It's been a productive weekend - I finished installing the final hull panels, and now this is really looking like a boat.
These panels were the easiest of the bunch. I fit the panels, then removed wires front and rear and loosend those attached to bulkheads 3 and 5, the hull panel lifted up and stayed in place leaving lots of room to apply thickened epoxy to the lap joint:
After applying epoxy, I pivoted the panel down and reattached the wires. I added a few through the lap joint to make sure I had good contact the length of the joint. These ties I bent to the shape of a big staple, drilled two holes, inserted them from inside, and twisted on the outside. Worked very nicely.
I let the expoy cure, then removed the wire ties that were no longer needed in the lap joint, and filleted and fiberglass taped the inside joint. The fiberglass tape on this joint is not required per the manual, but it makes me feel better to have it, so I applied it.
Here's an inside view. This was taken before I filleted and taped the starboard side.
And here's an outside view. Looking like a boat!
Dave, I notice in the photo that you have decided not to cut down the stem to create a larger storage compartment between BH 3 - BH 4. Was this a conscience decision? Did you feel it would weaken the boat? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteBrent
Brent - Not weakening the boat was in my mind, but I understand the designer has approved cutting part of the stem away there, so it's probably not significant.
DeleteI did trim down the top enough to allow clearance for the hatch backing plate. I plan to put one hatch in that area, centered, which will give me adequate access to the areas both on the port and starboard side.
I guess I was thinking there was some benefit to keeping that divider both from a strength standpoint, and an organizational standpoint (having two separated areas vs. one larger area).