Cleaned up a few things before heading off to Florida.

#1: Added support for shoulder bitts.

#2: Coaming for house. To be completed after first test launch. Will probably need another 1/4 inch added to height.

#3: Filled joint at break in house side. Drilled holes for portholes.

A few problems in evidence but nothing major.
Reversed servo in tx
Excess throw on servo
A small leak to be tracked down
Expo adjustment required to eliminate twitchy steering
No sparks or smoke 👍

Overall it went rather decently. Hull tracks straight, very maneuverable, & backs well.

Thanks Jonathan. Being one who never seemed to have enough rudder throw I always set the end points to the max limit. In this case I went too far & was shown the error of my ways. Fortunately the trial was in a pool where if need be I could have retrieved it. With that option in my pocket I decided to maneuver back to the pool steps. Turned out to be a good boat handling experience with having only one direction in forward & reverse.
Fortunately dialing down the endpoints is an easy fix. With the steerable Kort directional control far exceeds what a rudder can provide.
Looking at the wx, we certainly left at the right time. Returning to the windy hook is a certainty for a variety of reasons.

Turns out it’s more of a mystery than I thought. I found a couple of very small pinholes in the hull’s mating seam along the keel. Not the problem! 😠 The inboard end of the shaft log is well below the waterline so that seemed to be the next logical point of attack. Packed grease in near the coupling which did improve things. But, still a small leak from somewhere else.☹️ Time to put it aside for a bit before tackling again. 💡Next step put water IN the hull & hope to see where it leaks OUT.
Not a major leak by any means. Now mostly a matter of scientific curiosity.🤔

Finally! After adding water into the hull I could see where it dripped out. At the hull halves in the circled area. NEVER would have seen this microscopic hole. Repaired & all seems well.🤞
Roofing leaks have the same characteristics. Where you see evidence of the leak is not where the leak is actually occurring. Here it appeared the water incursion was under the motor position. The actual leak was well forward of that so the water entered, flowed under the glass cloth in the hull, & appeared under the motor.
So it appears I won’t have to rely on my bilge pump.😁

After THINKING I had the leak repaired it was back to a pool test. Ran for about 25 minutes & 👍👍. Dry as a bone in the bilge. Given that success, the foredeck was glued in place. Securing the deck always strikes me as one of those “ no turning back now” events.

Photo 1- Inboard course to raise bulwarks in place. Rear hatch fabricated & in place over the coaming.
Photo 2- Trial fit of forward bulwark raising.
Photo 3- Getting a look at the overall profile with raised bulwarks & house trial fitted.

I’m happy with the profile so it’s a go to continue.

Laid out & painted house windows. During the process found I somehow had made a major dimensional error on port side. Forward break in house side was incorrectly located. Didn’t see it until laying out window locations. Fortunately I was able to correct it rather than having to reconstruct a new port side of house.

All bulwarks raised. Thickness didn’t quite equal that of the bulwark as moulded. Auto glazing putty to the rescue! Now for the sanding.

1. Cardboard mock-up of fwd bulkhead.

2. Aft bulkhead in place but needs final fitting.

3. Forward house bulkhead in place. Final adjustments to be made.

4. To me the little foredeck the fwd bulkhead bears upon is too short. Needs to be lengthened maybe 3/16”. Your thoughts welcome.

Not much of an extension but I think it’s a big improvement. Your thoughts?
This is a cardboard mock-up. House sides & lower forward bulkhead will be extended to match.

Middle foredeck size increase close to completion & a tweak aft to the port & starboard house sides which added depth to the appearance. House roof not yet fitted.