Spadefoot 2.0, err… 4.0
One of the fun things about owning a one-off custom boat is that you are free to make changes whenever it seems like a good idea. There are no “rules” to follow. In the past 16 years Spadefoot has gone through a number of changes. When first launched in 2000, Spadefoot (fka After Math) had a free-standing carbon rig and a Hoyt boom for the jib (1.0). Sometime in the late noughties the carbon rig was replaced with a traditional Ballenger aluminum spar and the Hoyt boom was removed (2.0). When we bought Spadefoot in 2014 we added the bow sprit, raised the spinnaker halyard hoist and added new asymmetrical spinnakers (3.0). Since Spadefoot returned from Hawaii in August, we have been working on the latest changes (4.0). Phase one of 4.0 was completed today. Over the past two months we removed the inboard gas-powered saildrive, the fuel tank, the engine controls, and the engine exhaust. In the process we eliminated a good deal of wiring no longer needed without an engine and removed the water tank under the v-berth that we don’t use. All told we pulled 220 pounds off of Spadefoot! That brings the empty weight to right at 3000 pounds.
Removing the engine and saildrive was easy. The challenge was plugging the 3″ x 7″ hole left in the bottom of the boat. We entertained having someone else do it, but after letting the idea simmer for a week or so, we decided it was actually a straightforward process that we could tackle ourselves. It started by beveling the edge around the hole out 3″. Then we bonded a piece of 3/16″ G10 cut to fit snugly in hole. This was recessed about 1/4″.
After the G10 was bonded in place, we added about 20 layers of bi-axial fiberglass. This was more than intended, but necessary to bring the surface of the hole back to surface of the hull. Near the end we started applying just thickened epoxy which is easy to sand. It took about 5 passes of the epoxy to get the surface nice and smooth and matching the compound curves of the hull.
Once we were satisfied the new surface matched curves of the hull we added 3 coats of Baltoplate bottom paint and then today wet-sanded the area. Really pleased with the final product. It’s strong and smooth.
Phase 2 of Spadefoot 4.0 finishes up next week!
Guys, fantastic job! Not the kind of job you can rush and you did it remarkably well. Congrats and don’t forget to toast the little successes along with the biggies! I am so proud of you both!
Love, Dad
Nice job! Did you had experience in this kind of job? Or did you had someone giving you instructons?
This was definitely pushing our limits for boat work. We’ve done small repairs with epoxy, but very little with fiberglass. We found some good tips online, particularly about beveling the hole so that the layers of glass could be built up and still end up smooth and level with the rest of the hull, but mostly we spent a lot time thinking about it and then took our time. One step at a time.