Sunday, April 14, 2013

Brede Bathtime

Brede first sail

The Brede Lifeboat has sailed!

OK, so it's the traditional test in the bath, or as it is invariably reported in model boat mags, "place in the domestic test tank".

Basically, you have to put a model boat on the water sometime and where better than in a handy bath? The water is clean, it's easy to get at and there are towels to hand for drying the hull.

Best of all, when the hull leaks like this one did, it can't sink into the murky depths. If you've filled it with clean water it can't anyway.

Leakage was initially tackled by dripping Zap green into anywhere I thought a micro hole could possibly be found. Seams along the chine line and keel were filled both inside and out. Eventually though I spotted that the Araldite blobbed around the exit holes for the propshafts hadn't sealed the hole properly. Spotting the problem required holding the hull at an odd angle then peering at the suspect area.

A few more epoxy blobs and the job was done. No water inside the hull and we are ready for test sailing on the pool. Just in time for the better weather.

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