Rub Rails and Rudder

Sorry about the delay in updates, I have been busy with normal life and yard work!

I have been working on the boat where I can and have made a lot of progress on the Rub Rails. As of today, I have 2 of the layers attached on both sides. I used the timber kit, so the rails are made out of mahogany. For the most part, they are pretty easy to bend. The first layer of rails, I did use the hot water and rags to pull them in. To help, I used a tie-down ratchet strap to force the last few inches. I also dry fitted each and used screws to hold in place. I used little blocks of wood as to not damage the rails.  Both of these tricks I found from other builders blogs.

This is the port side with rags soaked in hot water.

Too get that last couple of inches I used the ratched strap below.

Below is the layer epoxied in place. I used about 4-5 ounces of thickened epoxy using cabosil. I brushed it on with a chip brush. I was worried about doing this by myself, but during the dry fit, I made little marks on the wood to realign. With the dry fit, all the holes are pre-drilled, so I just had to align things. I used some small pieces of rope to hold one end, while I worked on the other. It is manageable with one person, but if you have a helper, that would definitely work better.

Picture below is of the 2nd layer done on the Starboard side and it looks like I am working on the port side. I only did one side at a time, since I wanted that little piece of wood sticking out to hook the ratchet to.

This is the last layer below dry fitted a couple of nights ago. I am going to epoxy it this Sunday.

I also managed to epoxy the bottom piece of the rudder on. I tried some new epoxy in a caulk gun ready made that I got from Jamestown Distributors. The gun was not strong enough to get the epoxy out and I had to really struggle. I ordered another heavy duty gun to use, so hopefully that works better. It was something I wanted to try, but I think my final opinion will be that it is pricy for what you get, but the decision is out. 

Also on the bottom piece, be sure to notice the direction it is supposed to go on. I had pre-drilled the bottom piece on in the wrong direction and just caught it when I was applying the epoxy. Almost a big oops!