Port Hull Outside

Yesterday I moved the port hull most of the way out of the building shed.  I was able to install the remaining two windows in each hull this week, despite my injured foot and ankle, so they are now fully "dried-in" and able to be left out in the open.  The starboard hull will come out next week after the sealant has a couple more days to dry.  I'm leaving the stern decks under cover until I get the non-skid and paint on them.  In the meantime, there is a lot of detailing to do on both the deck paint and the green topsides now that I have them out in the open where I can see and work free of the dust in the shed.  Here are a few pictures so you can see one of the hulls unobstructed for the first time:

The first step today was to wash all the dust off:

You can see that the stern deck here is not yet painted, only primed. 

I really like the way these flush-mounted windows came out....

This view shows the companionway hatch and opening hatch forward.  This is one Tiki 26 that will have lots of natural light and ventilation inside.

Painting Begins at Last

When you're building a boat it's always a good feeling when you start applying finish coats of paint for the first time. On the Tiki 26, painting the interior of the port bow hold and forward buoyancy compartment is only a small step in painting the whole boat, but at least this is one area that is closer to being finished. This is actually not the final coat of paint in these areas, they will get at least one more, but the high gloss white is really brightening things up in here and I'm one step closer to getting the deck on this section.

In these photos you can see the new location for the inspection port opening that I moved as described in a previous post. The ring for the plate is not installed here, just temporarily stuck in place. Aft of the plate you can see the large bow hold and the permanently mounted shelf section I installed. Forward of that shelf, there are two removable shelves not shown that rest on the stringers and form a solid horizontal divider to make the compartment more usable. The two forward shelves are sized so that they can be taken out through the deck hatch for access to the larger area below.

Aft of these two painted compartments, you can see the natural wood surface on the other side of bulkhead 4. From here back, in the living quarters of the cabin, the wood will all be finished bright with varnish.

While working on these below deck areas of the port hull, I've also been filling and fairing the inverted starboard hull, and it is almost ready for fiberglass sheathing, after I do a bit more shaping and sanding.

Preparing Port Hull for Foredeck Installation

With the starboard hull upside down and now protected from moisture and humidity with a coat of epoxy on all the exterior surfaces, I turned my attention back to the port hull, as I want to get the foredeck on and then work my way aft to the cabin sides and stern deck. The starboard hull is going to require lots of filling, shaping and fairing in preparation for fiberglassing - all monotonous hard work, so this port deck and interior work was a nice break from that.

Today I broke out the primer for the first time on the project, having finally gotten a least a couple areas ready to be primed and painted. You can see the forward buoyancy compartment here, with the first coat of primer on it. It's not necessary to paint inside here, and many Tiki builders do not, but I wanted a bright white interior in here so that a flashlight shined through the inspection port can reveal the condition of this inaccessible area. This is also important for clearing customs in some areas where officials looking for contraband might want to cut their own inspection holes if they can't see inside a sealed area. I'll have this area packed with sealed, empty plastic water bottles for extra floatation in the event of a holing, but these will be clear and the white interior should reflect enough light back to reveal that the bottles are all that's inside.

Note the inspection hatch opening that has been moved up closer to the deckbeam on the forward bulkhead.

This photo below shows the original location of this inspection port opening. This is the location shown on the plans and it was cut when I first cut out all the bulkheads and other hull parts. I moved it because I wanted to add the lifting partition panels you can see below at the level of the lower hullside stringer. This large area aft of the bulkhead is the forward bow hold, a storage area accessible only through a deck hatch. It is a huge, deep compartment with no division whatsoever on the plans. I decided it would be more useful to divide it with these panels, which form a shallow compartment high in the hold for lightweight items needed on deck like fenders and extra line. The partition is designed in three parts, with the forward two removable so that the large bottom area can be accessed through the deck hatch as well, and larger items stashed down there.

Moving a 6-inch hole in a bulkhead is no big deal with epoxy construction techniques. I first used the hole itself to trace a pattern for a plug on a piece of scrap 6mm ply. Then, using a few drops of the B.S.I. Super Glue that continues to prove so handy, I glued three temporary blocks on the forward side of the bulkhead to hold the plug, and then glued the plug to the part of the blocks overlapping the hole.

Working from the other side of the bulkhead, I filled in the gaps between the plug and the edges of the hole be forcing thickened epoxy in with a putty knife. When this cured, the temporary blocks were knocked off the other side with a hammer, and both sides were sanded, filled completely and sanded again until fair. A layer of 6oz. fiberglass cloth was laminated on the forward side to reinforce the plug. The new, higher hole was then marked and cut.

