: I have completed the hull of my Merganser 17W. It went reasonably
: easy but i am puzzled now i have come to the putting on the
: deck.
: The manual is not very helpful on this point. i will tell you where
: i am at and then your insights would be appreciated.

: I have the panels loosely stitched together and laying on the hull.
: It sort of looks OK. Most of the adjustments mean that i will
: have to push the the top of the hull outwards a bit. This in
: turn pushes the deck upwards.

: So a few things that puzzle me. How do I get the deck panels glued
: together when i cant get "underneath" them? Then I
: need to tape the seams.... so the deck has to be firm before i
: can turn it over to tape the seams.

: Assuming you guys help me to achieve a firm deck, - able to be
: turned over -, I can not then see how i will be able to wire the
: deck to the hull before and after the bulkheads. Even then it
: seems to me to be a huge "fiddle".

: I suppose it must revolve around when i cut the hatches etc. but
: there may be other things your experience can point me towards.

: Can anyone provide me with a workflow... hints and tips etc.

: many thanks

: Brian.... Puzzled!

pretty sure the manual gives you the sequence, then again I didn't follow it well either. I had dificulty getting the deck panels to align well where the four meet near the bow and stern. What worked was attaching two verticals on either side of the bow/stern to/through the work table with a stick above. From that I could tie a wire to pull up the wires where the ends of the center panels wanted to fall down and then a strap was used to pull the deck down so the deck didn't peak too much. I didn't want to go through the multiple attachment/removal with a wet deck. I think some of these problems could be addressed if another forming bulkhead was used in the hulls development. Anyway what worked on the 17W I made worked better than the previous Merganser16 1nd 18 I made. So the deck is wired up, temporarily wired on the sides. Put unthickened epoxy all along the seams, not the deck/hull seam. Now here's an important part. Measure the hull width at various points, like 6" and 12" back from the bow/stern and at the rear bulkhead and wide point of the deck. When cured take it off and glass the interior making sure the deck is spread according to the measurments you took earlier. You may need a wire to pull it together in the middle or spread it near the ends.

When you get the deck/hull finished seperately and then glued together it might still have some overlap, wires can pull it together and irreconcilable overlap will not have any practical problem, you'll round it off and glass it on both sides anyway.

I'm sure the method in the manual is better and doesn't involve as much fitting with the glassed deck , I just couldn't handle an epoxy mess put back on the hull then trying to fiddle with those ends that were popping in/out.