Rubrails Part II

Tonight we screwed the second rubrail on the side of the pram. This one went on a little easier, but it didn't twist quite as nicely as the first one did. We had to put an extra screw in the very last position at the bow transom to hold it tight against the shear strake.


This morning, I took the clamps off the first rub rail sanded everything smooth. Now we will do the seats. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we are puting off making the sailing parts until next winter in the interest of getting her in the water this summer.

Knees and Rails

This weekend we made some real progress on the pram. We had installed the stern corner knees during the week and on Sunday we worked on the bow knees. As you can see below, we got those all done before we broke for lunch.


Next we began drilling the screw holes for the oak rub rails. That involved drilling holes from the outside into the knees on each end and from the inside out into the rails for the sides of the boat. Then we countersunk all the screw holes. Below, John is drilling near the bow knees.


Next, I mixed up a batch of epoxy and spread it onto both mating surfaces. We worked along the side of the boat clamping and putting in screws until we had them all fastened in tight. Then we cut off the remaining lengths of rail at each rail and I sanded them smooth. Below, you see our sea of clamps holding the whole project together until the epoxy hardens.

Slow Progress

The past several weeks most of our free time has been devoted to getting boats ready to go in the water and mowing the lawn. I have had some time to work on the inside of the pram and have managed to smooth all the places that needed smoothing and get one barrier coat of epoxy on the inside. We cut the sculling groove in the stern transom and drilled the hole in the bow transom through which the bow painter will be threaded. I have put one coat of varnish on the knees and will fine sand it for another one as soon as time allows. We have ripped the rub rails out of a piece of oak and bent them around the side of the boat to see how they are going to fit. They have been set aside to await installation.

Launch date for Whitecap is on Sunday June 21st so at least that part will be done and we can devote a little time to the pram. If it doesn't stop raining, we will have plenty of time to work on her.

Barrier Coating

Yesterday I did some more hole filling and smoothing on the outside of the pram. Today I was able to sand all that smooth. I also cleaned up a lot of sawdust from the cellar floor. I decided to paint one barrier coat on the mahogany knees so they could be soaking in and drying. I did that and they looked mighty pretty when I got done.

Then tonight I rolled a barrier coat of epoxy onto the outside of the pram. This process really worked better than I expected it to. I was able to get a thin enough coat with the roller so it went on smoothly and I didn't have the problem with drips that I have had while putting the stuff on with a brush. I will do another coat when that one is about as tacky as masking tape, probably tomorrow night. She looks like a honey nut now. After I get two or perhaps three barrier coats of epoxy on, I will go over the outside with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth things up and she will be ready for three coats of paint. I have read an article on painting wooden boats (in Wooden Boat magazine I think) and I think I will try the process outlined in the article. More on that later.