Fillets and sanding is done. Now to lay some fiberglass. I started at the bow and proceeded aft.
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Fillet Day!
I finally have all the floors and bulkheads wired down, straight and true. Now its time to get the fillets down. I did a test fillet using peel ply and really like the result, so I'm going to be using this where I can. I'm holding off right now on installing bulkheads 1 and 2. I haven't decided yet if installing these bulkheads when I do the side panels will be the best way to approach this build.
Bulkhead 7 Drama
When I installed BH7, I made it square with the centerboard case - or at least that was what I attempted to do. The BH wasn't aligning very well with the cradle, but since that seems to be one of the most common complaints others have posted about, I wasn't too concerned. I epoxied it in and everything was looking good until I started adding the other bulkheads. I just could not seem to get BH8 to line up correctly and still be in the wire holes in the hull panels. I even put a laser level to the hull to check for alignment and twist. All looked fine. So I started to look at the alignment from a different perspective. If I wired in BH8 using the provided holes, then measure from the bulkhead to the aft end, I could see that the BH was parallel with the aft hull. Measuring the gap between BH8 and BH7 and I found a 3/4-inch difference between the starboard and po...
Fixing the "Cradle Bump"
I want the hull to be nice and smooth going thru the water, so I'm taking extra care to ensure the hull panels all meet properly. I wired the 2 hull panels to the keelson and was able to get a nice smooth outside line everywhere but at the cradles. For some reason the cradles were keeping the hull panels sticking up a good 1/8 inch from the keelson edge. You can see here that there is a good step between the hull panel and the keelson. I tried adding more wires and tried using screws to pring them in line - all no good. Finally I thought to jack up the aft end of the boat - and that created enough room so I could press these two panels together for a smooth outside line. I had the same bulge problem at the bow. To fix them both, I added a 1/16 inch shim where the keel meets the cradle. Problem solved. This also improved the layout of the bulkheads, eliminating a small gap between the hull and the BH bottom.
First Bulkheads
Now that the lower hull panels are wired in, it's time for the bulkheads 4 and 7. I started by dry fitting them and checking the alignment. This went easily and I only had to do some light trimming on one side of BH7 to get a nice level fit. To make it easier to check alignment of the bulkheads and foot boards, I cut a small hole it BH7 to allow my level to pass thru. Everything lined up great. At this point I screwed the bulkheads to the CB case, then gave everything a final check. I love the laser level! Now to epoxy the bulkheads in and I'm done for the day.
Getting started...
I purchased my pocketship kit back in October 2024. Plan was to spend the fall arranging the shop, acquiring tools and wood needed for the project and possibly getting started on parts like the spars. I'm fortunate to have a workshop that is just big enough for this job. I worked on the spars first since the weather was warm and dry and I could do alot of the work outside. All my spars are made from Douglas fir. I was able to find timbers that were long enough for most of the spars but had to do scarf joints for the mast. That was fun and I think it came out fine. Right now the spars are epoxied and stored overhead in the rafters. I've also built the centerboard, the centerboard case and the keel. Had a bit of drama with the keel where in spite of all my caution and measuring, I still manage to not get it straight. I ended up making a relief cut at the case and putting in a block that allowed me to straighten the keel perfectly....