JEM Watercraft

Get a good, sharp cabinet scraper and scrape them out. If the gaps are wider than about 1/4" [6mm], fill in with an epoxy-woodflour mixture.

You have a way of making disasters seem normal Matt!

Ok that's what I will do.

Otherwise known as "experience".

Bought a cabinet scraper yesterday, and went to work on the Sabalo last night. I only dealt with the ones in the forward area where it will be seen, and the scraper took care of them really well. Even the ones that looked bad were hardly even broken. The epoxy filled underneath and so there weren't any voids to fill. Thanks Matt.

There are some areas right along the top edge of the hull where the glass is a bit loose, but I figure that they will be taken care of when I fillet and tape panel A to there.

Question. How big a gap can you fill when filleting and taping the floor sub-frames in? Even with re-stitching the frames in place there are a couple of gaps on one frame of about 1/2 inch to the side of the hull. If I force the gap closer the hull loses some of it's nice smooth roundness and panel A is difficult to stitch in place. I figure that with the floor frames the filleting is important but not a critical strength issue, so I was just going to fill the space as best I could by epoxying glass tape on one side, and then filling and taping the other side once it is cured. If I use small pieces of tape I could even wet them out in a tray before applying them to make it easier. What do you suggest?

you might want to consider a small wood shim/filler if the gap is that big.

Actually I took a closer look and it's actually a bit over a 1/4 inch. I think I can manage that without any special treatment. I ended up stitching the floor frames to the hull. I tried the straps and weights but I wasn't happy with how it sat, but stitching was much better. It just means a bit more time filleting and taping the floor frames. I also stitched the A panels on tonight. It's all coming together nicely, if not without a bit of adjusting and 'persuasion' here and there to get things nicely lined up and looking smooth.

Another question Matt. The batens that go in the fore area for the deck to glue on to will need to be twisted a bit to conform to the turn of the top panels. How do you get the tops of those to be flat so that the deck sits nicely on them. I was thinking to glue them with a bit protruding above and then sanding them back flat in line with the tops of those panels. Is that right?

The gap (channel) that will be formed works to your advantage. Use it to guide your glue/fillet. No need shape it.

Sorry Matt, I don't quite picture that. The angle of the strip will be 'negative' in relation to the top of the side panel e.g. it will slope down and away from the top. I don't see how the V channel that will be formed when the deck goes on will hold the glue. Won't it run out of the channel? If it was sanded flat then at least the glue will sit on the surface. Am I missing something?

fill the gap from the outside or trim the cleat down.