Days 57 and 58
By Ron Porter
Sunday, June 25, 2006
This was a fiberglassing week-end. We got the 'glass on with no trouble at all, but by the time we got to the third coat of epoxy, things were slippery enough that being up on top of the cabin was just a tad nerve-wracking. There isn't really much to see, but it is shinier. I don't know whether we'll get to the paint next week-end or not. I still have to build fenders and install the trailer lights if we're going to haul it to the lake for vacation starting July 7.
Installing the winch was actually pretty easy. I've been looking at a few different commercial boat trailers and some of them just clamp the winch stand in place instead of welding or bolting through the trailer tongue. I figure if the commercial folks can do that, then so can I. Needless to say, that makes it a lot easier to get everything positioned just right. One of the things I was supposed to get done this week-end was to balance the trailer with the motor mounted. I got lucky--the tongue weight is 55 pounds without having to move anything around. I was shooting for something between 50 and 100 pounds, so this worked out just right. I'm guessing that I'll be adding about 40 pounds more at the stern, but I'm also going to be putting the spare near the front of the tongue, so it should all work out. If not, the winch stand is easy enough to move and the bunk was designed to be adjustable fore and aft so there won't be any problems.
