Bulkheads installed

The vacuum bagged bulkheads turned out very nice.  The laminate table top actually pulled up a little in between the bulkheads while under vacuum.  Just another examples of the power of nothing!  Should be fine, I just had to roll it down tight again so the contact cement could adhere.

Today we spent about four hours installing the bulkheads in the hull.  Dawna made expert batches of epoxy while I cursed at the glass tape bits that wouldn't give in to my will.  Nonetheless, as you can see, they all went in as planned.  The join between the bulkheads and the hull is filleted with an epoxy + microballoon + cabosil putty (or "bog"  as they say down under!)  The microballoons add bulk and keep it light.  The cabosil adds viscosity and makes it more putty like.  I probably needed to add more cabosil and microballoons to my putty since it tended to sag before I could get the taping done.  The fillet is the white stuff at the joins.

My talents at filleting are certainly suspect, but good enough to serve the purpose.  The fillets are covered by double bias 4" wide tape that actually does the work of holding the bulkheads in place.  The fillet is just intended to give a more gradual transition from bulkhead to hull.  In the next hull, I may try using foam core fillets as Ian suggests for the larger boats.  I am definitely better at cutting foam on the table saw than I am at making perfect coved fillets.

 I am reasonably satisfied with the installation.  I am sure I used more epoxy than I should have, especially at the forward bulkhead.  But there are also many elements coming together at the forward bulkhead, with layer upon layer of additional reinforcement.  I am sure the next hull will show improvement based on this experience (though the boat might heel a bit to starboard).

Here you can see a closer view of the forward bulkhead (but hopefully not so close as to expose my sloppy technique).  Note the reinforcing gusset that is also filleted and taped in place.  There is a matching gusset on the other side.  There will also be another pair on the other side (top in this view) of the bulkhead when the other hull is joined.

Well, that is just about it for the inner half of the starboard float hull.  Next we will be removing this half and starting the outer half of the port float.  Hopefully I will remember to flip the bulkheads over, otherwise we will have two starboard hulls.  Progress should be faster on the next half since we have the basic techniques and tools in place.  Unfortunately, it will be a while before we get started since we will be traveling for much of July.  So keep watching for updates in late July.