It is starting to get hot again, today it was 33 Celsius which is about 9 above average for this time of year. I guess we should get used to it with global warming accelerating. Nevertheless I managed to get all of the filling on hull finished this weekend, including plugging the gap in the keel.

I filled all of the joins between the panels including the chamfer which is also a cove to reduce the angle of the turn with filler (411). I used piping bags to fill the joins but just used the rounded scraper straight from the ice-cream container for the chamfer cove. The rounded cove creates a better seat for the glass so that it bonds completely with no air bubbles or gaps that the more acute angle can cause. It also creates a much nicer look to the turn of the hull.

Overall the filling was a lot faster this time around for 2 reasons, firstly I way overfilled last time but probably the reason it all went in faster was that I was able to make much larger batches of filler due to the temperature being a little cooler than last time. The heat was causing the batches to cure faster than I could fill the joins last time but this time I was able to completely fill the lunch bags (piping bags). The chamfer took a little longer than I remember but I tried to do a better job than last time. The better job you do now the less sanding you have to do to get it right later. I have probably overfilled a little at the bow where the chamfer turn flattens out, but this needs to be sanded flat and feathered out and also needs to correctly follow the shape of the hull so too much fill here will probably help in getting the angles right.

Once I had all of the hull filled including behind the holding tabs once I removed them, I started on the plug to fill the keel join. This was a simple task, and as last time, I measured the length of the gap (6.3 meters) then at 500mm intervals I measured the width of the gap and wrote them down. I then found an offcut long enough and marked the measurements out on the offcut and joined the dot creating the line I needed to cut to. I then cut it out using my battery circular saw, although you can just as easily use a jigsaw. Once it was cut I tried to dry fit it. It was too wide in just one place, so I marked that so that I could trim it with the rasp (or a plane). It then fit very well, so I mixed some glue (403) and glued it in. I needed to tab it in order to get the piece to bend to the shape of the keel. Once it is set I will remove the tabs and fill the holes and any gaps in the glue with filler and I am ready to start sanding the filler smooth and round ready to glass the hull.

I am still on schedule to glass and bog next weekend as long as I can get the chine turns sanded during the week.