If you're going to move house while building a kayak, try to bring all the equipment with you.
It seems that during the moving, I have somehow lost the bottles of epoxy resin. I'm not sure if they were lost, or I threw them away, because from memory they were damaged and leaking from the original post from the US, but long story short - I thought I had them, and I don't.
I've emailed Pygmy to see if I can get some more sent out, awaiting their reply. It's not going to slow me down too much just yet, as I can keep working on the stitching, but hopefully I can sort something out soon with Pygmy's help.
If I did have to see a silver lining in this though, I'll be able to change the cure speed of the hardener. When I originally ordered the kit, I selected the slow speed epoxy hardener because summer in Canberra was coming, and the temps were normally in the 35-38 degrees (celsius) range, I figured I'd need the extra time. Now, in Armidale, the temps are much lower and we're going into winter, where temps are closer to 10-15 celsius daily and down to below freezing overnight.
And another (another) thing. I think I settled on a name for the Coho - 'Warrego'. The name of the street we lived on when I started the build, and also the name of a river in Queensland. I reckon it fits well. Also got me thinking about maybe some pinstriping for the join of the deck to the hull. Food for thought for later on.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Lift off! The hull takes shape
So after a few years it's all action now. I've started stitching together the hull panels and it's taking shape surprisingly quickly.
Essentially, the process involves aligning the bow seam on the panels, and joining a few stitches to make sure the panels are in the right spot. After that, the holes are drilled and the panel loosely wired together in all the holes, every 6 inches.
After the first two left and right panels are wired together, it's essentially a rinse and repeat process, aligning the panels, wiring them loosely, and then tightening the wires on both sides at the time to firm up the rigidity of the hull lines. I'm halfway through the third panel at the moment, and it'd be fair to say the second wind of the construction process has arrived.
The panels within the hull are temporary support braces to make sure the profile of the hull is uniform and the chines don't bulge out or fall in. They're only wired at the keel at the moment, and are fairly annoying as they flop about and get in the way until they're wired to the rest of the hull. The wiring together doesn't happen until all 4 hull panels are in place, so until then they're just in the way.
I was going to make a comment about the bending over killing my back, but looks like I already covered that in an earlier post about Tip #5. Get a decent height workbench. In fact, as you can see from my pictures, 'workbench' is a bit of a stretch, and I'm still working on two fold out trellis tables.
Essentially, the process involves aligning the bow seam on the panels, and joining a few stitches to make sure the panels are in the right spot. After that, the holes are drilled and the panel loosely wired together in all the holes, every 6 inches.
After the first two left and right panels are wired together, it's essentially a rinse and repeat process, aligning the panels, wiring them loosely, and then tightening the wires on both sides at the time to firm up the rigidity of the hull lines. I'm halfway through the third panel at the moment, and it'd be fair to say the second wind of the construction process has arrived.
The panels within the hull are temporary support braces to make sure the profile of the hull is uniform and the chines don't bulge out or fall in. They're only wired at the keel at the moment, and are fairly annoying as they flop about and get in the way until they're wired to the rest of the hull. The wiring together doesn't happen until all 4 hull panels are in place, so until then they're just in the way.
I was going to make a comment about the bending over killing my back, but looks like I already covered that in an earlier post about Tip #5. Get a decent height workbench. In fact, as you can see from my pictures, 'workbench' is a bit of a stretch, and I'm still working on two fold out trellis tables.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Back... Again.
After my last post, there was a fair bit of no progress on the Coho. The partially completed boat was in mediocre storage in one of our sheds while we built a new shed, complete with a roof that didn't leak and a real concrete floor.
As of last week, the Coho is out of it's stale wrapping and back on the table. Unfortunately there is a some very slight water damage, and a family of mice had set up a nest in the wrapping, staining and eating into some of the timber. It' only superficial though and the boat is back into the fore of my mind.
Progress updates will continue as I get back into the build.
First of all is the bevelling of the shear edges where the deck and hull meet, and then the drilling of the holes for the wiring in the stitch and glue process.
I'm on a deadline now. We're in the last month of summer and the epoxy I ordered back in October 2010 is the slow cure type, designed for hot climates. It won't cure below 25 degrees celsius, and hence I need to get my act together while the weather is still hot enough to cure the epoxy.
As of last week, the Coho is out of it's stale wrapping and back on the table. Unfortunately there is a some very slight water damage, and a family of mice had set up a nest in the wrapping, staining and eating into some of the timber. It' only superficial though and the boat is back into the fore of my mind.
Progress updates will continue as I get back into the build.
First of all is the bevelling of the shear edges where the deck and hull meet, and then the drilling of the holes for the wiring in the stitch and glue process.
I'm on a deadline now. We're in the last month of summer and the epoxy I ordered back in October 2010 is the slow cure type, designed for hot climates. It won't cure below 25 degrees celsius, and hence I need to get my act together while the weather is still hot enough to cure the epoxy.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Out of the wilderness...
After my last post Alex and I went through the protracted process of moving interstate. As such the partly finished boat has been in storage for the past 8 months or so.
We've now moved into an older cottage on 20 acres in rural NSW and while it has more space, less of it is covered and suitable for boat-building. For my workshop I've commandeered what I imagine used to be the garage which has a semi-leaking roof and dirt floor. The boat is still in its storage packaging to protect it from any rain etc, and over the next few weeks I'll continue unpacking all the components, epoxy etc and also putting some road base or similar on the floor so it's not as dusty.
One upside of the delay I thought of last week was that the slow curing epoxy that I got in the kit because I was going to be working in summer will now be suitable again as we're already into the first month of spring.
Incidentally, the Hawkesbury Classic is due to start next weekend (22nd October 2011), so if anyone is still reading this who is competing this year, good luck! All going to plan I'll see you on the water for next year's event.
We've now moved into an older cottage on 20 acres in rural NSW and while it has more space, less of it is covered and suitable for boat-building. For my workshop I've commandeered what I imagine used to be the garage which has a semi-leaking roof and dirt floor. The boat is still in its storage packaging to protect it from any rain etc, and over the next few weeks I'll continue unpacking all the components, epoxy etc and also putting some road base or similar on the floor so it's not as dusty.
One upside of the delay I thought of last week was that the slow curing epoxy that I got in the kit because I was going to be working in summer will now be suitable again as we're already into the first month of spring.
