Week 5 - The Hull is Foamed

This week saw the biggest leap forward with the hull skin fully in place. It was a relentless week of pushing forward every day but at the end of every day the progress was satisfying to see and a real buzz of interest from around the workshop with everyone saying that Foam is the Future!

We cut and fitted the largest boards to take in the waterline on Monday and then cut the remainder of our stock material on Tuesday into strips to strip plank the remainder of the hull over the rest of the week. The foam really took the shape of the hull beautifully and the finished hull has very pleasing lines. We found that Station 2 was a bit hit and miss to the fairing of the foam in one small section but was soon sorted with cable ties and a network of wires pulling and tensioning it fairly into place under the hull. Friday saw the greatest leap with the final sacraficial planks put in place and the stem laminated on and then we worked late into the evening skimming a first fill layer of glass bubbles to the all the holes left by the screws to fix on at each station.

Next week is a break at the Academy from Boat Building when we have a week of Oar and Paddle making. I will be making a paddle out of Spruce and Sapelle for the Haven to use when the wind dies and maybe there will be some time to make a boom for the mast towards the end of the week. Hopefully during the evenings I will also get some more filling and fairing done.