Decked!

Thursday was a long day getting the fore and aft decks fitted and installed. Tony had already scarfed a piece large enough for the fore deck and had it drenched with water on both sides while we started on the aft deck. It was nice to be able to crawl through the hatch to mark the position of the inwales, stringer, and other important locations.

We then got the wet 3/8" plywood for the fore deck clamped in place so it could dry and went back to work on the thinner aft deck.

After coating the inner side of the aft deck with resin as additional waterproofing, we got the deck epoxied and screwed in place. 

Trimming the edges was made much easier by Tony's super-duper edge marker and a sharp blade in the sabre saw.

Once the fore deck had dried we did the same process: marked the location of the arch, stringer, inwales, etc.; backdrilled for screw locations; applied resin to the underside of the deck; and epoxied and screwed the deck in place.

After a long day at the office, Helen stopped by to check our progress. The decks really help define the visual lines of the boat.

This morning we started by glassing the aft deck using two layers of cloth to offset for the thinner material that we used for this deck.

Wetting out the cloth makes the fiberglass go clear, letting the wood shine through - at least until the boat is painted.

The fore deck was an easier process since we just used one layer on the elephant's dance floor. Seriously, we do think that this deck is strong enough for elephants to dance on it.

I glassed the floor forward of the rower's station - one piece up and over three ribs to protect from abrasion. Tony started final installation of the side hatch decks

and the permanent portions of the back seat.

At the end of the day the glass on the decks had cured enough that we could cut off the excess at the lower edge of the outwales.

Things will slow down tomorrow. Now that hatch lid sizes can be determined we need to get started on the hatch lids, latches, and sealing mechanisms. Garboards, scupper holes, and the rower's seat are also on the "real soon now" list.