Northwest Fishing Reports

I manhandled the conditions in the garage today, sealing it up, unloading a TON of water in there, and actually made it TOO HUMID for the paint, if you can believe that. It smoothed down TIGHT this time. Coats 2 and 3 laid down a little better once I got the humidity ideal. It's nice to be on this e...

Ups and downs in this one. Got her in the makeshift booth for the paint. Skirt on, the interior went reasonably well: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/F4DCA58A-D49A-422F-81C2-78802402A222_zpsdjvyiakg.jpg It was a bit dry, so it didn't level perfectly (system three paints love hu...

So I have this cool picture of an older lobstah boat making its way over from Belfast ME that I took today: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/77415255-D875-4130-BC09-8E35F6518F82_zpsdkdyk2sh.jpg Obviously something we don't see on our coast much, if at all. Sweet lines, even thou...

Phase change #1. For scale, that's a normal 2 car garage door that the boat barely fits under. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/19F52274-615C-4CD6-B323-7A483706E81C_zpsifhhd3xk.jpg No, this is not the set of a new Dexter movie, this is the makeshift paint booth. You can see the ...

So the wife, kid, and Grams are all out in the back yard, and they say 'hey why don't you try fishing?' This being the early season, there's little to be had off the dock, but the runt does like to cast a line, so why not, right? Last cast of the day, hook the bottom, or what I thought was the botto...

Sorry for the little delay. Turns out I wasn't in the shop during that time either, so you didn't miss much... No, it's not a rash, just the continuation of the fairing process. Got to start smoothing away her age a little to make things right. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/F...

So here's a somewhat out-of-sequence update. Because of time of year, the upholstery shops are working cheap, so I decided to get the ball rolling on upholstery before I get the fairing and paint done. General shapes are already set, no interior structure is going to change, so it was time to save s...

First things first. Anyone complaining about plywood in boats needs to look *closely* at this photo: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/2C571CB6-EEB0-4291-AD42-0595EBD45C5A_zps6zd5tkom.jpg You can see the new ply core in the fibertech I built the decks with. Below it is the plywoo...

This is what 8 hours of work with the longboard and the sanders looks like: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/4082D742-3FF2-4E52-856F-427AE0B3676F_zpsed5rms86.jpg This is a particularly uninteresting time, not only for those watching a thread like this, but also for the guy runni...

Speaking of terrible ideas, never create inside radii that require fairing. What a pain. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/10B7D416-A7CA-476E-98DB-2708BAA0D430_zpsbjpvzpwp.jpg The interior is actually starting to look boat-like at this point, if you can believe that. http://i17.p...

Got a shipment from Great Lakes Skipper, so did a little bit of fiddly work in prep. Picked up some good sized bus bars for power distribution and grounding. Yeah the image is sideways, deal with it. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/3491D596-0862-4164-8146-EF69C5A5419D_zpsdcm51a...

Minus some very cold weather drifting through, the shop was occupied and work got done. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/82296D68-396C-4D60-A33B-D8F7BCA5D817_zpsdpp4nhe1.jpg Laid down some neat epoxy to make a more uniform base to fair over. Plus I can sand a little further belo...

Did a few weeks of Honey-Do stuff, fixed a ton of lighting, made the house more energy efficient, readied everything for winter. First time in a couple months, ran out to the shop while SWMBO and the Boy went to tumbling class and he napped. Grinders were run, fiberglass was laid. Inside the console...

This will be pic heavy... Large hole in the console, this is for access to the internals without having to mess with building in an opening part on top or in the seat back (read: more water tight). http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/D3E565F6-9023-4EB7-8D6F-E49C18928CDC_zps0vicqojp...

I don't know how the guys in the deep south do it. This hot weather boat building stuff is for the birds. Made up some big blanks for the thigh bolsters in the boat. This is all in-situ fitting and design, nothing is pre-built or made off the boat. Many clamps, lots of markers. http://i17.photobucke...

Knocked out the dry fit of the console today. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/E3534FD5-320B-49A5-B2E7-87D2F24C1734_zpsnaeugsib.jpg Felt comfy testing the ergos at 16" between seat and console. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/81B201B6-E847-4230-86B2-3508D0E...

Got a little nuts this week and got some hours in on the boat. Nap times, late nights, whatever it took before I was stuck at work for 48 hours. Initially started messing with console size, shape, and forward seat setup. Mockup after mockup evolved, and turned into this rough idea in final materials...

Full decks are stuck to the boat. Boom... http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/414E3E5B-6753-4194-ACD7-65D19EA135F8_zpsfb8xm4zx.jpg Still not entirely sure how I will detail the edge and fair it all up, but we will figure something out. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fightera...

Though not visually all that stimulating for an update, the frames are in, filleted, and glassed as of tonight. 5 hours of labor, itchy forearms, and sticky tools, and you can barely tell a difference in the photos. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/Pup/B5140043-598F-4A07-B920-DD73F3...

Quickie update: So I learned a funny thing about Uniflite. Apparently they had either two different people doing the venting on the hull sides, or one absolute d-bag that didn't care about accuracy. I made sure that the Vetus vents that were purchased would cover the span of the two vent holes, thus...