First deck layer done, second started

For no other reason other than I was procrastinating I finished the decks each side of the cabin and glued/screwed them down.

Below shows the epoxy spread thickly, you can see the screw holes from the dry fit waiting for the plank to be added:

And the plank in place, 6mm ply in one piece and very quick:

And below a wide shot of both done.  Because of the amount of support underneath, and it being a single piece, I can now use the galley front wall as a step up onto the side deck to walk up the front.  The front you still need to walk along the hull edge or laminated beams as the 6mm ply is not edge glued together yet, only to the side and beams.

Because I was avoiding the front deck, I kept going behind the cabin aft as far as where the curved quarter deck meets the gunwale.  Same sort of support as the deck beside the cabin, but I had to figure out how far to come in.  This side deck will form the bottom of the combing as well as deck cockpit seat back support (it will make sense down the track hopefully).

From the side, supports are 40mm x 20mm half lapped into the longer piece and gunwale, the long piece is 40mm x 30mm:

This is the port side rear deck pre-drilled for dry fitting.  Gives you and idea of the size, at the top right note the notching to go around the 12mm ply doubler on the rear of the cabin under the side deck support.

And the starboard side glued/screwed in place.

Now I had run out of excuses, back to the front deck.  I had dry fit all the way after gluing most of the first layer.  I  took off the unglued pieces to get at the king plank and anchor well.  I had cut a hole in the king plank just (and only just) big enough for the top of the sampson post to go through.  I then had to make the bowsprit support which is glued to the forward side of the first bulkhead in the anchor well.  It is also bolted through the sampson post (and through the laminated beam at the top).

This is the support which is made from 80mm x 20mm kwila pieces glued and screwed down the sides.  The screws are 14g x 1 1/4 inch, pre-drilled as they are massive:

And the finished product, top on an angle to fit under the king plank where it protrudes into the anchor well:

After much swearing, drilling, skinned knuckles and climbing up and down onto the front deck every time I dropped or forgot something I managed to get it dry positioned with the bolt holes drilled through everything including the sampson post.  Then I pulled it down to pieces, added epoxy and screwed it together.  Run up onto the deck, added glue to the back,climbed down inside and added glue to the back of bulkhead one and attempted to get the sampson post in place.  After much struggling I succeeded and bolted them all together cleaning up the joins with small fillets of epoxy from the squeeze out.

Then because I thought it would be a good idea I mixed up extra epoxy and stuck down the remainder of the first layer of the front deck.  After a bit of clean up, got a beer and took a few photos.  None of the process sorry, too busy.  Below is the bowsprit support in place, with the deck on top of the king plank.

And the sampson post from the inside.  The bolts are 10mm galvanised, they need to be strong to take the weight of the boat at anchor and spread the load across the boat.  There will be two more bolts to come through from a hardwood support that sits under the end of the bowsprit inside the hardwood I just added above.

The top of the sampson post sticking up through the first layer of the deck.  The hole is for a stainless steel bar to tie rope on.  You can just make out some shaping on the edges each corner under the hole for the rope to go around:

Below is the finished first layer, ice cream containers are holding down the edges till the epoxy goes off over the king plank up the front (120mm wide):

I've now started on the second layer of the deck.  The first layer used small screws just to hold the ply in place while the epoxy set.  This second layer has 1 inch screws on 75mm centres along each curved beam and forward/aft support, and 50mm centres along each side of the king plank.  When I reach the gunwale they go up to 1 1/4.  I can now stand safely on top of the second layer and it feels very strong.  Still a layer of glass to go on top as well, this deck is not going anywhere!

The decking should progress relatively quickly now I am back into the swing of it.  That's the theory anyway...