Hi,
I am building a Shearwater Double. I have finished glassing the interior of hull and deck. The manual now calls for assembling them. However, I am wondering whether I should first do the following while I still have easy access:
- Sand cockpit areas to final state
- Install mounts for the footbraces
- Drill holes for the rudder cables
- Varnish cockpits
Thank you for any suggestions or advice.
Bengt-Olaf.
I can't think of much down side to do what you propose.
your proposal works. a lot of the things you mention are very straight-forward and easy before the deck is attached.
that said, do make sure to protect your work inside the cock-pit from stray epoxy spills that sometime occurs during the deck assembly process.
Thanks for the reassuring comments!
As for the epoxy spills etc., I was planning to initially tape off about 1/2 inch along the hull's top edge to leave unvarnished epoxy for the fillets connecting hull and deck. And obviously, I will put in plastic foil to protect the hull before attaching the deck and coaming.
Bengt-Olaf.
All of those tasks are easier with the deck removed. My only two cautions would be to try to have the deck back on within about a week, so that the epoxy doesn't harden too much, and make sure you don't varnish over your later epoxy joints.
Good luck
JRC