Day 6 - Reinforcing the top deck

The panels are now glued together and I have all the sections at their full length. I've taken the the 4 pieces that make up the top deck and put them so the inside face is facing up. At each cockpit, I am adding a 3-1/2" piece of plywood to provide some additional rigidity to the boat. I first cut each piece a bit longer and will trim later. The pieces were glued on using a mix of the fiberglass resin and some sawdust powder (that came with the kit). The sawdust acts as a thickening agent and prevents the resin from running all over the place.

After I glued the pieces down, I weighted them with some bricks. In the foreground, you can see the glossy patch that is one of teh panel joints.










Here we are all glued up with as many weights as I felt like getting out. I ran a bit short on resin and didn't feel like making any more tonight. You can see (if you look really hard) how the panels will line up and form the top of the boat. Tomorrow - I may get done with the remaining reinforcements.




Special Notice: I would like to recognize my wife, Sheryl, who's idea it was to move the ladders in the garage. This gave me enough space to raise the work bench up and out of the way. I was going to just put the ladders out in the weather on the side of the house. This is proof that I do actually listen to my wife...sometimes.