Getting back to work

Getting back to work!

It feels so good to get back to it. There is still many things that I want to work on and learn. I thrive on new things. On learning new information. On learning new skills and putting them to good use. Of coarse, as a newbie that just jumped into this sailing thing, I had absolutely no clue how much I can learn! I thought I was just going to learn to sail and a few things about a trailer!

I never imagined that I would be learning about so many new and different things. Being able to put old knowledge back to work.  I didn't think I would be learning about fiberglass, epoxy, cutting foam, making cushions along with the wind!

The main project I am working on right now is the cushions. It would be so nice to have nice soft places to sit. We are not going to let little imperfections and lack of some creature comforts keep us from taking her out on the water! 

Getting ready to get wet!

We got to check out these cool little remote control hydroplanes that were racing! The detail that people are able to get onto models is so impressive!

How can you not stop and check out the little ducks that are growing up? I sure can't. Had to grab some pictures of them too!

So back to the work portion of the program!

I have been checking out YouTube videos, reading blogs, and websites. I just want to say thank you Sailrite! The instructions seem pretty straight forward. Get the right foam. Cut the foam to size. Sew a cover, boom all set and ready to go! My big hang up is worrying about screwing it up and wasting a lot of money. Then I am just worried about screwing it up and it looks really bad.

Well I found a sale on foam and fabric at 60% off! So I figured if I totally messed it up really bad and lost all the money put in to it, it should not be very much. So once again I jumped in with both feet and figured that I should be able to learn this and do it at least close enough. Any way it is a good way for me to learn and to figure it out. So here is what I have done so far.

I measured the area. Then measured and marked the foam. I found that the soft foam lets the tape measure move around a lot more then on wood! I didn't even think about that. As you can see I marked one side almost an inch off of what it should have been.

Measure and mark carefully!

I have learned that using an electric carving knife is a good way to cut the foam. Use that or a hot knife. I was able to get my hands on an electric carving knife. It worked out pretty good. Definitely not perfect. I found not moving the knife up and down like you would normally do to cut with a regular knife makes the cleanest edges. But my knife kept getting caught in the foam and would not keep cutting. So I had to saw up and down to cut through the soft foam.

The long cut.

After cutting it down to size I checked the fit. I used the factory edge to face out toward the cockpit. It looks like a pretty good fit!

Test fit.

I wanted to see what it would look like with the cover on it. So I placed the fabric over it to see what it should look like. I am thinking this looks pretty good. At least a little bit better then just bare boat. It sure is a lot more comfortable to sit on.

Looks better then just foam.

So far looks like I have not messed it up completely. Now to learn how to sew together a cover so that it can be beautiful all the time. So time to move inside and start working with the sewing machine. Luckily I was able to find an older machine on Craigslist for very little money. It is recommended to find an older machine with metal gears. I was able to find one that fit the bill.

Old school sewing machine!

So now I have to spend some time working on the sewing part. Hopefully I can figure that out pretty quickly! I think I have all the gear and stuff I need to put it all together. Do a few practice seems and then give it a try.