Chesapeake 17/comments

Posted by Jon B. on Feb 19, 2007

I have a CLC 17 under construction. I thought others may want to know my comments regarding construction thus far. 1) The manual recommends drilling holes for the wire "stitches" 3/8" in from each edge of the panel. The manual also recommends to minimize weight, try to limit the width of the fillets to 3/4". I had trouble w/ this as I don't see how you can cover the wires w/ the fillet,set as recommended,and keep the fillets that narrow. My fillets were wide, especially along the keel. 2) Taping the fillets at the cockpit: Recommendation is to place tape while fillet is still wet. Trying to get a smooth fillet w/ that approach escaped my abilities. I recommend waiting until the fillet "sets" and then apply the tape. 3) Additionally,I recommend feathering the tape edges in the cockpit. I did not do this and the layer of fiberglas cloth over the top did not flatten out at the tape edges resulting in an ugly finish. 4) Location of bulkheads: Manual indicates that location of the bulkheads w/in an inch, fore and aft isn't very critical. I recommend being very careful on the location of the aft bulkhead. The distance between the cockpit deckbeam and the aft bulkhead has to accommodate the coaming. My aft bulkhead was off by 5/8", thus my coaming extends into the aft compartment. 5) End pours: I poured the bow in two phases, no problem. I poured the aft one all at once,as recommended for both pours. It got very warm and bubbled over. Too much epoxy in small space. Also my plans indicate to do the deck pours after the deck is installed. Don't recommend that approach. 6) Cut off wire "stitches": I used my Dremmel w/ a "cut off" wheel. No problem.

Replies:

• Re: Chesapeake 17/comment by George K on Feb 20, 2007