It worked!!

I pulled the deck mold off the plug and the vinyl peeled off easily, leaving a smooth finish!

The next step is build the splash board mold, which will form a base, and connect this part to it. That's this weekend's job.

Forming the Rowing Deck Mold

This sketch is a concept drawing of the mold for the rowing deck. Of course it is a negative so that when the carbon fiber is formed onto it, it will form a positive with the finished side against the mold.

To form the mold, you need to start with a positive shape, or what's called a plug. I debated building a plug, but then decided that I could use the boat as the basis for it. I used styrofoam board to form the decks and sloped transition surfaces, all held temporarily in place with masking and duct tape. The location of these are critical parts of the boat design.


The mold surface is going to be made of fiberglass, which I have to cast onto the plug. I got stuck for awhile trying to figure out how to ensure that the fiberglass mold would let go of the plug. I discovered thru experiment that fiberglass releases easily from clear vinyl, so I lined the plug with window-vinyl. Because it's see-thru, it is handy material for this work!

Then I laid 6oz glass over top and applied epoxy resin.

Today I checked the result...


...so far, so good!

RIP Kaschper Serial No. 79110

Today I stripped the hardware from my first scull - a Kaschper double that I rebuilt in 1998, and burnt what remained of her shell. I learned many things from this boat and she served me well. Like the Jack Johnson song says, "One goes out, one comes in." RIP.















On a brighter note, I also laid the base layer of glass for the mold for my carbon fiber rowing deck. Photos and details to come.....

I'm glad spring is finally here. S

At it again!!

Got the wonderful idea (thank you Rick!) to continue building in our rental house while it is unoccupied. That gives me a head-start on the warm weather. I set up the strongback with negative forms and moved her in last weekend. Now I'm preparing the plug so that I can cast the mould for the rowing deck. Here are a few pics...

Prepping for hibernation?

Well, it has been awhile since any meaningful progress has been made on the boat, except that she's been moved into storage in my barn, tops and bottom fitted onto the form and all wrapped in plastic. I took some time off and Rick and I headed to Italy for 2 weeks, which was wonderful! This winter I will be able to work on the rowing deck form and carbon fiber casting in our workshop as it is only about 9ft long, but I don't expect to get started on that until the new year. I'll also have time to order in all the hardware that I require....including the rigging with quick-release that I'm lusting after from Australia. A rest is good.

Pop the hull off! First look.

This weekend was spent attaching the splashboards and laying the glass on the outside of the hull. Today I could pop her off the form. What a thrill! I need a scale, but I reckon the hull is between 6 and 8lbs, so with the 2 decks, the boat is currently still under 10lbs.




First look at how she'll shape up.

I'm happy.

Hull strips finished and sealed

This weekend I only had one day, but it was a nice one! Finished the hull strips, sanded, and applied one coat of epoxy sealer. I also assembled the splashboards, but have delayed attaching them until I see how the color of the hull turns out. The blond wood on the hull is very blond red cedar. Although it looks a lot like yellow cedar, it is lighter weight.