Sticking to the Plan

My little old mum was brought-up in an orphanage by a strict regime of nuns. It is of little surprise then to find that when she left them, aged 17, she had little knowledge of the world and its ways.    Undaunted, she memorised every saying, or proverb, she came across and used them as a knowledge base. Typically, "Liars should have good memories", "A leopard can't change its spots", "Proof of the pudding is in the eating," and so on.

   What is a surprise, is to find she also had a repertoire of Music Hall (Vaudeville) songs, some of which were quite risque. 

The reason I tell you all this is because today I found myself singing one of her favourites. I'm not sure what my non-British friends call things, but in the song, papering, is a term meaning sticking wallpaper to the wall with paste (glue). The song was written in 1910. Here is the chorus:

When Father papered the parlour

You couldn't see him for paste

Dabbing it here! dabbing it there!

Paste and paper everywhere

Mother was stuck to the ceiling

The children stuck to the floor

I never knew a blooming family

So stuck up before.

Today I resumed my unhappy relationship with Epoxy Resin and fibreglass cloth!

                          When Father papered the parlour

The coat of epoxy resin I gave the boat a few days ago was to seal the wood, rather than as a finish. Today I began to lay down the fibreglass. I began with a ten inch wide strip to cover the hog.

I then mixed up pots of epoxy resin and spreads them over the cloth as you can see below.

When Father papered the parlour

You couldn't see him for paste

As you can see, the fibreglass becomes transparent, and doesn't conceal the hog . Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as that: strands of spaghetti like glass came off the fibreglass strip and had to be picked off ... bubbles kept appearing ... epoxy resin dripped where I didn't want it ... rubber gloves were constantly replaced. 

When Father papered the parlour

You couldn't see him for paste

Dabbing it here! dabbing it there!

Paste and paper everywhere

Finally, I finished. It was then that I felt the pain in my knee and found that I had glued my knee to my jeans. Then I found my pocket knife glued to a pencil, and both stuck to the inside of my pocket! All that for a ten inch wide strip..........

                                          .......and.......

                                                               ..... I have the whole of the inside of the boat to fibreglass yet!

When Father papered the parlour

You couldn't see him for paste

Dabbing it here! dabbing it there!

Paste and paper everywhere

Mother was stuck to the ceiling

The children stuck to the floor

Now some might suggest, as my wife did, that I should forget fibreglass and simply paint the inside of the boat. Tempting as that is, life is never that simple. I'll explain:

You may remember that the boat comprises about 150 narrow planks.

These planks get glued together:

  

This is a modern technique I am using ... for the last time! The wood is Western Red Cedar, which is a wonderful straight grained timber to work with, but, it doesn't do well in water and isn't that strong. However, if you sheath the planking in fibreglass and epoxy resin - inside and out - then the Cedar never gets touched by water and the alloy of Cedar, fibreglass and epoxy are as strong as steel! 

To remind you, here is the outside when I fibreglass/epoxy resin'd it:

Fibreglass Cloth Before Epoxy Resin Was Applied

Fibreglass Cloth After Epoxy Resin Applied

All I can do is ....stick to ... the plan!