Incidentally, the Hawkesbury Classic is due to start next weekend (22nd October 2011), so if anyone is still reading this who is competing this year, good luck! All going to plan I'll see you on the water for next year's event.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Moving house
Just to complicate things, I've been offered a job back in my home town and as a result, my wife and I are moving 9 hours north.
This is going to make building the kayak, or moving it at least, very tricky. I still haven't yet started to stitch the strips together, so at the very least it will be easier to move a flat pack but I'll have to get my hands on copious amounts of bubble wrap and fragile stickers so the removalists don't ruin anything.
Seeing we'll be bunking with my folks for a few months until we find a place and sell our house, I'll be able to use Dad's shed to do some work after I head up there. He's got plenty of tools I can use, and has done this before, so the build should go a little more smoothly once I'm there.
This is going to make building the kayak, or moving it at least, very tricky. I still haven't yet started to stitch the strips together, so at the very least it will be easier to move a flat pack but I'll have to get my hands on copious amounts of bubble wrap and fragile stickers so the removalists don't ruin anything.
Seeing we'll be bunking with my folks for a few months until we find a place and sell our house, I'll be able to use Dad's shed to do some work after I head up there. He's got plenty of tools I can use, and has done this before, so the build should go a little more smoothly once I'm there.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Back after a short hiatus
With the Christmas break, rain, work and house renovations, my Coho has taken a bit of a back seat recently. Apologies to anyone who had been following me recently with no updates. Access to blogspot blogs has also been restricted on my work laptop for some reason so updating this now needs to be done at home rather than in my lunch hour.
Excuses aside, here's where I'm up to:
I finished doing the other sides of the deck panel joins like I mentioned I was pondering. I took a dose of my own rules and followed the instructions to the letter. Now there are just a few more brief steps before I can start stitching the panels together.
Tonight I reinforced the deck panels at the front of the entry hole. I'm sure there's a technical word for the entry 'hole' but for now, that's what it's called. Much more refined I'm sure.
This involved cutting a few pieces of 3 1/2 inch pieces of ply to size with a jigsaw and gluing them to the underside of the deck with an epoxy & wood flour mix about the same consistency as honey. This, I assume, is so that when using the deck to lever yourself into the 'hole' when entering the kayak, you don't punch your hands through the deck of the boat. You can see a few photos below.
As an aside, I'd forgotten how nice it is to be back out in the shed listening to music and working away. Really relaxing and a pretty sweet way to unwind from a job that's starting to give me the shirts.
Excuses aside, here's where I'm up to:
I finished doing the other sides of the deck panel joins like I mentioned I was pondering. I took a dose of my own rules and followed the instructions to the letter. Now there are just a few more brief steps before I can start stitching the panels together.
Tonight I reinforced the deck panels at the front of the entry hole. I'm sure there's a technical word for the entry 'hole' but for now, that's what it's called. Much more refined I'm sure.
This involved cutting a few pieces of 3 1/2 inch pieces of ply to size with a jigsaw and gluing them to the underside of the deck with an epoxy & wood flour mix about the same consistency as honey. This, I assume, is so that when using the deck to lever yourself into the 'hole' when entering the kayak, you don't punch your hands through the deck of the boat. You can see a few photos below.
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Here's the wood flour & epoxy mix used to glue the deck reinforcements onto the deck. It's just epoxy using the same 2:1 mix as normal, but with wood flour mixed in. Wood flour as far as I know is a more sophisticated 'I'm a woodworker' term for fine sawdust. As you may be able to tell, my new favourite container for mixing epoxy is old sliced pineapple tins. Perfect size. |
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| Here's the cut-to-size ply about to be glued over the deck. I think I may have joined the reinforcing ply a little too far forward from what it should have been. When it's cured I'll see if I need to put another one closer to the 'hole'. |
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| Here's the reinforcement in relation to the hatch hole. There should be room for another strip if I need to put it in. I guess time will tell. |
As an aside, I'd forgotten how nice it is to be back out in the shed listening to music and working away. Really relaxing and a pretty sweet way to unwind from a job that's starting to give me the shirts.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Finally finished the joins on the hull.
Tonight I finally finished the trimming and filing back of the epoxy and glass at the joins of the strips. Here's a hot tip (Number 5 if I remember correctly) for you - if you're 6'3 and building one of these, get a work bench higher than your average trestle table. Bending over for even half an hour to do this work makes you feel a little worse for wear in the spine. The dog definitely appreciates the attention while I'm re-sorting my vertebrae though.
I've still got the other sides of the joins to epoxy for the deck, but I'll go through the instructions to see if I can get this stage done around the other stages of construction or if it's better off biting the bullet and doing it all now. I've got a that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I should follow the instructions word for word because the fellow who wrote them obviously knows what he's doing, but another little voice that says 'go on, get things going!' I really want to start seeing a hull take shape. Insert saying or quip about patience being a virtue or something.
The only reason not to that I can think of now is that there may not be room to finish the deck joins once the hull is sitting on the workbench and taking up all the room. That's it.
No more rain in the last few days to speak of, but the month before that was crazy, I don't think I've seen so much water fall out of the sky before. Ever. Heading away for 2 weeks for a Christmas/New Year Break on Friday, I might get a little more done before Friday but probably won't get around to writing about it.
I've still got the other sides of the joins to epoxy for the deck, but I'll go through the instructions to see if I can get this stage done around the other stages of construction or if it's better off biting the bullet and doing it all now. I've got a that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I should follow the instructions word for word because the fellow who wrote them obviously knows what he's doing, but another little voice that says 'go on, get things going!' I really want to start seeing a hull take shape. Insert saying or quip about patience being a virtue or something.
The only reason not to that I can think of now is that there may not be room to finish the deck joins once the hull is sitting on the workbench and taking up all the room. That's it.
No more rain in the last few days to speak of, but the month before that was crazy, I don't think I've seen so much water fall out of the sky before. Ever. Heading away for 2 weeks for a Christmas/New Year Break on Friday, I might get a little more done before Friday but probably won't get around to writing about it.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Rain delays
With the extremely wet weather we've been having here recently I've not done much work on the Coho in the last 2 weeks. Persistent rains, thunderstorms, flooding and constantly high humidity have meant that I've been a bit hesitant to work on the boat for a couple reasons.
