Cockpit continued and deck lockers

Last post the front of the smelly locker at the rear of the cockpit went on, along with the drains from the cockpit to the transom.  Work continued from there in the cockpit, firstly with the cockpit edges of the quarter deck and bridge deck.

The quarter deck was first.  The curved beam was perpendicular to the centreline but I had bought the quarter deck out on a curve to meet the side decks, so cutting the fill pieces was interesting.  Decided on 6mm ply like the deck to take the curve, three extra layers for a total of over 30mm with the glass on top.




And a wide shot:





While they were clamped in place I decided the time had come to cut the lids off the deck storage at the front of the cabin.  Spent a bit of time measuring widths of wood supports under the roof and remembering how wide the supports were, then pencilled out the shape on the cabin top. Remembered the cabin front was 12mm ply and pushed the lid 10mm forward.  Turns out later lucky I did.




With the curve of the cabin top I used a tenon saw to start the cut on one of the long sides until it was through the 12mm top, then you could slide in the jigsaw (note the adjustment on the aft side).





And with the lid off.  Note the edge of the cut at the top of the photo which turned out only 5mm from the top of the sloped cabin front.  With the slope on it the jigsaw blade would have been hitting the ply if I hadn't adjusted the mark.  Sometimes you can be lucky!





Once the clamps came off the quarter deck, two layers of 9mm ply went under the bridge deck with epoxy.





When I covered the delilah post with 9mm ply to meet the seats there were gaps down both sides. The cover piece angled back, and curved forward and was a pain to cut.  I knew I would cover it down the track more neatly, below is the result in 9mm ply with epoxy glue around the edges and onto the post.  Also note the fillet on the bottom of the quarter deck front onto the curved beam.





Then back to the bridge deck to trim up the edge.





And the result from a distance just after cutting.






With all the sides of the cockpit in place, I got out the glass roll and trimmed up a piece to cover the floor, the front and rear to the top and partially up each side.  Below shows it about to be epoxied (blue ice cream container top left and roller).  The right hand edge has just fallen down.  I usually pre coat the ply but it was so involved cutting corners and around the floor locker access and fuel filler that I decided to leave the glass mat in place and wet it out rather than try and lift the mat out and later re position it.





After glassing.  Three coats of epoxy wet on wet, nice thick layer on the floor.






Then out came the paint brush.  Good layer of oil based undercoat over the epoxy, then two layers of water based exterior house paint.






I was worried that something would fall on the PVC drains and crack them, so built 9mm covers for the tops both sides, supported down onto the floor.  With all the extra work I should have just built the entire drains as per the plans, but I was worried about getting the locker waterproof from the drains and it is done now.  Below is with the covers in place.  They are not glued in, just screwed each side so I can push them into the middle of the locker to get at the pipes if I need to down the track (hopefully NOT!).






I also gave the storage lockers the paint treatment, after epoxying the cabin side bit that I had missed on construction, the edges of the ply cabin top and the lids (didn't paint them yet, they need more epoxy). I also put solid wood stops on the edges to hold the lids up.  I will put a hinge on the short edge closest to the centreline (left of picture) with a bolt or latch on the outside.  But that is after fairing and painting the cabin.





Last bit of the cockpit seat after trimming off excess glass on the sides was the smelly locker lid / rear seat.  It was pre coated underneath with epoxy, and while I was painting got the same treatment as outlined above.  Picture shows it glued and screwed in place, the clamps are holding the middle bit of the curved beam I cut out long ago and put aside.  It is now the doubler under the forward edge, 24mm thick (3 x 8mm laminated, 20mm wide).  I have to trim the cockpit edge once everything is set.






Then I will be glassing another layer on the sides of the cockpit floor (the mat didn't go all the way up on the sides) and the seats / coaming top.  I have also started the final storage area doors each side of the engine bay, photos to come.

Coamings and glassing cabin

As usual I changed my mind on the coamings.  I was looking at them and realised that the outside piece needed a fillet of epoxy on the inside due to the angle and gaps, while the inside one was straight against the supports.  It would be impossible to do the fillet inside the coaming if I did the inside seat back first.

So I did the outsides , I was going to glass them before but then would have had screw holes etc. Below shows the port side in pace, screws on the outside and into top of supports:





Once they were both in place I gave them a coat of oil based undercoat/sealer (already epoxied) followed by a couple of coats of exterior house paint as usual.  Below is the starboard side:





While they were drying I coated the storage covers previously made, and made up the storage above the engine space.  First was cutting a hole for the diesel tank breather:





And then cutting the sides and base:





I left the base in two pieces, the rear piece which has the hole for the breather pipe to come up and meet the fitting in the cockpit I made permanent, the front will be screwed in so you can pull it out if you need to make access to the rear behind the engine easier:





Then I epoxied and screwed the inside seat/coaming and coaming tops into place, with fillets down onto the seats, the cabin rear and the join with the aft hull covering.  Hardwood has 4 screws down through the top and into the supports underneath:





Looking aft from the starboard side into the storage, will need to paint over the epoxy/glue:





I had also pre primed and painted the above engine storage sides etc and epoxied them in.



I was on a roll, so cut out some paper and positioned the holes in the cabin side for the portholes. Tried a few options, the smaller hole at the front is between the galley rear and cabin front (in front of it is storage, yet to cut the lid out).  I decided to evenly space the rear bigger portholes between the galley and rear of the cabin.





Crossed my fingers and hit them with jigsaw.  Pleasing to see no space and good glue line between the two 9mm cabin sides on the pieces that came out:





A shot from inside, favourite photo of this post!!




When I was painting earlier I finished off the storage access covers.  Below is the stb access to the underseat storage:




And the draw (top) and access to under galley storage/cassette toilet:





Fibreglass was next on the job list, below shows the pieces cut for the cabin sides and front:





The port side looking aft before:






And after, including the outside of the coamings.  All got a thick coat to hold the mat which was then wet out, then two more coats wet on wet after about 45 mins drying time between each until the epoxy was tacky:






Down the starboard looking aft:





Across the front:





Got carried away and did the smelly locker front, the last piece of the cockpit puzzle:





Overhead with the floor glassed and the PVC drains through to the transom:





And the exits from the transom:






You may have noticed an increase in output, kids are back at school and I took a few rostered days off work.