Maiden Voyage

After a frenzied week at work last week, I finally got the boat looking the way it ought to.

The Pettit Dead Dry Grass was barely dry as my stepdad and I applied the camouflage. I cut sections of burlap, which were then tied to the shock cord around the cockpit. On top of that, we attached camo netting for a 3-D effect, then some Avery Killer Weed bundles interspersed with some Ghillie bundles of raffia.

The final product was very pleasing to me. Not so much the ducks.

We had a decent opener out west, but apparently slow by the guy's who had hunted there for years standards.

She rows like a dream, seems tough and sturdy and was plenty roomy and stable once I was all tucked into my spot.

my boat parked next to a Carsten's Mallard

the maiden voyage...

first duck of 2014

after a hard weekend of hunting

So she's a stealthy little craft. Now to figure out what my next project is going to be...

A Strong Finish??

Another beautiful fall weekend is nearly over. Spent Saturday having brunch and cocktails with my lady, Sunday I was up bright and early to get started on the topside.

I had to move the boat from my lakeside cottage after being rudely informed by the management of our lovely collection of lakeside cottages is in fact, “not a boat yard.”

Well no shit. Thank you, Fun Police.

So I set up shop at my dad's place while he is out of town. And then I threw a giant party. With epoxy.

I put some Interlux no-slip into the floor, seat and deck epoxy...it looks pretty sharp!

Next step: paint...

Fingers crossed, this all sets up correctly. I was thrown for a bit of a loop having to change venues this late in the game.

Weekend Update

The hull of the Pintail is about 85% complete. 

Spent Saturday sanding a little more, applying the last coat of epoxy and letting that cure overnight. Sunday I started in early scuffing the last coat of epoxy and putting the Gator Glide Gator Base primer on.

I had a little help, so the three coats went on quick and easy. The Gator Glide came with very detailed instructions as well as some YouTube links about applying the base and paint, so I felt pretty confident going into the process. Here is my Benny Hill style video of the beginning of the process.

I am really glad I got the primer on yesterday, since it has decided to go all cats and dogs today.

Plan for the week is to get the Gator Glide G4 paint applied after letting the base cure for 48 hours. Then it'll be time to:

• wash out the inside while the boat is still upside-down (drainage)
• re-coat the inside/cockpit with two coats of resin
• paint inside/cockpit of boat (haven't decided on a paint yet)
• re-finish & reinstall handles & hardware
• flip boat, 2 coats resin on deck, paint deck (haven't decided on a paint yet)
• install new shock cord through grommets
• go duck hunting

I have about a week and a half left to finish this up...Not nervous yet. I should be able to bang out the rest of this fairly quickly, as I have learned a lot from completely re-doing the hull.

Here's how she sits with the primer job complete. There are a couple spots that need to be evened out, but that should be no big deal.

A Big Weekend. Part Two.

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early to tackle the tiny mess I made for myself as the tray of epoxy I was using decided to cook off as I was applying it.

Lessons learned:

• Take the epoxied parts in sections. Don't try to do the whole thing in one shot.
• Apply fast, smooth out later.
• Don't worry about the little drips, fibers, etc., they'll sand right out.

So I sanded. And sanded. And sanded some more. First with the orbital, then going back in with a rubber block and 80 grit, then finally just using my hands and a sheet of wet/dry 80 grit.

First one half. Then the other. All the high spots blended in, the lip of the hull and deck sanded square, the keels both agonized over until they're mirror smooth.

Then it was all warshed down with water and a deck brush, left to dry and then wiped down with acetone. While it dried, I caught up on the Vikings game and got some texts from my good buddy about the shift in luck they had this morning on a passing flock over their blind. Sounds like they'll be cooking some Canada's soon!

Once the game was over, it was time to start the second coat of epoxy. I prepped everything laboriously, now knowing more of the exact proportion of barrier additive to resin, and also knowing it would be a lot smarter to do one half of the hull at a time instead of trying to cover everything with one coat.

It took 17 total fl. oz. of resin, hardener and barrier additive to fully cover one half of the hull. The coat went on much more evenly this time, as I worked everything in quickly, deciding to go back and smooth everything down once everything was laid down instead of trying to blast it all out at once.

After the other half was coated, I went back and touched up any pinholes or otherwise uncovered spots with a chip brush and leftover epoxy.

I then spent a good half hour going over the epoxy with a foam roller, smoothing things out as it got tacky, letting it level as much as it was going to. I have to say - the results of the second coat have me very satisfied. It should just take a once over with a sanding sponge to get this thing "Like New" smooth.

Blowhole secure.

That sucks. He'll forever be a passenger on "The Bad Kitty"

Front.

Back.

Aside from creating a gigantic fly strip, I am ready for the next steps of completing the hull. A quick sanding (to rid the surface of any errant high spots, dried up dead bugs, little fuzzies, etc.) washing and then applying the Gator Glide - which is now set to show up Wednesday. Perfect timing - it'll give this last coat a chance to cure. 

There are absolutely no visible scratches, crazing or blistering. I am very satisfied with the results of Sunday's efforts.