West River 18

Posted by Paul Buelterman on Jan 9, 2005

I've just finished stitching my WR 18, and have a few questions before starting the next step. First, when I installed the bulkheads, one of them spread a paper thin gap between the keel sections. I didn't notice it until the bulkhead was completely wired in. Do I need to remove the bulkhead, plane it down a bit and reinstall? or is the small gap ok to fill in with epoxy?

Second: The next step calls for filling the spaces on the outside of the boat with peanut butter like epoxy, but most of the joints are so tight that I won't be able to force any epoxy between them. How do I overcome this? Do I push from the inside to create a gap between the stitches so that I can get epoxy between the boards or what?

Third: Prior to installing the bulkheads, I had spread the beam at 120" to 21 3/4" as stated in the plans. However, after installing the bulkheads, the beam increased to 22 1/4". Do I need to pull the beam back to 21 3/4? If so, how? I was considering the use of a couple of eye screws, anchored into the sheer clamps to pull it back in. Will this work, or is 22 1/4 close enough?

4th, but not least: After stitching the bow and stern, I noticed that there is a bulge at the end of each sheer clamp where the end of the sheer clamp forces the plywood skin outward. It's not a large bend, but it's noticeable. Is there any way that this can be overcome?

Paul B