Rolling the hull and prepping for fiberglass

Now came a moment I'd been anticipating for a long time - rolling over the hull.  To prep for this I got 4 hefty eye bolts and screwed them into the ceiling joists.  After removing the four screws holding the boat to the jig, I looped my big cargo straps under the hull, ratcheted it up, and removed the building jig.

I resisted the urge to climb in and sway around and pretend I was at sea...

I was able to roll the boat pretty easily, while my wife watched that the front strap didn't slip off the bow.  The hull didn't really spin freely in the straps - I had to lift and slide.

When it was completely upside down I placed a couple sawhorses under the seats after measuring to ensure they were tall enough to keep the cabin roof off the floor.

These straps quick release rather than gradually lowering, so we worked this by me supporting the boat, my wife releasing the strap, then I would lower the boat a bit and she would tighten the strap again to support it.  It took a couple iterations, switching from one end of the boat to the other, and then we were securely on the saw horses. About a half hour process overall.

With the hull upside down I could clean up around the ballast tank drain.

And trim off the ends of the centerboard case. 

And fillet the hull panels and fill in the garboard/hull bottom joint with thickend epoxy.

After that cured I gave that joint a generous round-over,

And also rounded over the hull panels where they join the bow and stern transoms. 

And routed a round-over around the centerboard case opening.

I finished up by sanding the hull in the areas that will have fiberglass applied, to remove any rough spots.  

I feel good about getting past this step of the process!