Pieces of a Goat

How many parts does it take to make a Goat?  More than I've shown above since I didn't drag out the hull sides and bottom or the spars for this group photo.  I just wanted to take stock of where I am, what's left to do, and how much progress I've made this (rapidly shrinking) summer.

Almost all the parts displayed are ready for assembly.  The transom is fully coated on one side, but not the other.  The center case and rudder box await the finished foils before closing them up.  The foils are still embryonic.  All bulkheads are pre-coated and sanded (I only sanded the visible surfaces).

I took a little extra care with the thwart seat top (the underside, not so much).  After two wet-on-wet coats, I let it dry and sanded lightly before adding the third coat.  Nice results ensued.

I think I could have gotten even smoother if I had sanded a bit more.  And there's another round of sanding to go to prepare for varnishing in the future.  I think the varnish coats will come out pretty good on this important surface.  I will try to repeat these results with the two tank seats.  For the record, I'm using System Three Silver Tip epoxy--which is non-blushing--and slow hardener.  I applied it with a plastic spreader left over from installing drywall in my house.  The squeegee method produces really thin coats which is great for getting the most out of the premium priced epoxy.  I used a foam roller on the bulkheads and that used much more epoxy.

That economy of material is especially important on the big jobs: the hull bottom and sides.

I taped off the lines where the bulkheads will glue.  Doing this is a little bit of a leap of faith in Storer's plans.  The sides are marked where the bulkheads are to be located.  The bottom then joins the party later, so the bulkheads are wherever they end up being regardless of what the bottom thinks.  I could have coated the whole thing, but I like the concept of gluing to raw wood, not cured epoxy.  Cross you fingers that things line up as Storer say they will.

Storer also said it takes four easy steps...