Fiberglass repair on Phantom

I purchased a trailer to carry my Sunfish rather than put it on the roof of the minivan, which could get rather awkward. If you have ever purchased a trailer, it usually comes with a boat attached to it. In this case, the boat is a 13 foot Phantom with two holes in it. One in the hull along the waterline and the other on the deck:

I did some research on the internet and figured out the basics of fiberglass repair on boats. What I did not find out is what to do when you don't have access to both sides of the side needing repair. You are supposed to fiberglass both sides of the hole. So what I did was first clear out all the weak and cracked fiberglass around the hole and then sanded out the old gel coat. I then put blue painter's tape around the hole to protect the "decent" finish around the hole.

In order for the fiberglass have something to stick to, rather than just fall into the hole, I cut out a piece of cardboard a little bigger than the hole, put gorilla glue around the edges and reached through the access port and held the cardboard against the deck until it stuck. For the hole on the side and bottom of the hull, I could not access the hole from the inside. So I again cut a piece of cardboard a little bigger than the hole, put gorilla glue around the edges, took two strings (the core strands from an old dynamic climbing rope in this case) and used them to pull the cardboard against the hull. The picture makes it pretty clear. I put a knot at the end of the string so it wouldn't pull through the cardboard.

The next steps were cutting the fiberglass, mixing the resin and them applying the resin to the fiberglass. The resin sets up quickly so you have to move fast. I should have had more fiberglass cut and ready to layer on to the hole in the deck as it really isn't flush with the deck. The smaller hole on the bottom came out much better.

The final step was to add the gel coat, which sets up even faster than the resin, came out fairly well. Technically, I was supposed to match the color of the gel coat to the color of the boat. I did not do that. It could also use another layer of gel coat. However, as this is my first fiberglass repair, to a boat I essentially got for free and it is not a great boat to begin with, I am pretty pleased. The way I figure it, there are fiberglass repairs to a your 20 foot Chris Craft or your Hunter 240 and then there are fiberglass repairs to old Phantoms. As long as it doesn't leak, I am happy.

Baguettes - Another try

I tried some baguettes again. This time I used a recipe from The Bread Bible , given to me by my brother-in-law and his wife. An excellent book and I plan to bake as many recipes as I can from it over the summer. This recipe did not call for a Poolish or starter like the King Arthur recipe did that I used last time. So it was quicker to make. It also called for more yeast - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons - than the other recipe. So it rose extremely well.
The other change I made was that I used 6 cups of King Arthur unbleached four rather than 3 cups of cake flour and three cups of regular flour. The weather was extremely hot and muggy. The weather report said the humidity had dropped, but I didn't feel it. But when the temp is 85 and the humidity is say 80% rather than 95%, what really is the difference? I certainly can't feel as I sit, sweat dripping down my back and chest.
The bread tasted fine, it didn't have the tang that the King Arthur recipe did or the air pockets, so I prefer the taste of the King Arthur recipe better.

My biggest problem baking this getting the dough rising in a baguette pan:

onto the extremely hot stone (450 degrees) in the oven without destroying the logs or my hands. The King Arthur blog suggests letting the baguettes rise in cotton cloth dusted with flour, a couche, like they do in France. But I am still not sure how to get them from the cloth to the extremely hot stone without creating a fire. I tried using the dull side of a cleaver and my hands, which worked okay, definitely not ideal.

Finally, I put ice cubes and then water on a paella pan to get the steam. Next time I will mist the dough.

Challah Bread

Hello, I made Challah bread for my Dad's birthday. I made it in the morning and then we took my Dad on a tour of the Grey Sails Brewery in Westerly. We all liked the Flagship Ale the best.

The Challah bread recipe is from Kings Arthur's Baker's Companion. I basically followed the recipe except I added two egg yolks rather than two whole eggs and a yolk so the bread was a little drier than normal but still tasted fine. It is basically like cake but it a bread form. I highly recommend it.