With the inside of the separated deck now cured, the next and very critical step was to attach the desk to the hull. This was tricky for several reasons.
First, the shear strip was not perpendicular to the first deck strip. The strip kind of twists and
turns depending on where the old sheet deck mated up to it. If the explanation sounds confusing, it’s because it was confusing. I’m not sure there are any exactly parallel or perpendicular angles on the boat. The truth is to keep the boat and its curve and shape fair; there are not many things that match up perfectly.
Second, making sure that the deck has maximum contact with the hull and that it is held in place until the epoxy cures is kind of critical. There’s not much chance of a do-over here unless you bring in a sawzall-a nuclear option to be sure.
I mixed quite a bit of epoxy then added thickener to the constituency of ketchup. (Note: everything I read and watch about boat building, the consistency is always described using food stuff and condiments: ketchup, mustard, cookie dough, mayonnaise etc.). I then separated about one-half of that mix and thickened even more, to the consistency of peanut butter. I use the thicker mix to “butter” (sorry, there it is again) up shear strip so the epoxy would hold in place while I positioned the deck
But it all worked out, and rather well. I used eight binding straps and a little gentle persuasion to get the hull and the deck to line up.
The epoxy flowed into the shear strip and naturally created a fillet on the inside. It worked almost perfectly.
Next, sanding, sanding and more sanding.