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After two weeks of work I've got the main hull finished and most of the ama done. Luckily the foam/glass nosecone I made fitted the Fiji drain pipes. The marine ply is good quality and very cheap at roughly US$30 for 5 ply 1/4".
For stringers and crossbeams, I used the local "Dakua" or Fijian Kauri. This is one of the finest general purpose boatbuilding woods that I have ever used. I found several 12" x 1" x 20' planks. I haven't seen one of those since I was a kid. So no scarfing was necessary.
I'm using a polyurethane glue made by Sika, so I suspect it will work as advertised.
We're away on a side trip to Savusavu now for a week, so that will give my very sore wrist time to recover. The 12 hour ferry ride from Suva was very smooth.
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The 12" diameter hatches fore and aft are cut from the tops of plastic barrels and are very much industrial strength.
I hadn't anticipated painting teeth on the bow, but the striping was just asking for it.
Needless to say I'm having a ball.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteTeeth make it look "Hungry" for the water!
It's looking great.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Holy Mackerel do you work fast! Great hull graphics too, nice work Gary.
ReplyDelete