I managed another 3 hours this afternoon on the second dingy. I attached (glued) the internal bulkhead and the forward bulkhead. So now all that needs to be done is to attach the various hull panels. To fit the forward bulkhead I had to cut the slot into the side panels and slide the bulkhead down to the floor. I find it easy enough to cut the slots on the boat rather than on the panels before they are fit but I guess if we were mass producing these I would have the slots cut into a template and mark and cut the panels before assembling the boat.

The reason I mention this is that I inadvertently cut my forward bulkhead to the same dimensions as Warren’s but I wanted my forward bulkhead back slightly further (about 100mm) and because of the curve in the hulls and centre floor it affects the size of the forward bulkhead (the further back the bigger it becomes). So I had to glue a 30mm strip to the bottom of the inside part of the bulkhead and a similar size strip to the top (inside the hulls) to make the bulkhead about 60mm taller overall. For a generic version of this dingy we will have to make a judgment call on which of the 2 dinghies is more practical after mine is done so that we can establish the exact size and position of the forward bulkhead. So far all the other parts are the same on both boats.

Once the glue is set tomorrow I can start to fit the hull panels and cut the chamfer. I can also remove the mdf temp bulkheads that are as heavy as the rest of the panels put together. The hull and side panels have kerfs which takes a little longer to fit and each one must be set before the next one can be fitted, so tomorrow I will only be able to do the hull panels and then Sunday the side panels, if I work on it both days. That would just leave the lids and these must be last anyway as the taping inside will need to be done before they go on. The outside tapes can all be done together after the lids are on.

I have spent 6 hours on dingy 2 so far (and Warren about 3 hours) and the boat is about a quarter done. So I am guessing 24 hours will cover it.