Skerry Puzzle Joint Gap

I believe my panels must have swelled some due to the humidity the past couple days so when I went to dry fit the puzzle joints they were too tight to put together.  I filed them down last night until they fit together nicely with a little pressure.  Tonight when I epoxied them, it looked to me that I am going to end up with some gaps at the tips of the fingers (maybe it was cooler and drier tonight?).  It looks like the wood absorbed some of the moisture of the epoxy but I can't tell if there is enough left to bond in some spots.  The good news is that they will probably be completely flat.  I won't know for sure until they cure tomorrow but what are my options if the gaps remain?

1) I would think "ungluing" and regluing isn't going to help because the gap is still a gap that may be hard to span with cabosil.  So do I leave it as is and then fill the voids with filler later?  Fill gaps with "seam glue"?

2) Is the joint at risk of being weak?  Should I put a layer of tape over the joints?  With the Skerry, only the bottom and first panel are glassed so I can't be sure the second and third panels will be reinforced other than the epoxy at the seams between the panels and reinforcement from the railing/inwales.

Thoughts?  Am I over-reacting?


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RE: Skerry Puzzle Joint Gap

I'm not an expert but my experience building the skerry is that gaps in general can be filled with thickened epoxy and be just fine. I had to do a fair amount of that at the bow and stern. Cosmetically it might show up if you leave the wood bright. 

You didn't mention how big the gaps were in the puzzle joints. I'd be worried if the joints had become loose and might lead to misaligned panels but that doesn't sound like it was an issue for you.

On joint strength, perhaps someone else can speak to that. 

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