Adventures in a Mill Creek 16.5

 Here is the third coat of epoxy going onto the hull. The glass weave has disappeared from the flat bottom, but there is still a little visible on the sides - I might need a forth coat there. I am using a small foam paint roller, and the epoxy goes on very thinly - a good thing, I think.

  I contacted Fyne boats and they were very helpful and replaced the glass fiber quickly. I went ahead and epoxied it, spreading out the epoxy with a squeegee. It took longer than I expected (more than two hours) but I am fairly happy with the outcome. Disposable gloves were essential!  There are a couple of white spots I will have to sort out later. I have now added a second coat using a roller and fitted some reinforcing cloth to the bow and stern.

  So, I was about to start 'glassing' the hull and I laid the fabric over the boat and...it was too small! I have written to Fyne to see what to do next. 

  Here is the boat flipped over and the seams between the panels filled with epoxy filler. Once it's cured I will need to sand the whole hull smooth and round over the edges ready for the glass cloth.

  I fitted the carlins today. It looked easy in the manual, but they kept jumping out of the clamps until I figured out the best order to clamp up (and making sure to clamp the front ends). The wood needs to twist in two directions at once and wants to spring back to straight all the time. Hopefully the epoxy will hold everything once it's cured. 

  I finished the first coat of epoxy (with fillets and glass tape) today. It was a bit bothersome as my resin pump has now given up completely and I am having to weigh out the resin and hardener. Still, I think the fillets are a bit neater than the earlier ones in the bow and stern.