The first of these is that with increased humidity wood expands, and I don't want to be doing any work now that will be ruined when the dry, baking heat of the Canberra summer arrives (if it ever does) and the wood then contracts.
The second reason is that it's generally been pretty ordinary outside with the rain and wind, plus a trillion 'skeeters that seem to be procreating in my backyard seem fairly hellbent on eating me alive. Our backyard has pretty ordinary drainage due mainly to the fact that normally is never rains in Canberra and I've been nervously inspecting the shed each morning to make sure nothing has been damaged. All the ply is off the ground, but there are so many leaks in the shed roof it makes the US State Department look like... umm..... a well sealed roof? Wait, that doesn't quite work. You know what I mean - the flippin' roof leaks a lot.
I've been getting some comments that I've not been updating this blog enough (thanks AJ, Dowlo, Lukas) but it's because no work has been happening. Hence, here's a joke to keep you going until the rain stops, which should be sometime next century. It's good weather for ducks at the moment, so I thought a duck joke might be appropriate:
A duck walks into a pub and orders a schooner of beer and a ham sandwich. The barman looks at him and says, "Hey! You're a duck".
"I see your eyes are working", replies the duck.
"And you talk!" exclaims the barman.
"I see your ears are working", said the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please?"
"Certainly", says the barman, "sorry about that, it's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?".
"I'm working on the building site across the road", explains the duck. Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves.
This continues for weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town. The Ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the barman says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!".
"Sounds marvellous", says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call".
So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the barman says, "Hey Mr Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!"
"Yeah?", says the duck, "Sounds great, where is it?"
"At the circus", says the barman.
"The circus?" the duck enquires.
"That's right", replies the barman.
"The circus?" the duck asks again.
"Yes" says the barman
"That place with the big tent?" the duck enquires.
"Yeah" the barman replies.
"With all the animals?" the duck questioned.
"Of Course" the barman replies.
"With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle?" asks the duck.
"That's right!" says the barman.
The duck looks confused.
"What the f%$#k would they want with a plasterer?!!"
The first of these is that with increased humidity wood expands, and I don't want to be doing any work now that will be ruined when the dry, baking heat of the Canberra summer arrives (if it ever does) and the wood then contracts.
The second reason is that it's generally been pretty ordinary outside with the rain and wind, plus a trillion 'skeeters that seem to be procreating in my backyard seem fairly hellbent on eating me alive. Our backyard has pretty ordinary drainage due mainly to the fact that normally is never rains in Canberra and I've been nervously inspecting the shed each morning to make sure nothing has been damaged. All the ply is off the ground, but there are so many leaks in the shed roof it makes the US State Department look like... umm..... a well sealed roof? Wait, that doesn't quite work. You know what I mean - the flippin' roof leaks a lot.
I've been getting some comments that I've not been updating this blog enough (thanks AJ, Dowlo, Lukas) but it's because no work has been happening. Hence, here's a joke to keep you going until the rain stops, which should be sometime next century. It's good weather for ducks at the moment, so I thought a duck joke might be appropriate:
A duck walks into a pub and orders a schooner of beer and a ham sandwich. The barman looks at him and says, "Hey! You're a duck".
"I see your eyes are working", replies the duck.
"And you talk!" exclaims the barman.
"I see your ears are working", said the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please?"
"Certainly", says the barman, "sorry about that, it's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?".
"I'm working on the building site across the road", explains the duck. Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves.
This continues for weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town. The Ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the barman says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!".
"Sounds marvellous", says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call".
So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the barman says, "Hey Mr Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!"
"Yeah?", says the duck, "Sounds great, where is it?"
"At the circus", says the barman.
"The circus?" the duck enquires.
"That's right", replies the barman.
"The circus?" the duck asks again.
"Yes" says the barman
"That place with the big tent?" the duck enquires.
"Yeah" the barman replies.
"With all the animals?" the duck questioned.
"Of Course" the barman replies.
"With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle?" asks the duck.
"That's right!" says the barman.
The duck looks confused.
"What the f%$#k would they want with a plasterer?!!"
Monday, November 22, 2010
Strips are finished
I completed the final joint reinforcement on the last four strips on the weekend. Now all I need to do before moving to the next construction stage is cut and file the overhanging fibreglass tape as I mentioned on the previous post. While this will take a while, I can get into them without having to wait for epoxy to dry as I have had to in the past, so a few afternoons after work this week should see me getting this done. The final eight joins being glued are below, weighed down with bricks to ensure a good join.
One thing I have noticed is that with the higher overnight temperatures (approx 8-9 degrees C) are helping the epoxy to cure a lot quicker. Most of my work is being done at night and then left for the next day to completely set. I ordered the slow setting epoxy due to the coming summer, and when I first began was having trouble getting it to cure properly. Now that we're not having cold nights and the daytime temps are hovering at around 26-28 degrees Celsius all the work has been fully cured by the next night.
The next step once I cut off the remaining glass tape is to drill the holes in the strips for the wire stitches to go through. I'm not sure how long this will take, but on the upside it'll mean I can get some good use from the sweet Makita cordless drill my father in law gave me as a wedding present. I also find that I've been using my dust/fume mask a lot with the sanding back and filing of the epoxy as the dust is very fine and probably isn't very good for me. It makes me look like some kind of biological soldier and it freaks the dog out. At least when I'm wearing it he doesn't drop his grotty slobbery tennis ball on my feet while I'm trying to work.
I'm looking forward to the next stage. I want to see a hull start to take shape dammit!
One thing I have noticed is that with the higher overnight temperatures (approx 8-9 degrees C) are helping the epoxy to cure a lot quicker. Most of my work is being done at night and then left for the next day to completely set. I ordered the slow setting epoxy due to the coming summer, and when I first began was having trouble getting it to cure properly. Now that we're not having cold nights and the daytime temps are hovering at around 26-28 degrees Celsius all the work has been fully cured by the next night.
The next step once I cut off the remaining glass tape is to drill the holes in the strips for the wire stitches to go through. I'm not sure how long this will take, but on the upside it'll mean I can get some good use from the sweet Makita cordless drill my father in law gave me as a wedding present. I also find that I've been using my dust/fume mask a lot with the sanding back and filing of the epoxy as the dust is very fine and probably isn't very good for me. It makes me look like some kind of biological soldier and it freaks the dog out. At least when I'm wearing it he doesn't drop his grotty slobbery tennis ball on my feet while I'm trying to work.
