Got the Pic

I finally got around to snapping an updated picture of the boat. The color you see is tinted epoxy, not a finished paint job, but hey it's progress. Either way this shot should give you an idea of what we've done since my last post with a photograph. The shape is a little more refined, and the spray rails are much more polished.

I still can't wait to get this thing flipped, but the picture helps me visualize the progress we've made over the last couple of months.

To put things in a little more perspective, I've been looking at other builders' boats. Today I did a check-in on Andrew Lucking's boat. Andrew started a couple of months before Greg and I did, and it looks like we're progressing at a similar pace. Of course Andrew is a one-man show, and has a shorter season because he's in Canada, but it still helps keep the perspective.

I Really Need a Picture

We haven't done any pictures since January, and haven't done any videos since... well, it's been a little longer. The reason we haven't done any pictures or videos is because things haven't significantly changed in months. At least it doesn't seem that way to me.

We've still been working on the hull... sanding and fairing, filling in the inevitable pinholes and sanding, and repeating as necessary. We've added a couple more coats of tinted epoxy, and we've blended and shaped the spray rails to Greg's satisfaction. We've been in sanding and fairing hell for over a year now. We started fairing in February 2006. By July, I was beginning to see the Law of Diminishing Returns kicking in. I'd say that by August of 2006, we were firmly in sanding and fairing hell.

Greg and I have discussed this in depth on several occasions. Greg is a perfectionist by nature. He wants things exactly right before we paint. I'm firmly convinced that the primer and paint will cover many of the imperfections we see now. I think that Greg is starting to come around to my way of thinking. But as I say this, I also acknowledge that some flaws we've corrected would not have been corrected by simply slapping a layer of paint on the hull. In the end, this is Greg's project, and I'm his assistant.

Greg has said that if he had things to do over again, he would not have built up the perfectly sharp chines. He doesn't think that the performance payoff will outweigh the amount of work we've put in as a direct result of the chines. I tend to agree. So if you're thinking about building a boat, skip the sharp chines.

Part of the issue is that Greg and I are both family men. We have pretty busy schedules, so we can only get a couple of hours per week to work on the boat. This naturally extends the project by an order of magnitude. When I get frustrated, I try to keep this all in perspective.

With all of that said, I went back today and looked at our pictures from January. It doesn't look a lot different, but there is a noticeable improvement in the hull. The tinted primer helps smooth things out. The spray rails are shaped and blended. Yeah, I really need to take a picture.

I'd also like to say hello to the newest member of my blog roll, Bruce Dillahunty at Craft-a-Craft.