"That's What She Said..."
Holy CRAP that thing is BIG!
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_0310.jpg
Um... wow. I had no idea how tall the GIS mast really is compared to something familiar like... my house. Standing next to it, I strained my neck to peer at the tip and it dawned on me the the sail plan extends even higher by several feet more. All those pictures I've seen online make the GIS seem like a lovely little dinghy. Such a cute little boat you can build in your own garage, even a tiny European garage. Anyway...
My mast is constructed and tapered. I still need to round off the corners with my router and then sand all four sides smooth. Then glass the ends and coat with 'pox. Then varnish... Good thing I'm not tracking the man-hours! I just keep telling myself that there will come a point when I'm coasting downhill.
But I *AM* enjoying the process, so... more to follow!
A stiff boom is a happy boom
I did the gap filling on my boom and was pleased with the results.
Before:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6272.jpg
After:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6285.jpg
That was the worst of it. The other spots were far more benign. After curing, I finished tapering and sanding smooth all four sides. The measured flex in the center of the boom with 10kg is 20mm on all four sides. I like the consistency; my two other builds were highly variable. The spar weighs 7.2lbs/3.3kg.
Other wins--
Before:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6267.jpg
After:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6284.jpg
Before:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6269.jpg
After:
http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/GIS/IMG_6288.jpg
I've got my router set up to radius the corners off tomorrow. Then I'll sand and radius the yard and the mast. If that goes well, I might get to fiberglassing the ends. That's a little optimistic since I have my son's birthday party in the afternoon and a scheduled sail on my brother's J24 on Sunday.