This weekend I finally got to launch my Oxford Shell. After a 40 year hiatus from rowing, it was exciting to touch skulls again and even more so because I did so in my own boat. It was a bit tippy at first but my balance quickly improved - muscle memory is a fascinating phenomenon. With more practice I am confident I will be able to take the boat down the Hudson next summer.

I started the project in December and worked on it maybe every other weekend. I modified the original design slightly by adding extra bulkheads fore and aft to create storage compartments. For convenient access to the forward compartment I added a hatch inside the coamings. Other than that I stuck with the plans.

Aside from "sanding is fun!" I learned a few more things along the way:

- "Masking tape is your best friend". It is so much easier to create clean fillets etc if the surrounding areas are masked off. Neither videos nor instructions mention that. 

- "Heatgun and scrapers are good friends". The corrolary to the first item is that if your best friend let you, it is possible to clean up messy or sloppy epoxy work - but it is work.

- "Small is beautiful". It is perfectly ok, to create many small batches of epoxy instead of one large batch. Not knowing that messed up some of the interior glass tapes along the seams because the epoxy had already kicked and wouldn't properly penetrate the weave. I later learned about soaking the tape with epoxy before applying it to the seams.

- "Thinner is better". Slightly thinned varnish makes for a nice and smooth finish coat. On the other hand I saw no need to thin the paint.

Overall, I am very happy kit and the instructions. Putting it together didn't take much more than time and patience. I wanted to thank everybody at CLC and this board for their prompt and very constructive support.

Bengt-Olaf a.k.a. Dr. Pepper.