Most of this week was spent preping the dingy for painting. Lots of finishing sanding and a few more touch up with the filler. I got one coat of primer on Sunday. Always hate the way the first coat looks when it goes on, but after the second, it should start looking nice.

The pictures are of the mast steps and mast partners we made two weeks ago.

Amy got her recipe for “Scurvey Chicken published in the June edition of Lattiudes and Attiudes magazine. This is her second article and she is going to buy a presure cooker with the money she made from the article. Yay!

I just got back from Halifax on Friday night. It was a good trip. Ryan and I finished the mast step and mast partners. We had to roll 1/4″ plate and weld them up into tubes and then bend 3/4″ round bar around the lips. They look beefy and strong. We spend sometime on the drive shaft, had to get a cotter pin hole drilled and make a key bar. We got the prop back on and the drive shaft put in the boat, and then needed a 5/16″ key bar for the coupling. Next time. In the engine room, we drilled some holes and got the electrical and plumbing traces put in. Ryan’s been slowing putting up the fiberglass walls in the engine room and it looks good. On our last day we started cleaning up some of the booms, putting the end caps on and such. Oh yeah, we also got all the anodes on the boat.

Tesha is still on hold awaiting my next trip up to Halifax. Until then, Amy and I continue to work on Tesha’s dingy. This week was about the gunwales. After finishing the gunwale template, Henry and I when to Home Depot selected a nice piece of pine for the gunwales. I rough cut one rail and promptly broke it bending it on. That was a little frustrating. Luckily I had enough pine for two more, which I cut out and shaped, while Amy sanded and sanded. We went out to the lake for a sail on Saturday night and before we left, I sunk the two new rails down to bottom of Lake Travis under our dock. ~5 hours at 40ft limbered them up nicely and they bend right on. I’ll let them dry for the week and then screw and glue next weekend. Amy cleaned up the aft locker while I put some moulding on. Her epoxy work is excellent.

Still sanding. I thought I was to going to wrap up the sanding this week, but no, it goes on. Amy and I did get the aft locker in and blocked the mast step. I also started the gunwale template.

I’ve moved onto the inside and am sanding and sanding. Had to forgo the mouse in the tight spots, but the end it near. Although, the more I sand, the more fairing filler I seem to need. Started making a template for the gunwales. Ordered and received the pindles for the rudder. Can’t wait to get up to Halifax and do some proper work.

Still just working on the dingy while I save some money for Tesha work, so things are moving slowly on that front.

This last weekend, Amy and I flipped the dingy back over after sanding down the skag fillets. I spent a few hours sanding, and only got about 1/3 the inside sanded. Don’t know what I would do without the Black and Decker Mouse.

For some reason, I was a little intimadated about the skegs this week. The template I made last week as good as I could hope for, it fit perfectly. But I still procasted all week. On Friday I forced myself into the shop and rough cut both skegs to a millimeter of the template. Then I clamped the template to each in turn and routed them. They both fit the bottom perflectly, didn’t have to tiddy them up at all. I used the 1/2″ round over bit on the outside edge.

On Saturday, Amy and I drilled all the holes and dry fitted them. Then off they came. I mixed up a bag of thickened epoxy and laided down a thick bead right long the skeg center line. I then pressed the skeg in the epoxy set home all the screws. I shaped up the epoxy on the outside with a spoon.

On Sunday, I went back to fairing the sides and put down layer of fairing epoxy along the sides of the skegs. I think the look great, and no drama!

To fair the bottom or not to fair. If you start fairing, then you must continue to fair till you reach some threshold of fairness that you deem fair enough. Apparently, I have not reached that fairness yet, which is maybe a good thing for I need to install a pair of skegs and determined I should do it before I finish fairing the bottom. So, this weekend, I faired, and faired, and faired, and a cut skeg template. Luckily, I have the right size pieces of mahogony leftover for a pair of skegs. Of course, they’ll have to be fair.

The capstan (Maxwell 2200) and chain (400′ of 3/8 HT) arrived this week at YachtSmiths. Brian snapped a few quick pics to post. Don’t worry not all that chain is going into the bow.

Amy and I have faired the bottom of the dingy. I thought we were done then I realized I still have to add skegs to the bottom. Luckily, I have a nice straight piece of mahogony for it.