FB-11 Jean Bille

[Buz]

I built this boat for practice of the next one. As such, I didn't feel the need to fair everywhere, as you can see from the tape showing here. I only did enough fairing to get a feel for it, get the experience, and to appreciate other people's good jobs.

[Buz]

She ain't just good for her cookin'!!

[Buz]

Yup. All the way to the glass.

And I'm amazed at the durability of plain old red oak rubrails, epoxied and varnished. Oysters on the piling make an awful noise, but its just a little scratch on the rail, almost totally in the finish. Figure in 20-25 years someone else will probably have to plane em flat and glue on another 1/4" slat.

I guess a wire wheel to tooth up the graphite bottom?

[Buz]

Gave this boat my Mom's maiden name. Had Dad use his CNC doohickey to make a nameplate for the stern. Told him I was naming it for his old girl-friend. That despite him taking me fishing all those times, its really all her fault. She bought me subscriptions to Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and Sports Afield for my tenth birthday.

[Buz]

Despite the thread title, we are no longer near the Big G nor does nesting really work on a cartop.

[Netpackrat]

Nice.

[Buz]

I'm gonna have to do better watching the wear on the bottom. Not thru glass, but all the way down to it. I'm gonna put several coats of graphite on after installing a skeg along the keel. The boat really needs one for tracking anyway. With only me, what I got under there barely touches water.

This tool is great for putting tooth into graphite epoxy that was left a bit lumpy during application, took barely an hour.

The stripper wheel, not the shavehorse. (that's old sun-baked epoxy coming off the seat)

[Buz]

This photo was taken last year during epoxy stripping.

[Buz]

For yearly reference: each bottom coat, 6oz plus ~2 oz graphite for rear half, 4 1/2oz plus ~1.5oz for front half. The long working time of slow was helpful.

That is just reflective shine on the front keel. There is no longer any sign of the keel wear there, where it hit sand and the glass was showing.

[Buz]

The slow felt dry before dark yesterday after about 7 hours in the sun on a sunny day. Another 3oz of graphite epoxy went on the worn areas within 18 hours with no sanding. Figure its a good place to check out for myself that the chemical bond of slow within 24hrs happens.

Push the envelope. Watch it bend.