Final Stages of Dodger

The final stage of the dodger is in sight. I am concentrating on the inside to make it look less rough. I filled in the spaces with foam and used a bit of micro cells to smooth off the inside. It has turned out rather well with a smooth surface. I flow coated the inside and sprayed it but unfortunately ran out of the Almond Ivory used on Malua.

Vince told me last week that his Lexus Lexan Mate did not have the dark grey Lexan. I had suspected this for some time which confirmed that I should have walked away from Newcastle on the first morning as I wanted to do. Hindsight is wonderful!

I have now sourced the polycarbonate and will fit the dodger down at the coast.

Hard Dodger Fitting

Yesterday I started to fit the hard dodger onto Malua. It was quite a challenge because the wind was blowing and it was cold. The wind reached almost 30 knots directly from the Antarctic. I had to keep it tied down and move it carefully when I needed to cut the bottom to fit the boat. It took much longer then I expected but in the end the fit was very good indeed.

I started to form a glassfiber lip on the inside of the dodger which will be used to secure the dodger to the vessel. Today I will add more layers and start the create a lip on the front outside. This will be removable and secured by bolts. The solution to the opening for the halyard on either side still has to be solved.

When the fitting is complete I will remove the dodger and take it to Canberra to complete the inside and spray it with the cream flowcoat.