Quarterly Update - Chain plates done, internal cushions and anchor roller mount

House renovations continue to compete with the important part of life in the shed, along with totally destroying the boat fund but I continue on.

Last instalment I was working on the chain plates and positioning them.  I had just finished cutting them out.  Below shows the kwila external ones notched for the chain plates and the internal ones which are two layers of 12mm hardwood glued together.  On the left bottom you can see the 6mm stainless steel backing plate for the inside.

Once they were all shaped I marked them with a chisel and painted them all with sealer undercoat and then a couple of coats of exterior paint.  Below is the grey sealer undercoat (two coats).

These are the tools I used to drill the holes for the chain plates (mostly successfully).  I started with a smaller drill using squares and level to attempt to get them straight.  I drilled the top forward and very bottom holes of a chain plate first, as deep as the drill bit would go followed by a smaller hole with the brace and bit.  Once I cut through inside I could drill (it was only a small distance at the top and bottom where it hit inside stingers) and position temporary threaded rod.

Once the top and bottom threaded rod were in I could position the external chain plate and the internal backing plate.  Then the procedure was the same, with the small electric drill bit and brace and bit hole allowing me to see where I was going.  If I was off, it was easier to adjust my drill angle from outside when I went to the final hole size to hit the backing plate.

Below shows the port side middle chain  plate, which is the galley inside, with temporary threaded rod.

And from the inside.  The top bolt (forward side), goes through the gunwale stringer and the bottom bolt through a lower stringer, the others just the hull.  The hardwood backing plate goes against the ply hull and packs out the gap so it can be bolted in place.  The aft top hole on the middle chain plate each side got a stainless coach screw.  All others are total through bolts.

Below shows the holes you end up with in the hardwood backing plate and the hull/rubbing strakes.

Once I had drilled all the holes I measured and ordered all the bolts in stainless steel, bought some more tubes of sika marine sealant and called on my father.  Together we liberally spread sika between the hull and the backing plates and into each hole, and bolted down the plates.  I chose not to sika the inside, if I see water that means I need to give them attention rather than have water between the outside and inside sitting.

Below shows the final view of the port side chain plates.





I have also finished painting the engine box which is below.  At the front is a slide in cover which may have an air vent (to be determined) and a slide on top which will form my table and also the step to get up into the cockpit from the cabin.  The entire thing attaches to the engine bay with a few screws and can be totally slid off into the cabin space towards the galley for all round engine access for servicing.

Another exciting task was cutting the foam for the berth cushions/seats.  Below shows the complex angles with the curve of the hull to the left, the top surface fitting around a frame and then joining another.  This was before I painted the ply seat tops, from memory the foam is 150mm thick.

Below shows the port side forward one closest to the galley.  The fridge wiring runs to here as well, so I may make another smaller one which can be swapped in.

Below is a view looking forward in the forward cabin.

And a shot looking aft.  The main mattress is split to match the swing up supports underneath.

Below are all the finished cut foam pieces before I sent them off to the seamstress (my mother) for covering.  She has threatened me with bodily injury if I ever ask her to do anything similar again.  The angles, cut outs and curves were a nightmare.

A bloke I work with who helped me connect up the 12v wiring also does a bit of 3D printing so made up a mount for two gauges for the house battery/current draw and cranking battery.  I had to cut the top name plate part off to fit it where I wanted, but mounting is underway to allow me to monitor the power.

My final project has been an anchor mount.  I have purchased a mount and a 16kg anchor, but figuring out where to put the mounts with all the bowsprit rigging was a challenge.  I didn't want to drill holes in the bowsprit, so have used some of the kwila (100mm x 100mm) from the renovations and also some off cut hardwood to make supports front and rear that clamp onto the bowsprit with 10mm gal bolts (solid pieces right and middle in the photo below).  These support the fitting at the left of the photo which is an angled piece of 20mm hardwood (with 20mm doubler underneath) which has 19mm hardwood sides to keep the chain/anchor contained.  The fitting is angled down slightly, which was a challenge when the bowsprit angles up 12 degrees.  I have now painted it and lined the anchor support with sections of polyurethane cutting board but the photos had too much sun on them to be useful.  I will take some more.

That about gets you up to date.  Plan now is to finish mounting the battery gauges, keep working on a plotter placement bracket and drag the boat out of the shed pending engine connection.

Quotes for sails have been obtained, still chasing riggers.