Here is a view into this storage compartment, showing the one part of the partition that has been permanently epoxied into place. The other two interlock and rest on the hull stringers and the ledgers on the forward edge of this part and on the aft edge of the bulkhead. Note the re-positioned opening for the inspection port - there is now enough clearance room above the partition for the flange of of the plastic port. The first coat of primer has been applied in the lower part of this compartment as well. All of the interior of the hold will be painted white.

The other project yesterday was cutting and fitting the foredeck for the port hull. Here is the complete deck, with the forward hatch opening cut and the longitudinal stringers glued and filleted in place on the underside. When the paint work is completed in the two forward compartments, this deck can be installed.

Starboard Hull Ready for Topsides

The starboard hull is now ready to be lifted out of the building cradles so I can turn it to either side for installing the topside panels. All the bunks are now in and filleted, and most of the filling and fairing work in the lower hull compartments is complete. I made another trip to New Orleans last Saturday and picked up more okoume marine ply for the cabin roofs, decks, and cockpit. I should have enough to finish the project now.

As you can see the starboard hull is close to the outside lattice wall of my building shed. Last night we had several severe squall lines pass through the area, complete with hail, isolated tornadoes, and nearly horizontal rain driven by 50-70mph winds. Nothing was damaged, but this morning I had to sponge several inches of water out of each of the lower compartments in the starboard hull. Apparently the wind was so strong it blew the rain sideways right through the lattice. Everything in the hull interior was well-sealed with epoxy, so no harm done.

Here's the sequence of final tasks completed before the bunks went in. First the floor area in the main companionway was sheathed in 6 oz. fiberglass cloth. I did this in both hulls as this is the one floor panel that will be walked on and subject to having things dropped on it. In the photo you can see the blue tape used to define the perimeter of the glass. Three coats of epoxy were eventually applied.

Everything below the bunks got another clear coat of sealing epoxy after a thorough sanding and fairing. This will be the final finish below bunks, as no sunlight will get to these areas and there is no need for U.V. inhibiting varnish as there will be above bunk level.

Here you can see the bunks are in and filleted. These fillets will be sanded and faired with additional passes of thickened epoxy, but for now the hull is locked in and is a rigid structure. I can remove the temporary braces shown here and lift the hull in slings for turning.

These braces were necessary while the bunk fillets were curing, but they were hastily screwed and clamped in position and proved to be quite dangerous. I got a nasty gash just over my right eye when I bumped my head on a support post in the shed, which in turn bounced me face first into the end of one of these 1 x 2 pieces of Doug fir. I shouldn't have left the long ends sticking out like that, but I wanted to reuse them later, so I didn't cut them off. Now my right eye has been swollen for two days and I look like I've been in a bar fight!

Over on the starboard hull, I'm working on the details that have to be completed before the fore and aft decks can be installed. Much of this involves finishing up the fairing in the buoyancy compartments, and prepping the large bow compartment for paint. I decided to paint this storage hold white inside, as it is not connected to the cabin interior and will only be seen from the deck. The white interior will make it easier to find stuff inside, as well as to keep clean. I'm also going to install a small shelf at the interior stringer level in this compartment to divide the storage area somewhat and provide a place for smaller lighter items in the upper part.

In the photo below you can see the doublers I'm gluing to the inside of the sheer on the inboard sides beneath the decks. This will provide more solid wood to receive the screws that will be used to fasten the trampoline lashing rails to the inboard edges of the decks.

Other details below decks are the shelves I'm adding in the area over the bunks and just forward of the front cabin bulkhead. This is the foot area of the bunk and there is plenty of room for two narrow shelves at the level of the lower hull to topside panel joint. Adding shelves here will serve to reinforce this joint as well, as they will be filleted into position.

These shelves are narrow enough to be out of the way, but wide enough for things like flashlights or even books stood up with a bungee cord retainer across them. I made a small fiddle rail of teak for each shelf and glued it on with the industrial Superglue I've mentioned before.

The shelves with teak fiddles are coated with epoxy. A small fillet at the fiddle rail joint completes the assembly, and the shelves, made of 6mm ply, weigh next to nothing.

I'm off to Jackson again later today, where the rest of the week I'll be working on finishing up the Backwoods Drifter I'm building and hopefully getting the front fairings installed on my crossbeams.

