It’s Friday, Day 6 of my experience here at The WoodenBoat School. We have fiber glassed the shell of the hull and are excited to pop it off the strongback and then start working on the inside of the boat. I can already predict a lot of sanding. We did much the same as yesterday; faired the hull, filled holes and voids, sanded with 80-grit sandpaper, fit the fiberglass cloth and did a final fill on the fiberglass.
There were several learning experiences regarding fairing which many perfectionists would appreciate (me being one of them!). It’s not perfect until it's perfect. 38 strips of cedar need to feel as one by line of sight, touch and experience. You know when you know it’s right. I cannot explain it any other way. After we all agreed that we will be here all summer if we did not stop, we all agreed that enough was enough and the hull was smooth enough to be done. We dry-fitted the inside with fiberglass and did the final fill and sanding. We will glass the inside tomorrow morning and close up our week by noon. There will be a few more hours (about 50 man hours) to finish a boat of this size. I’ll finish up tomorrow with the closing details.
It has been a wonderful experience. We held the traditional Friday night Lobster Boil at the boathouse for the students and staff. We had approximately 80 friends show up that were not friends on Sunday night. It’s a special place with wonderful people.
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