starboard side aft bulkhead

The aft bulkhead is shown here after being bonded in place. This is the last of the main hull bulkhead installs.

pre-fitting the starboard Mast bulkhead

I'm fitting the mast bulkhead on the right. Again, I set the bulkhead in place then use my sharpy marking tool to give me a 3/4 in. offset mark ( same thickness as the optional foam strips) then I lay the bulkhead down flat and use the saber saw to cut the line. After that, the bulkhead fits perfect on top of the tapered foam edge strips.

two layers.....

I use a small roller to spread epoxy on the seams then apply two layers of DBM1708 tape with a 3/4 inch offset. This tape is easily worked into the fillet/epoxy mix and once in place, I cover the join area with strips of peel ply.

setting the bulkhead in place

I slathered plenty of filler on the hull, placed the foam strip down, slathered more goop on top of the foam strip then slid the bulkhead in its' place. A quick once over with a bondo spreader that has a 2 in radius edge on it helps create a nice smooth corner that can then be covered with 6 in. wide DBM1708 fiberglass tape.

marking the bulkheads

Since the foam strips are 3/4 in. thick, I made a scribing tool with a piece of scrap foam and a sharpy pen. Once I have my mark, I cut the excess off the edges of the bulkhead with a saber saw fitted with a carbide grit blade. ( I mark both sides because the hull is not always at a right angle to the bulkhead and when I make the cut, I set the saw blade at an angle and try to cut to the lines on both sides of the bulkhead ) Since I use plenty of epoxy fill when I make th join, it dosen't have to be perfect.

fitting the foam strips

I use a heat gun to form the bulkhead strips so that they will conform to the shape of the interior of the hull.

installing bulkheads

Here's a photo of the forward bulkhead join detail. Rather than bed the bulkheads directly against the hull foam, I decided to place "optional" foam strips between the edges of the bulkheads and the interior hull locations. The white goop in the join area is a mixture of epoxy, aerosil and microballoons. It serves as a general fillet material and insures that all edges are fully bonded.

Nothing like a saturday morning in the shop

.... here's a little clip of some of the layout and prep work that I did before laying down the reinforcing areas inside the starboard side hull. I used a sharpy pen to mark where I intend to lay the glass. One interesting outcome of doing this is that the marks show through and can be used for reference later on.

miles and miles of peel ply......

Your looking at the interior starboard side deck and cabin reinforcement areas. The darker sections in the middle of each reinforcement area is uni-directional glass. These areas receive extra glass so that structural loads can be transfered into the bulkheads. All areas shown are covered with peel ply so that when the time comes to bond in the bulkheads, strips of peel ply can be removed as needed.

I'd rather roof a house in New Orleans........ in the noon day sun ........in august; rather than sand fiberglass so I don't mind using miles and miles of peel ply.

TIP of the day

IF you are careless enough to ever get epoxy on your skin, apple cider vinegar can be used to clean uncured epoxy off skin.

and if you can stand it, take a small sip. A little bit of vinegar is supposed to be good for you.

Confederate soldiers were also known to have kept a small bottle of vinegar with them at all times for medicinal purposes.

peace, love and understanding....

It's good to have a partner that let's you use the kitchen sink to warm up your epoxy.

interior glassing of starboard side hull section

So I tried a different method and it seems to have worked out better for me.

Rather than apply peel ply in separate 90 degree sections, I decided to cover the roll of glass with a roll of peel ply at the same time and in the same direction. ( from stem to stern)

Here you can see the resulting lower glassing job of the interior starboard side hull section. I've overlapped the upper run three inches down the full length. Although it takes a little while to get the job done, I lay down about a five foot section at a time by applying resin to the foam, rolling the 24 oz. triaxial glass down over the wet section, rolling resin on top of that, then I start the roll of peel ply on top of that and using a "bondo" spreader, I work any excess resin out towards the direction of travel. Repeating this process one section at a time gets me down the entire length of the hull in about 4 hrs. Working things down this way lets me go at my own pace and if I don't want to finish the entire length, laying down 40lb. bags of wood pellets over the stopping point insures that the glass/resin stays flat against the foam until the next day ( or evening if its a "work " day).

