Glue the double bench plywood together

Today we sanded the two benches of the boat and set about gluing the pieces together. What we did was add a second layer of plywood to reinforce the benches so that we could cut out holes to be hatches.

Glassed joints for water storage compartment.

Today we added the fiberglass to the joints of the water storage compartment. Later we will add a fiberglass to cover the whole of the cockpit sole in order to give us a strong place to walk on when we're in the boat.

Finish cockpit cover and added last part of cockpit sole

Today we spent a large part of the morning fixing the wooden posts that will act as support for  our wooden cover.

We also set about doing the final polishing on the benches and their hatches. The next part of the work will involve the gluing the benches in place.

While unbolting the wood of the cover we had surprise. Turns out that one of the holes we drilled in the Iroko wood was not straight and while we were removing the bolt in it, the bolt actually broke instead of making a new path for itself through the wood. Though we were using marine grade stainless steel bolts. the metal turned out less strong than the wood as it came out completely bent and broken.

The last parts of the cockpit sole has been glued in place. This part took some time to add as the space underneath it will be used as a water storage compartment later on. It will also serve to stabilize the boat in case of choppy waters.

We also had a surprise in the afternoon as we found a book on our bookshelves called "Elementary Seamanship" that none of us had ever seen. We simply have no idea how we came to possess that particular book.

Cut and Polish new wood posts for the cover

Almost the whole day went into cutting and polishing the wooden posts that will later hold the cockpit cover up. We cut the posts from a big log of a wood walled "Iroko". It also known as the "African Teak" as it is a very tough and good quality wood.

We can confirm the toughness of it as our handsaw we were using ended completely blunt by the end of the day.

Glassing top part of cockpit cover

Today we added fiberglass(200g/m2) to the top of the cockpit cover and rounded its corners. This part will later hold our solar panel once the boat is in the sea.

FIletting of the joints of cockpit cover

Today dad has been busy adding fillet of glue to the edges of the cockpit cover in order to glue it into one piece. The inside has been epoxied to make it resist water but no fiberglass was added as it will not be subjected to any harsh treatment.

Preparing cockpit cover

Today we prepared the wooden structure for the cover of our boat's cockpit. The whole structure is now holding up with small nails and dad will start to glue them together as from tomorrow.

The wooden structure

Preparing the plywood roof

whole structure holding up

lots of joints to glue and glass

Cutting of part of trunk

TOday we had a little help again from my cousin Noor. Dad had received a part of a trunk of a tree called "Bois Noir". The plant is a hard wood and has a very solid core of reddish wood. Dad intends to use this wood to make wooden cleats for tying the boat to pontoons, etc.

In order to cut this trunk, Noor brought his chain saw and within an hour the trunk was cut into slabs as shown below.

Slabs left to dry.

Glueing the arch

Today we glued the arch inside of the cabin that will help the roof to keep it curve. This part will also add strength to the cabin roof and allow us to sit on it while fishing once the boat is in the water. We had to place long wooden structures to act as scaffolding.

Glassing of inside of cupboard

Today dad fiberglassed the wood parts that will later become the front cabin cupboard. He also added a small triangle of wood to make the lowermost compartment of the cupboard become water tight.

Preparing of front part cupboard

The front end of the boat, underneath the part where the anchor will usually be stored, will be used as a cupboard to store our stuff when we're at sea.

Fiberglassing of joints of cabin roof inside and out

We set about glassing the joints of the cabin sides and roof today. The whole day went into it. The outside parts were quite straightforward. However, the inside ones were quite another story. Gluing fiberglass upside down is really slow work and the glue simply wants to drip rather than hold up.

However, now we are absolutely sure about the strength of the boat and we will not be afraid when sitting on the cabin edges to fish once we're on the sea.

Putting other glue points and removing cable-ties

Today we removed the cable-ties of the cabin roof and then sanded them down to a smooth finish.

Cable ties trimmed down. Batteries added to make the cabin keep its curves

My neighbor who regularly comes to see the boat.

Cable ties removed and boat sanded.

 However, once we had the top sanded and ready to go along with the construction, we had a nasty shock. It turns out that since we had glassed the inside of the roof before putting it in place, it has become rather rigid and didn't make the beautiful curve expected anymore. 

So we set about cutting out an arch from half inch plywood to help it up. We in fact cut out two of them and nailed them together. Then we put them in place inside of the cabin.

Arch visible fixed to the roof with nails.

Putting glue points to cabin roof

The fiberglass of the joints have taken quite well. We added these to give extra strength to the cabin sole. IN case of collision with rocks, the front will be extremely strong.

Glassed Joints

We then set about preparing glue and adding "Glue points" to the cabin edges in order for it to hold up with its own strength so that we can remove cable-ties.