The Tardis Project

February 28, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  756 Ray and I put on a burst of speed and got the whole boat done this week.  Same old learning curve story — I could do one panel myself in about three hours.  When we started, Ray and I could do one in about two hours. 

February 23, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  731 Half the boat is glassed and filled, and I have begun sanding the back panels in preparation for paint. This part of the build is turning into a real marathon — I have worked 14 days in a row, although some days are only two or

February 18, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  707 The material is usually fiberglass and the process is called “glassing.”  But Tardis is going to have a covering in keeping with her science-fiction name:  Xynole. Xynole is a polyester cloth — basically the same as stuff as a made-in-Malaysia golf shirt, but modified to make

February 15, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  684 The plans call for a fiberglass band all around the boat at the chine for strength and ding protection.  I thought it would be a good chance to practice fiberglassing, since I have only done it twice.  It turned out to be very tricky, so I’m glad we

February 11, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  669 One of the major reasons I build boats is the magic moment when varnish, or epoxy or solvent of any kind hits the boat and brings out the grain and color. After even more sanding (interrupted by the inevitable New England snow storm),  Ray came over and we

February 5, 2015  Hours spent building to date:  640 To be brutally honest, the level of finish I would like on Tardis is the kind that gets that horrible, backhanded compliment from folks walking the docks:  “Is your boat really wood?  Looks like fiberglass.”  No builder of wooden boats will EVER say that to another,