Now that the epoxy had cured overnight, I removed the rest of the masking from the rowlock risers.

Next, I turned to the rudder case.  Before disassembling the dry-fitted parts, I noted the reason why it was unimportant that the fiberglass sheathing on the insides of the side panels didn’t have to extend to the tips:  the area was completely contained within the area covered by the internal plywood spacer.

I disassembled the clamped-up parts and pulled the alignment nails, leaving their tips just poking out through the plywood to aid in aligning the center spacer.  Then, I applied epoxy gluing mix to the spacer and installed it on one of the cheeks (facing up on the bench), then applied glue to the other side and installed the second panel, tapping in all the alignment nails, ensuring the parts were visually and by touch, and then clamped the pieces securely.

I didn’t overdo it with the epoxy, using enough without too much of a surfeit, and now I cleaned up the narrow interior of the assembly with a dry brush to remove the minimal epoxy that had squeezed out on the inside; the way the assembly worked, the interior had to remain clean and clear for the rudder to fit and operate properly.  I checked carefully with a strong light shone into the space to ensure it was clear.  At the top of the case, where the tiller would eventually go, I smoothed the excess squeeze out into a small fillet on each side.

I left the rudder case securely clamped to cure overnight or longer.

To begin, I finished removing the masking tape from the new foot cleats.

Next, I worked on the layout and preparation to install the rowlock risers.  These were centered 2″ and 22″ on each side aft of the bulkhead in the after hull section, and at these points I installed two layers of masking tape to cover the gunwales, and marked at the appropriate measurement using a straight ruler as shown in the book.  Then, I marked a line in 13/16″ from the gunwale edge to center the risers longitudinally.

I masked off the risers, and, with each one in turn clamped in place properly aligned with its two centering marks, used a knife to cut the gunwale masking tape along the outline of the riser.

I epoxied the risers in place with the usual thickened mixture–no clamps required.  I carefully cleaned up the squeezeout from around each riser and let them be to partially cure.

Several hours later, the risers had cured enough that I could remove the tape from the gunwales, but I wouldn’t remove the tape from the risers themselves till the epoxy had fully cured overnight.

I dry-assembled the rudder case parts so I could drive alignment nails (for use during final glue-up) and check the fit of the now-completed rudder in the assembly.  First, I clamped the two plywood halves together and drilled the 1/4″ through-holes at the two locations (one for mounting the rudder, the other for the tiller).  Then I inserted the rudder in the space–it fit with only a slight friction, which I felt was correct–and, with a drill bit inserted through the hinge pin hole, checked its general orientation and operation, all of which seemed good.  The tiller as is fit nicely in the upper section of the rudder case, which meant that now I could go ahead and varnish the tiller to complete it.

I was tempted after the dry fit to go ahead and glue up the three parts of the rudder case, but it promised to be a fairly fussy process and, as I’d used up my self-allotted time for the day, I didn’t want to feel rushed through the process (there’d be a bit of fiddly glue cleanup inside the case itself), so I left the final assembly for next time.

While there were still small jobs to do, I allowed myself an hour or two first thing in the morning to accomplish what I could before shifting focus to my other ongoing project.  To begin, I flipped the foils over and applied a gloss coat of epoxy to the second side, same as the first.

Next, I worked on the rowing foot braces.  The kit came with a paper template to locate the braces, which I used quickly to locate four large patches of masking tape on each side, then replaced the template so I could accurately mark the locations with little marks at the four corners of each slot.  I repeated this process on both sides of the boat.  I held each of the eight braces in place and cut around the base with a knife, so that I could remove the tape from the footprint.  I labeled each foot brace and location accordingly.

I masked each brace completely for protection, then installed them in a thickened epoxy mixture, cleaning up the excess glue but leaving all the tape in place for the moment.

After a few hours, I carefully removed the tape from the hull, but left the tape in place on the braces themselves as I didn’t want to jar the still-curing epoxy.  I left the braces to cure overnight, and would remove the remaining tape in the morning.

 

Now that both sides of the foils were fill coated and cured, I could trim the excess fiberglass from the second side, and finalize the sanding and shaping of both pieces.  I sanded the glossy epoxy flat and smooth with a sanding block and finessed the edges by hand (especially the leading edge) to achieve the final shape.

Before continuing, I checked the daggerboard to ensure it fit in the slot.  There was as yet nothing to hold it in place, so I had to hold it while doing the check, but the board fit through both ends of the slot with no issued whatever.

Now, I applied a final gloss coat of epoxy to the first side; I’d do the second side on a different day.

I lightly sanded the outboard mounting area to smooth the epoxy fill coat and complete the construction work there.

The rudder and daggerboard required some preparation before I could install the fiberglass on the second side.  To begin, I used a knife trimmed the excess cloth from the first side.

