Tabbing

Starting in on the tabbing this week. It has been very hot and uncomfortable so I have not had too much time aboard. Tabbing is the process of overlaying the fillets with strips of fiberglass to adheare and strengthen the attatchment of the builkheads to the hull or deck. The joint is cleaned, sanded and prepped as needed. The strips are cut to length and then saturated with neat epoxy resin. Once they are fully wetted out you wet out the joint and apply the fiber glass. A disposable brush is used to help it adhere and apply more epoxy where needed. When you are really good you can apply successive layers when the epoxy is hot (kicked) but not cured to get a better bond. Otherwise, like me, you wait till it cures, come back and whipe off the epoxy blush with solvent and sand down for the next layer. Everyone has their own process but I like a fillet covered by a 3" strip and then a 6" wide strip of biaxial fiberglass cloth on the primary structural joints. Minor cabinetry elements I will glass in with only one layer over a fillet.

Final Bulkhead

This weekend allowed me to finish up the bulkheads and cut to fit the final bulkhead that I will be replacing. The others were sealed with epoxy and sanded down. It is 3/4" marine grade plywood but a coat of epoxy, especially on the end cuts will help a lot. These were all set and filleted in place. This week I will will tab them in, both sides with 16oz bi-axial fiberglass cloth 6 " wide.

The final bulkhead which replaces the old one that had the ice box access has been cut, trimmed and fitted. This week I will seal with epoxy but not put in until all the other tabbing is done to allow access. The cut out is 16" x 16" so in theory i can get in to set the back side with fillets and tabs when set in place. It came out quite well with a nice rounded over edge on the cut out. Always risky using a router on plywood but the marine grade was a lot tighter than regular.

The final two partial bulkheads are not really bulkheads at all. They are part of the galley cabinetry support. They have delaminated but I will just fix and apply a 1/8" veneer to clean up.

Back Inside: Bulkheads

Continuing on the inside cabin reconstruction over the last two weeks. The starboard side bulkheads and engine compartment have all been roughed out of 3/4 marine grade plywood. This weekend I will start tabbing them in after sealing with a thin coat of epoxy. The final bulkhead is roughed in but I won't be able to fit until the others are tabbed in to get a good fit. This last one will have a large center section cut out to access the area for storage but also allow me to access the backsides for tabbing. I could get at it from the Ice box lid above in the cockpit but I would need a longer arm. The thought is that even tough I removed the inadequate built-in ice box, I may use this open storage space to be able to slide in a conventional cooler that can be accessed from the cabin or the cockpit. From the cockpit you would have to lift two lids but it will keep thing colder, longer.

The other aquisition this week was a wonderful piece of Sapele, a more readily available Mahogany substitute. Just as dense with some exotic grain but a little bit less intense in color and pattern. The piece I have is a solid 2 inch thick, 14" wide and 30" long. This will be my new bow platform. This boat has never had a bow roller platform or a bow roller for that matter. I plan on upgrading all the ground tackle as it only came with an 8 pound Danforth. On the platform I plan to carry a 22lb Claw (Bruce) and a 35lb CQR. I have laid it out on a drawing but now really need the actual rollers and anchors to finalize before cutting. Unfortunately ground tackle is not cheap so i may spread the $1,200 over a couple of months to soften the blow. When I am done it should look something like this: