Onward with the Rondane

Work on the Rondane 8 is continuing the hull is wired together on the jig, the filling of the seams has begun between the wire stitches. As the boat is built we continue to work out ways to simplify the build and make it easy to set up for building.

To help you align the bow and stern on the jig we have decided the easiest way is to cut a form on which to set them so that they are placed properly and stay where you put them when you line them up and during the construction process. The boat is built using the bow, stern and mid seat bulkhead as the main parts of the jig which remain as part of the boat eliminating the need for a set of disposable building jigs. Before the boat is even assembled on the jig the inside of the panels is glassed, the interior of any small boat is one of the most awkward parts of doing the fibreglass work on any small boat  on this boat it is done on a flat table where it is much easier. This is also an easy way to introduce yourself to working with resin and fibreglass if you have limited or no experience with the techniques used in the application of resin and glass.

While this is going on the mast is being shaped, you can’t work on the hull all the time as resin needs cure time, the rudder and daggerboard are being laid out for shaping. The details of the boat continue to be worked out and documented so that we can put together a comprehensive set of construction notes for those who will be building this boat.

As with all new models there are things that you learn as you go, I wanted to build the jig out of 8 foot 2x6’s while that is possible and is how I have built the first jig the plans will use 10 footers to simplify the jig building process. The kit itself has gone together well to this point, there are many parts to go yet but the hull has fit over the three components that serve as the form on the jig very well.

In the next few days I will post a few more pictures of the construction on our facebook page.