Kindly Old Dr. K’s Hydrosphere

Modifying the cockpit and creating a completely new cockpit rim proved to be considerable work, but I think it will work well on the water.  The cockpit rim is about ten layers of all glass, laid up of many small pieces to fit the radical curves inherent in the shape.  As a result, when the resin hardens you end up with a nice smooth part surrounded by ragged, spiky edges.  This stage of the boat-buildng project is characterized by cutting and sanding, followed by more sanding.  Then you sand some more. This  is one of the least fun parts; it consists of lots of repetitive, messy tasks.

The photos below show some of the process.  There are also some pix of odds and ends that need to be done before putting the two halves together.

The cured and trimmed new cockpit rim sits on the trimmed deck, ready for installation.

The new rim installed on to the deck.  Tape masks the rim from the visible drips and holds the rim in place while the installation sets up.  The rim is glassed to the deck with about eight layers, forming a chimney bonded to both the deck and to the new cockpit rim.

The glass bonding the rim and hull wraps around the edge of the hole in the deck and forms a thick rim around the edge.  Just like the construction of the rim, the radical curves require cutting dozens of small pieces of glass to fit the sharp curves.  Tedious.

Grab loops consist of short lengths of 1/2 inch poly rope glassed into holes on a factory-molded deck recess.

The grab loops are knotted on the inside of the deck and glassed in place to seal the holes.

The deck and hull have little glass tabs to guide installation of the reinforcing minicell walls and help prevent the walls from slipping sideways inside the boat.  Walls are even more important for strength and safety in glass boats than they are in plastic boats.  The tabs here are covered wax paper to help hold them in place while the resin cures.

Here’s what happens if you mix a little too much resin and leave it in the pot.  If you have too much mixed resin in one place the exothermic reaction can start to run away, the heating causes the reaction to go faster, which causes more heat, etc.  If you look carefully you can see smoke curling out of the plastic container.  If you do this with a big enough pot of resin it can actually burst into flame.

Next step:  seaming the halves together.