week there is a lot of work to be done before its installation. Most of it is sanding and fairing!
A lot of people underestimate sanding as a basic part of these kind of projects. I think sanding is the finishing touch that will help reveal and then correct all the imperfections. It is what makes the difference between the smooth, elegant finish of a craftsman's work and an amateur construction. Keeping this in mind I removed the forward bank and started sanding the keel and bulkhead fillets in preparation for glassing the inside area of the keel with two layers of 6oz glass cloth as a reenforsment. I also removed with a dremel tool most of the fillets of bulkhead No4 - which were the first I made and looked like a real mess - and made new, before applying the glass cloth in this part of the keel.
When the new fillets were curred and sanded the area that was about to be glassed was taped all around at its boundaries (Scott William's technique). The glass cloth was cut and put in place and wetted out with a combination of brushing and using a squeege to remove excess epoxy. With epoxy in a tacky state the glass cloth was cut with a razor at the edge of the tape which was then removed leaving a clear margin between the glassed area and epoxy coated plywood.

Sanding...




Bulkhead's No4 new fillets!

Glassing the keel

Master bedroom...

I haven't made considerable headway with the project lately as I was "up to the throat", as Greek people say, with deadlines and comitments, both at work and with familly matters.
As a result I didn't feel much enthusiasm as I was driving to the boatbuilding shed last afternoon. To my disappointment my free time has decreased a lot lately and sometimes boatbuilding seems to be one of my last priorities, leaving me way out of my timetable.
I desperately needed some encouragment, so, instead of following the right sequence (thus sanding the fillets and the inside hull area below the floor and bunk level) , I desided to measure and cut the forward bunk.
The trick had instant results and worked as a visual injection of moral! It was the first time that I stepped into the hull, sat on the bunk and imagined the space of the forward cabin...That was it! I was dreaming again!