With the port side cleaned up and trimmed, it is time to get working on the starboard side. I have a system in place: I place the bedding compound, bang in a nail to hold the strake in place, and then drill and screw the rest of the plank. I also use two separate drills, one with the blade screw driver bit on it and the other with a small 1/16 inch pilot hole drill bit.
Using the two drills saves me a lot of time that would have been spent switching bits out. Now I am able to power through the planking process with the experience of the other side under my belt!
All this speed meant that in two days, I was able to plank the entire starboard side of the hull.
The excess polysulfide bedding compound can be seen oozing out through the cracks in the boards. This lets me know that the bedding compound is spread all throughout the space between the planks, and the pressure in there was enough to squeeze the material out through the narrow gaps in the boards. What this is telling me is that I now have a watertight seal between the two layers.
With the starboard side planked, all I could do was wait for the polysulfide to cure so I could begin shaping and trimming the topsides.
