As I run out of offcuts big enough to make full size parts I have to make smaller parts that can be glued together. On the hull sides I have cut separate bow panels and side panels. We glued the sides on today and I will then glue the bow sections on tomorrow. Whilst I have the duflex for the bow sections and hull tops and cosmetic chamfer, I don’t have any more pieces large enough for the hull sides (outside) and although we have enough smaller parts to glue together to make them up I have decided to use 2 duracore panels I have for strip planking that are 300mm wide. I will just need to glass these inside and out and as I have to tape the joins anyway there will only be slightly more glass and resin needed to glass the entire sides and I also think it is less work and will be lighter than all that cutting and gluing of duflex.
We have also cut the chamfer shape out of the bulkheads ready to glue the small chamfer panel on. I have plenty of pieces big enough for these as they are long but thin (of which there are plenty of offcuts). For mine, again for no other reason than aesthetics I will have a tapering chamfer, larger than Warrens at the stern and getting gradually narrower to the bow. (Warren’s was a consistent size along its length and only narrowed at the very front). You can also see the enlarged (heightened) transom to accommodate my long shaft outboard. It is probably oversize but we can trim it easily later. I wanted a long shaft so that if I decide to use outboards on the cat, they will also be long shaft and in case of a failure I could use the dingy motor in an emergency.
Before gluing the panels on today, the keel panels were trimmed down to match the profile of the bulkheads so that the next panels have a flat surface to glue to. These will also overhang and need trimming but we lined up the top to the corner on each bulkhead of the next panel around (the cosmetic chamfer) so we will only need to trim the bottom at the join to the keel. When trimming we will also round it so the tapes don’t have a sharp edge to go around.
Once the bow sections are kerfed and glued to the rest of the hull side panels and the keel panel edge they will also be trimmed and the cosmetic chamfer will be tested with the template before being cut, kerfed and glued on. If I get that done tomorrow I can trim it up Sunday afternoon ready to tape inside and out before the final panels are cut and fit (then also trimmed and taped) to finish the construction of the boat.
We only did 2 hours today for a total of 14 hours on this dingy. This weekend Jo and I are going to Sydney to see American Choppers. That should be a lot of fun, we really enjoy their show. We are staying in Sydney on Saturday night.
