Before closing off the cocpit I need to finish a couple of things:
- seal everything that will end up in the closed space - although I plan to install some ventilation (possibly even active) I expect this space to be a bit damp, so everything needs to be well protected.
- reinforce the transom joint - especially the attachment point of the lower rudder gudgeon.
The Designed suggests a small(-ish) stainless steel angle plate screwed to the bilge plating as reinforcement. I went with laminated glass. 7 layers of 300g/m2 biaxial makes for about 2.5mm of reinforcement over the entire width of the bilge. A large fillet with a radius of about 2cm takes care of spreading the loads and the actual gudgeon will be back plated with something stiff (maybe steel or a GRP plate) and covering the fillet. I think this will spread the loads nicely.
This was the first time I used this type of glass - went fine, but it was fiddly. I tried to see how many layers I could saturate simultaneously - 2 was the number for me, 3 was too much (with the 105/205 combo), optimal was just 1. Good to know. I will practice some more before glassing the hull on some more internal reinforcements.
As for the pictures: I was working solo, so not much pictures from the actual work. Cutting this stuff went fine using regular household scissors but for the larger jobs ahead I ordered an electric pair on ***zon.
And here's what 7 layers of 300g biax looks like:
The white blotches are a result of me trying to go over too many layers of glass and not knowing what I'm doing in general. I'll improve eventually, hopefully before it is time to do the hull.
Let's see what tomorrow brings...
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