Epoxy this!

I've reached the first gluing steps of the construction. The first step was to mix epoxy thickened with wood flour (super fine sawdust) and use this paste to spread out a "fillet" (pronounced fill-it) along the interior panel junctions. I used a small plastic squeegee to nicely spread the epoxy over the joints, but this didn't keep the glue from getting everywhere. It was a pretty messy job, I just tried to concentrate on achieving an even distribution and not gluing my phone to my gloves. 

After the fillets were spread out in the bow section, I unrolled precut strips of 3" fiberglass fabric along the wet epoxy. This acts to further reinforce the junctions by adding structural strength. The fiberglass lays nicely in the straighter stretches but as the panels converged in the bow it was a challenge to get the fabric to lay flat with out puckering. 

Once the fiberglass was gently pressed in place, I brushed unthickened epoxy over each strip until the fabric began to lose it's white color. I also brushed epoxy over the bare wood in the same area, this acts to begin to protect the wood from water, etc. I repeated these same steps in the aft section of the boat. All this took a somewhat grueling 3 hours hunched over the boat. 

Next step is to do the same thing for the middle cockpit section of the boat, with the added step of adding a fiberglass blanket over the entire cockpit area for extra strength and protection. I will also be adding a second coat of epoxy to the bow and  sections to add another layer for strength.