Alcort Super Sailfish ZSA ZSA 24 Nov 18 Hull Fairing

24 Nov 18:

Stanley #5 jack plane and 60 grit to smooth the scarf joint. I tried a belt sander first but was afraid it would go too far, and I'd have to start over or maybe even have to put on a new panel. So I went and found the jack plane, it worked in small increments and I could feel the panel as I planed it, much more comfortable with that. I credit watching a few of Paul Sellers videos with pulling the hand planes and chisels back out, got motivated to try the power sharpener and get a working edge back on them again. Once the work piece is held securely and the plane is tuned right, it is fun to find the right body position and shave off little bits at a time. I ran the orbital sander over the panel afterwards out of habit, but it really didn't need it in prep for fairing compound and primer.

Starboard side scarf joint was a little proud on a bit, took off one layer of ply. Easy to go slow on that with the plane. That leaves 4 layers of ply, a layer of epoxy and 5 more layers of ply on the panel underneath.

TotalFair epoxy fairing compound from Jamestown Distributors. Part A is the resin and Part B is the hardener, mix equal amounts til it turns green.

Rub rail needs some attention, luckily just this 2 foot section.

Log of ZSA ZSA.

Alcort Super Sailfish ZSA ZSA 18 Nov 18 Plywood Bottom

18 Nov 18:

Cut the A/B marine plywood panels lengthwise.

Set the circular saw to cut just past the depth of the panels for the cleanest cut.

This is how our CHIP's panels were key scarfed, we will try to duplicate that.

Scarf was about 1 1/2 inches long on each panel. Made several passes with the circular saw at 1/16th inch to cut away the bulk of the scarf, then cleaned it up the jack plane, finger plane and rabbet plane.

The plywood is A/B, meaning there is a nicer side with with fewer patches. This B side had several patches. Marine grade plywood has more veneer layers and is glued together with waterproof glue. The A side can have patches also, just fewer of them, they are faired with putty and sanded.

Used the old keel strip to set the spacing on the bottom panels. Tacked the bottom down with ring shank nails and strapped the bow and stern down to pre set some bend.

The Sunfish keel strip was not as deep because that hull has a deeper V. It also overlapped the panel edges. We will make the new keel strip for ZSA ZSA deeper so she will track better, with the overlap to protect the panel edges and help seal up the keel seams.

ZSA ZSA's Log.