Skerry afloat at last

Finally got to put the boat in the water, three months after starting to build it.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Getting the sail ready:



Driving along with the boat on the car:



Floating in the boat:



Sailing off:



Sailing in the distance:




The varnish was not quite dry - apparently you have to wait for more than 24 hours before 'stressing' it too much. I'll have lots of patching to do on the boat and spars.

Also, I managed to swamp the boat and when back home found water in the 'watertight' compartments in the stems. I'll have to investigate where the water came from - hopefully it went through the access holes, rather than through holes in the hull.

All in all, though, I'm quite happy with where the boat is. A lot more finishing left to do and some small changes to the rigging (I want to add a topping lift to be able to furl the sail if I need to).

Skerry build day 53: done(?) at last

I spent about 10 hours varnishing the inside of the boat, the foils, and the spars. Everything got the minimum 3 coats and I'll stop here for now. Boat's going to go in the water this weekend.

The biggest pain is the rudder - when attaching the gudgeons to the boat they got tighter and the rudder doesn't quite fit properly anymore. I'm slowly stretching them out but it's a pain...

Here are some pics.

First the setup for varnishing the spars:

Then the varnished boat:

And then the boat on top of the car:

Time: 10 hours
Total: 165.5 hours

Skerry build day 52: varnish at last

After some quick sanding of the epoxied pieces I wiped down the hull and started varnishing. The process is a lot more painful than I thought it would be - the foam brushes totally suck and it took me 1.5 hours to get one coat on. I put 3 coats on the rails so that I can attach the hardware and be ready for a launch this weekend. I'll switch to a brush for the last bit of varnishing - probably 2 more coats for now.

Time: 5 hours (roughly 50-50 sanding and varnishing)
Total: 155.5

Skerry build day 51: More sanding

Today I pretty much finished sanding the inside of the hull. All's ready for varnish.

Time: 1.5 hours
Total: 150.5 hours

Skerry build day 50: sand sand sand

Today I started sanding the inside of the boat. It went quite well, other than the frames which I sanded with the boat upside down. I also fitted the rudder and am getting ready to get that installed. Next step, more sanding on the inside, then varnish!!!

The rudder upper gudgeon was quite a pain to fit to the hull - lots of bending and hammering. The process I eventually used involved tracing the hull shape on a piece of cardboard then using a vise and a hammer to shape the gudgeon as closely as possible, then repeated trips to/from the boat refining the fit.

Time: 6 hours
Total: 149 hours

Skerry build day 49: 2 more coats of paint

Hurray, painting is done.. I hope. This morning and evening I added two more coats of paint. I carefully wiped down the previous coat with denatured alcohol then added one more. Before the third coat I sanded a few of the roughest spots. I decided against a full sand of the whole hull to save a bit of time. I'm sure the hull would look better if sanded more but the difference is minimal given the amount of time I would have to spend. I ran out of paint quickly so the last layer (especially on panels 2 and 3) is quite thin. I must have put too much paint on earlier in the process. In any case, the skerry is fairly big so I'd go for two pints of paint (1.5 would actually be enough).

Next step - more painful sanding, then varnish at last. Keeping my fingers crossed for a possible launch this coming weekend.

Time: 3 hours
Total: 143 hours

Skerry build day 48: 6 hours of sanding...by hand

Today I sanded the primer and what an adventure it was. I figured I'd do it by hand to minimize errors and just make sure everything is nice and smooth. The process was quite painful, probably because the primer was not fully cured on all parts of the boat (despite being 24+ hours since I put it on). The sandpaper would quickly fill up and so I spend a lot of time cleaning it off. I'll be sore tomorrow.

At some point I decided enough is enough. I could make this $#!*$ thing look a lot better, but it will float and sail even if I don't. So...on to the next step: paint at last.

One coat went down quite well - took ~1 hour to paint the hole hull (roller followed by brush for chines and occasional tipping of bubbles).

And here's the outcome (hull 1 coat, rudder head is on coat 3):







Time: 7 hours
Total: 140 hours

Skerry build day 47: sanding and painting

'Disaster' struck twice today. First, as I was getting ready to prime the boat this morning I found a bare patch of wood I missed last night. I epoxied it but that was the end of the morning painting drill.

During the afternoon I continued to sand the inside of the boat (some parts will be easier to do once the boat is upside down) and drilled the various holes in the seats (for the main sheet) and the frames (for my fancy rope).

I then decided to just go ahead and prime the boat - the epoxy from the morning had cured enough. As I started doing it rain started so I frantically put up a tarp. In the end, though, hopefully it will all be OK. Tomorrow I should be able to sand the primer and possibly start painting.

Time: 2.5 hours
Total: 133 hours

Skerry build day 46: sanding and more sanding (and epoxy)

Today I got to sand for hours trying to get the hull ready for primer + paint. The process has been fairly easy though I punted on some of the most difficult parts ('clear' spots around the bow/stern and near the chines. I hope these will hide quite well once the primer goes on. Enough is enough.

Here's the final result:




During the sanding I also ran into the wood on a couple spots. I thought it would happen on the chines (and it did) but I also got a few bare patches around the beam smack in the middle of a panel. Here's a nice example:



So...some more epoxy went on and my work will be delayed another day. Here's where I stand right now:



Time: 3.5 hours
Total: 130.5 hours

Skerry build days 44,45: start sanding

First things first, I've sanded and added another layer of epoxy on the foils. Then started the difficult part of sanding the hull to be ready for paint. I've been following the CLC instructions (sand 80,120,220), but reading the Interlux instructions for the primer I might be OK with just 80. I'll probably just do that next.

Currently the bottom is done and I just need to do the sides. Lots more sanding once the primer dries too...

Time: 2 hours
Total: 127 hours