All the bunk panels are installed. Fillets were made between the panels and the hull to fill the gap and to further strengthen the structure. The lockers and flloation chambers are painted a bright white as visable in the background hull with the locker covers removed. The bright white was too intense and sterile for the normally exposed interior. The interior will be coated with a warmer off white as seen in the companionway compartment.
The unpainted locker, second from the bow, will require additional work. I intend to install a composting head in one of these exterior lockers and possibly shelving in the other. I have not yet heard from the head vendor regarding my order, so a Plan B may be needed.
I managed to score a large ice chest that slips neatly into the aft bunk compartment. The chest lid is hinged parallel to the end so that only a portion of the lid is opened to access the contents. The chest is shown in the position necessary to open the lid.
The long bench greatly facilitates this second stage in the upper hull panel assembly. Above the mahogany shear stringer is epoxied to the upper hull panel under the pressure of clamps. A boat’s shear is the “line” at the hull/deck intersection.
Previously; the plywood hull panels and a short bow panel were joined together with butt blocks on the interior side. All three butt joins are visible above as the darken areas crossing the shorter dimension. This sub assembly’s overall length measured precisely as the plans indicated.
It was a bit shocking to fit the upper panel to the lower panel and find it was ¾” too short. I was further surprised to learn, in my eagerness to get started, I made an assumption that compounded into this condition. I assumed that my 8’ by 4’ plywood would be 8 feet long, but recent measurements revealed a length of 8 feet, ¼ inch. The three plywood lengths, forming the lower hull are ¾ of an inch too long as a result.
Above are two hull panels screwed to the bench in preparation for glueing to a butt block. A ¾ inch wide insert lengthens the second upper hull panel assembly.
The butt block will be screwed in place over the butted insert and panel ends as the epoxy sets.
Both hull panels are fitted to one hull. This has really transformed the project from a canoe like stage into a boat no doubt stage. I like the pronounced sheer upward sweeps.
The upper hull panels fit amazing well against the previously established bulkhead marks. The bulkheads fore and aft of the cabin project above the sheer line as expected. These bulkheads individually project identical amounts from one sheer to the other. This is beyond what I would ordinarily expect and suggests this hull is straight and true as confirmed by tighten fish lines spanning the length.
The installed upper panels give a better feel for what the interior space will be like. I give a long pause in using the word spacious, but that is what first came to mind when tainted by previous visualizations of a four foot wide hull.
