I'm a bit confused. On my Tern, most of the joints are near the front of the cockpit, and the bottom hull panels join in the middle or toward the back.

Regardless, I would think you wouldn't need the reinforcement plates. I built my Tern without hatches and bulkheads (though I don't recommend it -- the sea sock is a bit of a pain) and it is very strong despite the fact that there are no internal supports except the hip plates. I've stood and bounced a bit on the aft deck with no problems -- stupid, because it could have been destructive testing. If I were to put one extra ring of supports on, it would be on the back, where you enter with your weight on the back part of the cockpit. On the other hand, at 37#, what's a few little blocks going to weigh?

I, too, had discoloration problems with my Tern at the butt-joints...

Dean

> Just got all the panels joined to full length on my Pygmy Arctic Tern. I
> used the older Pygmy method of joining the panels, Butt Blocks, instead of
> the glass tape method described in the instructions. Reason for this is to
> avoid the discoloration problem I had on my Coho.

> Question is this: The instructions call for reinforcement blocks on the
> underside of the deck panels fore and aft of the cockpit. The center seam
> on the Tern is very close to the back of the cockpit (so there is a row of
> butt blocks already creating a ring or rib around the interior of the
> hull) Although there is enough room to put another band of reinforcement
> blocks, is this overkill and just added weight?

> Any Tern builders who can advise me?

> Thanks

> Mike in Redmond