Once the decking fits properly the support battens are glued to the deck panels while the panels are still held in place on the hull with screws. Looks like a Hovercraft.... The down side is that all the panels need to be pulled off the craft for deck reinforcing in the form of "Klegecell" foam laminated with epoxy glue to the back side of the panels, and then covered with a layer of 9 oz "S" Glass.

Side Deck Panel with Battens epoxied in place and seam filleted and glassed.

Finished Side Deck Panel with laminated "Klegecell" Foam- Ready for final installation.

    While working on the Deck Panels the main hull was inverted for reinforcing. The impact / planning hull area received 2 layers of  Kevlar, followed by a layer of 9 oz. "S" glass. The entire hull (up to the "skirt hooks") was covered with a layer of 12 oz. "E" Glass. Once the glass had cured I epoxied the five "Rock Maple" skid pads to the bottom of the craft, and the Kevlar / Glass layers were cut from the air holes. The entire craft was sealed with 2 coats of epoxy resin, and then another 2 coats of "High Build" epoxy primer. 

Craft prior to getting 2 coats of epoxy primer. 

    You may have noticed that the hull (up to this point anyway..) had no skirt hooks at the front of the craft. The reason behind this is that the craft uses a "Skirt Link" at the front of the craft to support the bottom edges of the front skirts. The skirt link acts as an anti-plow device by forcing more air forward into the front skirts as it collapses in typical plow-in scenario. Don't know what a "plow-in" is?? Hehehehehe... go back to the main page and read the trip report from the Muscoda Hoverin 2000..... Anyway the "Skirt Link" was installed before turning the craft upright.

Finished hull and "Skirt Link" Assembly

    While waiting for a new order of epoxy and enough glass to finish the project (.... oops.... miscalculation.....) I've been working on some of the things that can still be completed with the limited remaining resources.  

Front seat base

Rear seat base

    The seat bases are complete, and on their way to the custom boat upholstery shop. I've also started working on the engine / fan frame and power train assembly. A lot has happened since this point in time, and as I mentioned in the "News" section on my main page.... It's WINTER!! 

Heat ... I need HEAT!! Epoxy does NOT harden when it's cold. Space heaters are too expensive to operate, and the noise factor combined with the lack of oxygen headache from my propane "torpedo" heater.... well lets just say it's not real conducive to get a whole lot done. I needed a solution, and finally found one... a small propane fired "Unit" heater similar to the type used in warehouses. This little distraction took a few days out of building, but it was worth it! Forced air heat with a thermostat is a real luxury!

Heat?? We got it!! 47,000 BTU's

    Building commences! I had a few more pieces of deck reinforcing to finish. The first was on the inside ( Duct area) of the front planning hull. It received Klegecell foam with a cut out section for plywood. The plywood area is reinforcing for a "Bow Eye". The entire foam area was covered with Kevlar, and then the wood "cut out" section was covered with an additional 3 layers of  Kevlar.

More Kevlar and foam.. 

"Bow Eye" is installed too!

    The last piece of reinforcing is the front side decks. Once again the decks get a layer of  Klegecell foam , but this time the foam is covered with "S" glass.

Klegecell foam being glued to the inside of the front deck.

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