Decks As Designed

Work on the port hull is moving along now that I've resolved the deck modification issue. One reason I decided to scrap the idea of raising the decks is that I really like the deck lines as designed. To me the amount of camber is just right, combined with the strong sweep of the sheer.

I still have work to do inside the hulls around the bunks and the stem and sternposts before decks can be installed, but deckbeams for both hulls have been made and installed in the port hull. Notches for the stringers were first cut in the beams separately, then with beams clamped in place the notch area was removed from the plywood of the bulkheads with a flush-cutting router bit. In the photo below the finished foredeck beams are clamped in place with epoxy.


I've also cut and test-fitted the deck stringers for the foredeck. I've increased the width of these slightly for more stiffness, and added extra stringers in the main foredeck area just forward of the mast beam - an area of the deck that gets a lot of traffic. I've been on board Tiki 26s with springy decks. I think it's worth it to reinforce these so that there is no flex. The center stringer runs all the way from the forward cabin bulkhead to a notch in the stem post. After the deck is glued down, it will be cut away in the opening of the forward hatch. The other two long stringers to port and starboard terminate at the buttblock area of the upper hull panel, and will be supported here by a small cleat glued on the inside of this buttblock.

No Raised Deck

I've decided to scrap my idea mentioned in the recent post about the raised deck modification. I think this modification could work and could be made to look good, but I've decided the slight gain in interior room would not be worth the extra complications in construction. Every change to a design has implications beyond the immediate modification, and a change such as this would involve other areas of the boat that may delay the final completion and may have an adverse effect on performance. If I were building two Tiki 26s side by side, I would like to try this modification on one of them and see how it works out. As it is, I just want to get the hulls built and decked and get sailing as soon as possible.

To make up for the three-inch height increase of the bunks, I am simply raising the cabin tops by a corresponding amount, actually four and a half inches, keeping the same angles and lines. This will give adequate sitting headroom in most of the cabin area. The only change in shape will be the cabin roof, to which I might add a slight camber similar to that of the new Tiki 8M design. I also plan to make the companionway hatch smaller so that it does not occupy the entire forward part of the cabin roof when in the open position. In this space forward I plan to fit an additional hatch in each cabin, for better ventilation. For these I may use standard manufactured deck hatches that can be adjusted at a varying angles and have insect screens incorporated.

I've been busy today fitting deck beams and making the deck stringers, as well as adding the upper bulkhead sections on to the existing bulkheads where I had left them off while pondering the deck modification. Things will move forward quickly now with the first hull now that this issue is resoved and all I have to do is build. The mast is also coming along. I'm working on making and fitting all the various bits that go in the crane and foot, as well as channels for wiring conduits inside. No new photos to post today, but I'll have some later this week.

Raised Deck Modification

I've been working on the design of a modification I've been contemplating since before I decided for sure to build the Tiki 26. I think the basic design of the boat as drawn is great, but like many owner/builders, I want to fit my boat to my needs and requirements and I think minor modifications within reason can be done without detriment to the design's proven capabilities.

As I've stated before, I wanted to build the smallest boat that would work for my intended sailing, and for me the Tiki 26 is it. A Tiki 30 would have more interior room in the cabins, but at the expense of much more time and cost to build, as well as more difficulty hauling out and demounting for trailering. Sitting headroom in the cabins is all you can expect on any of the Tiki designs short of 38 feet, and the Tiki 26 has this. What I wanted was a bit more elbow room inside as I am 6'2", and one way I saw to accomplish this was to build a "raised deck" version that would allow me to also raise the bunk levels a corresponding amount to gain a bit more width there due to the flare in the V-hulls. One famous Wharram catamaran that was modified to an even greater extent to gain more interior room is Rory McDougall's Tiki 21 Cooking Fat, which he sailed around the world. The extra volume created by the raised decks contributed a lot to the ability of such a small catamaran to handle the conditions of the open ocean, adding reserve buoyancy where it was needed.

Although I did some sketches and even built a rough model before I began building the boat, I knew I wouldn't be able to determine for sure how the raised deck modification would work out until I had a hull built. I left my options open by cutting the cabin bulkheads separately and leaving extra material above the sheer on the installed bulkheads. I went ahead and raised the bunk levels by 3 inches, knowing that I could make this up in the raised deck or if I changed my mind, by simply raising the cabin tops 3 inches, which many Tiki 26 builders have done. Since I've been away from the boat for awhile in Florida, thoughts of these modifications were weighing on my mind quite a bit and I decided yesterday to go ahead and start working out the details to see if it's going to work.