I'm looking forward to the next stage. I want to see a hull start to take shape dammit!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Slow going...
A combination of more stuff on the go with Christmas parties etc coming into season, combined with a stage of construction that doesn't really lend much to progress photos has meant I haven't posted anything in a while. I feel as though tonight I can finalise the rest of the joins on the other sides of the strips, so in the next couple of weeks we should start to see some sort of a hull beginning to take shape!
To give you a low-down on what I have been doing, each join I have previously made has a strip of now hardened fibreglass soaked into it which needs to be trimmed, and then the excess epoxy filed back with a wood file so that the resulting joined strip is no wider than the rest of the strip. You can see what I'm talking about below. (Tip # 4: Make sure when using a razor blade to cut off the hardened fibreglass you have something to stop the blade slipping right through the glass and slicing your hand open. I almost did this a few times before putting a block of wood under the strip and holding my hand behind it which stops you making prosciutto of your fingers).
Each join has to be filed back before I can do the other side, so with about 40 to do it can be time consuming, but still not particularly tedious. Definitely helps if you have one of these:
It's a car stereo I wired up to a car battery and set into a pretty roughly knocked up hardwood box. The solar panel on top will charge it by trickle feed when the sun comes out, and it pumps out some pretty sweet tunes. Summer here I come! Definitely makes the hours spent in the shed much more fun. Nothing says 'I'm a man and this is my shed' like some Johnny Cash pumping to the sound of power tools!
To give you a low-down on what I have been doing, each join I have previously made has a strip of now hardened fibreglass soaked into it which needs to be trimmed, and then the excess epoxy filed back with a wood file so that the resulting joined strip is no wider than the rest of the strip. You can see what I'm talking about below. (Tip # 4: Make sure when using a razor blade to cut off the hardened fibreglass you have something to stop the blade slipping right through the glass and slicing your hand open. I almost did this a few times before putting a block of wood under the strip and holding my hand behind it which stops you making prosciutto of your fingers).
Friday, November 5, 2010
A little bit of positive reinforcement
I had a little success last night in finally being able to compare two sets of identical hull panels and found that they are in fact mirror images of each other. This means that my joins are done the right way and I haven't managed to cock anything major up just yet. The joins in the pictures below are the two uppermost hull panels, so just above the waterline. The hull panels are the most imprtant to get right in terms of alignment as they obviously affect the tracking of the boat, so it's good to see I'm trucking in the right direction.
Progress is still being made slowly, but having to go and do social things like a wedding for one of Alex's mates this Saturday in Wagga Wagga, plus inconveniences like having to eat dinner every night are really slowing me down. With any luck I'll get a good few hours of work done on Sunday but I suspect I'll be a little hungover so it remains to be seen how much work will actually be done, and how much time I'll just spend on the couch watching TV.
Progress is still being made slowly, but having to go and do social things like a wedding for one of Alex's mates this Saturday in Wagga Wagga, plus inconveniences like having to eat dinner every night are really slowing me down. With any luck I'll get a good few hours of work done on Sunday but I suspect I'll be a little hungover so it remains to be seen how much work will actually be done, and how much time I'll just spend on the couch watching TV.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Completion of the panel joining - Part A
In the week after the Hawkesbury I didn't get much done, catching up on sleep was a little higher on the list of priorities, but got back into building the Coho again this weekend.
So I've finished joining all the panel parts on the inside of the hull and now have the hull strips in the required number of pieces. Now all I need to do to finish up this stage of the construction is to epoxy in another strip of fibreglass tape to the other side of the join to strengthen it further. Apparently with this second piece of fibreglass in place, the joins will actually be stronger than the surrounding wood.
With less fiddling around now that the joins are now held firm, reinforcing the other side is much quicker as you don't have to be so careful not to bump them during the setting of the epoxy, plus, I can glass the whole length of a panel rather than one join, wait for it to cure, then the other join (there are 2 joins per panel) so this part should be easier, plus I've got a bit of a system going and I'm a little more confident in using the fibreglass.
I also successfully sanded out the mill stamp that I'd epoxied over previously. I used some coarse grit sandpaper to get through the epoxy, and once it was gone the stamp came out of the wood quite quickly. After this, the epoxy back onto the wood just looked normal, no trace the stamp was ever there or that I'd taken some extra wood off!
I'm also having better success with the curing time of the epoxy now that the temperatures outside are now a little warmer. Joins made at night are now ready to be sanded and moved around the next night after a day to cure.
So I've finished joining all the panel parts on the inside of the hull and now have the hull strips in the required number of pieces. Now all I need to do to finish up this stage of the construction is to epoxy in another strip of fibreglass tape to the other side of the join to strengthen it further. Apparently with this second piece of fibreglass in place, the joins will actually be stronger than the surrounding wood.
With less fiddling around now that the joins are now held firm, reinforcing the other side is much quicker as you don't have to be so careful not to bump them during the setting of the epoxy, plus, I can glass the whole length of a panel rather than one join, wait for it to cure, then the other join (there are 2 joins per panel) so this part should be easier, plus I've got a bit of a system going and I'm a little more confident in using the fibreglass.
I also successfully sanded out the mill stamp that I'd epoxied over previously. I used some coarse grit sandpaper to get through the epoxy, and once it was gone the stamp came out of the wood quite quickly. After this, the epoxy back onto the wood just looked normal, no trace the stamp was ever there or that I'd taken some extra wood off!
I'm also having better success with the curing time of the epoxy now that the temperatures outside are now a little warmer. Joins made at night are now ready to be sanded and moved around the next night after a day to cure.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Hawkesbury wrapup
In what was an extraordinary Hawkesbury, we started with warnings of bad weather, which were then cancelled only to then have the bad weather come in when we were all at our most vulnerable. 30km/h + headwinds, a fast incoming tide, rain and some pretty heavy 2-3 foot chop meant the last 10km took an eternity. We couldn't stop for a break as it meant we'd end up going backwards and/or end up capsizing, and with driving rain coming at our faces, it was generally an unpleasant place to be.
