The next step in the boat construction is creating the deck. The is the most pertinent part of making it watertight, as if there is a leak, it will likely come from the joint between the fiberglass and the deck. Another aspect of the deck that needs to be considered is how I will access the inside of the hull while keeping it watertight. To begin working on that design, I started with a 2D sketch in Fusion 360 to get the general layout of the access ports. The plan is as follows:
The deck as a whole will be a PVC sheet (I didn't even know they made those) cut in the shape of the hulls. They will be almost symmetric to match the almost symmetric hulls that support them. Then, cut out of the larger PVC deck will be two access ports. In the bow section, there will be a quick access port that can be twisted open to sponge out leakages or change batteries if necessary --In the field work—however, it it is a very small opening, and isn't large enough for any handiwork to be done through it. Covering the stern and mid sections will be an acrylic sheet, that will not only be see-through, but also much larger allowing some "drydock" operations to be performed.
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Over this past month, I have successfully created two matching fiberglass boat hulls for my vessel. For a task I undertook after watching a YouTube video and asking "How hard could it be?", it went fairly well. Yes, there were a few unexpected detours, but the results speak for themselves. I began with a trip to my local WestMarine, where I found out that epoxy-resin is kind of expensive, around $100 for 40 fl. Oz. With the epoxy, I also purchased some fiberglass cloth and PVA mold release (more on that later). The process of molding the fiberglass is quite long, so the "My Process" page will have a more detailed description. Anyway, once the hull was formed and the epoxy dried, I began the task of taking it out of the mold. Here's where that PVA mold release comes back to bite my rear. What is supposed to happen is that the PVA creates a plastic barrier that allows easy separation of the mold from the hull; It did not. By the time I was done extracting the hull, the mold was gone, reduced to atoms. But I needed two hulls, what was I to do? Experiment! I got the bright idea to mold the second hull off of the first using the PVA. You would never guess, but it didn't come off. Slightly ticked off at this point, I was more inclined to... violent methods. To show you the power of MySheerDetermination™... After repairing it with yet more epoxy, the end product was two mostly symmetric hulls. Together, they should be large enough to hold up to 100 pounds in the water, more than enough for my purposes. The next step is to create the rest of the frame. |
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