Black Pearl Project - And the Two Shall Become One

In my last post, the deck was getting close to being ready to mate to the hull. There were two potential problem spots with regards to the the two bulkheads in this boat. The aft bulkhead (right behind the cockpit) was fine but I needed to make sure that the deck "conformed" to the right shape, i.e., was good and flat!!  The fwd bulkhead is to serve as my foot brace but due to the very cramped space,  it  is quite far forward in the boat. So far that I could not reach it via the cockpit. Also, running a fillet on the fwd side of the bulkhead was not an option as it was butting right up against the fwd hatch/deck plate!! This meant needing a substantial gluing surface between these two bulkheads and the deck to negate the need for a fillet.  Simply, I beefed up both these bulkheads by adding a piece of 3/4" x3/4" piece of pine to the aft and  12mm ply to the fwd!! Both of these increased the gluing surface substantially. Clear as mud??

Under deck prior to mating.  Fittings given a coat of epoxy for "good measure"

You can see the 12mm plywood (white) on the footbrace  to provide  better adhesion to the deck. Upper deck  off to the side .

I mixed up some  thickened epoxy and spread it along the sheer clamp/hull. I figured it was better to go thick and have the excess squeeze out rather than have a starved join. There was some excess but not a whole lot - so I am happy with the join.

For the areas that required extra "force", i.e., on the foot brace and fwd of the cockpit, I used tie down straps to get the extra clamping force. Otherwise, packing tape was sufficient to get a tight join! Phew!!!

Aft of the cockpit has been presenting itself as a PITA (pain in the ass) since I initially planked the deck!! With the extra brace (3/4 x 3/4) epoxied to the bulkhead, I had some leverage!!  When the time came to epoxy the deck to the aft bulkhead, I used an exterior brace. (See below) It was screwed to the aft bulkhead with 2" screws that effectively pulled the deck tightly to to the bulkhead. The copious amounts of thickened epoxy ensured a tight fit!!

Temporary brace keeping the aft deck flat!

 A bright LED flashlight was used to find gaps in the joins. All looks good and tight!!

Aft looking fwd.

Coaming waiting to be trimmed!!

My apologies for the rambling entry. I am covered in black epoxy. I thought this task would take about an hour but it stretched into three!!!    I've had a few drinks of Jameson's on the rocks. So I'm just wanting to relax !!

Thanks for dropping by,

Sean