Progress on the Deck

Over the past couple of days, I have made some progress on the deck. First, I got the deck panels tacked all around. The next day, after everything had hardened, I turned the boat on its side again to make working under the deck a little easier. In one marathon evening, I put in a major structural fillet between the sheer clamp and deck, I filleted and taped the underside of the deck / deck triangle joint, and epoxied on the cockpit riser clamp. Tonight, I get to do the same thing on the other side. Here is a pic:

Pictures of the stitched deck

Started on the deck

Today I got a start on the deck of the XCR. I drilled stitch holes diagonally through the gunwales and matching ones through the deck panels. I started wiring in the middle and worked my way towards the ends. For now, I left the ends un-wired; I will glue them down directly to the gunwales and backing blocks with I apply the epoxy tacking to the rest of the deck. I cut out the fore and aft deck triangles and have them temporarily clamped in place. Tacking is next!

Progress on bulkheads

First off, here is a picture of one of the kevlar taped frames:

Tonight I worked on the bulkheads. Over the past couple evenings, I fiberglassed both sides of the bow and stern bulkheads. Tonight, I cut big holes in them for the hatches I am installing in each of them. For now, I just glued the hatches in and will add some stainless screws when I get some. With the hatches glued, I wired the bulkheads into the main hull and tacked them in with some thickened epoxy. Here is a pic:

And finally, I cut out some backing blocks that will install under the deck ridge between the bow and the forward bulkhead. These will support the deck, as well as provide a strong attachment point for a carrying handle. This is repeated at the stern...

Frames Done

Last night, I got the sailing frames filleted and taped. I used a technique I read about in this book, and it worked great. I started by pre-cutting 24 small sections of kevlar "tape" cut out of my leftover kevlar. Each small section was cut to fit a specific joint. Small section of 4-mil plastic (just larger than the kevlar bits) were also pre-cut. Then I applyed a thick bead of thickened epoxy to the joint between frame and hull, then smoothed it down with my finger. After all joints were filleted, I mixed up some unthickened epoxy and wet out the sections of kevlar tape, which were resting on the small pieces of plastic. Once wet out, I picked up the tape + plastic, and pressed it into the joint. All I had to do was work out the air bubbles a little, then move on to the next. The whole operation took little more than an hour. This morning, I pulled all the plastic bits off leaving perfectly filleted and smooth joints. Awesome! I'll post a picture soon.

Another quick progress update...

Got a bunch of little things done today in preparation of the next few major steps:

• I added a section of 6" wide tape from gunwale to gunwale to smooth and strengthen the joint of the two kevlar sections
• I stitched and tacked the sailing frames in place (permenantly!)
• I fiberglassed one side of the fore and aft bulkheads
• I laid out and cut the fore and aft deck triangles

Now I just need to wait until the epoxy is dry before I can do anything else.

Interior Glassing Done

All major panels of interior fiberglass are now complete. I have a couple small patches to add; at the bow and stern, and one in the middle to smooth the transition between kevlar panels. I will probably do those in conjunction with glassing in the bulkheads and frames. Here is a picture of my kids in their new boat. My daughter thinks I am going to paint it pink for her, but I think I am going to have to disappoint her... Maybe a pink paddle like Boo and Hannah...

From Bens Boatbuilding