I left the port dagger case not quite fit correctly last night. I should have persevered as all that was needed was a little more trimming of the hole in a couple of places and it would be right. It took me just 15 minutes to get the trimming done today and now the case whilst still a little tight it does now sit square and plumb. I intend to have a grey water tank in behind the port case so I still have some work to do on that before I can glue the case in, I also need to trim the case down to the angle of the hull panel and de-core the end as well as the hull panels around the hole so there is still some work to do before it will be glued in but I am getting close. To trim the case at the bottom I will run a texta mark around the case at the hull and cut it off about 10mm over size and then use that offcut as the mark for the other side. Then I will just de-core the case by 10mm more than needed to account for the trim off. I intend to fill the core not with glue but with uni rope to add some extra strength to the area.
So from the dagger cases to the beam and I got on to re attaching the bow panels to start the process of closing up the bows. First I gave the edges of the glass on the strip planked panel a trim and sanded the glass where all the bulkheads will be glued and glassed to it and along the edges where it will be glued and glassed to the adjacent hull panel. I then found a beam mold and used it to mark the shape of the forebeam on the panel where it will exit the hull. Then I cut that shape out. As I usually do in these circumstances I under cut it and trimmed it out on the boat which means that it takes a bit longer than it would if I just cut it to size slightly oversize to start with. The thing is even oversize the hole will just back fill with glue within reason so there is no good reason to be so cautious. Anyway, I eventually got the hole cut to the right size after a number of trims and the panel fits back over the beam and meets the hull.
I then repeated the job on the starboard side, emboldened by the success on the port hull I cut the hole a little bigger requiring much less trimming. I threw a ratchet strap over the panels and pulled them down tight to be sure that everything fits together well. I am almost ready to glue these back on. These inside bow panels will be glued back on and coved and glassed from the inside before the outside hull long curved panel because the bulkhead glassing is much shorter on them, so I can cove and glass these bigger pieces in the relative comfort of having the other panel off the boat, but once I have to do the other side I will have to do it through temporary holes cut in the bulkhead or hatch covers cut out, then do it from inside the cavity contorted, cramped and generally uncomfortable so you want it to be as easy as can be so any sanding work etc needs to be done before I glue any panels on. I also intend to flow coat the inside of the hatch areas so that only the top glassing is left to coat later. I wont be gluing the outside hull turn panels for some time as I still have a lot of engineering reinforcement to do for the mast tubes.
As soon as these 2 inside bow panels are glued in I can start to fair the area. I will also then be able to glue the conduits for the tramp holders on and cove and fair them in. And of course I still have the catwalk to construct and attach. That will be fun as I have a couple of interesting ideas I want to employ in it.
