: Brian,

: I've not built an Merganser 17 but am assuming it's a stitch and
: glue by your description.

: Generally, the build sequence is to wire the hull together on the
: forms and glue the inside seams with thickened epoxy. Next, wire
: up the deck on the forms and hull and get all seams aligned
: correctly.
: Then, glue the outside deck seams with thickened epoxy, remove
: wires, filet the seams with thickened epoxy and sand smooth.
: Next, fiberglass the outside of the deck down to about 1/4" of
: the shear (taking care not to glue the deck to the hull.
: After the glass on the deck cures, I then glass the hull using the
: same concept. Then, you can detach the deck from the hull and
: epoxy the inside deck seams and then glass....

: Bob Beaullieu

For my two Pygmy boats, the outside of the hull was fiberglassed and allowed to cure and then the deck was taped onto the hull and the outside seams (except for the shear) glued/epoxied to hold its shape. Then the deck was removed from the hull, the inside seams filled and reinforced where needed and then fiberglassed. After that the inside of the hull is fiberglassed and then the deck is taped back on and fiberglassed and down over the shear about an inch or two. This helps strengthen the shear. Then the inside shear is epoxied with a syringe as far as you can reach. I then let some epoxy run down the inside shear to further strengthen it. You can also put some fiberglass tape on the inside shear.

Charles Robinson