The first step was to cut the extra bulkhead material above the sheer level to a slight inboard angle, so that the new side deck panels will be cambered in by a few degrees. I then made up some Doug fir stringers 1 3/4" by 3/4", the same dimensions as the other stringers in the hull, and sprung these in place against the bulkheads to get a fair curve. Maximum height above the sheer is 3 and 3/4", decreasing to 2" forward at bulkhead 6 and aft at bulkhead 1. The raised deck section will begin with the this 2" bump in height just behind the front crossbeam, so that the transition will not be noticeable. It will end 4 feet aft of the cabin at bulkhead 1, where it will blend into the rear trampoline beam I will be installing there. The new stringers for this raised deck panel will be on the inside top edge of the panel, let in flush with the cambered edges of the bulkheads. The decks themselves will have the same camber as in the plans, and the cabin bulkheads will follow the design lines, beginning at the top edge of the raised deck sheer. The mast and aft beams will fit in their chocks atop this raised section forward and aft of the cabins, with all loads transferred to the reinforced hull sections below at the true sheer. Beam lashing chocks will be located below the hull sheer as designed.

Although I'm not ready to begin permanently building these raised decks just yet, I've mocked it up with stringers clamped into place and the cabin bulkheads clamped above them. It's hard to visualize the appearance of the decks from these photos, since the tops of the forward bulkheads are still straight and do not show the graceful deck camber that will be there, but you can see the lines of the raised deck section at the outside.

This is a view at the stern showing how the section will terminate at bulkhead one behind the cabin. A rear trampoline beam will be mounted on the lower section just aft of the transition.

Here is a view of the raised section with pattern material in place. You can see the slight inboard camber here. This seam will of course be faired and glassed into the outboard sheer stringer below it.

More Hull Preparations for Sheathing

Although I turned the hull over for the first time last week, I forgot that I had to go back and make and install the reinforcing doubler plates that go on the inside of the upper topsides in the places where the crossbeams land and the shrouds attach. Since I'm laminating parts like this with temporary screws, it wouldn't do to glass the outside of the hull first, so this weekend I turned it back upright and installed these panels. Thanks to the fact that the hull is now suspended in rope slings, turning it to any angle in a 360 degree circle is easy to do singlehanded. I can't imagine building this boat without suspending it this way, but I had never seen this idea mentioned in boatbuilding books or articles until I saw it on Thomas Nielsen's Tiki 26 blog. Although the old jib sheets I'm using for slings are plenty strong, flat webbing is better so I ordered some 1" heavy duty straps with cam buckles from NRS and they just arrived yesterday, so when I get back to the shed later in the week I will swap out the slings.

I've spent much of the past week making lists of the supplies and materials I will need to finish this project, and shopping online for sources, organizing the time frames for when I'll need certain items, and spending some of the money I got from the sale of the Tiki 21. Keeping everything organized and staying stocked with materials and consumables on a project this size is a project in itself. I'm also researching options like making my own sails from Sailrite kits and looking at gear that will be needed later in the outfitting of the finished boat.

These are the shroud doubler plates that reinforce the hull panel where the shrouds attach to cleats on the outside of the sheer stringer. One minor departure from the plans here that I will take is to through bolt stainless steel chainplates to the topsides here rather than loop the shroud lanyards under a wooden cleat. I used this method on my Tiki 21 and it is also standard in the plans for the Tiki 30. The shrouds remain the same, but the lanyards pass through a shackle attached to the upper end of the chainplate, rather than under the cleat. This is a more secure system when raising and lowering the mast, since the lanyards can slip off the wooden cleat.

These doubler plates are in the mast crossbeam location. The middle one is the butt block used to join the topside panels together. The other two were added when I realized that the plans show a 12-inch block here to reinforce the hull in this area. It could have been made as one block, but once this is all faired and coated you won't be able to tell that it is actually three.

Here the hull is rotated to one side to make it easier to fill the many screw holes made in the assembly and the installation of things like the diagonal stiffeners. These holes must first be filled with unthickened epoxy, then faired with a thicker, filleting mix. It's a fairly slow process, but at least it's started.

