Now that I got it together, I have to take it back apart to apply the epoxy. I will have to do this in quarters to keep the boat's panels straight. The rear right side is released and supported by rope from the canopy. I am starting to think that all boat builders would benefit from an overhead crane of some sort.

I have applied thickened epoxy to the Transom, Bulkhead 17, and to Bulkhead 4, and then reattached the rear side with stainless steel screws to these structures. I am now adding pine flour (very fine sawdust) to the epoxy to make a putty-like mixture to form fillets in the joints of the aforementioned structures. The epoxy mixture is to form a rounded concave fillet that fiberglass tape will be placed over. Fiberglass does not take very well to 90 degree angles, so the fillet is to provide an easy transition from one structure to the next for the fiberglass. This is my second attempt at working with this stuff.

I applied my putty-like epoxy mixture alongside the joint between the Transom and the left side with a tongue depressor. I read somewhere that a tongue depressor provides an excellent concave curve in epoxy fillets. They are inexpensive and can be picked up at just about any pharmacy.

Right away I noticed that the fillet had begun to sag. I guessed that I had not made the epoxy putty thick enough.

I scraped the epoxy mixture out of the joint and added it back to the mixing cup. I then added enough pine flour so that the mixture would not sag. I believe the correct amount can be realized when the mixture shows "tears and peaks" with out either of them melding back into the mixture when the mixing rod is removed. Pretty stiff stuff, in other words.

Here, an epoxy fillet has been placed at the junction of Bulkhead 17 and the rear right side. The tongue depressor is then raked in the seam to give the smooth inside radius for the fillet. If you hold the depressor near vertical, you will make a shallow fillet. If you hold it at a 45 degree angle, the fillet can be wider and deeper. I use the depressor again to scrape the excess epoxy putty from the sides that squished out of the fillet. It goes back into the cup to potentially be used in another fillet, to cover an exposed screw head, etc. Plan ahead where you would want to use any excess, as you will still have a limited working time with this mixture before it gets as hard as a rock.

Lengths of fiberglass tape are cut to size; each side of each joint will get two strips bedded in epoxy. I am still using 4-inch wide biaxial fiberglass.

This is a test fit of fiberglass to the Transom/ side juncture.

Bulkhead 17 and the Transom are getting some exposure to the heat lamp. I now have two 250 watt heat lamps, and these are significantly less effective than the heater I had been using. The heater's lowest setting is 750 watts, which is pretty good under cover, but someone's electric bill is going to be astronomical.

Some heat is being applied to Bulkhead 11. It has been mostly in the 50's this summer so far. Don't believe everything you hear about global warming.

With the right half of the back side completed, I start on the left half. I mean, I start on the port half.

The screws are removed from the starboard side at Bulkhead 4.

I used a wood block braced against a clamp clamped on Bulkhead 4's cross member to push out the side so that I could apply epoxy to the bulkhead.

Here is that cross member. If you recall, I created a half lap with the cross member and the upright frame for strength. You can see that doing so interfered somewhat with applying fiberglass tape in this location. But I'll fix it.

The front side of Bulkhead 4, fastened, filleted, and fiberglassed.

After joining the sides to the Transom frame, there seemed to be some extra wood that could be cut away.

I cut a notch out of the side next to the Transom frame, and used a router with a round over bit to round over the edges back there. I may yet cut the top of the frame flush with the side.