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Clark Fork Drifter Build - Session
2 When last we left the Clark Fork Drifter, the cockpit sole and one side of the bulkheads had been covered in fiberglass and epoxied.
We only had one 3-hour session for this week, Friday afternoon. When I go there, our resident heron gave me a hearty "Cheerio!" and flew away.
We had 2 goals for this session, set up the strongback and get the sides 'glassed and 'glass the other side of the bulkheads. Our strongback is kept up in the rafters when not in use, and as the youngest member of the crew, it is my pleasure to scrabble up there and get it down.
Bob and Tom were working on getting the boat's bottom set up on the strongback while Curt and I worked on the fiberglass.
Cutting the 'glass for the sides. We are using 3.25oz cloth from Duckworks.
We used Payson Butt-Joints for joining the pieces of the sides together and Curt is dressing the join prior to us laying down the sheathing layer.
Man, this is tedious. Mixing and pouring the epoxy, then spreading it with squeegees while trying to make sure everything lays flat. Yeah, it's tedious, but way easier than trying to do it once the boat is assembled.
Drift boats are designed to run rapids and navigate on rapid rivers, so they are designed to turn quickly. To that end, they have a lot of rocker - 8" in our case.
And that's it for the day. See how we have the sides up on sawhorses? I am learning to adapt our work environment to meet our physical capabilities - no one likes crawling around on the floor if they don't have to. |
