Midships floatation chambers. Aft structure.
When doors to my boatshop are open you see the front of the building jig.
My family says it looks like a giant ant.
I hope to change this view as soon as possible so that they stop seeing ant and see boat instead.
Last two days were spent on working on flotation chambers which form a truss stiffening the structure. Most challenging were parts midships. As my Ilur is the latest revision, with more space for sleeping on sole boards, the designer decreased the size of aft flotation chambers and added midships flotation. The challenge for me was to figure out if I want to install them permanently already now (I decided to do it now) and then in which order.
Dry fitting of epoxy-coated parts with pauses for scratching my head.
Parts are cut with high precision so I was pressing in the vertical member with a clamp.
I decided to start with these vertical members first. They interlock with frames 5.5 with tight fit. As I epoxy-saturated plywood edges on this interlocking joint, to protect end-grain from moisture ingress, I will “weld” the assembly with epoxy fillets. That simplifies the assembly.
Wooden batten which supports and stiffens the structure had to be planed to trapezoid shape to match the angle.
Then came gluing part. First the batten was glued. Squeezed out epoxy excess was used then to glue the horizontal/inclined floor. A bit of gymnastics to keep control over this whole dripping and sliding mess but all went well.
Midships chambers have to be filled with foam before planking - if one does it my way. Plans propose gluing this subassembly after the boat is planked, for easier access to the centerline while hanging planks. I chose to do it already now, to stiffen the structure and as it seemed to be easier at this stage.
I added water draining openings in the vertical panel. Even completely filled with foam these spaces will get humidity or condensation inside so letting water out is a good idea.
Once all was cured the next day I moved into fitting aft structure. Longitudinal members interlock with bulkhead 2. Here again I sealed interlocking joints with epoxy and mounted them on press fit. Fillets on all sides will hold components firmly.
Left for curing overnight.
It starts to look like a boat! I had to clean up the boatshop from all unnecessary stuff as the boat is now occupying most of available space.
Tomorrow I will mount the transom and floor carlins, then I’ll work on fore structure and hopefully mount the stem.