Creative Scaffolding

Your looking towards the bow of the interior of the starboard side outer hull section . I had to use some creative scaffolding techniques so that I could work the peel ply over the epoxy and 24 oz triaxial glass. If you do this, make sure someone knows that your working in the shop otherwise, the neighbors may find you stuck to it like fly paper or those horrible sticky mouse traps.

You'll also notice a stack of 40 lb. bags of wood pellets to help persuade the other days transition to lay flat. The plastic bags won't stick to the saturated peel ply so I should be able to lift them up and have a rather seamless transition from two separate days of lamination.

the actual laminating process

here's a low quality picture of my progress......turns out I accidentally had my camera set on "macro". Regardless, after I smooth on a thin skim coat along the full length . I then use a half width roller and take my time rolling on resin over a section the width of my peel ply. Then I start rolling my glass down over the wet epoxy. I then roll another layer of epoxy over the top of the glass then cover the section with peel ply. ( running cross ways and overlapping it an inch over the last section) ........I work the whole section smooth with a rubber spreader and then I'm ready to roll back the glass a little bit and start the next section. I repeat this over and over till I fall off the end of the transom.......unfortunately, I ran out of B side so I had to stop mid stream.

skim coat the foam before laying down the glass

Before I lay down the glass, I have found that I can create a better bond with my corecell foam if I first give the foam a skim coat of epoxy / microballoons / aerosil .

Here's my recipe for my skim coat :

300ml B side
600ml A side.........mix with drill mixer

then mix in the dry stuff :
* 2000ml aerocil ( fumed silica;wicked stuff don't breath it)
* 1000ml glass microballoons

It ends up being like fluffy white cake frosting and the aerosil keeps it from running.

mixing the batch

I then I use a cordless drill fitted with a mixing blade...... a good minute or two will do the trick.

mixing system three silver tip epoxy for laminating

For laminating, I find it easy to just mix 1500ml batches of epoxy at a time.

so here's my routine......

from my 5 gal. buckets,

I pour the following into my plastic measuring cups,

* 500ml side B
* 1000ml side A

then I tip them together and let them drain into my mixing container.

back at it

After a cold january, a warm february day finds me back in the shop..........Today I'm laying down the 24oz. triaxial glass along the inside starboard hull half. Even know a three inch overlap is supposed to be as strong as continuous length, it still makes me feel better to do complete runs of glass.

Extra Hull protection

Scribe the line....

Since I like the idea of being able to beach a cat when the conditions allow, I've chosen the option of installing a 6 in. wide ( 3in. on each hull half ) high density insert along the keel.

After forming glueing and smoothing the vertical planks,


cut out the original foam...... although it may seem strange to pass up the opportunity to use power tools, since were only dealing with foam and not Alabama white oak, using a simple hand saw lets me control the cut while reducing the possibility of doing major accidental damage if I were to screw up when using a skill saw, a chain saw or some other testosterone tool. Plus, if he were around, I think it would make my grandaddy proud.

remove the 3 in. wide strip......

flop it back and forth to test the strengths of your glue joints just for fun......


prepare the edge to receive the high density foam. Here I'm using a flat auto body style sander loaded with 36grit open coat sand paper......( cuts foam just like it was the top of your nuckles)

another unusual tool

OK....what's this?


The inside corner seam of the deck and the hull needs a triangular fillet strip along the entire length. Since I didn't glue this strip on at the same time, I need to remove the excess glue.

Rather than spend ten minutes doing a task, I sometimes catch myself spending nine minutes making a special tool that lets me do the job in two minutes...........Although that still puts me one minute behind, it makes the job more enjoyable and I'm all for keeping things enjoyable.

Here's a simple tool that I use to cut the excess puffed up polyurethane glue out of the inside corner of the hull/deck juncture. I used small nails to fasten two utility blades to a chamferred wood block and then dragged the block along the inside seam.