Finishing the bow and stern motor compartment

 Okay a few boat updates.. got the forward compartments in bow finished. Starting to paint starboard and port bow seam seating areas. I will tape up with painters tape and properly edge on the second coat and most likely add some trim. The bow trailer support is in place. I have the stern motor well framed in fully and finished the underneath.. just need to sand and varnish etc...the final topcoats.. cut drainage whole and add aluminum plates.

Also added a bow support on the trailer:

Dry Fitting Cabin Sides

 So they next step was to dry fit the cabin sides, this also helps us determine how the frame goes together.

Framing time!

Time to begin on the bow and stern framing. Making sure everything is square. In addition cutting out the supports for the motor well and adding the extra strength to the transom! In our build we plan to beef up the bow areas, for boarding and an anchor winch.

rding and an anchor winch.

Fixing the messy filets

 Well... making progress.. sort of... fixing some issues. I have the seams taped and now just need to fix some drips and some bad fillets.. and finish filleting. I"ve spent this rainy Canada day mostly sanding.. and scraping. When I first tried fillets I used the Dairy Queen spoon method.. and just like eating a peanut buster parfait made a big mess.. so now I am sanding and carefully scraping it much nicer. I also need to sand and coat the sides.. Not sure why I didn't do this on the work bench, but i think it was because I had an epoxy that was too thick and, more suited for glue up and laminating then sealing and coating. Anyways, that will wait for a drier day... The biggest issue is sitting in the boat and wanting to make motorboat sounds.... hopefully next Canada Day I can be out.. Peace out and be excellent!!! — feeling optimistic.

Never Ending Filets!

This boat requires the seams are "filleted" which provides stiffness and strength. Some of the filets like in the corners of the hull segments are more structural than others and requires a wide fillet.

There a different methods of doing fillets, I had up to this point been using the back of the spoon method, spreading the fillet with a putty knofe and then smoothing it into a large radius with the back of a DQ Spoon.

The method is shown in this video:

Howe, there are literally miles and miles of filets in this build, and now that the boat is flipped I have several small filets to do. There has to be an easier way!

Since I flipped my boat, I went to my local shop, and found the West System refillable caulking tubes for $3.99 (CDN) or about $3 (USD) a tube.

(I was actually going there to pick up some Interfibe to mix in with the wood flour for the fillet mix)

I filled them about 5/8 - 3/4 full with a slow setting fillet mixture. I did not cut the ends off like in the article. But I can say this is working great! It takes a few minutes to spoon in the mixture with a plastic spoon. I use a coffee can to hold the tube upright while I spoon it in, and let the mixture settle a couple minutes.

Pushing out the cap when you are done can be a little tricky, but isn't too hard. I poked a hole in a couple caps tapping them out with a rod.. but I have been able to patch them, and re-use it no problems. It hasn't been a big deal.

Another method imvolves using an air compressor, and simply using a blowtip to push the cap out using compressed air.. voila!

For those larger filleting jobs, I have to say this method is super clean, and easy - a little bit of setup and take down time.. but to be honest.. I am loving it...

Faster, Neater Fillets

https://www.epoxyworks.com/index.php/faster-neater-fillets/?fbclid=IwAR3Q-BnJy5E0Z1M4Spnzo4P3V4gNcIUrLwITCnfW9iCMHLVQFRSOrn6s-YQ

Rain protection - a roof for the hull!

 Now that the hull is flipped, needed to put on a cover to keep the rain out! I setup a cheap "awning" that I got from my local Canadian Tire. The awning is weighted down with bags of sand.

The great flipover!

 Today was a very exciting day! The Mystnyx mini-houseboat got flipped and placed on her trailer. Sequoia Cranes did an amazing job in less than an hour... from moving the trailer, to the flip, to having her in the driveway.

First up... was moving the trailer from the yard and getting it into position in the driveway for the boat to sit on. That went like butter. I think it took about a minute... it was neat seeing it lifted... and plopped down right where I wanted it.. the crane operator had a remote control.. so he could be right where the action was.

A COVID-19 flip.. not the way I originally planned, but it was from upside down to on the trailer in under an hour. It cost me about $145USD. But it is really nice having it setting on the trailer .. so she can get finished.. considering the trailer move and all that.. it was worth it! We can all celebrate once the restrictions are lifted!