Pacific NW FL12 Build

[Fuzz]

I could be wrong in what I'm reading here between pee wee and fuzz, but you do have to lay a strip of fiberglass cloth
(called tape) on a fillet of epoxy and wood flour mix along the seams for strength, Period.

What I was talking about, and Pee Wee too I think, is everyone always worries about the boat coming apart when you cut the wire ties after glueing in between them. If you make a test piece and see how strong it is then you will not have that to worry about. And yes you must use the glass called for in the plans.

[Lon]

OK, sorry. Not to old to read, just to old to understand.

[Fuzz]

Not a problem! I have found I do not always explain myself very well when I am posting. Good thing about this group is most folks are pretty understanding.

[enolja]

Thanks for the help, I went ahead and sanded down the edges of the glass with 80 grit and got them smoothed over. Then I mixed up some fairing compound and have begun the fairing process.

Based on sources from around the web I've decided (As this is the budget learning boat) to use Acrylic exterior house paint (Sherwin Williams) to paint the boat. Hopefully it will work out okay! This thing won't actually be in the water more than a handful of times per year.

[enolja]

Hate this rain. It's like whenever I get a chance to work on the boat the weather turns to shit. Thats Washington for ya.

Should have left it in the garage, but I have a lot of sanding to do and didn't want to mess up my non-shop garage even further.

[enolja]

Had some sunlight.

Fairing the boat really shows you how bad you screwed up in the rest of the process. Lesson learned, spend more time building/reading instructions and less time sanding fairing compound / epoxy.

My most recent glass tapes are excellent though, getting a lot better at that. Finally got my skeg on only to see that the board was warped every so slightly, so I had to figure that out with some weights.

I decided to go with Rustoleum topside paint, they had the deep green color I wanted for a fair price and this after all is a budget build. However after all of the tool purchases its nearing seven or eight hundred dollars now.

[enolja]

Well it's just about finished. Still some work to do on the inside but it's going for a splash this weekend.

Certainly a lot of mistakes were made, but I do think it's water tight and fairly handsome for a first time and no experience.

[Jeff]

Enolja, the boat looks very nice!! Please send us some photo's once she is in the water!! Jeff

[enolja]

Everything went great at the lake until we took it out of the water, We sort of shook the boat and heard some water in the stern seat box. After about 18 hours or so in the water when we took it out I cut a small hole in the stern seat-box on top where the battery hatch will go - found about half a gallon of water, maybe a little less. Anyone know the best way to track down a leak?

Otherwise it ran like a champ and the 30lb Minn Kota motor pushed this little thing pretty quick! I wouldn't recommend getting any larger of a motor for a small lake, this thing was moving pretty good.

Looking majestic (The little oar is just something we found on shore haha)


Wife doesn't look too sure.

[Jeff]

You said you have it back out of the water. Take a minute and lift one side of the boat a little higher than the other side and add some water to the area that somewhat flooded. See where the water comes out, if nothing, lift the other side and try again. It is likely in one of the corners has a minor leak (pin hole)!! Let me know!! Jeff