Chapter 6

The box I carried in was, indeed, clamps. Lots of slide-bar clamps. Clamps four foot down to three inch. I had a bench full of clamps.

The laser cut 4mm plywood parts were of a precision I could not possibly match. A light swipe with a bit of sandpaper removed the char from the laser cut.

I swept the concrete floor and wiped my area with degreaser. Shit ... Walking on it left shoe prints. I quickly retrieved my plastic wrap from the dumpster and wrapped my shoes. No tracks.

Figuring I’d get a headstart I unrolled a length of ‘glass and tried to mark the outline of the girder that formed the main interior centerline. Pretty frustrating.

“What are you doing?” That question came from the crew foreman.

“Trying to layout the ‘glass I’ll need to wrap the girder,” I said.

“Ever done this before?”

“No.”

“What have you built?”

“Paper airplane ... and tried to sew some shorts.”

“Jesus! Come on.”

I motioned at my mess. The huge circular fan I needed to keep me cool was blowing creases in my expensive glass.

“Leave it. Come on.”

“This is a boat,” he said ... not that a pile of wood and a bunch of bulk ‘glass, resin and hardener looked like a boat. Eventually ... it did ... it even sailed off to a showroom somewhere up north and they tell me it sold.

I worked on it ... let the buyer beware!

I learned that short pieces of ‘glass over lapped worked much better than trying to work a huge piece before the resin fired off ... hardened.

I learned that hardener stinks and is bad for my lungs. Paper masks don’t work. I needed a 3M filtered face mask. He opened a new box and fitted it to me.

I learned that a circular cutoff saw makes precise cuts and is quicker than a hand saw.

When the owner saw I was getting the idea, he put me on an apprenticeship and I got paid. I also got my little shop corner free and a month knocked off my slip rent.

I learned that big boats never seem to end.

When my day on the mold was done I took what I had learned back to my little space and worked until the boss ran me out or my sibs made me quit. I lost a lot of weight and turned lily white.

I cut and resined in the spacers between the girders. Then I glassed the girder using 150 cloth and resin. One Fifty is pretty thin. Most pieces I glassed only took 20 minutes to be hard enough to work.

Since I had already built my strong back form and set the angle boards, I clamped the main girder to my moId board and clamped the ribs to girder and the angle boards. I took my time getting then right, brass tacked them with an electric brad driver and ‘glassed them into one piece.

After the resin fired off I started on the stringers.

The slots the stringers slide into are solid on three sides. The open side has to follow the curve of the plywood. I shaped the stringer to each rib and then connected the the stringer shape with each stringer. It’s just a process: connect the curves together. Easy Peasy. Right.