An Inside Job

Following up to fiber-glassing the topside of the the deck, it was time to tend to the underside.

The manual suggests doing the underside of the deck first and then finishing the top AFTER the deck has been epoxied to the hull. In consultation with Joey, my CLC / Night Heron guru, I opted to reverse this sequence for more than one reason.

I had been concerned that I might actually sand through one or two areas of the deck that did not lay quite the way it should. If that happened, it would be a lot more difficult to fix with the deck already attached.

So, I reinforced the underside with a bit of epoxy schmutz in the areas of concern but then turned it around to sand and fiber-glassed the deck. Luckily I never sanded through any areas.

Preparing the underside of the deck was a matter of scaping, sanding and sweating. Since appearance was not of the utmost importance, I did not go overboard, as it were. The glassing process was quite easy.

After trimming off the fiberglass, I exerted a little inward pressure on the sheer strip by simply stretching my handy frog tape across the turned-over deck. (Another valuable tip from Joey!) This trick ensured that as the epoxy and fiberglass cured, the deck would not spread outward. I suspect that the tendency to "open up" is an effect of the curved strips.

Since I had not attached the deck to the hull yet, Joey recommended that I take care of several other tasks as well. It certainly was easy to install the inside studs for the foot braces without crawling into the boat. Another task easily done before deck and hull are joined is the installation of the bungee braces which will serve to hold down the hatches.

And, yes, then there was the matter of the hatches looming... also better done before closing the lid (since both sides were already fiber-glassed).

Honestly, this is the part I have been dreading ever since I first looked at the manual.

Cut into that clean deck with a saw? - On purpose?!! -- Oy!