FS14 Lowered Sheer

[thb]

Brad,

I like your paint scheme with the blue and white. The lowered sheer does not look much different than the normal version. Great progress and keep up the good work.
Regards
Tom in Steinhatchee

[Noles309]

Looking good man. Hurry up and finish that thing , I'm really anxious to see the final result and resulting performance. I'm strongly considering a similar build.

[BradleyD]

Thanks guys. Frames are cut down and all (that I know of at this point) access holes, drains, etc. have been cut and all exposed ply has a first seal coat of epoxy on it now. Next on the list...paint the compartments under the front/rear deck and build some spaces to pour the flotation foam.

[BradleyD]

Today I got the compartments built to hold the foltation foam. Two on each side in the bow and two on each side in the stern. Had some FRP leftover from another project and thought it looked good to enlose the compartments. Should get to pour the foam tomorrow and...if all goes well install the decks.

[wegcagle]

Great work Bradley. This is one cool boat

Will

[BradleyD]

Thanks Will! So last week I poured the foam in the compartments and all looked great with the amounts I calculated for the spaces...BUT the foam in one of the compartments decided it was going to do some serious contracting. It started after the foam was fairly hard (I could poke it with my finger and it wasn't tacky or didn't move) and had already begun its death grip on the FRP so it sucked the panels right in It was the second compartment I poured and none of the others did this. I've already pulled the panels off and will just have to reinstall them in the near future. Also got the decks installed! The last of the epoxy in the kit was used up with gluing down the decks and the fillets so I had some West that I wet out the tape and sealed the decks, which makes me feel pretty good that I haven't abused my epoxy usage. Started with some of the small finishing touches like the switch panel with a piece of polished anodized flat bar.

The inboard side of the compartment looking forward


Looking down on the compartment


The adjacent compartment...perfectly fine




Not sure what I was thinking when I only ordered four switch boots but another one is on the way

[BradleyD]

Today I got a coat of primer on the inside. I bought a gallon of the Kiwi-Grip non-skid from the Bateau site and the plan is to coat the entire inside with it making a "uniform", unfinished texture throughout. I'm thinking this will for the most part hide the weave and edges of the glass. Then next step...rigging and some aluminum goodies

[BradleyD]

Got the Kiwi-Grip rolled on today and it looks far better than I was actually expecting. The textured surface hides the unfinished areas of glass beautifully and is all one uniform texture! I need to make a few trailer modfiications first but I'm hoping to make a trial run one evening this week before I get to rigging

[BradleyD]

Last week I got the trailer fit to the boat and couldn't stand it...I had to put her in the water. I took it to the lake just down the road and was very pleased with the boat. Top speed was around 20mph with myself, 3gal fuel, battery, and minimal gear but still need to play with the motor height a little. I didn't have much time to play due to the storms rolling in but was pacified to see her float! I was curious how much it weighed compared to the bare hull weight listed on the plans so I weighed the trailer before and after setting the boat on and came up with 230lbs. Sounds about right to me compared to the 185lbs listed on the plans after the weight of paint, hardware, nonskid, foam, etc.







And I just don't know what's the deal with this flotation foam. The aft, stbd compartment contracted similar to the forward. Although not as much, it was weeks after I had poured the foam. I pulled the old piece of FRP away from the foam and replaced it with a new piece. Hopefully this winter when things get cold the whole boat will not impload! ;D The rigging would pretty much be complete if not for this but the fuse block was attached to the imploaded piece so it had to be temporarily removed. I mounted the battery in the space underneath the front deck with a 25 amp breaker that will also act as a battery switchaswell. Next on the list will be a grab bar with a space to mount some minimal electronics. I'm also thinking of a small, removable jump seat in front of the grab bar for a second passenger or for myself when alone but I want to run the boat some more to see where my weight needs to be distributed.

This is looking aft through the switch panel cutout