With both parts of the bulkhead now in place and ready for the epoxy fillet it would have been nice to be able to finish the job. The temperature tomorrow morning, for example, is forecast to be 12 Celsius and that would be good for epoxy work, but the forecast also mentions that the temperature is expected to rise quickly and that would mean that I would end up racing the epoxy and probably messing the job up completely.

So, for now, this is the end of this task and I'll wait until the normal daytime temperature is 12 Celsius and then add the fillet without the rushing.

Here is the port side ready for the epoxy. The two parts of the bulkhead have been epoxied together so that once the fillet is added water will not be able to get in through the join between the two parts.

This is the starboard side, also ready for the fillet. The locker side has been removed and a batten clamped in position forward of the bulkhead to keep the bottom edge in the correct position. Both locker sides and the seats will be taken into the workshop where I shall sand them and give them a few coats of varnish so that once the fillet is done the varnish will be hard and the lockers can be reconstructed without the varnish sticking everything together.

It will also be worth thinking about varnishing the exposed parts of the bulkheads once the fillet is cured, it will certainly be much easier to do with the lockers removed.

Speaking of things being easier, the section of the bulkhead shown here and the one on the port side is certainly not going to be an easy task. Firstly getting a neat fillet over the two steps is tricky and secondly getting the peel ply to go round those corners is not easy either. These two sections are the prime reason for not wanting to have to hurry the filet.

So there, we have it. The major task of the maintenance is almost completed. Ninety percent of the remaining tasks on my list are sanding, varnishing and painting and having the good, warm weather for those is one of the main reasons for not putting Naiad back in the water this season.