Glassing fillets to bulkheads

[patrick lennon]

I have installed and epoxied the bulkheads to the hull and I was wondering if it is advisable to fiberglass the fillets . The plans do not mention this they advise only to glass keel, stem and stern. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Ricardo Aráoz]

I think the principle is to glass places where water might go through the epoxy layers. In page 6 of building booklet it says "Glass top surface of fitted locker floor. The glass floor will protect the floor from scratching and moisture ingress (as this is a wet locker)" (tiki 30). So I think on the inside of the boat glass is required where water might come to be there for a while.

OTOH it is your boat and the fiberglass will posibly add to the structural strength, but at the cost of more labour, materials and weight. As for me, I'll trust the designer's experience and follow the plans, there's always time to add or modify things once you see how your boat actually sails.

[Omar M. Rashash]

If the fillet is properly sized, and composed of the correct filler materials, it's already stronger than the material being glued together. Adding fiberglass will only increase the final weight, and add additional labor and material costs, for no benefit.

Omar

[patrick lennon]

Thanks for the advice. I will not glass them as they are made to spec. The boat I am building is a Tiki 26.

Cheers

Pat 

[James Ryan davenport]

On my tiki 30 I am glass ing a lot of the inside with a very light 4oz finish cloth. I know this will add weight and cost . There are a lot of professional boat builders here in eastern nc and all say that the cloth will greatly reduce the chance of rot. I rather loose a few knots of speed I order to have a more billet proof boat.

[Ricardo Aráoz]

You will not loose speed at all. You'll loose some load capacity.

[patrick lennon]

James

Whatareas inside are you glassing with 4oz cloth....bilges?

Cheers

Pat

[James Ryan davenport]

Yes. Bilges and any place that is not easily accessible where water could collect. I think glass ing saves time overall because the wood can be treated in one step instead of painting with epoxy and sanding several times