The Greenland Bug Cont. (Pt. 6)

Just over a week has passed. I am on the home stretch on the boat, so to speak. At least I would like to think I am. Last week I glassed the bottom of the hull with one long piece of 4 oz. fiberglass and epoxy. And then as soon as I was satisfied with it, we had a freak rain shower on Fairfax for less than 30 minutes. I scrambled frantically to get a tarp hung over the boat so that no random drip of water would get onto the fresh gel coat. None did. Whew! The next day I trimmed and sanded the fiberglass just to the edge of the chine.

Fiberglass on the bottom hull.

Fiberglass edge trimmed and sanded.

Nothing was done again for a week, since I went to New York with Cyndi to watch her race. Read her blog just before this one to learn about that trip. I did not race. Although I won fastest kayaker at Delmarva the weekend before. I rolled more times in 30 seconds than anyone else. Whoo Hoo! My style of going fast

Yesterday I got back on track and laid 2 oz. fiberglass in two pieces onto the deck. The stern half went on easily, but the bow half was tricky. The bow of the deck made the glass buckle in a couple of places, leaving an uneven ripple which I will need to sand down smooth before I do the final epoxy coating. I decide to skip a couple of steps, specifically adding more epoxy between already dry coats of fiberglass and epoxy. I will not need the strength, and perhaps it will save on weight a little. I even tried to cut out enough 2 oz. fiberglass from that provided to do both the deck and the last layer on the hull bottom and sides, but there was just not enough. I will end up putting one more layer of 4 oz. glass on the hull bottom and sides sometime next week I hope.

Fiberglass on the deck being sanded.

A couple of days ago, I pulled down the old slalom boat and gutted it of all its fittings. I gave it a good cleaning and then decided to take it out for a test. I put only the seat back in. I tried all kinds of rolls; lay backs, forward finishing, had rolls, norsaq rolls, paddle rolls, etc. I found that the round shape of the hull made for excellent initiating of the rolls. I would bet that the light weight and short length helped too. The paddle rolls such as the shotgun, reverse sweep, spine roll and even the behind the back roll worked like a charm. The small back deck allowed me to complete a behind the back where my Outer Island back deck always gets in the way and prevents me from completing the roll.

Having said those good things for the boat, I need to add that it was simply too wide. It was twenty three inched wide and about eight inches deep behind the cockpit. The width was not so bad alone, but the seat width was at least three to four inches away from the true side sheer on each side. This made the effect that when trying to do a balance brace, it was impossible to keep the boat upright, and hand and norsaq rolls finishing on the front deck were hard to get past the counter buoyancy of that submerged for inches below my hip. Conclusion; good hull shape, but lousy width and body position. Maybe I should try it again without the seat in it.

So back to the new boat. The next step is to build the cockpit rim. Here is a photo of the final top layer in place ready to make measurements. The final cockpit will measure on the interior fifteen inches wide by eighteen and seven eights long. The final exterior will be nineteen inches wide by twenty two and seven eights long. This is not the exact dimensions in the original designs. The plans call for cutting out about three quarter of an inch on all sides after all the wood is installed. I am aiming for the smallest I can get. This will leave about a one inch overhang on the exterior of the rim for a skirt. Will a one inch overhang be too much and too fragile? I have yet to decide.

Cockpit rim laid out for measurement.