Keel batten went in this weekend, with the help of my friend Guy. It was a fairly straightforward process. I had previously beveled the keel batten for it's entire length to match the shape of the cockpit sole. After dry-fitting it, I drilled a few screw holes to make aligning it for installation a bit easier. Then we mixed up a bunch of epoxy thickened with silica, dumped it in the seam and set the batten in and screwed it in just snug enough to get some squeeze out along the edge of the batten. In a few places there wasn't any squeeze out so we mixed up a bit more epoxy which we left a bit thinner than the first batch. We poured this into the starved areas and let gravity do the rest. It was a bit messy, but that keel batten is IN. Now it is much easier to get inside the hull and work on stuff up close rather than having to reach in from a step ladder.
Since then I have also added the aft bulkhead which creates the rear storage area. Before framing the top of the rear deck area I need to consider whether I want to make any modifications to the stock plans in this compartment. One thing I am considering is whether I will want to have battery-operated lighting. If so this would be the logical place to put a battery box for a small gel cell. If I do go this route I will probably get some simple LED navigation lights and perhaps one or two LED cockpit/chart lights on a separate switch for night navigation and camping. The problem is, I know next to nothing about 12volt electrical systems. Any experts out there with an opinion?
Next up will probably be framing for the cockpit seats.
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