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In the first installment (Volume 13), we assembled the bare hull and fiberglassed the bottom. The most physically demanding tasks of beveling the chines, topsides, and transom to accept the bottom, along with planing the bottom flush with the topsides, have been completed. Now it’s possible to stand back and get a feel for how the finished hull is going to look. Having assembled the hull, you are no doubt eager to move to the final stages of finishing the skiff. But there are a few more steps to complete before we can lift the hull off the building jig, so let’s get started.
Completing the Boat’s Bottom
1. Smooth the bottom
It’s likely you’ll notice a waxy-looking film, called amine blush, on the fiberglassed bottom. This blush needs to be washed off before sanding; otherwise the paint won’t stick well. Put on rubber gloves and wash this off with water, then sand the bottom with 80-grit paper until it’s smooth and the shine is gone. Be careful to not sand through the topcoats of epoxy, because the weave of the cloth should not be exposed.
2. Build and attach the keel
Measure along the bottom from the tip of the inner stem to the aft edge of the transom, and add an inch; this is the rough length of the keel, which is built of 3⁄4" x 3" straight stock. Draw a centerline along the length of the keel and cut a 1⁄2" -wide, 45" -long slot for the skeg. The keel retains its full 3" width from the transom to just forward of the skeg. Then it tapers in a straight line from its full 3" width to 1" at its forward end.