The rough look that the planks have before they are glued or even after glue is applied disappears with a light sand. The contrast is amazing. As mentioned when I was sanding the forebeam, the curve is made up of a series of flats but when you sand them after they are glued you are in effect taking off the sharp corners of each turn making the whole section rounder. It still has flat sections that will fully removed when the glass and bog go on. But already with just glue and a sand the panel is much rounder.

I removed all of the mdf trim tabs and all but the top and bottom screws in each bulkhead. (I left them in just to hold the panel in the correct place on the boat until I glass it. Once I had sanded the already glued sections I set about trimming up the planks and then gluing the stern. I have left the very last section unglued as I still have to split some of the planks again to shape the last section. I then back filled the areas that were under the tabs or where the screws were.

So after I sand the stern and the back filled glued sections and shape that final section at the stern I will be ready to glass it on the outside. I will also apply a thin layer of bog whilst it is still green to save having to sand the glass (or peel ply it). Then I will take it off the boat, sand the inside and glass it before putting it back on the boat to set. Hopefully I will be able to finish this panel next weekend so I can start on the other side by the following week.

There has been some more progress on Nine Lives. The deck is all glued on and the cabin turret is also glued on. Next I think they glass all of these panels.