A stop at Wisemans to have some strapping put on my hands due to blisters, plus troubles with my right wrist were troubles I'd not encountered before, and slowed us down a little, but it was a reasonably pleasant night up until the weather doing what it did.
At one stage we got caught up in a barbed wire fence which got interesting. We were hugging the bank in the incoming tide, when we dodged a star picket which happened to have a trailing string of barbed wire underwater attached to another star picket. We were stuck fast as the wire got lodged in the rudder system and sat the for a good 5 mins trying to get free. Another paddler stopped to help but couldn't budge us, and we ended up being helped by a nice fella and his mates who were having a few beers up the river a little and waded into the thigh deep water in the darkness to lift us off. Thanks mystery man!
We made it in a time of 14 hours 39 mins, which was slower than we'd hoped, but still pretty good considering the circumstances.
Eventually the race committee made the decision to cancel the race for everyone who hadn't made it past the Spencer's checkpoint, which was both good and bad. The conditions were really ordinary, the worst I've seen yet, but it would have been such a shame to have been pulled out after so much work to get to Spencer's.
A stop at Wisemans to have some strapping put on my hands due to blisters, plus troubles with my right wrist were troubles I'd not encountered before, and slowed us down a little, but it was a reasonably pleasant night up until the weather doing what it did.
At one stage we got caught up in a barbed wire fence which got interesting. We were hugging the bank in the incoming tide, when we dodged a star picket which happened to have a trailing string of barbed wire underwater attached to another star picket. We were stuck fast as the wire got lodged in the rudder system and sat the for a good 5 mins trying to get free. Another paddler stopped to help but couldn't budge us, and we ended up being helped by a nice fella and his mates who were having a few beers up the river a little and waded into the thigh deep water in the darkness to lift us off. Thanks mystery man!
We made it in a time of 14 hours 39 mins, which was slower than we'd hoped, but still pretty good considering the circumstances.
Eventually the race committee made the decision to cancel the race for everyone who hadn't made it past the Spencer's checkpoint, which was both good and bad. The conditions were really ordinary, the worst I've seen yet, but it would have been such a shame to have been pulled out after so much work to get to Spencer's.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Replacement materials arrive
A nice surprise arrived yesterday, a package via courier with the replacement materials Pygmy sent me to make up for the stuff ruined by the leaking epoxy. Included were:
- New heavy fibreglass tape;
- Another sheet of fibreglass cloth (both this and the tape above has absorbed most of the spill);
- More syringes, vinyl gloves, stirring sticks and light fibreglass tape;
- Another copy of the Coho Manual and The Epoxy Book;
- A sheet of Mylar (clear vinyl plastic) which had been discarded by FedEx;
- Another 1 quart of resin (part A) and 0.5 quarts of hardener (part B) to replace that lost in transit. To say it was lost is perhaps an embellishment. I still had it, but unfortunately it was going to be a bit tricky to put back on the kayak where and when I needed it given it was nicely distributed throughout the box;
- An empty resin bottle so I could use the hand pump more easily. I have been using an apple juice bottle which is just doing the job, but this will make it easier when I'm using more resin in the latter stages on construction.
Again, massive thanks to the guys @ Pygmy for all their help, it only took an extra 5 days to get all this all from the States to Australia. Pretty impressive I reckon.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Hawkesbury Classic Countdown - It's gonna be a wet one!
mSo the Hawkesbury Classic is on this Saturday 23rd of October. Over the next 2 days I'll be using this as an excuse to eat a ton of food, mainly carbs (he says with a cheese and bacon roll in his hand) and generally being a layabout while building up my energy stocks.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the weekend, they've gone from yesterday's forecast for the weekend of a few showers, to thunderstorms from midday and 35km/h winds.At least at with a top of 29 degrees it won't be too cold until the sun goes down but by the sound of it once that happens it's going to be a pretty ordinary night on the water. On the bright side, we might get a bit of flow in the river that could reduce the impact of an incoming tide? Wishful thinking perhaps...
In terms of preparation it's meant I've had to change from preparing for the cold to preparing for being wet all night. While it's important to have a beanie (woolen) of some sort to stop the loss of heat through your head, now it's also going to be important to somehow keep my head dry too. Wool is the order of the day, because it still retains warmth when wet so I've got a few old woolen jumpers and thermal too, for the midnight 'till dawn shift.
Because of the cloud there's not going to be much moonlight, so I've also got a head torch so we can minimise the number of times we end up in trees or reeds by wandering too close to the bank. I say minimise, because this always happens at least once or twice regardless of how much you look for them.
I've also got my standard compulsory emergency gear - a space blanket, compass, small torch, whistle etc and a few disposable ponchos. PFD's get tested on the day, and mine is a handy type with a few pockets on the front to stash some nibbles and a few essentials like painkillers and Vaseline for my hands. I've gone for the sans-gloves option this year. I'll have them with me in case I get blisters, but will coat my hands in Vaso to stop them getting too waterlogged during the night.
In terms of food for the night, we'll fed soup and pasta during the night, but I also have a stash of bananas, glucose lollies, muesli bars, nuts and a few energy bars for the latter stages/early morning. I've been experimenting with Coca Cola during training, and while I know you're supposed to avoid caffeinated drinks as they are a diuretic I think one small can's sugar hit can should help push me through the "wee" hours (yep, that's a diuretic joke, who would have thought I'd manage it?) where I have struggled in the past.
My tendency to vomit about two hours into the race on the same corner is expected to continue, and so I'll limit what I eat in the two or so hours before the race to avoid having too many things come back up. I can have a few bits of ready to go once my body has had it's little tantrum so I don't lose too much energy.
Lastly, if anyone reading this is feeling particularly generous, feel free to sponsor me for the race. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and proceeds go directly to the Arrow Bone Marrow Foundation at St Vincent's Hospital to do their top notch research into Leukemia and other blood cancers & disorders such as Lymphoma and Myeloma. This is something particularly close to my heart as I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins's Diffuse large B-Cell Lymphoma in 1999 when I was 16. I'm sound as a pound now after a fair whack of chemo, but I know personally how generally sh*thouse these diseases are. Get in there and throw 'em some coin!
