MF14 - Minnesota

[walkabout_slp]

Jacques,
I will be taping the seam in red, but was referring to the area within the daggerboard (arrows). Seems that I will have to pre-soak the tape before I put it in this narrow gap and use a stick to push it in there as my hands are too big.

[jacquesmm]

Outside yes, inside no. It would be a mess to try to tape inside. Generously coat it with epoxy, some graphite in the resin would be great but that's all.

[walkabout_slp]

Made some more progress.
Filleting/taping every joint was quite time consuming.
Then adding 1x1 cleats to each frame member took a while too. I realized that I did not have enough clamps to help it go faster so just did what I could, when I could.

Here are some photos:



Next steps:
1. epoxy coat the inside of the boat.
How many coats is suggested? I was thinking 2 coats.
Sand fiberglass tape with 60 grit to give it some grip? Then clean the inside with acetone?
2. attach deck re-enforcing to underside of deck where rigging is going to be attached and where transom access port will be.
3. epoxy coat the underside of deck.
4. attach deck to hull.

[Eric1]

Looking good!

[Bogieman]

Your build is looking great. The amount of design structure in a boat this size is amazing too.

Bogie

[das boot]

To do the inside of the keel box I painted the inside of the box with resen then hung the glass into the box then using a brush on a stick I filled the weve of the glass with resen it is messey but it worked

[fallguy1000]

looks good!

[Jeff]

Good progress!!! Jeff

[walkabout_slp]

Thank you for the kind words.

I want to attach the deck to the hull this weekend and am looking for some advice on how to do this efficiently.

My current thought process is to:
1. coat the underside/inside of the deck in unthickened epoxy (1 coat)
2. let this set up all day.
3. coat all framing members that will come in contact with deck with unthickened epoxy.
4. let this set up a little 1/2-1 hour
5. mix many small batches of thickened epoxy and spread on all framing member in step 3
6. carefully lift deck onto hull.
7. screw deck to hull.

Does this sound feasible?
Any recommendations on mixing/spreading that much thickened epoxy? Use fillable caulk tubes? Use a big bead of epoxy and let the screwing down of the deck spread the epoxy or spread the epoxy first?

[pee wee]

You want to get at least two coats of epoxy (I'd probably do three for peace of mind) on all the surfaces under the deck, including the bottom of the deck. The rest of your plan sounds reasonable. I'd spread the thickened epoxy (slow hardener will let you be more thorough, a helper would be . . helpful) before putting down the deck, maybe add a bead on top to be sure any gap is bridged. Any screws you use should be removed after the epoxy sets, most builders weigh the deck down so there's not a bunch of holes that have to be filled. If you're worried about things sliding out of alignment you might use a couple screws.