Things are starting to move beyond pencil and paper. Three days ago I received my first shipment: epoxy, nails and screws and a few other bits. Epoxy of course is ideal for boats because it is very strong and a totally waterproof coating. Old-fashioned purists will argue in favor of other glues and coatings but I'll go with what I know. The nails and screws are made of silicon bronze: pricey these days but will not corrode, even in sea-water, which this boat may end up bathing in: witness ancient bronze statues found on the bottom of the sea. I hear that stainless steel is not as resistant, and in any case it will rust if it's not exposed to the air, which rules it out for boatbuilding, except for fastening bits of hardware on the deck and spars.
Th epoxy is for gluing things together, and also for coating all the wooden parts with two coats before the paint or the varnish. Speaking of that, I intend to paint the bottom royal blue and the fore- and side-decks white. I have sought the advice of my wife and daughters, and they agree. It will be a nod to the national colors of Greece, and consequently the boat will have to have a Greek name. Ideas welcome!
Yesterday my wife Robin and I cleaned out the garage and, with some regret, banished the old boat
Robin outside, She was named that, at my daughter Georgia's brilliant suggestion, partly because it is red and brown, partly after my wife, who was peeved at me at the time for being a "boatbuilding widow." Here's the
Robin leaning against the garage wall.
Yesterday I also bought some cedar boards for things like the keelson, srtingers, cleats and beams, all fancy words for lumber that the plywood pieces will be glued to in places other than the overlapped edges of their neighbors (the "lapstrake" bit). Bear with me, you'll learn all these terms if you keep reading 176inches. I also got a couple of wheels and a couple of 2x4s. The result was the building frame, which can be rolled in and out of the garage. Here it is on the left.
For more boatbuilding sweat, blood and tears (only kidding, at least for now) keep checking 176 inches.
boatbuilder
Th epoxy is for gluing things together, and also for coating all the wooden parts with two coats before the paint or the varnish. Speaking of that, I intend to paint the bottom royal blue and the fore- and side-decks white. I have sought the advice of my wife and daughters, and they agree. It will be a nod to the national colors of Greece, and consequently the boat will have to have a Greek name. Ideas welcome!
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