Edit: We're looking for a time under 13 hours, which is reasonable. Last time I did this race in a double it took us 12 hrs 50 mins, so beating that time is the target. Last year was just over 15 hours solo.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the weekend, they've gone from yesterday's forecast for the weekend of a few showers, to thunderstorms from midday and 35km/h winds.At least at with a top of 29 degrees it won't be too cold until the sun goes down but by the sound of it once that happens it's going to be a pretty ordinary night on the water. On the bright side, we might get a bit of flow in the river that could reduce the impact of an incoming tide? Wishful thinking perhaps...
In terms of preparation it's meant I've had to change from preparing for the cold to preparing for being wet all night. While it's important to have a beanie (woolen) of some sort to stop the loss of heat through your head, now it's also going to be important to somehow keep my head dry too. Wool is the order of the day, because it still retains warmth when wet so I've got a few old woolen jumpers and thermal too, for the midnight 'till dawn shift.
Because of the cloud there's not going to be much moonlight, so I've also got a head torch so we can minimise the number of times we end up in trees or reeds by wandering too close to the bank. I say minimise, because this always happens at least once or twice regardless of how much you look for them.
I've also got my standard compulsory emergency gear - a space blanket, compass, small torch, whistle etc and a few disposable ponchos. PFD's get tested on the day, and mine is a handy type with a few pockets on the front to stash some nibbles and a few essentials like painkillers and Vaseline for my hands. I've gone for the sans-gloves option this year. I'll have them with me in case I get blisters, but will coat my hands in Vaso to stop them getting too waterlogged during the night.
In terms of food for the night, we'll fed soup and pasta during the night, but I also have a stash of bananas, glucose lollies, muesli bars, nuts and a few energy bars for the latter stages/early morning. I've been experimenting with Coca Cola during training, and while I know you're supposed to avoid caffeinated drinks as they are a diuretic I think one small can's sugar hit can should help push me through the "wee" hours (yep, that's a diuretic joke, who would have thought I'd manage it?) where I have struggled in the past.
My tendency to vomit about two hours into the race on the same corner is expected to continue, and so I'll limit what I eat in the two or so hours before the race to avoid having too many things come back up. I can have a few bits of ready to go once my body has had it's little tantrum so I don't lose too much energy.
Lastly, if anyone reading this is feeling particularly generous, feel free to sponsor me for the race. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and proceeds go directly to the Arrow Bone Marrow Foundation at St Vincent's Hospital to do their top notch research into Leukemia and other blood cancers & disorders such as Lymphoma and Myeloma. This is something particularly close to my heart as I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins's Diffuse large B-Cell Lymphoma in 1999 when I was 16. I'm sound as a pound now after a fair whack of chemo, but I know personally how generally sh*thouse these diseases are. Get in there and throw 'em some coin!
Edit: We're looking for a time under 13 hours, which is reasonable. Last time I did this race in a double it took us 12 hrs 50 mins, so beating that time is the target. Last year was just over 15 hours solo.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Not so bad after all
I asked Jim @ Pygmy if there was any way to sand the stamps out that I had epoxied in the other night. Turns out that in another bout of not reading the instructions properly I had missed the bit that says to sand back the reverse of the panels you have now joined together and epoxy & fibreglass in a similar fashion (ie. the strip of epoxy and 'glass over the join will be on both sides). I've got to sand back to bare wood anyway, so it's just a matter of doing a bit extra and knocking off the stamp.
Got a few more panels done last night, but won't get any done tonight because of RFS Wednesday night training. Goddam it, my life keeps interfering with getting my project finished! I still reckon I'll be on track to finish the first lot of joins by the weekend to allow them to cure for a few days.
I anticipate that doing the reinforcing joins on the other sides of the panels won't be so fiddly and slow as the panels will already be joined and hence not to susceptible to being bumped.
Got a few more panels done last night, but won't get any done tonight because of RFS Wednesday night training. Goddam it, my life keeps interfering with getting my project finished! I still reckon I'll be on track to finish the first lot of joins by the weekend to allow them to cure for a few days.
I anticipate that doing the reinforcing joins on the other sides of the panels won't be so fiddly and slow as the panels will already be joined and hence not to susceptible to being bumped.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Success... of sorts
On getting home yesterday afternoon I inspected the previous day's work to see how my first lot of panel-joining went. All of the joins were bonded strongly enough to remove the weights, though some were still a little tacky and needed another day or so to finish fully curing. As is stands, I think I've joined together about 40% of the pieces now, and managed to glue another 4 together last night, so I think I'm sitting at a little over 50% completion for this stage of the construction. With a few warmer days on the way I should be able to get the rest of the joins finished by Friday and then they can fully cure while I'm away at the Hawkesbury on the weekend.
The lessons keep on coming however. In the manual it instructs to look over the wood panels to check for stamps on the timber put there by the mill, plus any stickers, marks etc. I did this previously when setting up and checking off the panels, but looks like I either did it in the dark or with my eyes closed, as on turning them over to check the underside of the joins that were among the first I set, I found these:
I had successfully epoxied over two mill stamps with expert precision. I figure I will possibly be able to sand through the epoxy once it's fully cured and remove them. The reason I didn't see them is that they were on the other side of the joins I was doing, and hence on the outside of the boat. If they were on the inside I don't think I would really care too much, as they'd work like an identifying mark of sorts, but I don't think I want them on the outside of the hull. After much colourful language and profanity, I also found two other stamps that I'd previously missed, and sanded them off. To quote George W. Bush "fool me once, shame on you, but... ahhh... fool me twice... you can't get fooled again".
Here's how sneaky they can be, this one was right on the join, and I wouldn't have seen it unless I was looking for them on the joins. Hence, here's Tip #3 on kayak building from the book of Coho: Check both sides of the joins before you let epoxy anywhere near them. It's like letting a dog run around unsupervised near setting cement - that mess is gonna be there for a while unless you catch it before it happens.
I guess if I have to leave them there it'll bring life to the notion that this boat will be personalised and I'll know each and every piece of it. In the scheme of things it probably won't be that visible, but it's annoying nonetheless.
Structurally, the joins are fine, hence the title of this post. And in that respect things are coming along swimmingly. I'm getting more confident using the epoxy, and starting to get a picture of the hull as it all comes together. If there was a Masterchef for kayaks, I reckon I'd still be in the competition. The taste is there, it's just that the presentation is lacking. Plus, Matt Preston is a jerk and I wouldn't take any of his crap.
