2550Hrs – 100% Spaced Out & Then Some

The bulk of todays work session was spent gluing on the last 50 lashing strake spacer blocks to the outboard sides of the hulls. Exactly the same as yesterdays work. I’ll not say anymore on the matter other than to answer a query Roger left in the comments today asking why these lashing strake spacers go down the full length of the hulls and not just beneath the beams.

Well firstly they’re shown like that on the plans and I’m guessing it’s a strength thing. Not only will the whole strake be stronger as a long length but I would suggest it adds some extra strength to the hulls as it follows the line of the internal stringer. I don’t think it’s a big deal though and I’m sure I’ve seen some photos of a Tiki 38 with  just a few feet of lashing strake under each beam. I guess it’s a matter of choice but I think the full length strake also emphasises the lovely lines of the hulls.

Anyway I’d speeded up the process of gluing these blocks on a bit so once I’d finished I had time in hand to crack on with another job that involves sticking things to the hulls, namely the under beam reinforcing pads.

These pads are made of 18mm ply roughly triangular in shape which are stuck then glassed to the hull sides under each end of the beam troughs. There are 14 in total and of course due to the variance in my lashing strake spacers they were all a slightly different height.

I knuckled down and got them all cut, routed a nice rounded edge on the outward face to make them easier to glass, sanded off the corners and then ground back the hull sides ready for gluing.

It’s an added bonus to have made good progress on a job I hadn’t even planned to do today.