Big Spender!

My tight budget finally reached the point where I was able to order the epoxy, fiberglass tape, and other specialty supplies needed to assemble the hull.  So today, I placed an order with Merton's  Fiberglass & Marine Supply for those materials.  Their prices were good, their website informative.  They don't do e-commerce, but they took my order over the phone (~$155) and promised to ship it out later in the afternoon. 

There were a few decisions to agonize over in this purchase.  First of all, what epoxy to use?  Since I was given some cast-off System3 epoxy, with mixing pumps, from a friend's Eastport Pram build, it seemed best to stick with that brand.  Next, what size?  The cost per unit drops steadily as the size of the container goes up.  The plans recommend (3) of the West System "A" size packs, which are about a quart each; Mertons' offered System3 in 0.75gal or 1.5gal sizes.  The bigger size was very tempting, especially because the smaller pack is probably not quite enough to build this boat.  But I still have a quart or so in the hand-me-down jugs, so I decided to stick with the smaller pack.

Next, I turned to sailcloth.  Sailrite sells a 4oz Dacron (polyester) sailcloth for $11.95/yard, but I calculated that I'd need 5 yards of it.  Sixty bucks is a bit expensive, especially if one makes a mistake with it.  I found a local supplier - Rockywoods Fabrics in Loveland, CO, mentioned earlier in the blog - who carry a 4.5oz ripstop polyester fabric for $5.09 per yard. That puts 5 yards into the ballpark of polytarp costs (around $23 at Home Depot for a tarp large enough to make the sail, -vs- $26 for the Rockywoods deal).  I'm sure the Dacron sailcloth would be superior, but I'm just as sure the sail's performance will be limited by workmanship more than materials in any case.  So Rockywoods wins.

And speaking of workmanship, the plans discuss in detail how to finish the edges of the sail, but they don't discuss how to stitch the two panels of the sail together.  I've never done this sort of thing before, so I'm a bit concerned about that.

Tim Anderson's illustration of a felled seam

Proa enthusiast Tim Anderson to the rescue. His account of sailing around Yucatan in a homebuilt proa included some notes and drawings of various stitch and seam types. (Search for "seam" to find the relevant passage, or just read the whole account if you need a little entertainment.)  On the basis of Tim's discussion, I'll be joining the halves of my sail with a felled seam and avoiding "Frankenstein" stitching.


The next big steps out here are to butt the hull panels together and coat all interior faces with a layer or two of epoxy.  Until the Merton's order shows up, I'll be spending my spare time on those tasks.  More news as it happens.