Glueing in the Frame S and the Bunk Structure

Continuing the workflow and following the mentality of precoating everything, it was time to remove Frame S, the bunk structure, and the cockpit battens for their epoxy coating. All surfaces received two coats on both sides. The battens had at least one side that didn’t require coating (the glue surface), which allowed me to coat all sides in one go. I arranged them on some scrap wood and used double-sided tape to hold them in place.

I began with Frame S. It was a very tight fit and not easy to position correctly. Once it was in its final location, I filleted the port and starboard sides and reinstalled the cross batten on Frame B to ensure the correct width.

Next, I moved on to the cockpit floor, installing the lower battens and partitions. I also added an additional support piece for the cockpit floor between Frame A and the transom. Moving forward, I installed the aft sections of the bunk sides. As mentioned in my last post, these sections also attach to the floor battens.

Once the coating was complete, I started gluing in the parts. This stage was particularly enjoyable because it allowed me to switch up my tasks—first sanding and prepping a few parts, then gluing them in place. Over the course of a few weeks, the entire structure gradually came together.

Following this, I proceeded with the bunk sides and structure. When gluing in a part, I always followed the same process: first, I applied clear epoxy to the end-grain side of the plywood parts. Then, I thickened the epoxy and applied it with a piping bag inside the boat. After placing the part, I cleaned up any squeeze-out flush with the surface. Since many of these parts have unsupported joints to the hull (without backing timber), they were not perfectly stiff when first positioned. To address this, I cleaned up the squeeze-out immediately, and once the epoxy had cured and everything was permanently fixed, I planned to add small fillets for additional strength in areas lacking timber backing.