: Help! I have run into a bad problem with my Guillemot. I am at the point
: where I want to put the deck and hull together. My hull has curled
: together more than an inch between the gunnels. I suspect I did not leave
: it on the forms long enough between the outside glassing and the inside. I
: discovered it shortly thereafter, and put it back on the forms. Its been
: ther for the last 3 weeks, but I still have this problem. I have it spread
: apart with some sticks between the gunnels, if I were to proceed with
: taping on the deck and then remove the sticks, I suspect that the deck
: will not keep everything spread apart properly. The only things I can
: think of are: 1) Grind out the bottom of the inside coat of glass, stretch
: it on the forms some more, and then re-glass. (This sounds like a whole
: bunch of extra fun that I don't want to have).
: 2) Put a couple of permanent wooden bulkheads in and with the cheek boards
: use these to help enforsce the shape of the boat.
: Does anyone have any other experience with this sort of thing out there?

: Borre

When one surface of the deck or hull is glassed you've essentually frozen
that surface from expansion/contraction forces related to the mosture content
of the wood.

So, the uncoated surface will shrink if mosture evaporates from the bare wood
or expand if more mosture is absorbed into the wood.

I'd suggest you soak the interior wood surface with a wet sponge until the hull
expands to a "greater than" desired stage. Wet the wood well but do not let pools
of water sit in one spot.

Then let it dry until the correct width is reached and then glass the interior.

This will not take long and will leave your hull without stored stress that could
release later and damage your glass.

All the best,
Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.laughingloon.com