Starting to See a Tiny Bit of "Light at the End of the Tunnel"

Cabin (Cuddy) Carlins & Cleats

Here you can see the cabin carlins (roof supports across the top) and side cleats as the glue is curing.  Later the carlins will be trimmed flush with bulkhead 1 (at the bottom of the picture).  The view is from the bow end.

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Outboard Cleats from Bulkhead 2 to Bow, Carlins

Here is another view from behind bulkhead 2, looking toward the bow.  You can also see cleats being glued in the front "anchor well" at the bow end.

New Upper Breasthook

I had to build a new breasthook because the one supplied in the kit was too narrow.  Things look pretty messy because I tried to make the original breasthook fit and when I finally decided to remove it the glue had already cured, so it ripped out some of the port cleat.  I had to fill in the gap with thickened epoxy (thickened with wood flour).

Upper Breasthook

Here's the upper breasthook after sanding.  I got a bit overzealous trying to smooth out the filled area and sanded through the top layer of plywood.  No worries, though, the new breasthook is made of two pieces of plywood laminated together and is a bit thicker than the original. 

Starboard Outboard Stringer

This shows the outboard stringer being glued.  The inboard stringer and lower stringer are already in place.  Screws holding the lower stringer for gluing will be removed later.  The seatback will be glued to the stringers and frames after a vertical stringer has been added at the front end and some other work is done.  The top stringers will support the top of the seat, which in nautical terms is referred to as the "deck"in this case. 

 You can also see the stub end of the electrical conduit coming from the front storage and battery compartment to the stern.  There is another on the port side.  I decided to cut a section of the conduit out in the lowest bilge.  That way any water that finds its way into the conduit will drain into the bilge and can be easily removed.

Floatation foam will go in the forward seatback sections.  I did not cut rigid foam to put in there because there would be plenty of voids.  If water ever gets in I probably won't know anything about it unless I hear it sloshing around, and there would be no way to get it out short of drilling holes.  So I am planning to fill the areas with expanding foam, that if done properly will completely fill the seatbacks, leaving no place for water infiltration.

Port Seatback Curing

Starboard Setback Curing

Seatbacks are glued in and shown curing here.  The lower stringer and frame attachments could not be clamped, so instead I secured them with brads using a nail gun.  The tiny brads will remain, forever entombed in epoxy.  You can also see blue conduit in the rear storage "locker" on the port side. That will be used to route the VHF antenna cable to the antenna which will be mounted at the stern.  I also ran identical conduit on the starboard side to accommodate any electrical needs I have not anticipated.

With the seatbacks in place, my next steps include building the dorade boxes,* cabin deck, and companionway hatch, followed by installation of the seatback "decks" and fiberglassing the cockpit interior.  Then it's on to flipping the boat over and finishing the hull!

*A dorade box is a box with a horn vent mounted on top and a vent opening into the cabin.  The cabin vent is placed an inch or so above the bottom of the dorade box, so that any water that gets in via the horn vent will flow out through a hole in the hull before it gets high enough to reach the cabin vent.  This will become much clearer with pictures, I'm sure.