Hi JayC,

I ran into a similar situation. I know the instructions say you don't need a stitch on every strake when it comes to wiring in the frames, but in cases like this where you have a gap, I found I got a better fit by throwing in a couple more stitches.

JayC, I think I would try what czdan says and put in two more stitches. Loosen up the other stitches on the bulkhead and then pull/push the bulkhead into place. You might try rigging up large clamping system to push that bulkhead down spreading the strakes a little more or spread the strakes and it will fall into place. Then stitch and glue. good luck.

Also, you can change where you have the boat riding on the saw horses and it will change how spread out the hull gets.  This will really impact the fitting of the bulkhead.  Remember, the rear seat goes on that bulkhead, so you can't move it around too much, especially forward.

Czdan, how much gap did you end up with?

I don't think I'll be able to pull the strakes into the bulkhead a whole lot more... I have already epoxied the bottom lap joints. When I turned the boat to start on the bulkheads, I found the gap. It may have opened up when I tightened the stitches.

Looking at the skeg, the last four feet of the bottom center line needs to be pretty straight. A four foot straight edge indicates a quarter inch space at one end. The skeg easily curves up to match it.

So at this point, it seems that I have two choices:

1. Leave it like it is and use a fillet to fill the gap under the bulkhead.

2. Cut a thin line along the center of #1 strakes, about a foot fore and aft of the rear bulkhead. Push the strakes together and re-epoxy. Goal is to have last four feet of the centerline be straight for the skeg. This would also close the gap under the rear bulkhead.

 Is #2 as crazy as it seems?

Hmmm, option 3 then... I had not thought of pushing the sides out.

Preliminary tests (pushing sides out with large clampy thing) look good, thanks for the help!

A couple of long bungee cords and a board did the trick. While the strakes were held apart, I added a few stitches as suggested. Once the tension was released in the bungees, the bulkhead fit correctly.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIN1x3qdU40

The glass is in, fillets hardening, all is right with the world!