Inspection ports

I decided to put these in while access is easy.

I used this hole cutter which attaches to a drill. Then sanded the edge and applied epoxy. Once cured, I used marine sealant and screwed into place with stainless screws..
One port is in the forward bulkhead below the storage area and one is in the stern. Both areas serve as watertight bouyancy. With this boat, I want to be able to regularly inspect all areas.

Planking Prep

With most of the stringer fairing done, a few more jobs need to be done before planking begins. One of them is butt blocks for joining the panels. I will scarf the keel and inner wing but I have decided against scarfing the large side panels due to the size as I am building this all by myself so full length side panels would be too hard to manage. The butt blocks are made from the same 6mm Okume as the panels which I cut on the table saw which allowed me to quickly make a lot of them straight and identical in width.
I used a router to take the majority of wood out and also use a power file to tidy it up.

Then simply glue them in place. I will sand them as I go around the hull double checking everything is fair.

Fairing Stringers

Now that the stringers are all on, they need to be faired so that the outer surfaces will line up with the planking, and give a good surface for glue adhesion. For this I am using a combination of electric planer and belt sander. Checking as I go with a steel rule.