SCAMP builds underway

[Monies]

Friday Mike finished putting fiberglass and epoxy on the skegs, then put filler into the weave of the fiberglass on the bottom of boat.

Last night I came home at 6 pm to find him painting the inside compartments (that will be beneath the cockpit flooring) and he worked until 11 last night painting. He came in for the night and he reeked of paint and paint thinner fumes. I asked if he intended to sleep with me in that condition, I started sneezing when he walked in. I said wash your hair too and put the clothes outside!

He is hoping that one application of the filler will be enough on the #1 hull bottom, as he finishes it with graphite and epoxy.

He is back out painting today, hopes to get the cockpit flooring permanently installed this weekend on hull #2. (Hull #1 already has cockpit floor installed)

He read about the centerboard gaskets on internet (as I did) and said like Josh it would be way down his list of things to do. Mike feels it is more a performance issue with racers or perhaps up North. We don't have many rocks I guess and he said down here we just dive under the boat and pull anything out that might get in! And he has not had to do that I don't think.

Jackie Monies (for Mike)

[Monies]

Sunday morning and Mike worked until about 11 pm last night, painting the lockers/under the cockpit spaces that have to be enclosed when the cockpit sole/bottom is permanently installed. We had a beautiful day on Saturday with temps in the 70's but the bottom is to fall out by Tuesday with ice and dropping into single digits.

He is having to fill the epoxy/fiberglass weave on the skegs today, perhaps fill the #1 hull some more for weave, the rudders and centerboards are glassed but the weave is not filled yet, so that may also get done today. He is trying to get ahead of that artic blast headed our way!

Jackie Monies (for Mike)

[jwboatdesigns]

Mike,
The slot gasket is the two pieces of either, mylar or sail cloth, which cover the centreboard hole in order to minimize the drag produced by this opening, and which also help keep out the stones, grit etc. which inevitable jam the board in it's slot, sooner or later. They are glued or fixed on with keelband. Sailing without a slot gasket is slow.
Paul

When sailing in competition with other boats of the same class slot gaskets are a worthwhile thing, but for a boat which is principally a cruiser they are a pain the tail and not worth the problems they cause. If you look closely you can see how that skeg is hard up against the slot to protect it should the boat be grounded ( as its designed to do) and there is enough clearance built in to ensure that the board is unlikely to get jammed by sand or mud being packed in there.

I only use slot feathers ( gaskets) on class racers, and even then have successfully raced a class boat that did not have them .

John Welsford

[Monies]

Tuesday morning, February 1 and Oklahoma is experiencing a blizzard (for real, no Okie joke here). We have had close to a foot of snow already I think, heading for new records. I was here for the previous record of 14" on our lake. Mike has not stopped working, the electricity is still on and so is his gas heater!

Yesterday he finished putting first coat of epoxy/graphite on bottom of hull #1, filled more screw holes on both boats, got the cockpit sole/bottom permanently glued onto hull #2, did some more fitting on seats/hatches, got the water ballast tank on hull #2 epoxied and graphited.

Sunday (I forgot to add) he finished filling all the weave in fiberglass fabric on #1 hull bottom before epoxy/graphiting it. He also finished the painting on the lockers and under the cockpit floor areas, before closing them up.

Mike has been pushing 12-14 hours per day building still, is out in the Boat Palace right now. I bought two of the last bags of salt in town to put on the wooden walks into the Boat Palace to try and keep them de-iced but he said he needed to wait to apply them. The blizzard is blowing snow into my windows of the office which have an eight foot vernadah between me and the snow, with a roof over! He may not come in, I told him to take food and survival rations out with him when he went out this morning!

Today is supposed to be the second graphite/epoxy coat on the #1 hull, I am to have photos and a report when he comes back in for lunch.

Jackie Monies (for Mike)

[Monies]

Mike brought in more photos, the #1 hull has her second coat of epoxy and graphite done. He is working on the rudder cheeks right now, some other smaller jobs while we wait for the epoxy to dry. It is only 12 degrees outside right now, blizzard continues, but he says the gas heater is keeping Boat Palace into the 40's. Doesn't know if the epoxy will dry by tomorrow, so he is allowing two days before we turn it.

Jackie Monies

[Monies]

Two more photos of #1 hull bottom.

Jackie

[Monies]

Wednesday morning and it is a balmy 10 degrees outside, with a low of -2 to -4 tonight predicted. Snow is a foot to two feet, Oklahoma is shut down totally. Mike continues to build, came in late last night as usual, had left heat on all night in Boat Palace for the epoxy.

The cat opened the shutters and the light reflecting off the snow convinced me the Boat Palace was on fire all night! Nightmares!

Yesterday he worked on #2 hull, reinforced the transom with three layers of plywood, then laminated the sides of the rudder cheeks. He just came in and said the low temperature setting on the heater kept the Boat Palace (which is large and two stories high) at above freezing all night, in 30's which he was pleased with. He has bumped up temperature settings to try and get it above 50's again so he can paint.

Onward! Jackie Monies (for Mike)

[Monies]

A couple more photos below and a brief update. Still snowing here and nothing has melted yet. I will post some ice photos later!

Since I posted last, he has made progress with the two garboard planks on the #2 hull, has one side completely filleted and is working on the second side today. He installed the cleats for the rowing seats that will go in front of the seat wells on #2 hull. A major step was installing the mast tube on hull #2 which I have a photo of.

He changed his mind on how he was going to do this, so there is a filled area that will be patched. He says it won't show when he gets the trim installed.

The plan is to turn the #1 hull this afternoon so he can work on the interior. No better help is forthcoming, so I am the designated helper to turn her! I just survived walking out to the Boat Palace without breaking a leg, so photos may improve when I remember to take the camera.

Snowed in still, Jackie Monies (for Mike)

[samm]

Jackie,

I am curious why Mike added graphite to the epoxy for the interior of the water ballast tank?

Sam

[Monies]

Hi,

Got some more clarification from Mike on that one. The access port openings are plexiglass and will allow some sunlight and UV to get into the tanks. He was worried about that and "critters" growing in the water also.
He said he needed pigment to protect the epoxy from UV breakdown and he had the graphite pigment on hand to do the bottoms, centerboard casings, centerboard and rudder coatings, so he used what he had on hand.

The other reason he explained to me, as I asked too, was that the graphite/epoxy finish is slicker than slick, he doesn't think algae, marine critters, etc. can grow in there with nothing to cling to. It is slicker than polished glass and extremely dark in those water compartments, so sounds like it should work.

Since all the other areas were high gloss white, I was curious about the black water compartments as well.

Jackie Monies