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# Dry-Fitting Ikaroa’s Hull Side
- URL: https://seanation.org/dry-fitting-ikaroa-s-hull-side/
- Published: 2021-10-12T14:23:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-06T14:26:58.000Z
- Description: I spent another day dry-fitting, sanding, cleaning and drilling a plywood hull panel before it could finally be glued in place. And people wonder why boatbuilding takes so long.
- Author: Monika Matis
- Tags: Ikaroa, Tech, #story-ikaroa, #facebook-import

And you thought it is just about sticking it on some epoxy and that’s all? Well, think again… Dry fitting. Little sanding to make it fit better. Dry fitting once again. And a few times more just for good measure and to make sure. And when you certain enough- crawling under the hull (with other side fitted there is not a lot space left to crawl through!) to mark bulkheads and stringers. And dry-fit it again, just to make sure you marked it well (yes, that means crawling out and in again, and out…). When you finally cannot think of a reason to dry-fit it again, you do it anyway once more, to fit three strong screws through stringers and hull side - aka your third, fourth and fifth hand, since you’re working on your own and 14ft of plywood won’t hang there on its own - and FINALLY you take it off for the last time.  
But not to glue it in - no, you’re only halfway through with preparations! You’re now ready to go to your favourite pastime while building a boat - sanding! Since the whole plywood piece was covered in layers of epoxy resin and that happened some ages ago you have to sand all surfaces you want to glue together- so you are sanding, wondering why sand paper lasts only through about half of the length of the marked stringer…  
Some lifetime later you may switch from sanding plywood to sanding stringers - after all, they have been completely covered in epoxy at few ages before the hull side. So when you sand them as well, you switch hands (because right now the one you used to sand is not gonna hold anything!) and get meths to clean all the mess you made with sand paper.  
Cleaned? Good, time to mark the pilot holes for screws which will tightly hold the bent piece of plywood to the curvature of stringers, bulkheads… in short, you’re getting close. Only some hundred holes to drill - plus three bigger ones for the guiding screws aka your extra hands.  
And this way after yet another day of work you have panel ready to glue in place. But it is already 4pm and glueing it will take another three hours straight- so that will have to wait till tomorrow.

And they wonder it takes so long to build a boat 😜

#TIKI38 #IKAROA #THESEANATION #BUILDINGAWHARRAM #allelectricboat  
Adam Beret MańczukMonika Matis  
The Sea Nation

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