The lessons keep on coming however. In the manual it instructs to look over the wood panels to check for stamps on the timber put there by the mill, plus any stickers, marks etc. I did this previously when setting up and checking off the panels, but looks like I either did it in the dark or with my eyes closed, as on turning them over to check the underside of the joins that were among the first I set, I found these:
I guess if I have to leave them there it'll bring life to the notion that this boat will be personalised and I'll know each and every piece of it. In the scheme of things it probably won't be that visible, but it's annoying nonetheless.
Structurally, the joins are fine, hence the title of this post. And in that respect things are coming along swimmingly. I'm getting more confident using the epoxy, and starting to get a picture of the hull as it all comes together. If there was a Masterchef for kayaks, I reckon I'd still be in the competition. The taste is there, it's just that the presentation is lacking. Plus, Matt Preston is a jerk and I wouldn't take any of his crap.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Construction begins - gluing the panels.
After taking stock of what was and wasn't damaged in transit, I've worked out I can begin gluing the panels together while I wait for the replacements to be sent from the States as mentioned previously.
I began gluing the panels together on Sunday with the first of the hull strips. Each strip comes in 3 pieces, and need to be glued and 'glassed together to form one long 17 foot strip which are subsequently stitched to form the hull.
Thinking the cement floor of the shed would be flat enough to begin, I started laying the panels out and quickly found that my shed floor wasn't as flat as I'd previously imagined. Having already mixed some epoxy together though, I figured I'd already started and should get to it before it thickened too much and I'd wasted the epoxy.
I think the two panels I ended up doing on the floor will be fine, but to fix the problem and make sure I was working on a level surface, I went and bought 2 trestle tables for $40 each from Bunnings, plus 2 2400x1200 MDF sheets and laid these on top. The effect was so much better and easier that I wondered why I hadn't thought of it beforehand, and also allowed me to work standing up rather than hunched on the ground. Much, much, much easier! I knew I'd try and launch into this before being really ready but thought it'd be OK. Now I'm properly ready and have reinforced the importance to myself of reading the instructions properly before doing too much.
Getting get back to the construction process, to join the panels together, you first wet a bit of epoxy on both sides of the join, then lay a small strip of fibreglass over the top and wet it out. Finally, a piece of plastic is laid over the epoxy once in place, and weighed down to ensure they stay together whilst gluing.
Seeing the epoxy on the wood for the first time has given a sneak peek at what the Okoume will look like once the whole boat is epoxied. Looking good!
The bottle holding the hardener that I threw out was going to cause a problem in that I wouldn't have a suitable bottle to mount the hand pump on - or so I thought! In a stroke of genius I realised that 2l fresh apple juice bottles are the almost the same height and have the same size opening as the 1 gallon resin bottles that the resin is supplied in. It's just a matter of refilling the juice bottle from the milk bottle I'm storing the rest of the hardener in, and Bob's your mother's brother, we're off and racing.
One shortcoming I've had is that I ordered slow-setting epoxy as I'd anticipated I would be building this in the middle of a hot baking Canberra summer where temps can reach 40 degrees in the heat of the afternoon and tend to stay above 30 degrees until about midnight. Dad's kayak took one and a half months to arrive so I figured I wouldn't be getting down to business until at least November. Shipping of less than a week, plus a cold snap over the last weekend to remind us summer isn't quite here yet has wrong footed me a bit. Pygmy gives you the choice of slow (for hot climates), medium (medium, obviously) and fast (for cold climates) setting hardener in their kits. This might be premature, but I'd guess a medium hardener might have been more appropriate. I've had to put a few little heaters in the shed while I'm working at night, to speed things along a little. Hopefully the autumn sun beating down on the galvanised roof and sides of the shed while I'm at work will create a little oven and effectively bake the stuff while I'm away. The fast hardener needs a minimum temp of 23 degrees Celsius to cure, so I'm sure it'll be fine by tonight and I can glue the rest soon. The strips are quite long so gluing them all in one sitting isn't really possible unless you've got a huge workspace.
One other reason I was a bit hesitant to glue too many was that working only from instructions means you're always a bit unsure whether you're doing the right thing. This way if I screw it up I only screw up 3 or 4 panels rather than all of them. I guess the moments of truth will come tonight when I get home and see how they've come out.
One thing's for sure - Tip #1: Make sure you get a decent work space to do these! So much easier on the tables than the floor!
Oh, and another lesson from the book of Coho - the reason the manual asks for 4 x cheap bristle paintbrushes is that it's pretty much impossible to clean the semi-thickened epoxy from a paintbrush after working with it, it's just easier to throw it out. When it comes to brushes, cheap is good here. Likewise the container used to mix the epoxy and dip your brush in. Tip #2: Start collecting margarine, butter, yogurt, and any other wide mouth plastic container once you decide to decide to build one of these, you'll need them!
I began gluing the panels together on Sunday with the first of the hull strips. Each strip comes in 3 pieces, and need to be glued and 'glassed together to form one long 17 foot strip which are subsequently stitched to form the hull.
Thinking the cement floor of the shed would be flat enough to begin, I started laying the panels out and quickly found that my shed floor wasn't as flat as I'd previously imagined. Having already mixed some epoxy together though, I figured I'd already started and should get to it before it thickened too much and I'd wasted the epoxy.
I think the two panels I ended up doing on the floor will be fine, but to fix the problem and make sure I was working on a level surface, I went and bought 2 trestle tables for $40 each from Bunnings, plus 2 2400x1200 MDF sheets and laid these on top. The effect was so much better and easier that I wondered why I hadn't thought of it beforehand, and also allowed me to work standing up rather than hunched on the ground. Much, much, much easier! I knew I'd try and launch into this before being really ready but thought it'd be OK. Now I'm properly ready and have reinforced the importance to myself of reading the instructions properly before doing too much.
Getting get back to the construction process, to join the panels together, you first wet a bit of epoxy on both sides of the join, then lay a small strip of fibreglass over the top and wet it out. Finally, a piece of plastic is laid over the epoxy once in place, and weighed down to ensure they stay together whilst gluing.
Seeing the epoxy on the wood for the first time has given a sneak peek at what the Okoume will look like once the whole boat is epoxied. Looking good!
