: Firstly thank you to all the contributors (and Nick) for your time
: and advice on this forum. I've not really needed to post
: questions - just about every question I've had has already been
: answered! It's such a valuable resource and a real advert for
: the Internet. Such a bonus to be able to search all the archives
: too.

: I've recently finished glassing the hull exterior and interior, and
: deck exterior, and I'll soon have the deck interior ready. So
: I'm starting to think about fit out and joining the halves.

: My question is how best to put holes through the bow and stern for
: toggles. I'm planning not to do an end pour. I thought about
: adding a small horizontal cedar wedge , to create a sheerclamp
: at the bow/stern to help join the halves, and also to drill a
: hole through? But is this excessive?

: What's the best way to drill a toggle hole, if you don't have a
: solid bow/stern to drill the hole through?

: Thanks!

Lots of different ways to do this depends almost entirely on how the boat was built. I like to use internal stems, so there is more wood in the ends than normal. I just drill thru that and epoxy the hole. Some use tubes that are epoxied/glassed in, others use wood blocks. I fill between the strips and the internal stem with a very thickened batch of epoxy that's almost dry with so much thickener, doesn't weigh much, and radius that between the strips and the internal stem to create a solid mass at the ends. I also use a partial sheer strake to make bonding the deck down easier, goes back far enough that I don't have to reach much past the hatches to tape the rest of the hull/deck together.

Bill H.

: Ian Johnson