hello dave,

many builders consider the "stress riser point".

after installing a plywood bulkhead, the hull can't "flex" over the bulkhead location, so if for example you slide on a rock, the hull will bend a little as you slide, but when the rock will be against the bulkhead, the hull will brake. Although such thing CAN happen, I would consider it very highly unlikely. you have to be heavy enough, the rock has to be sharp enough & you probably need the help of a big wave to throw you on that rock. the solution is to mount the bulkhead on a strip of minicell foam that would also seal between it & the hull. I did it that way.

about glassing the bulkhead, I can't see any reason to do it, & I didn't. I just sealed the bulkhead with epoxy, that's all.

according to the "stress riser theory", the bulkhead should be as weak as possible, so IT would break, & not the hull.

summery: I think you're not heading for trouble in any way you do it.

erez

: I'm building a Pygmy Coho and getting started on the hatches and bulkheads.
: The instructions call for glassing both sides of the plywood bulkhead and
: then using glass tape to attach the bulkheads to the boat. I'm tempted to
: simply put a couple of coats of epoxy on the bulkheads and then glue them
: in place making a nice fillet on each side.

: I've found there is often a good reason that the instructions say to do a
: task a certain way but in the case it seems like overkill. I read the
: minicell versus plywood bulkhead discussion a while back realized that
: there are some on this board that will tell me that minicell is the way to
: go. But I've decided on plywood for certain.

: If I skip the glassing and taping am I headed for trouble?

: -DaveW