Between Sawyer being born in August and working 2 jobs for the second half of 2018, progress on the Huckleberry has been slow. Things have finally calmed down, and I am getting back to working on the boat.

Rubrails were build from Southern Yellow Pine. Too lazy to build a steam box, I soaked them in the pool for 3 days, then secured them to the boat with a bolt every foot or so, with a little help from a heat gun for some fo the more difficult bends. They were allowed to dry in place, then glued to the hull with epoxy. Bolts were then removed, and thickened epoxy fillets were formed around the edges.

Last month, we flipped the boat for the first time. The inside was fiberglassed. 

I also bought a motor from Northeast Marine in St Pete. It is a 2019 Tohatsu 4hp 20" shaft. For simplicity, I have decided to go with tiller steering, with a tiller extension. 

Next, I plan to fiberglass the rubrails and build bench seats into the boat. Then, it will be time to flip back for fairing and painting the exterior hull. 

Keels attached and glassed. Fairing compound comes today and then the real fun begins.

Out of town this weekend, but fiberglass got done just before we left. That was a messy job.

I bought fiberglass today from Fiberglass Discount Store in Tampa. They had 38" 6oz cloth for $4/yard (WAY cheaper than anyone else locally or online).

Tonight, I gave the hull its first coat of epoxy. Tomorrow, we fiberglass!

Today, I tacked the boat together with EZ Fillet. It was way more messy than I was anticipating. Whenever I used to look at boat builds, I would always think that I would do a much neater job - NOPE!!!

Building the boat upside down left me with a problem I didn't anticipate. As there are so many right angles on this boat, I wasn't really able to form proper fillets on the outside of the hull. Therefore, I needed to reinforce it from the inside prior to being able to remove the fasteners. Working upside-down on the floor, trying to make epoxy fillets without them falling on my face was no easy task. Its quite a mess, and I see lots of sanding in my future.

I finished building and installing the transom. Huckleberry is starting to look like a real boat.

It was a long day working on the Huckleberry, but we got a lot done. The hull is finally starting to take shape, and it actually resembles a boat.

I had some difficulty attaching the sides of the hull. It was a really tight bend and put a lot of force on the stem. On the first try, the stem wasn't secured enough and shifted. For the next attempt, I made a jig that secured the stem in place, and attached small battens down the sides of the stem to act as a guide. I also rigged up a stand using 2X4s and a few clamps to hold the hull side level with the boat floor.

I am constructing the boat using a modified stitch and glue method. Since it is a flat bottom boat with vertical sides, I am holding everything in place with screws. I will then fill in the gaps with epoxy, and remove the screws before forming my fillets and fiberglassing.

Yesterday, I laminated the transom. Today, I trimmed it to size. I still need to cut the arc along the top. Hopefully, I will have attached tomorrow.