27. May 2010 by gmoney.

After a winter of procrastination, I pulled out the fiberglass supplies last week.  My goal was to apply the second and final layer to the bow.  Due to a lack of patience and daylight I decided to apply the whole thing with a single piece of fiberglass (I was using 2 before) - it turned out great!

Posted in Fiberglass construction, Uncategorized | 18 Comments »

25. July 2009 by gmoney.

Progress on proto-boat2 is going well, first layer of fiberglass has been applied to the balsa wood skeleton.   The boat design has a shorter length and height, and a wider beam (blue prints to be added to the website soon).  It has a flat bottom design for stability and a similar keel to proto boat1.  The keel will be applied towards the end of the fiberglassing process.

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4. June 2009 by gmoney.

The Proto-boat got a sand job and coat of paint last night.  I used the old fashioned Interlux anti-fouling paint.

If our corporate sponsors ever fork out their promised dough, we might be able to afford some Micron technology paint. (See http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/).  We need to squeeze every last efficiency possible out of this beast if we hope to move anywhere close to our target speed (2 Nm)

Posted in Fiberglass construction | 3 Comments »

7. May 2009 by gmoney.

The support frame for the 9 solar panels is built from spruce plywood and is encased in 2 layers of fiberglass cloth.  Overlapping layers of fiberglass secure this frame to the hull’s wood ’skeleton’.   2 wooden frames are used as the bottom ’skeleton’ is used to support the return on the hull (keeping it stiff & sturdy), the top solar panel frame then  adds additional strength as well as provides an extended flat edge to secure the panels to.

Posted in Fiberglass construction | 3 Comments »

7. May 2009 by gmoney.

The construction of the transom on SolarCrawler was an epic journey of Engineering prowess.   A resilient transom is needed to handle the vigour of 400 total mAH of power pulsating through the electric motor shafts.

A double-walled transom is used because of the risk of water leakage.  The inner wall is constructed purely of fiberglass, the outer wall is spruce-plywood encased in multiple layers of fiberglass cloth.  Stress-tests will determine if fiberglass matt may be needed to provide additional support.

Posted in Fiberglass construction | 2 Comments »

4. May 2009 by Sean.

Here is a shot of the first boat design being float tested

Posted in Fiberglass construction | 2 Comments »

23. April 2009 by gmoney.

As you can see, calibrating the depth and angle of the keel is a fine science, and our methods are extremely advanced!

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23. April 2009 by gmoney.

In this photo you can see the bottom mold aligned in preparation to be attached to the top skeleton.   There will be a 1-inch return at the top of the hull to provide greater stiffness and strength to the hull.  The skeleton is made from spruce for it’s excellent reputation for enduring long-range solar boat voyages, and for being the only plywood material available at the local hardware store.

Posted in Fiberglass construction | 1 Comment »