1815Hrs- More Strength

A miserable dark wet day that made it all the more pleasurable to be able to work inside the boat, it’s strange that even in this far from completed state ‘Gleda’ is starting to take on a character, and climbing down a temporary ladder into a warm well lit little cabin feels almost homely, I never expected that until much much later in the build. It’s an added little bonus that not only makes the work more enjoyable but more importantly allows work to be continued despite the weather. Today for example the temperature rise and rain resulted in very high humidity to the extent that everything felt damp. There would have been no way to attempt any epoxy work on the outside of the hulls but inside it was just fine. I’m still without my Land Rover mind so the bike ride to and from the barn wasn’t completely enjoyable although there was a bit of masochistic pleasure to be had freewheeling down a lane running with water at 25mph! (that’s me on the bike not the water).
Anyway as far as work went I measured up, cut and dry fitted a piece of 9mm ply to box in underneath the forward beam trough to give it more strength. I took it off again so that I could give what will be the inside of the boxed section a really good coat of epoxy. I also drilled a few big holes in it as I don’t want the section completely sealed. I also glass reinforced the joints in the hullside ply sheets just aft of the forward beam trough and did an extra bit of filleting under the beam trough. I’ll fit the ply strengthener tomorrow and then crack on with filleting the big joints between cabin top and hullsides.

Beam Trough Reinforcement Epoxied