The Opposite of Congress

Old joke, I know, but relevant. I'm making slow progress on the build and can actually see a very small, very dim light at the end of the 'glassing tunnel. Slowly, I'm pulling out the wires as I go, the very wires that I took so much care installing not that long ago. I'm working aft-forward, one bay at a time, and each bay is taking about a day. Even though the upcoming bays are smaller, they're not necessarily easier, as they have tricky corners and need a full fatty fillet before they can be 'glassed.

To make things easier, I cut away part of the craziness that is bulkhead 7 to apply the fillet, then cut the rest of it away once that fillet cured. This fillet, by the way, is highly visible in the cabin, and is the one I'll literally be resting my head against, so I wanted it to be as perfect as I could make it. Once that fillet cured, I cut the rest of bulkhead 7 away. Otherwise, there wasn't going to be an easy way to 'glass between bulkheads 7 and 8. I then measured out and cut the 'glass for this area. It turns out to be about 40x36.

Cutting away part of bulkhead 7 to make room for the side / bilge panel fillet.

Bulkhead 7 fully cut away and port 'glass gets sized up. Note the overlap on the keel and between floors 7 and 6 (forward).

Starboard side goes down after a couple hours break. It was still tacky to touch so went on nicely. Once again, overlapped the keelson and a few inches forward. I also threw down a strip of extra 'glass on the keelson for good measure for 3 layers on the keelson.

While the 'glass here went on without much of a problem, I found two problems at this stage of the build. The first is the cleats that were installed on the workbench a couple months ago are now completely in the way of a proper 'glassing job. Fiberglass needs to come up off the bilge panel (the lowest panel of the hull) and up a couple inches along the face of the floor board for strength. But with the cleat in the way, this isn't really possible. Chris mentioned this to me way back when but I didn't really fully appreciate the problem until my arms and legs were dangling in the hull trying to get that last half inch of 'glass to stick to the floor board side under the cleat.
 

'glass riding up the aft face of floor 7.

After epoxy at bulkhead 7. There's actually almost two full layers of 'glass here so while there's some bubbles, it should be pretty strong.

The second issue is that the floor boards themselves block easy access to the keelson/centerboard trunk joint. The manual doesn't call for the keelson to be epoxy'd, but this is in fact the base of the bilge. Meaning, it's going to be one of the wettest spots on the boat as water will collect down there. Another wet scenario is me spilling a can of coke or glass of wine. Or a beer, or maybe some scotch. I prefer McCallan 12; that's a good draw. Not a lot of peat and just the right amount of smoke... where was I... oh yeah, PocketShip doesn't have a bilge drain so water gets out of there either through evaporation, a bilge pump, or,  in the case of scotch, a straw. I'm not sure why the manual doesn't call for epoxy here but it sure could've used it.

Un-epoxied, un-filletted area between centerboard trunk and keelson. This could be bad news!

So, instead of applying and sanding epoxy to the keelson on a nice flat surface like a garage floor, I need to apply epoxy with my fingertips just to be sure water gremlins don't sneak between the keelson and the centerboard trunk. I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other blogs so I'm guessing I did something wrong.

Epoxy'd the area above. Will add a second layer after this cures a bit, then a small fillet on top.

For new builders out there, here's what I'd recommend: First, apply two coats of epoxy to the keelson before screwing it down onto the centerboard trunk. Sand this smooth like always. After screwing the keelson down, apply thin tack welds at the centerboard trunk/keelson joint. What you've done here is waterproof the keelson and the joint ahead of time vs. trying to do it once everything's already installed. Once that's cured, go ahead and wire as normal. I have to admit I'm a little concerned about the water down there so I plan to epoxy the whole keelson before continuing with the 'glass in the bays.

If one is feeling particularly industrious, apply the cleats after the floors get installed and 'glassed. It will take some measuring and beveling but it will save a lot of fiberglass headache later. More importantly, it will make a stronger joint. An easy way to make it, well, easier, would be to craft cardboard patterns from the actual floors so you can build the cleats to spec on the workbench for later installation. The larger bulkheads don't need full patterns, just the bottom 1/3 or so to make the cleat. Top side cleats like those found on bulkheads 1 and 2 can go on as instructed in the manual. It's really the cleats that serve as the support for the cabin sole that are trouble.

Once my grumbling was over, the 'glass here turned out OK. I'm a little worried about the way it's interacting with bulkhead 7 but not much I can do. Some of the issue is due to the limber holes that need to be drilled back out, so that will be fixed. Otherwise, I'm hoping that since the 'glass basically rides up the entire face twice, it'll retain some strength, but I'm aware of the bubbles at the base of it. The keelson itself and aft to bulkhead 8 are good, as is the rise up the side panels. It'll be plenty strong, just not perfect, and that's what I'm aiming for. It is cool, though, to see the keelson puzzle joint shine through here. I glued the keelson together at my front door and then it sat in the sun room for a couple weeks waiting for the right moment. It's now a permanent part of the boat.

Finished bay #2 (between bulkheads 7 and 8). Needs second coat, though.

So, two bays down and what feels like a million to go.