Sanding, sanding

Saturday was spent sanding the bottom and other parts of the hull.

Most of the time was with the orbital sander. With care, one can sand the edges of the cloth to merge smoothly with the resin covered wood or cloth in the layer below the 6 oz tape that covers the edges of the hull. By smoothly, I mean so that by touch or by sight you can't tell where one surface ends and the other begins.

In some cases I ended up using the sanding belt scrap to remove the high and low points where the resin seemed to drip from the 6 oz. This was done in particular in the areas where the orbital sander couldn't reach in the cockpit area, and in areas where the orbital sander was likely to sand too deeply such as along the edges of the hull. I am continually amazed at how long this 2-1/2 inch by 3 inch piece of aluminum oxide coated stiff fabric continues to stay sharp and how much resin and glass it removes per stroke. It is far better than any normal sandpaper I've tried.

Now that the hull is pretty much as strong as it will ever be the next step will be to determine the precise positioning of the gear box and the seat back.


A fellow human powered boat enthusiast with a similar boat came up with an idea that does away with the dipping rudders and improves the steering. Here is a link to his post on BoatDesign.Net: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/pedal-powered-boats-23345-71.html