Two things I needed to prep the outside of the hull for fiberglass sheathing: a set of sturdy, low sawhorses so I can reach the bottom of the keel when it's upside down, and a larger random orbital sander than the 5-inch one that is so handy inside the hulls. I built these horses out of 2x6s and made them only 14" high, which is just right for upside down work since I don't yet have my cabin bulkheads attached. The sander is a Rigid 6-inch unit from Home Depot. I was looking for a Porter Cable but found this one and thought I would give it a try since it is variable speed and has good reviews. I'll report back on it soon after I start fairing the hull.

I also ordered plenty of sand paper: 600 discs in 5 and 6-inch sizes, and in 60, 80 and 120 grit. Klingspor http://www.klingspor.com/ is a one stop shopping place for all kinds of sandpaper and other abrasive products.

Turning the First Hull

One of the first things I did when I got back to the boat shed was finish the topside panel to bulkhead fillets on the first hull, and having this completed, I couldn't resist turning the hull upside down to see how it looked. Even though there is more work to be done inside before I can glass the outside, such as adding topside doublers at the beam and shoud locations, I wanted to begin shaping the outside and filling and fairing the joints. Once upside down, I was pleased to see that the hull panels looked good, with no hard spots or waves, just smooth, fair curves.

I need to build some lower sawhorses. Set up like this, I can barely reach the keel at the deepest midship section.

I spent most of Monday filling the joints between the stems, skegs and keels where they meet the hull panels, and filleting the joint at the bottom edge of the topside panels. Shaping and fairing all this is going to take awhile. After starting the sanding, I went shopping today for a bigger random orbital sander. This is going to be a big sanding job.

Topside Panels Installed

In between all the sailing trips on the Tiki 21 and getting it hauled out onto the trailer, I've managed to complete both topside panels and got them installed Saturday. The following photos show the sequence of making them up and the finished result.

The plans call for a 3/4 by 1 and 3/4 stringer on the top outside edge of the topside panels. This stringer becomes the sheer clamp that the decks are nailed and glued down to later. One potential problem that has plagued many Tiki 21 and 26 owners is rot in this stringer. This is because if it is installed with right angle to the hull side on the bottom edge, rain water and dew will hang on the edge, which is also impossible to glass over adequately because of this angle. In an attempt to prevent this, I decided to cut the bottom edge of the stringer to an angle of 30 degrees. This is enough to allow the fiberglass cloth to make the transition from the hullside on the bottom edge, and the glass cloth on the deck will overlap the outside surface, joining the hull cloth and leaving no part of this stringer without an adequate sheathing. To cut this angle I first cut square edged pieces 2 1/4 by 3/4, then joined them with scarf joints, and set the table saw to cut the 30 degree angle, leaving 1 5/8 on the flat outer surface, so the outward appearance of the sheer will remain basically unchanged. Then angle will hardly be noticed on the finished boat because of the flare of the hullsides.

One complete topside panel with stringer installed and the other stringer joined and cut to the 30 degree angle.

Working on a Tiki 26 is so much easier when you can freely manipulate the hulls around and turn them to convenient angles. I borrowed Thomas Nielsen's idea of suspending the hull in slings, which makes it easy enough for one man to turn the hull. Installing the long, flexible topside panel is a whole lot easier if the hull is laying on its side so that gravity is working with you. At this point with bunks, floors, and bulkheads filleted in place, the hull is a rigid structure and there is no danger of distortion in turning it like this.

The port side topside panel installed. Temporary screws are used to hold it in place along the bottom edge until the epoxy sets.

The hull with both topside panels installed. These panels make a huge difference in the appearance of the boat, and the hull feels much bigger now. At this point, after finishing the fillets between the topside panels and the upper sides of the bulkheads, I can flip the hull all the way over and begin working on the bottom, shaping the keel and skeg and filling and fairing in preparation for fiberglass sheathing.

Preparing the Topside Panels

All the bunk panels are now installed and the fillets made. I still have some sanding and final passes to make to tidy up the fillets and prepare them for a clear coat of epoxy, but I decided today that I should start glueing up the topside panels, which have to be joined with butt blocks like the lower hull panels. I will also have to scarf the solid Doug fir stringers that go on the upper outside surface of the topside panels and glue these on, so while waiting on epoxy to cure on each of these steps I can be finishing up the bunk and inside hull coatings below the topside level. I've decided to go ahead and continue work on the port hull before starting the starboard one. At this point, I plan to continue through installing the topsides, then turn it over and fair and glass the outside. It will then be a solid and protected unit that I won't have to worry about while building the second hull.

