Key Largo Build in Charleston

[neel thompson]

Mick.... What exactly is epoxy/graphite? Looks interesting

[boisebrit]

Good job Mick looks great, will be following you on Saturday for the bottom of hull, glass and epoxy just arrived.

Bryan

[mickfly]

I mix graphite powder with the epoxy before applying. It is supposed to make the coating harder and reduce friction. I also added a black pigment, supplied by Raka epoxy, to even out the color. Also, Raka recommended I not use graphite for the wet out...so I just used black pigment for that, but now I’m up to five coats af graphite/epoxy on top of the glass.

[mickfly]

Finished glass and epoxy on the sides. There were a few blemishes...spots where the fabric showed...whitish...I sanded one back down to glass and recoated. It looked better. So...I taped off and sanded down eight other spots...then recoated about every two hours with epoxy...to build your it back up. Pictures show repairs after one coat of epoxy. I know most builders don't glass the sides but my boat will be used in salt water and might get some rough treatment.

[mickfly]

I have three coats of varnish (Captains) on the hull bottom and will stop after four. I've read that some builders put wax over the varnish. Suggestions about wax type/number of coats appreciated. I'm on schedule for the "flip" on October 7th. I've just got to get several coats of varnish on the sides and transom. One coat every day until then.

[mickfly]

pictures

[Bill Edmundson]

Nothing like a shiny bottom!

Bill

[rleete]

You're still talking about boats, right?

[mickfly]

October 7...Flip day. We had a BIG party, with about 50 friends. We had about 25 lifting and flipping (everyone wanted in) which made it super easy. Loaded “56” onto the custom built trailer...and rolled her back into the garage. Time to get back to work. I spent a few hours staring at the plans but there are a dozen different things to do.

[boisebrit]

Looks great congrats

[mrintense]

Nice, congratulations on the turn. Now comes more fun.

[mickfly]

I'm in the process of coating/encapsulating the inside planking and longitudinals with epoxy. I'm using clear epoxy on the sides, but I've seen several who have used bilge paint on the bottom planking. It makes sense to me to have paint on the bottom so I'll be able to see oil and other crud that is building up.

Question to those who have painted. Did you: first encapsulate with epoxy and then paint, paint the raw wood, or go with primer and paint?
The third option seems most logical to me. I assume that if you apply additional coats of paint within a reasonable amount of time (~24 hours), that you don't need to sand between coats?

[Aussie]

Hi,


If you are going to paint just make sure you finish all your inside framing and any epoxy glueing that you need. My old man painted the inside ( looks great) but had to remove paint on the areas he needed to epoxy joint on, just made antra work in the long run.

I used several coat of CPES then 2 coats of epoxy, no paint

Jamie

[mickfly]

Thanks for chiming in Jamie. I was planning to paint soon and didn't think about all the stuff I'll be attaching. For now, I'll just encapsulate with epoxy...and save the paint for later in the build.

I did a sabbatical in Queensland (Brisbane) in 1995. Loved the place and we're planning to go back in 2025...a 30 year gap.

[mickfly]

I've got my carlins and sheer filler strips in place. I'm about to start work on the cover boards. I noticed that the sheer/carlin sweeps upward from the stern, flattens, dips a bit, and then sweeps up again near where the cockpit will be... I've double checked frame lengths and everything seems right.

My question...do I allow the cover board to dip or do I put a straight edge on it...allowing the cover board to be thicker in the low area, thus removing some or all of the dip?