Sealing the deck. First I glued in some thin wood strips wherever there was a gap between the deck and hull. Then I applied Marine epoxy all the way around the deck/hull seam from above by dabbing it on with a small stick. Easy.

Then I flipped the ship (yes, now it can finally be called a ship) on its side to seal the seam from the inside. I used a combination of sticks and latex gloves to apply the epoxy. My arms were just long enough to reach down and across the two foot distance from the hatch to the far stern corner. Stretch! I used my periscope and small hand mirror to see. Not so easy.

Next the telescoping ends of the keel rod tubes were pushed up all the way to the underside of the deck and epoxied in place. Finally the gap between the stern tube and deck was filled in.

Bulwarks installed. I put the starboard bulwarks in place to make sure it still fit. It fit so tight that it was a real bear getting it off. I took the protective tape off the deck, applied epoxy, reinstalled the bulwarks and clamped everything down tight. 24 hours later I did the same thing with the port side.

There are a couple of places where the bulwarks ended up sticking out past the top lip of the hull a little bit, either from too much trimming or not enough shaping and clamping. So I'll need to do some touchup before installing the inner rail trim.

Inner gun port lids. Basswood. X-acto knife. Metal rings. Superglue. Paint. End result: 20 blood red lids for the cannons to snug up on. (And once again, how people have the patience to do those 74+ gun ship-of-line models is beyond me.)

I glued the inner lids in place with a combo of epoxy and superglue. Pretty happy with how it looks.

Waterways installed. This was one part of the build that I wished I had open gun ports to help with the clamping since I only had eight clamps that could reach. But the 40-50 minute epoxy gave me enough time to get the triangular strips that form the border between deck and bulwarks in place before it set.

The next step is drilling the scupper drain holes through the waterway strip. I know this has been a challenge for many builders and I'm glad to be forewarned about the possible issues.

Double grog for all! So time for a BIG STEP celebration. After a couple of years of enjoying other people's SC&H build logs, what a treat to finally see the Theresa Marie with her installed deck, bulwarks, deck fittings and crew sitting in my home. Cheers to everyone's ongoing inspiration and helpful comments.

Week 10