"Glassing" the Centerboard

Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010. I hope Bin Laden is having a miserable day.

In a small way I sympathize with T. E. Lawrence. After writing Seven Pillars of Wisdom he left the manuscript on a subway and didn't get it back. He wrote it all over again but said the first version was better. I wrote today's post, but instead of publishing it I somehow hit the wrong key and lost what I had written. Compared to Lawrence, not a big deal.

I started today by mixing up some epoxy filler and filled the bolt holes for the mast clamp, some imperfections in the mast, and some spots in the centerboard where the two layers of 12mm plywood had left a crack between them. If I had been thinking, I would also have filled the screw holes in the keelson.

While the filler was still wet I covered one side of the centerboard with polyester fabric and wet it out with epoxy, wrapping the fabric around the edges. In the picture you can see the marks I made to keep track of the pivot pin location. After the epoxy "kicked" (doesn't take long in 95 degree heat) I turned the board over and covered the other side with a layer of fabric, making a double layer in the edges in most places. When that second layer set up, I put a third layer on the bottom edge of the board for extra protection, since that edge will be the first thing to run aground.


The weave of the fabric is still prominent after the epoxy cures, so there will still be filling and sanding needed before the board is done.

I can foresee it will take a lot of epoxy to cover the bottom and topsides with the same xynole polyester fabric, but the fabric does stretch and bend around corners well, and gives the boat good abrasion resistance. The boat will be strong and durable, but not light. One of the sailmakers I spoke with asked for the boat's displacement, and I had no answer. What does a boat weigh which I haven't finished building yet? The tonnage formula, which has nothing to do with weight, really, workes out to an enclosed volume of 70 sq. ft. and 0.35 tons, or 700 lbs. I know the boat won't weigh that much. A fully decked 19' Lightning with a steel centerboard weigs 700 or 800 lbs. We'll just have to weight (sorry, couldn't resist) and see. I have not taken any special pains to keep weight down. For one thing, I suspect the sail plan was designed for a heavier boat. For another, I don't plan to be picking it up.

I also started making the mast step today. More about that in the next post.

The rudder is moving toward the top of the priority list. I cut out the two outside layers of 6mm plywood last spring, but I need to make a solid wood core with tabs extending out the top which will fit into the tiller.

One puzzle I did solve was how to mount the rudder to the sternpost. Standard gudgeons are made to either fit flat against a transom or wrap around a keel. Neither would fit on the sternpost. After a lot of searching online I found and bought gudgeons which mount vertically. Now all I need is a rudder to mount them to.

The core of the rudder is just one more part for which I need the thickness planer back from the repair shop. Probably won't run out of projects while I wait for it, but if I do I'll just go sailing. Who's going to fire me?