Petrel Build #8 - All Hands On Deck

The deck is complete and brought striping to a close.  Finally!...Perfect number of strips too, just enough left to make the cockpit coaming.

It actually didn't take me long to strip the deck, only a couple of sessions.  It's a great feeling to stand back and look upon a solid boat I have built.  In reality I'm probably about half way done.  The light in this barn isn't great, hard to get the lines of the boat to stand out.

The cockpit area hasn't been cut clean yet that's my next job.  I'm actually having a bit of trouble with that.  I've cut out the paper template and it doesn't fit properly.  Not a major issue but it makes getting an absolute symmetrical outline a little harder.  I removed the staples and tape today and had a go at fairing and sanding the deck.  I'm also having difficulty finding a supplier of some ultra thin strips for the cockpit rim and stem pieces.

The rear deck
Whats left? Next I have to fit the cockpit recess.  Then I have to scrape, plane and sand all the surfaces fair.  After that comes the glassing, deck and hull separate.  Then the cockpit coaming and lip followed by more glass.  Next is the hatches then glassing the two halves together and adding the stem pieces.  Last I have to fit all the out-fittings such as bulk heads, seat, foot rests, skeg and deck lines.  Each of these jobs has a hundred smaller jobs involved in the process.  I'm really chuffed with my progress and really excited to get it on the water.  A little money and time and it would be done in no time, unfortunately I have very little of either so it'll have to take a little longer.