First 1/2 Stringer Installed!!!

Big Day, this past Sunday. We got the first one of 8 stringer pieces installed. It went slower than we had wanted (like everything else thus far) but each piece from here on out should move a little faster now that we have something to secure them to.

To install, we measured up the section, ~ 7ft 4in from the back, made that length cut, cut the angle on the interior and exterior sides of the stringer (which was about a 1in difference) sawed through the foam with a wire saw and then had to notch the "back" (transom end) of the stringer so that it would fit into the transom plug - since that area is not flat.

Next step was to level and secure the stringer into place (advice from pops here) and we bent some boards under the old floor on both sides to pin the stringer down.

9oz tape was cut to wrap around the back and into the transom as well as to lay across the seam at the floor. Slow-kick epoxy was liberally applied and we realized I forgot the camera, so the crappy pics are from the phone.

This is a pic of the transom before we started glassing the stringer. We added another layer of 18oz strips across the cap and down to the floor prior to starting the stringers.

another pic prior to stringer - this one is the in the corner, where the old floor came in. The glass cured out really well - we were happy.

shot of the "fillet" we made at the base of the new transom.

Finally, a pic of the 1st 1/2 stringer...only 7 more of these to go. And then the floor...The gas tank is on the way too.