The leading edge required some sanding and shaping to finalize the profile and bevel and slightly round the epoxy bead I’d installed from the first side.  This wasn’t difficult and didn’t take long, but one could see how it might easily be done incorrectly, as the job required a certain sense of what the shape should be and how to create it.  I masked the plywood to help gauge where the sanding was occurring, and used a small sanding block to bevel and shape the epoxy leading edge, sweetening it by hand thereafter.  Around the remainder of both foils, I lightly sanded flush the remnants after I’d cut away the excess cloth, and sanded the top edge of the cloth where it wrapped onto the plywood edges at the 18mm thick top sections of each foil.

I sheathed the second side of the foils the same way as the first, with one layer of 4 oz. cloth and, on the daggerboard, a second layer at the top, which extended an inch or two down onto the hydrofoil.  The cloth wrapped over the edges of the full-thickness portion of each foil, extending well past the seam from the first side.  As before, I let the excess cloth on the leading edge side drape well past the curve to help the fiberglass cling to the newly-shaped area as required.

In other works, I trimmed and lightly sanded the sheathing I’d installed over the outboard modification at the transom, and then fill-coated the area to fill the weave of the cloth, essentially finishing up the work on this area.

The bulk of the small parts now had enough varnish for installation, but the top, visible side of the aft seat still required a few sprayed coats, which I finished up during the day.

Later in the day, when the fiberglass on the foils had had about 5 hours’ cure time, I returned to apply the epoxy fill coat to both parts, rolling on a thick coat of epoxy to fill the weave of the cloth and prepare the second side for eventual sanding and final fairing.

Starting first thing, and throughout the morning, I applied a few more coats of varnish to the small parts using a small sprayer; this time around, I flipped the seat blank so the final exposed side was now facing up to get some varnish, as the underside was sufficiently coated for now.

Fifth coat (first on seat blank):

Sixth coat (second on seat blank):

Seventh coat (third on seat blank):

The next step for the daggerboard and rudder was to inject a bead of epoxy into the little void along the leading edges of both foils.  The shape of the leading edge, and the way the fiberglass draped over the edge (with no attempts made to wrap it beneath the rounded edge) left an small open space that was visible with the foils turned over onto their recently-glassed sides.

With a syringe, I injected a bead of thickened epoxy mixture into this void, including along the tips of the foils.  This bead filled the small space till it was flush with the top edge of the curved leading edge.  I lightly smoothed the bead with a finger to avoid leaving too much epoxy, as I’d have to sand and shape this area later, before installing fiberglass on the second side.

With the foils turned back over to the working side (glass side up), the purpose of the filling was made more clear.

Next, I rolled on a nice fill coat on the new fiberglass, heavily enough that there’d be no problem to sand and fair the foils smooth when all was said and done.

I trimmed the overhanging fiberglass from the rudder case spacer piece, and sanded flush the four filled holes in the two case sides (one hole leaked out around the tape at the bottom, so I added some extra filler now).  Then, I installed a layer of 4-oz fiberglass over each plywood panel; the fiberglass as cut to the prescribed size didn’t cover the lowest parts of the case, and the book made it clear it was not necessary.  I also installed a 2″ wide strip of 4 oz. cloth over the curvy edge of the spacer; this wrapped under and onto the straight edge by under an inch on each end..

I sanded flush the newly-glued plywood outboard mounting reinforcement, and cleaned up the fillets and around the part as needed to bring things to a more finished appearance.

Next, I installed a layer of 4 oz. fiberglass over the vertical face, which replicated a similar piece I’d installed on the original inwale and would also help toughen and reinforce the outboard mounting area.  With leftover epoxy, which I turned into a fairing mix, I cleaned up the fillets a bit to improve appearance.  I let the fiberglass run over the various edges for later trimming.

Most of the remaining parts of the boat were now in play and under some form of construction or finishing at this point, and there was literally nothing left to do while waiting for fiberglass or epoxy to cure, or varnish to dry.   I planned to come in on the weekend to continue the varnish buildup as necessary, and to glass and coat the second side of the daggerboard and rudder, but there was no further project advancement possible at the moment–and I looked through both manuals for anything at all that I might be able to do right now.

I’d enjoyed being able to dedicate full-time to the building of this dinghy till now, without too many forced early departures, but the construction was now at a stage where there simply wasn’t enough left to do in order to justify full shop days’ attention.  Plus, other scheduled projects in the shop loomed ahead and needed to get started, so this would be the last week dedicated entirely to the dinghy.  From here on out, I’d divide my time between this and other projects as needed in order to finish the boat.  This is a rough list of what remains to be done, construction-wise, vaguely in order of operation:

1. Install rowing foot cleats and rowlock risers
2. Final work on the outboard modification
3. Finish glasswork and prep on the daggerboard and rudder, and associated parts
4. Interior prep, primer, and paint
5. Exterior prep, primer, and paint
6. Rubrail
7. Final details like rudder hardware, fitting the aft seat and daggerboard slot cover, protective pads for nesting, and fitting the forward hatch