The photo below shows the first of the two topside panels in assembly. I'm short on workspace right now because of the green boat you can see in the background at the end of my workbench. This is a stitch and glue ply epoxy John boat I designed and built for my father several years ago for fishing in local lakes and streams. It's twelve feet long, and has its own trailer, but I've been storing it in the shed to keep it out of the weather until I have time to do some badly needed maintenance. It has bright finished rubrails and deck pieces of mahogany and ash, and these have suffered water intrusion after the sun broke down the epoxy and varnish coatings, and will need a quite a bit of work. Another reason why I don't intend to have any exterior brightwork on my Tiki 26.

I'm hoping my father will use it again for fishing after I've repaired it. Before starting the second hull of the Tiki I will move it to the other workshop in my girlfriend's garage, where I also plan to work on the crossbeams, rudders and other small parts.



Another big item in my way is the Honda 9.9 hp outboard that you can see clamped to another workbench. This is the outboard I salvaged off Intensity, my Grampian 26 monohull that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. The engine was not submerged, but it does have a broken tiller handle. I need to sell it to clear it out of my way. I think it's too big and heavy for a Tiki 26 and plan to use either a 5, 6 or 8hp 4-stroke. Anybody need a repairable Honda engine for cheap?

Installing Bunks

I'm now in the process of installing the bunk sections in the port hull. These have taken quite a bit of time to prepare, due to the need to finish the lift-out hatch sections and the bearers they rest on before installation, as well as applying two coats of epoxy to the underside of all these parts before installation. I now have the two forward sections in the main sleeping area forward of bulkhead three glued down and the preliminary fillets made. The section in the area of the companionway, between bulkheads 2 and 3 is also glued in, and the aft section is ready to go in as soon as I finish detailing the fillets below bunk level in this area. The photos below show the bunk sections, and the access hatch openings and covers.

This is the area between bulkheads 3 and 4, with the added floor section visible below.

The same section, looking aft, at this point the companionway area bunk section is not fitted.

Here are the two forward bunk access hatch covers. They simply drop in place on the bearers that are glued under the opening edges. A 1-inch diameter finger hole in each cover allows easy removal.

Looking forward at the two forward bunk sections, from the companionway area.

This is the section in the companionway area, which is mainly used as a sitting area with a wet locker/footwell below. The floor access panel I mentioned before is also visible here, allowing storage of small items right down into the V of the hull. Note that I did not cut this sitting section out in an oval, as shown in the plans, but instead made an opening with parallel sides and bearers under the edges, similar to the bunk access hatch openings. The reason is to allow for a removable, sliding section that can be used to fill part of this opening, depending on the sitting position needed, or to extend the length of the aft or forward bunk, if needed.

Here is the sliding section. The corners are rounded to match the opening, so it can be used at either end of the hatch cutout. This is another idea borrowed from the Tiki 30.

Bunk Access Hatches

I'm making the bunk access hatches a bit smaller than is suggested in the plans, mainly because I wanted a continuous web of bunk ply attached to the hullsides, rather than having entire sections lift out. As Thomas Nielsen has said on his blog, these bunks are a great opportunity to strengthen the hull in this area. I'm not using quite the elaborate latching access hatches Thomas has divised, but the bunks will be one continuous web, and each opening is reinforced with an athwartship bearer that goes from hullside to hullside, and longitudinal supports between these for the hatch lids to rest on. The hatch lids themselves will simply drop into position on these bearers, with a fingerhole in each for easy removal.

I should be ready to install the two forwardmost bunk sections in my next work session later this week.

Forward Buoyancy Compartment

Here's a look into the forward watertight buoyancy compartment. The area between the diagonal stringers is reinforced with a ply web, as shown in the plans. The inside edge of the stem is deeply buried in a large fillet of thickened epoxy, with 3 overlapping layers of glass tape over it. A waterproof inspection hatch will be fitted in the hole cut in bulkhead 6. I don't plan to put any fixed foam floatation in any of these sealed compartments, as many Wharram owners have found this can lead to rot. I also want to be able to get to the inside of the hull at any point, in case of damage that needs repair from the inside. I'm thinking of filling these compartments with empty plastic soda bottles, each one sealed tightly with the cap. These can be packed in through the 6-inch inspection hatches one by one, and removed the same way if access is needed. Filled with air, dozens of these bottles in each compartment would provide lots of positive floatation in the event of a holing.