Bulkheads - Begun

The weather has thwarted me at almost every turn over the last couple of weeks, but I have managed to make at least some progress. 

As mentioned, I'd bought my inspection ports and bungs for the watertight bulkheads and so now I worked on getting them fitted. It was a simple matter to draw around the openings, and then I used a hole saw to get things started. 

Today was the first real clear day, and I'm happy to have used it well. First I used my jig saw to cut out the holes for the ports. I used a metal cutting blade to try to minimise breakout damage, although there was still some minor damage done. Still, they came out ok. 

I was slightly concerned about the 2mm ply bulkheads perhaps being a bit flimsy, so I decided to beef up the tops with another strip of the same ply. I made these wide enough to adequately surround the inner gunwales too, so hopefully this will increase strength in these areas of the hull and decks nicely. 

I cut them slightly oversized and clamped them together. Then I used my sanding station to get the outlines as perfect as possible. 

Should provide a better landing edge for the deck now too. 

Keen to make the most of the day, I wanted to give these parts a decent soak coat of epoxy as well (rain supposed to be coming back this week). I dug my old resin out and found it to be a solid mass in the bottom of the bottle, because it has been sitting for so long. I sat it in a bucket with hot water for a while, and it soon became runny again. I mixed up a batch (with the additive that makes the epoxy more viscous and has a wood preservative as well) and drowned the components in it. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be fine, so I'm looking forward to getting some more done. I'd love it if I can get this boat finished before the summer, but I'm going to have to come up with some money soon. In the mean time I'll get as much done as I can with whatever I have on hand.