After the hull sides were completely stitched, I laid fillet ‘tack welds’ along the joints from stem to stern. I then removed the stitches but only from the bow to bulkhead #8. I then ran large fillets along that length only.
I stopped at BH8 because I had not yet installed the transom and wanted to have the majority of the hull sides completely secure before setting the heavy transom. I don’t think it would have mattered but I knew I was going to be handling the transom by myself. I didn’t want to accidentally knock the heavy transom against the boat and break tack welds or stitches.
As seen above, I’ve really liked using tape to mask off fillets and glass for clean edges. All joints got 3″ fiberglass tape on top of the fillets.
Transom
Setting the transom with just one person is not difficult. After beveling the side and bottom edges of the transom, a few drywall screws easily held it in place. I was a little worried about getting the bevels right but I wound up with a perfect fit. Which was really nice after the gap debacle at the bow.
After setting the transom it was the usual process. Tack weld fillets, removal of stitches, then large continuous fillets along the joints. Even though the hull bottoms between BH8 and the transom would get glass that would run vertically up the sides a bit, I still added some glass tape at the vertical joints.
Note above. I haven’t posted about any electrical yet but you can see I have several wires being run into the aft locker space. These will eventually service…various things.
Then glass was added to the bottoms. One sheet for each side, overlapping each other by several inches at the centerline. As prescribed, this glass extended vertically up all the sides for a few inches as well.
Finally, the entire bilge has been glassed. Now the newly glassed areas will be sanded for paint or varnish.
Next
The beginning of electrical work + odds/ends. Also, a life-saving tool for sanding fillets.