The bottle holding the hardener that I threw out was going to cause a problem in that I wouldn't have a suitable bottle to mount the hand pump on - or so I thought! In a stroke of genius I realised that 2l fresh apple juice bottles are the almost the same height and have the same size opening as the 1 gallon resin bottles that the resin is supplied in. It's just a matter of refilling the juice bottle from the milk bottle I'm storing the rest of the hardener in, and Bob's your mother's brother, we're off and racing.
One shortcoming I've had is that I ordered slow-setting epoxy as I'd anticipated I would be building this in the middle of a hot baking Canberra summer where temps can reach 40 degrees in the heat of the afternoon and tend to stay above 30 degrees until about midnight. Dad's kayak took one and a half months to arrive so I figured I wouldn't be getting down to business until at least November. Shipping of less than a week, plus a cold snap over the last weekend to remind us summer isn't quite here yet has wrong footed me a bit. Pygmy gives you the choice of slow (for hot climates), medium (medium, obviously) and fast (for cold climates) setting hardener in their kits. This might be premature, but I'd guess a medium hardener might have been more appropriate. I've had to put a few little heaters in the shed while I'm working at night, to speed things along a little. Hopefully the autumn sun beating down on the galvanised roof and sides of the shed while I'm at work will create a little oven and effectively bake the stuff while I'm away. The fast hardener needs a minimum temp of 23 degrees Celsius to cure, so I'm sure it'll be fine by tonight and I can glue the rest soon. The strips are quite long so gluing them all in one sitting isn't really possible unless you've got a huge workspace.
One other reason I was a bit hesitant to glue too many was that working only from instructions means you're always a bit unsure whether you're doing the right thing. This way if I screw it up I only screw up 3 or 4 panels rather than all of them. I guess the moments of truth will come tonight when I get home and see how they've come out.
One thing's for sure - Tip #1: Make sure you get a decent work space to do these! So much easier on the tables than the floor!
Oh, and another lesson from the book of Coho - the reason the manual asks for 4 x cheap bristle paintbrushes is that it's pretty much impossible to clean the semi-thickened epoxy from a paintbrush after working with it, it's just easier to throw it out. When it comes to brushes, cheap is good here. Likewise the container used to mix the epoxy and dip your brush in. Tip #2: Start collecting margarine, butter, yogurt, and any other wide mouth plastic container once you decide to decide to build one of these, you'll need them!
Friday, October 15, 2010
The plot thickens... (unlike the epoxy)
I think I'm going to enjoy making so many crap jokes on here where no one can hear you scream...
Anyhow. According to Jim @ Pygmy, he sent the epoxy in a white Pygmy marked box, and it arrived in a brown FedEx box. Looks as though FedEx may have dropped it and then re-packaged it to make everything look legit again. He's been great, and with the help of a few photos is going to send out replacements for everything damaged by the leak, plus some extra part A and part B resin given I'm now a few quarts short of what I need. Now just to work out what the hell a quart is, those yanks really need to join us in the 21st century when it comes to measurements. I think it's somewhere less than a gallon, but more than a pint. Glad we cleared that up... maybe I should have asked for a bushel. Or a Hogshead. Perhaps a Firkin. Yep that's it. I need a ferkin firkin of epoxy.
What I'm getting at here is full marks to Jim @ Pygmy Boats Inc, yet again.
I cleaned off the bottles of resin last night and found one of them was still leaking, and the others' seals of the lids were shot. From what I can tell, some FedEx football player wannabe drop-kicked the original box off the plane, and it landed upside down on the tarmac and ruined everything. Had to transfer the part A remainder to some milk bottles as it has a leak, hoping the other part B bottles are fine now.
Anyhow. According to Jim @ Pygmy, he sent the epoxy in a white Pygmy marked box, and it arrived in a brown FedEx box. Looks as though FedEx may have dropped it and then re-packaged it to make everything look legit again. He's been great, and with the help of a few photos is going to send out replacements for everything damaged by the leak, plus some extra part A and part B resin given I'm now a few quarts short of what I need. Now just to work out what the hell a quart is, those yanks really need to join us in the 21st century when it comes to measurements. I think it's somewhere less than a gallon, but more than a pint. Glad we cleared that up... maybe I should have asked for a bushel. Or a Hogshead. Perhaps a Firkin. Yep that's it. I need a ferkin firkin of epoxy.
What I'm getting at here is full marks to Jim @ Pygmy Boats Inc, yet again.
I cleaned off the bottles of resin last night and found one of them was still leaking, and the others' seals of the lids were shot. From what I can tell, some FedEx football player wannabe drop-kicked the original box off the plane, and it landed upside down on the tarmac and ruined everything. Had to transfer the part A remainder to some milk bottles as it has a leak, hoping the other part B bottles are fine now.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Poxy-epoxy
So when at first look I thought that there was no damage done by the leaking epoxy, I was wrong. I didn't know how much had leaked until I opened it properly in the shed to check everything off the list of contents. The three gallons I was supposed to have now look to have been reduced to two and a half, with the remaining half gallon (approx 2 litres) distributed throughout the box holding the fibreglass cloth, wood flour and assorted tools. The cloth has absorbed most of it and is hence now unusable, but I sent an email to Pygmy telling them what happened and asking for some replacements to be sent. I guess we'll see how it goes, but would expect most is covered by shipping insurance... and resin (Ha!).
These one-gallon resin bottles were full when they left Pygmy's office, now re-distributed throughout the box & bag they were in. It's a stickiness like honey, but one that can't be washed off in soap and water. Only acetone or white vinegar seems to get rid of it.
Ruined fibreglass cloth tape plus a fair bit of resin. Note the smudging on the yellow squeegee's text.
The shipping box and bag they were in. You can see the yellow liquid in the bag that wasn't absorbed into the cloth.
On the bright side, as the wood strips were in another box, they weren't affected by the spill, and all pieces have been checked and accounted for. Here they are laid out and ready to be joined together. Unfortunately as all the fibreglass cloth was ruined I can't get started in joining them together until I get replacements which I imagine might take another week or two. Here they are below.
On the bright side, as the wood strips were in another box, they weren't affected by the spill, and all pieces have been checked and accounted for. Here they are laid out and ready to be joined together. Unfortunately as all the fibreglass cloth was ruined I can't get started in joining them together until I get replacements which I imagine might take another week or two. Here they are below.
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