I am happy to say that all of the deck stainless steel is done. Pushpit, pulpit, handrails and the bowsprit are tacked together and will be welded out soon !
I cut out 3 deck doubler plywood pieces which are fitted under the 2 deck hatches and the dorade vent. They will give those areas a lot of strength. One thing that I noticed is that one of the grab handles that is aft of the forward hatch is very close to the frame. My intention was to have a large fillet of thickened epoxy up against the edge of the doubler. With the size of my handle that was going in that spot, it would have been so close that it may have trapped some water near the forward part of the handle where is attaches to the deck. Solution...... I made the doubler a bit bigger on the aft side and my handle sits on right on top. This actually worked out well because now there is an angle to the doubler and it will shed the water off much easier. I liked it so much that I put a small angle on my mast hatch doubler too ! The pictures will help to understand this better. It might not work for everyone, but it suited me just fine.
My mission for the next couple of weeks is to apply the fiberglass reinforcing tape on the joints, followed by the cloth for the whole deck. I am going to try this peel ply stuff for the first time so wish me luck!
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