Hey Justin,

This was discussed quite extensively in a thread a while ago.  I'm a plans builder so I didn't retain the info.  Hopefully a quick forum search will help.  I do remember that a factor was whether the builder wanted to be able to remove the bulkheads later to glass the interior.  Good luck!

P.S.  I did a forum search on "passagemaker tabs" and found this:

https://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/35823.html

Hi there, I'm at exactly the same step in my PMD build and I called CLC Saturday about this topic.  As the 2016 thread linked above says they recommended filling with wood flour epoxy when you are patching your stitch holes and sanding off the tabs of the forward and aft bulkheads.  They are apparantly only there as aides in locating the bulkhead prior to epoxying the strakes.

Good luck with your build!

   Thanks for the help!!!

We took a different approach, after giving the matter some thought in the "moaning chair" while we scratched our heads like monkeys lookin' at a red rubber ball, on account of the manual bein' vague about this detail.

We finally deciced the tabs would be helpful in relocating the bulkheads, so we fiberglassed the inside of the bottom (minus the bulkheads and frame), and then cleared the bulkhead tab holes out with a rattail file or some such.  We worked some thickened epoxy into the holes before we installed the bulkheads permanently, and then trimmed 'em flush with the bottom when we flipped the boat back over using that fine samurai saw and then puttied up any remaining gaps before fiberglassing the bottom.

I've got photos I could share if it'll help that make more sense.

.....Michael

Hey Michael,

Thanks for the great info.  Yes, please post pics to illustrate this issue.  As a plans builder, I'm envious of the kits having the tab & slot locations built in.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

Well, here goes...photos it is.  Well, okay, links to photos on Flickr.  I don't really care for Flickr anymore (have since gone to using Dropbox to share photo megabittage with friends and family), but my older stuff is still there.  Y'all sing out if the Flickr business give you trouble or needs further explanation.  You can email me offline if you like at [email protected] .

First, a bit of history.  I'd originally planned to name the boat "Aunt Winkle". This was later shortened to just plain "Winkle" for reasons I won't trouble you with here.  (Winkle was my late-mother's familial nickname.)  Anyway, we started construction on "Winkle" (a PMD take-apart with lug rig) in July of 2014. Most of the construction was completed by early in November of 2014, and my son painted her over the winter.  We completed all the fitting out and launched her for the first time on Mother's Day in 2015, which seemed fitting.

We had deferred work on all the sailing parts, and we didn't get that restarted until 2016, when we had her ready for sailing sea trials on Father's Day, as it worked out.  But, I digress....

During the 2014 build, we took handheld shots of particular things as we went, some of which are in a Flickr album here:

2014 Aunt Winkle Boatshop - Some assembly required.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/11776334@N00/601PJ1

The photos pertinent to the fiberglassing start about in the middle of that, beginning with:

A54_9920 Taken on August 23, 2014

Dry fitting, tabs visible in forward bulkhead.

A54_9941 Taken on August 30, 2014

A54_9947

Holes for tabs visible in inside bottom fiberglass.

A54_9976 Taken on September 11, 2014

Trimming off the tabs.

Hope that helps understand what I meant in my post above.

We also had a camera on a tripod taking shots at intervals for most of our work sessions, which I posted on Flickr as we went as sort of a progress update for interested parties.  Some of those may be relevant to the fiberglassing sequence, so I share links to them as well.  We started out calling this "Boatshop Cam" but later started calling it "Butt Cam" amongst the work crew for reasons which should become obvious if you wade through these.  Nothing indecent, mind you; the thing just had a habit of catchin' us with our backs to the camera.

2014_08_17 Boatshop Cam - Taking Shape

https://www.flickr.com/gp/11776334@N00/65gQ6x

Long day wiring up the panels at the end of which we had a boat-shaped object.  No fiberglassing yet, but it's a fun sequence and it illustrates how quickly the LapStitch business gets from a pile of plywood parts to a boat-shaped object.  It was like magic.  Now, if there was just some magic for the tedious sanding....

2014_08_23 Boatshop Cam

https://www.flickr.com/gp/11776334@N00/9X1Wx0

You can see us dry-fitting the interior stuff before we glued up the seams.  You can also see me lookin' at the manual and scratchin' my head like a monkey lookin' at a red rubber ball.  We tried to make sure we made all of our mistakes before the epoxy cured, as it is mighty unforgivin' stuff that way.  We were mostly successful in correcting them that way.

2014_08_30 Boatshop Cam

https://www.flickr.com/gp/11776334@N00/319192

This was the day we fiberglassed the inside bottom.  The frames/bulkheads were left clamped in as we glued up the seams.  Here you can see us first cleaning up the outsides of the glued-up seams, then flippin' her back over to remove the interior structure and to clean up the inside, and thence on to the inside bottom fiberglass, of which there is better detail in photos from this date noted above.

2014_09_11 Boatshop Cam

https://www.flickr.com/gp/11776334@N00/qt93Z2

This begins with a fun rapid-fire sequence of my son and grandson rolling the boat back over to fiberglass the bottom.  You can see that the interior stuff is now all epoxied in (on top of the inside bottom fiberglass), with the exception of the forward and aft seat tops.  Then we slowed the camera back down, with a shot of my son with that samurai saw in hand fixin' to go after the protruding ends of the tabs, as detailed in the corresponding photo noted above.  From there it was more cleanup followed by bottom fiberglass.  You can see me fiddling with the edges where the glass didn't want to lay down over the laps where the garboards met the bottom.  Vexed me some, but I got it to halfway work by coming back out to the boatsho...er, um...garage to fiddle with it some more every five minutes or so until it started to get hard.

Hope that ain't too much information.

.....Michael

Hey Gramps,

Thanks SO much for such a substantive reply!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading along with the build pics!  This is a great resource.  Also love how you got three generations together for the build.  Building memories as well as a boat.  Well done.

It was definitely a fun family project, as was hoped when we decided to get the kit, and it has become a fun family boat (for which purpose the PMD excels) where everybody involved has some "skin in the game" (perhaps literally!).  Both of my grown sons have used her solo or with their own family members (chief boatwright Eric and his wife the boat painter particularly enjoy using her with an electric trolling motor), and as of last summer three of my seven grandchildren have learned to row well enough that they are now allowed solo adventures (within some limits, of course) of their own.

It was a lot of work, but the Lord has blessed us with a handsome return on investment.

.....Michael

   Thank you Michael! I had questioned the first plank stitching until i saw your photos.  Job well done !!