Today was one of those days I could certainly use an extra hand. As I mentioned in my previous post I had some problems while installing the bulkheads . The idea was to push them into the lower hullsides so as to force them open to their final shape. However, this created great tension to the hull, especially near the stem (where bulkhead No1 was installed), resulting in the braking of the stitches holding the stem post in place. This costed me an extra day of work as I had to remove bulkheads 1 and 2 in order to releace the tension and restitch the stem post in place. Then I used my car's jack to open the hullsides. This time I managed to do it so smoothly that I reinstalled the two bulkheads all by myself and without even a crackling from the hulls. In the first photo below you can see bulkhead No1 in position while the stem post is held temporarily in place with thicker wire. The next photos show the result after the final assembly.
The other task of these days was to figure out the dimensions of bulkhead No6 which defines the shape of the central compartment of each hull. This area in the original plans is occupied by the central open cockpit. My idea was to permanently enclose this compartment in order to create room for cooking facilities and supplie storage in one hull and a separate toilet in the other. The height of the superstructure of this central cabin will be equal to the maximum height of the other cabins so as not to increace windage. I am thinking of achieving standing headroom in this cabin while at anchor with a lifting roof, like in the Pahi 31.
As the weater in Crete is still bellow 10C, I had to glue and coat bulkhead No6 in the living room of my parents' cottage (where my boatbuilding shelter is). Since all the other bulkheads are now in place I just have to wait for a few warmer days to pour some epoxy in the keel and start filleting. I hope it is not far now!
