So I've had a few frustrating months here lately. Back in January I had my spars epoxied and ready for varnish. I figure a couple of weeks and I'd have them out of the shop and then be able to begin the hull. But, no joy.
Varnish went on and would never cure, stayed tacky for a month. Using Schooner Gold, which I used on previous build in same shop, zero issues. Since then I've sanded ALL the spars back down to bare wood twice and done all kinds of tests on scraps as well as real pieces like rudder cheeks and centerboard trunk. Varying degrees of success. I'm not looking to get off on a varnish tangent but if anyone else has had similar experience with Schooner Gold feel free to send me a PM. If I ever feel I've figured out exactly what's been causing all this headache, I'll be sure to share.
So in the meantime I've been working on lots of little pieces. Getting my bulkheads cleated to the extent I can and finish ready. Getting my cradle mostly built. Gluing up all my hull panels and glassing where I can. Have beefed up my tabernacle sides and even carved out a pretty little tabernacle doubler piece for the inside of BH2.
Also been playing around with stains. I'm going to stain all the timber pieces inside the cabin and all my spars as well. I'm both nervous and excited about this. My wife and daughters laugh that I can't match my own clothes, so who knows what all this is going to look like. Of course I've been testing on scrap, but that only gets you so far.
This is one of those phases where, although you're busy doing plenty, not much seems to be happening!