One of the biggest milestones that comes when building a boat is when you get to flip it over and stand in it! It’s probably one of the most important steps – and certainly one of the first ones where you can get “in” your boat and check it out! There are other important milestones, like the first time you put your boat in the water, but there will always be something special about flipping a boat over and climbing inside for the first time!
We flipped our boat over after we finished fiberglassing the exterior. We each took a turn getting inside the boat to try it out! I immediately imagined catching a giant striped bass and hauling it over the side. My daughter asked how much longer it would be before we get it in the water. Together, we stood and marveled at how all of our straight pieces of wood turned into such a gracefully curvy dory!
We purchased a small trailer that will be the dory’s home when it’s not in the water. The dory doesn’t weight too much, so we were able to finagle it onto the trailer. We put it on the trailer upside down again so the final few coats of epoxy could be applied in the warmth of our garage. Winter finally came and it was too cold in the backyard for epoxy – so onto the trailer it went and into the garage!
After the boat made it through the winter and all of the coats of epoxy were applied, our family moved to upstate New York for my job. The boat eventually made the trek with us and found a new home in a new garage. Since the exterior of the boat was complete, it was time to focus on a much of the topside and inside work that could be accomplished before the cold New York winters set in and it would be impossible to use epoxy in an unheated garage. So we focused on completing the rub and cap rails, as well as the forward and after turtledecks before temperatures plummeted!
Click here to see the installation of the rub and cap rails!