Change: The Only Constant

Change. I guess by definition, Change is not constant. Constants in mathematics and science do not change. But lately, it seems that the only "constant" about this project is change!

This morning I had a plan to have the boat ready for a trip to Oregon in April. Lots of time to finish the interior and get her painted. Then I learned of a local rowing and EBS (Elbow Bending Session, aka a get-together with other boat-builders involving adult beverages) being set up for mid-March. Well, last March I attended a similar gathering and received a good push toward starting this crazy process. I had told the guys I wanted to build a GIS, had the plans but recited a laundry list of "reasons" why I wasn't building my boat. One of them said, "Bob, do you want to build a boat or do you want to whine about not building a boat?" That prompted some discussion and I went home with a different perspective. A week later I was building my boat. So, it is important to me to attend this year's March row and EBS with my Karen Ann.

So, my plan early this morning was to get a couple of coats of primer on the exterior, turn the boat over, and get started on fitting out the interior. After finishing the interior, I would turn the boat over again to install the skids and paint the hull with the color coats. That has changed. In the interests of time, I am now thinking I'll install the skids, finish with the primer, and apply the color coats to the hull before turning the boat over.

And then... I went to the boat to get that next coat of primer applied... Big disappointment and set back.

I had faired the edge of the FG tape on the chine with thickened epoxy. It looked pretty good yesterday but I decided to apply a coat of epoxy to seal the fairing before painting. Today when I returned to the boat, I found the epoxy had run and sagged a bit. No worries, I'll just sand it out... except the epoxy had not set-up completely (about 18 hours) and it gummed up the sandpaper and crumbled into a bit of a mess. Wasting several sandpaper disks, I cleaned up as best I could and applied a coat of primer. That just emphasized the flaws... The hull is going to need a lot more work.

In the meantime, I am working on getting the skids ready to install.

I definitely want to take Karen Ann to the March row and EBS.