Bowsprit, Tiller & Gaff | First Clear Coat

When I was gluing the scarf on the boom I made up some extra un-thickened resin and put the first clear coat on the bowsprit, tiller and gaff.

Here they are, curing in the workshop.

Rudder | Fibreglass On Starboard Side

The starboard side and bottom plate were next covered with fibreglass cloth. Here is the cloth wetted out.

When I 'glassed the port side of the rudder I made the panel oversize so that the cloth would drape around and seal the edges and faces.

Except I did not make the panel large enough - there was insufficient cloth to go easily around the curves and onto the flat front and rear faces.

So when I 'glassed the starboard side I I made sure the panel was plenty oversize to allow this. Here you can see the substantial overlap onto the front face, sealing it up.

I will leave that to cure before 'glassing underneath the bottom plate.

Boom | Gluing The Scarf

The boom is even simpler than the gaff. It is a straight length of 2 1/4" square Douglas Fir, tapered on the bottom at one end.

It comes in two pieces, presumably because it would be too long to ship in one piece.

The scarf to join the two pieces is ready cut, and merely needs to be cleaned up with the plane before gluing up.

Here is one half of the scarf joint being planed.

The next challenge was find a flat surface long enough to support the boom while it cured.

The only timber left on the wood rack was for the mast and the tabernacle, so I stowed that out of the way under the boat and used the rack for a work surface.

Plenty of thickened epoxy and lots of clamps, and the scarf was done. Here it is.

I raised the garage door so I could work on the scarf from outside, which was quite pleasant. it was also a real novelty to see the boat from a different angle and from a distance!

That boom is massive and I will leave it to cure for a few days before moving it. 

Gaff | Rounding Over The Edges

The gaff is 1" thick and is rounded over with a 1/2" cutter to give a semi circular section to the edges.

Here is the router with bearing guided cutter fitted.

Here the gaff is clamped to the saw horses and is being rounded over.

And, lastly, the gaff is being finish sanded by hand on the saw horses.

That's two spars finished, and two to go! I will do the boom next.

Gaff | Marking Up & Making

We are provided with a pattern for the gaff, but it is in two pieces which are linked together with a puzzle joint. I taped up the joint , to keep it stiff. Like this.

 Next I clamped the pattern in place on the piece of Douglas Fir, as here.

It is a very simple spar, with one straight and one symmetrically curved edge.

I marked up the shape and cut it out with the jigsaw.

Here it is being planed to a fair curve on the bench.

That was fun!

Tiller | Rounding Over The Edges

With a lot of rounding over going on elsewhere I thought I might as well do the tiller at the same time.

I used a 1/4" bearing guided round over cutter in the router, and shaped the edges of the handle. Like this.

I left the edges of the tongue square, where the tiller fits into the rudder stock. It looks better that way.

Rudder | Fibreglass On port Side

I made a paper pattern for the fibreglass on the rudder blade and bottom plate, so that a single panel would be required for each side.

Here is the panel laid out on the port side of the rudder.

A wallpaper brush is great for smoothing it into position.

Next it was wetted out with clear resin and left to cure. This is it.

We are getting there!