: Hey All,

: I'm working hard at it to get the deck ready for reattachment. I decided to
: reuse the old pieces and patch the rest. I might as well be consistent
: with the rest of the rebuild. In the pictures you will see that I've
: installed the kevlar lining in the cockpit. I used profuse amounts of
: epoxy to ensure a good layup, it went well. I had only one air bubble of
: no consequesce so I'm pretty happy with the final results. While doing the
: kevlar I also taped the bulkhead seams.

: Currently I am sanding the old varnish and any rough epoxy off both sides of
: the recovered deck pieces. Once done, hopefully later this week I'll tie
: them back on and glue them in place. I'll use stencils of the original
: panels to create tight fitting patches for any deck sections missing
: (lots). Since the shear joint along the starboard shear joint was badly
: degraded (effectively rasped off) from hitting the rocks last year I'll
: have to either fill it in with epoxy or pieces of wood and sand to the
: desired shape. This is the exciting part of my long labours. I am putting
: the final pieces back into the puzzle. At least with this puzzle if I
: am missing any pieces I can make one to fit instead of look under the
: table in a frenzied fit of angst (how many of us have done that with a
: 1000 piece puzzle?).

: I'm hoping to have the rebuild done before it gets too cold over here. That
: means I have about one month at the most. If I don't make this time frame
: I guess the kids will have to make room for the rebuild in the living room
: while they watch TV.

: The latest pictures at the link are dated for September 14, 2003.

: Robert N Pruden

Pretty incredible piece of work there Robert.
It's come a long way. I doubt that most folks would have had the gumption to even start something like that.
It's taking shape very well. You doubling up the joints where all the patches and little fixits are?? After such a break and all the damage in the center section, are you worried about any longitudinal weakening...??

I've done a few model-airplanes this way.. ( an idication of my piloting skills ) and they worked very well, but this is something else...

Ya know.... I think I'd just finish this one bright... and clear.
Patches comes to mind as a "Handle".

Best of luck on your target date.

GREAT JOB!!!

Rehd