Seat backs and other framing

With the upper sides in place is was time to tackle the upper front battens.  These take on quite a bend and I fiddled with them for a long time to get them to go where I wanted them.  Lots and lots of clamps helps.  I had to keep reminding myself that these will be beveled before the cabin top is laid in place.  Finally I bit the bullet and mixed epoxy.  Once in and cured these battens added an amazing amount of stiffness to the boat.  It was also at this time that I added the battens that span the cabin roof as shown below.

Next I chose to add the fillets to the companion way bulkhead.  The manual warns you to make this look good since everyone will be able to see it.  Working wet on wet I created some nice fillets and then while they were still pliable I added the fiberglass tape.  It looks pretty good.  I don't think that I will be ashamed of it.

In addition to laying the biaxial tape along the lower edge I did like I've seen several other builders do and added some tabs to the vertical fillets that will end up on the inside of the seat backs.

At this point the manual wants you to glass the anchor well and install the upper breast hook.  I deviated from this because I don't want to tackle a large fiberglassing job in Florida's summer heat.  I went on to framing the seat backs.  This is more fun for me because I can see something happening.

The first problem was getting the lower batten cut with all the right angles.  I thought that this would be tough but it was actually pretty easy once I got the table saw set up correctly.  They both came out perfect the first time.  Ya gotta love when that happens.

Getting the curve sprung was also easy.  Since the lower batten is smaller than the upper front batten it sprung around the curve with no feeling like it was going to break or split.  A few well placed temporary screws held it easily in place while it dried.

Here you see the small bulkhead brace epoxied in place and held with temporary screws.  This will be the mounting point for the front ends of the upper seat back supports.

Another batten will go where the line is drawn to add support to the front of the seat backs.

 And a parting shot of the cabin roof supports.

Hours this session: 20

Hours total: 329