Progress Continues!

I have put hours and hours into the boat and made a lot of progress but not much to show.  Now that all the fillets are done in the bilge, I have acquired the skills and know how to do a pretty good job...a little late now.  The nice thing about fillets and fiberglass, is that if you are not particularly proficient you can always recover, if sanding does not bother you.  I have done a lot of sanding and have a lot to go...

There are times when I look at my work and think, "wow... this is not looking so good".  I remember feeling that way a lot when building my kayaks but in the end I was happy with the results.

This was my first attempt a large fiberglass job on my first boat.

Kayaks are fun but I am ready to harness some wind and leave the paddle at home.

Another picture to prove it floats!

I may not look like much but there are many hours of work from the last pictures of the Pocketship  and this picture below.  It is in the "ugly stage" for sure, but I am happy with the way things are turning out so far.  This area will be under the floorboards and will not be seen.

The bilge before a couple of fill coats of epoxy and more hours of sanding.

Before wetting out the fiberglass cloth with resin in the locker area.

Future Pocketship builders, note the clamps holding the cleat on bulkhead 7.  It is there just temporarily without glue to protect the fragile bulkhead.

I guess I need a complaint section in this post so here it is...my left are is killing me.   I find myself in all kinds of contorted positions  to the sanding of the bulkheads and fillets.  Many times I find I must sanding left handed.  This is really not a problem, my sister is left handed and I believe I may harbor some of these tendencies myself, but I guess the muscles and tendons are not up to the abuse.  Another problem I have is after I climb into the bilge to do some work I always forget at least one tool or the power tool I about to use is not plugged in.  Climbing in and out is not easy.  Ok, the complaint department is closed...

Only one more small area to glass and then work on the soul (floorboards) will begin.  I have been looking forward to doing the the next stage of construction since before I received the kit and I all I had was Pocketship blogs on the interweb to read.

The blogs I have read have been invaluable in inspiration, motivation and great information for the build.  The consensus of the blogs seems to be that I am about to complete the most dreaded parts of the build.  If this is the worst, bring on the rest of the construction!  I am having a blast and have loved every step along the way.