Skerry; ready to glue?

Builder's Forum
1

I have stitched up the panels and overall I’m happy with the fit. I checked for squareness of the bulkheads and that the bow and stern are plumb. There are two problem areas and can’t decide if I should start gluing or not.

Where the #1 panels converge with the bottom at the stern, with the boat upside down, the stern is slightly raised with a ~1/4" gap (see photo). I believe I could loosen things up and get it to sit better, but that feels like I may not be worth the effort? I was thinking of cutting a small chamfer so that I could push it into place? Or should I leave it alone?

Also, where the panels meet at the bow and stern there are some 1/8" gaps where the panels sit flush (see photo). Maybe add stitches to try to pull them tighter?

Otherwise things are looking good, and without gaps. Should I just start gluing?

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2

Welcome Scott! Absolute precision is kind of a luxury with stitch and glue boats. Do the best you can and slather thickened epoxy over the rest. Sometimes you can tighten, add, or rework a stitch to bring things in a little better. I can say on my own build some things lined up damn near perfect, and some things did not. She still looks pretty good from ten feet away so I have no complaints.

3

Thank you! This is my first boat, it’s tough to judge if I’m being too sloppy or too picky. A few taps from a rubber mallet coaxed the bottom into place so I’ll proceed with the epoxy.

4

You can always add additional stitches wherever they might be helpful in closing up gaps.