With the bottom hull panels now fully stitched to the keelson and to each other at the bow, the floors and bulkheads can go in.
First, floor 4 & bulkhead 7 are fit and glued to the centerboard trunk. Those pieces fit to the trunk in just one way, and they will serve as good reference points for the rest of the floors and bulkheads when squaring and leveling everything up.
Floor 4 : My kit piece was probably a quarter inch too tall and would therefore not fit under the lip of the trunk without a good bit of rasping. Had I not already glued the cleats onto the floor piece, a bandsaw would have made quick work of this. Once I had a good fit, I set two short screws so to keep the floor tight to the trunk when glued.
Bulkhead 7 : This piece was also about a quarter inch too tall. I rasped the bottom until the top was flush with the top of the trunk. Like floor 4, I secured the piece to the trunk with a few short screws for glueup.
General Note
During dry fit, I found that the stitch holes in the bottom panels (this is a kit build) did not line up very well at all with the cradle arms. The holes for stitching the panels to the keelson lined up perfectly. The cradle is square and the distance between the bow and stern arms is correct. But some of the holes in the bottom panels are aft of the arm on one side of the boat and fore of the arm on the other, as if the keel is cockeyed in the cradle slot.
I’m not sure what to make of this. Everything is square far as I can tell. I’m hoping this is not a big deal. I’ve drilled stitch holes where I need them and will keep trucking on.
UPDATE : After a post on the forum I was reminded that the cradle arms are long and can have some play in them. I had measured square where the arms attach to the joining pieces but I had not measured for square all the way out at the ends of the arms. Now I know.
Next
I’ll stitch in the rest of the floors and bulkheads, square everything up and tack weld between all the stitches…