Externally it seems no progress has been made on my Didi 40cr but behind the scenes little steps have been made. The underside of the cockpit floor is all but completed. Where the top of the rudder post is mounted all the reinforcement is in place, nicely routered with 6mm radius corners and double coated with epoxy resin. The corners that are not secured with cleats are double taped with epoxy fibreglass, sanded back and top coated with clear epoxy so that section of the yacht is finished.
Completed rudder post top support structure
Under the forward part of the cockpit where it is 850 mm wide the glass reinforcement has been sanded and primed with a first coat of Interguard. This is a good place to practice getting a good finish on the glass covered plywood. Despite the use of peel ply over the glass the finish is not as flat as I expected so I need practice spreading the epoxy with a fine nap roller to minimise the amount of filler required for the production boat standard I am trying to achieve.
First coat of Intergard primer on the cockpit underside
Elsewhere the inside of the water tanks have been lined with a light woven glass cloth had double coated with epoxy resin. Once the skin is on the hull that surface of the water tank will be lined from the access hatches in the top. It will be tight work but at least it will be downhand.
One of the next steps is to cut all the access ways for the electrical cables, water pipes and engine services. I want to do this while I have good access to the bulkheads and before the skin is started.