Fiberglassing the upper deck (sounds like a boxing move) and gluing the side panels

After the upper deck of the paddle board was joined together, it looked like this:

I sanded down the rough spots  to give the deck a smooth surface.  The side that's facing downward will be the top of the board, where I stand.  The side you're looking at will be on the inside of the board (remember there is an upper deck and lower deck, and sideboards in between).  I had to fiberglass the inside of the upper deck (this paragraph is really getting wordy), so I laid a fiberglass cloth over top the board and squeegeed epoxy over the surface.

Laying fiberglass cloth over the deck

It always blows my mind how fiberglass becomes invisible after it's been glued.  I swear I'm usually not that easily entertained.

After the fiberglass has been epoxied to the deck

You'll see in my post next week that the paddle board will begin to take shape.  Right now it looks like a thin surfboard, though the end product will be quite the contrary.  There was one last thing I had to do before I got there, however.  Yesterday I wrote about the sheer clamps and said I would explain their purpose later.  Well, I still won't get to their purpose today, but I did glue them to the side panels, and I promise, you will see they become useful in my next post.

I used ten clamps on each side board to hold the sheer clamps down.  I hope that was enough, otherwise, the sheer clamps won't be secured and I'll be even more behind.  (At least this weekend is supposed to be cool and rainy, so I won't feel like I'm missing out on the river....boy, did that sound redneck or what?)