Two More Side Panels Glassed--First Epoxy Coat

I decided to stop trying to work on the panels with them on the floor.  Hurts back and knees, and it is nearly impossible to keep debris from falling into the uncured epoxy.  And I found it was much easier and quicker to get things coated and smoothed out with the panels on a table.

Opposite Side and Topsides Panels Covered With Fiberglass Cloth

So I built a makeshift table from two full sheets of plywood on three sawhorses.  The ends of the plywood panels are screwed to the middle sawhorse.  Above you can see the fiberglass cloth laid out over the second side panel and second topsides panel.  I took the picture after laying the cloth, but before waiting for the ambient temperature to start to drop before adding the epoxy.  Otherwise, if the temperature is rising, the gases inside the wood will start to expand and "outgas," creating bubbles in the epoxy.

I know, you can't really see the panels for the cloth, so here they are after applying the first coat of epoxy.  You can see how the epoxy makes the cloth almost transparent.

Second Side and Topsides Panels After Fiberglass and First Coat of Epoxy

The weather has warmed up here quite a bit (72 degrees in the garage when I applied the epoxy), so I should be able to apply the second coat early tomorrow morning.  (Temp will be rising but I won't have to worry about outgassing then--the wood is all sealed up on that side.)

Looking ahead, I have to add two more coats to these panels and to the floor joists, then sand them all until I go insane.  After that I'll assemble the building cradle and drop the keel into it.  I have a little more work to do on the keel and then I can start stitching* the bilge panels to it and then the side and topsides panels, followed by the transom.  At that point you will start to see something that looks like a boat.   *Stitching:  All this means is that the panels are all held in place with short bits ("stitches") of wire.  After the panels are stitched together, thickened epoxy glue is applied between the stitches.  When that cures, the stitches are removed and more epoxy is filled in where the stitches were.