Engine bearers and hatch garage cont

The sanding in the anchor locker and painting of the main hatch garage continues on.  First thing to do was a little sand to clean up the edges of the fillets and on the inside of the ply, then a couple of thick coats of epoxy wet on wet.





Once it had dried I gave the inside two coats of oil based undercoat/sealer over two days.





And then two coats of exterior paint.  Concurrently I was working on the engine bearers, you can see them in the foreground of the photo but more on them shortly.  Also realised I hadn't finish painted the insides of the cockpit coaming storage locker doors so splashed some paint on them as well.





Engine bearers I decided to do next so I could finish off the inside of the main cabin by building the cover over where the engine will go and the access ladder.  First was a lot of string, square and level work to determine the correct height based on the centre of the stern tube, and then to continue the angle out for the bearers.

It was difficult in three dimensions so made some rough measurements out based on the engine dimensions, bevelled the bottom of the cross support piece and drilled holes through the wood and into the keel through the floor.  Once sitting in position I measured the dimensions of the bearers and got hardwood pieces 100mm x 80mm.




With that done I took a deep breath and coach screwed it down onto a thick bed of epoxy glue.





This made positioning and calculating the heights much easier and by measuring with the block in place was able to calculate how far down each end and chop out pieces to get the right angle and height (hopefully).  Below shows one from the side, the left end cut down to sit on the frame 7 hardwood cross piece under the tube with the angle calculated using the top of the tube and a straight edge.  Ended up needing a little adjustment on the forward end as well.  Bottom left is cut on an angle to allow it sit down enough, and give clearance to reach under.




Here is the starboard side ready to dry fit showing how far the bolts go into the across supports, on the left about 30mm of the 60mm x 8mm bolt and on the right about 25mm of the 120mm x 8mm bolt.




This shows the port side dry fit in place.  The scrap wood was clamped in place to allow the shaft angle to be brought out from the tube and then across with a level to the top of the bearer.





Not too bad level across the two.




Both dry fit from the starboard side.




Nice two coats of epoxy then undercoat and paint which was shown earlier.




In final position epoxy glued and bolted on with the overhang in the cabin trimmed square.  Sanded the paint off the cross piece near the tube before to get a good epoxy bond.




Glued and bolted from the side:





The Beta 14HP I am planning on using has up to 25mm adjustment up on the four feet, and the feet are 120mm long and 63mm wide.  My plan is that there will be enough space on the top of the bearer to position the engine to match the shaft position and bolt it down then.  At worst I can take a little bit off the top surface of the bearers if too high, but I think I am close.

Now I should be able to build a box around it and sort the steps.  Sanding and fairing of the cabin and decks also continues in bursts prior to paint.

Main hatch garage

My brief break is almost over, and am avoiding sanding the second coat of fairing in the main cockpit.

So I decided to put together the garage/cover/'turtle' for the main hatch.  I had previously cut and painted the inside of pieces to make up the frame.  I will need to paint underneath the main part between the hatch runners and each side on the cabin top before I fit it, but it was a nice little project to break up the sanding.

I had neglected to fair the covers for the deck storage lockers at the front of the cabin, so gave them a couple of coats while I worked.

Then it was gluing and screwing the frame together in place to get the shape correct.  You can see the solid wood blocking painted white each side that keeps the garage sides out far enough for the hatch to slide in.  The hatch itself has an outside overlap to prevent water getting in (hopefully).  Plenty of solid wood each side 20mm thick, the forward end has a laminated curved beam (the bit I cut out to make the access into the main cabin so exact curve of the cabin top) supported onto solid wood across with three vertical blocking pieces for strength.  I figure if someone sits on this down the track they are more likely to be down the forward end, so more support.  The forward and aft ends are 9mm ply cut to the curve of the deck, and with space for the hatch in the aft end.

And a shot looking aft.  The frame will be screwed only each side into the painted wood spacers, which are screwed with 14G heavy screws into the hatch slides (which are double hardwood total 40mm thick).  The cross piece of the main access has a seal in place, another is on the inside of the hatch itself so when you close it there is a good seal.  There are drains on the left and right hand side for water that gets under the garage to drain out.

Once the glue had dried I undid the screws and tried to pull it off.  No movement, trouble there.  I was worried about it gluing itself to the hatch runners and had put lots of cling wrap on the supports. Bit of a bump each side and it popped off.  Little bit of glue overrun which I cleaned up before progressing.  

The top is two layers of 9mm ply laminated together and glued/screwed all round on 120mm (fwd and aft) to 150mm (sides) centres with 8G 25mm countersunk screws.

With the top in place I quickly flipped it over and put a fillet on the insides.

Let that dry and then this morning got the electric plane out followed by the belt and orbital sander to take back the edges flush.  Also rounded the ends and top/side joins.  Then it was test fit time!

Hatch only sitting in place.

And with the garage sitting over the top.  It is not screwed into the blocking so sitting about 10mm lower than final.

And one looking aft.  There is a gap underneath the edge of the garage all round to let water out.

I've pulled it off again and filled the screw holes on top, which will also be epoxied inside and out. Still considering a layer of glass on the inside, will stand on it and see what I think.  Then finish paint.

Back to sanding......

Front and side decks faired

I've had some time off, so got into a good routine of sanding and applying a fairing layer each day to the front and side decks over the last four days or so.  The International Epiglass sands off to small beads which are quite hard on the knees, but the surface feels smooth.  It is deceptive because you can see through the filler and think there are hollows, but the top surface is even when you run your toe over it.

Front deck layer two:






And all sanded after four layers.  I did have photos of each layer but you couldn't tell the difference:




Side deck layer two of four:




Starboard side before:




And the starboard side all sanded:




I put a fillet of sanding filler on the cabin side to deck join, and also around the pads for the stanchions and sanded them back to a curve.  While I was sanding and cleaning up the anchor well I put up the bowsprit for a photo to see how it looked:




And now I have sanded and put the first layer on the cockpit, which is the final part to be faired on top.




I will continue on with the cockpit, I need to crawl underneath and check the keel to hull join and the underwater areas.  I think I may have rushed a bit to turn over and need a thin layer or two to finish them off.  I had a quick look and it wasn't as bad as I thought to can be done while I am doing the cockpit layers which is a much smaller area than the decks.