Finishing Quicksilver

After the One Sheet, One Weekend, One Boat project built out, I had myself the woodworking all set for a boat. All that was left was to make it float! That means epoxy, fiberglass tape, more epoxy, seal it up and paint it. Then add the hardware to join the two sides, and it should be ready to take out for a water test.

Front half ready to glue

Back half ready to glue

Now with more epoxy

and fiberglass tape over all of the seams

No fiberglass tape on the inside of all seams

but I did epoxy the inside pretty thoroughly

All of the seams got a coat of epoxy inside and out, and the outside got a layer of a 3" fiberglass tape where it was going to be anywhere close to the waterline, and then another layer of epoxy to seal in the tape. This should seal the seams and prevent leaks, keyword there is "should".

painting the hull

fitting the joinery

Inside paint

I added a seat from the scrap 1/2" plywood and painted the inside of the back half

Happy Boatbuilder in the shop

I painted the outside first with a plain exterior house paint from Lowe's. I used a color called Quicksilver. At the same time I'm doing all of this, my wife's cousin finished his masters degree from NC State, then took his first professional job and moved to Colorado. When he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, he picked up the nickname Quicksilver. I'm very proud of the kid, he's one helluva architect. So when I saw the paint color (I was looking for a gunmetal gray) I was sold. And it's likely I'll give him this boat when he moves back to NC if he wants it.

It looked like it was going to rain some, so I pulled the boat back inside the shed and put a coat of paint on the inside. Then got creative with the table saw and leftover 1/2" plywood to fashion a seat. I screwed the seat into the braces in the back half, then gave it a coat of paint too. All that's left is a water test!

It's important to assemble on the front yard first

Fits in the truck, even when assembled!

IT FLOATS

IT LEAKS

My legs hit the divider at a really funny spot

but I fit in the boat!

It sits a bit low in the water

yeah, really low in the water

paddling around

Back home and resting on top of My Busted Foot

Turns out that I outweigh the stated capacity for this boat by about 20 lbs. Cousin Quicksilver is easily 50 lbs lighter than me, young skinny bastard. I took it down to Lake Raleigh for the water test, right down the street from my office. Only brought one canoe paddle instead of the kayak paddle that would let me paddle easily from both sides. It didn't handle particularly well, spinning in circles a lot. But I was able to stay out on the water for about 45 minutes before the leaking had me concerned enough to head back to shore. This thing leaked like a strainer. Got to add some more epoxy and get it all sealed up. But it easily fits in the back of the pickup truck, and was a lot of fun to put in the water and paddle around. This was an experiment, it might be a failed experiment, it might turn into a nice gift. Who knows. But I do know that it was a really fun project to build & finish, and I'm glad I did it.