Mascot - Tididi Bear

The boats mascot is a teddy bear - obviously then named "Tididi Bear" - which was made by my sister Maureen. She makes and sells teddy bears dressed to suit any occasion or theme.

Filling of Joints almost complete

Joints in the foreground have been filled and sanded in the picture above.

All of the joints have now been filled except for the one that runs from stem to stern over the keelson and stem post. Some of these have already been sanded and finished and those that were filled this past weekend will be finished off this coming weekend. Joints are filled with a paste made by mixing epoxy with a graded teak flour (sawdust), which I get from Roy at CKD Boats. All that still remains to be filled are all the screw holes before final sanding.

Planning for the Turning.

Things are progressing well at the moment and planning and preparation for the turning are already afoot. Filling and finishing of all the joints and holes should be completed by the end of next week, and I have already started stripping and removing parts of the building stocks, some of which will be used to make the cradle and also skids for the turning. All that then remains after the filling is completed is to fit the packing blocks for the keel and skeg and then seal the hull.

Planking Finished.

At 16h35 this afternoon after a day of perfect weather, which was one of quite a few over the past two weeks, I finally fitted the last panel to the hull which completes the planking. This was one of 216 panels which went into planking the hull. All that remains now before turning is to fill all the gaps and screwholes, fit the packing blocks to take the keel and rudder skeg and then seal the entire hull with epoxy.

Slow progress on second layer

With the rainy season well and truly upon us, it has been slow going with gluing the second layer. I was hoping to have had this completed before the rains came, but unfortunately did not make it. However there have been a few gaps in the weather which have allowed some progress and there is only about two thirds of the bottom which remains to have the second layer glued. Hoping to have this completed by the end of next week so that I can do all the filling and sealing before the end of June.