With the skeg box installed and the bulkheads reshaped and fitted, the next step is putting the new deck in place. I find the mating of the deck and hull to be one of the most satisfying milestones of any build. It's when the boat actually becomes one and you can readily see and feel the final product. I say "feel" because now you can determine the heft of the boat without all the clamps, extra spacers and such required to hold the deck in place temporarily.
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| Hull ready to accept the deck. |
The joining of the hull and deck was done on Friday night and it went without a hitch. First, I bevelled the sheer clamp to match the angle of the deck/hull join. Satisfied with a tight fit, I mixed up a number of batches of epoxy and filler to the consistency of runny peanut butter and spread this generously along the sheer clamp and tops of the bulkheads. I apologize for not having any pictures of the actual joining but it's a pretty big job plus it can get kind of messy. The last thing I wanted to be doing was worrying about getting good pictures!!
I simply dropped the deck onto the hull (I'd already done this a number of times and knew I could do it pretty smoothly without displacing too much of the epoxy.) Once in place and lined up I proceeded to "clamp" the two together with packing tape and tie down straps. Everything went according to plan and there were no "incidences" whatsoever. Small amounts of epoxy squirted out of the seams but this was good sign that the join was not starved.
After the clamping was done, I left the boat well enough alone and went off to have a nice glass of well-deserved red wine and a bit of relaxation for the rest of the evening.
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| Deck clamped in place - looking fwd. |
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| Deck clamped in place - looking aft. |
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| Foredeck. |
I left the boat to dry overnight and on Saturday I decided to have a go at sanding. I picked up some 36 grit paper at Princess Auto . I know that 36 is a bit rough to use on pine but, boy, did it make quick work of the rough sanding!!! I spent the better part of Saturday morning finishing the rough sanding. Saturday evening I spent a few minutes filling in a few spots with some epoxy mixed with fairing powder and left the boat overnight to dry.
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| 36 grit "wood eater" |
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| Aft hatches - rough sanding |
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| Fore hatch and compass - rough sanding. |
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| Looking aft - rough sanding completed. |
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| Looking fwd - rough sanding completed. |
Sunday morning I completed the final sanding and prepared the deck for glassing. At 11:45 AM I started applying the epoxy and by 1:30 the job was done. As with joining the deck/hull, there were no "incidences" to report.
I used the
gyproc seam tape and masking tape method that I used on this boat back in Spring 2011. This time the job went even smoother and when I trimmed the excess glass off later Sunday night, I was left with a very neat and manageable seam. I'm a happy camper!!
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| Gyproc tape doing its "thing"! |
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| All wetted out - looking aft. |
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| Excess cloth trimmed. |
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| Profile view, |
I've included the above photo to show the nice low back deck that this boat now has, You caan really see the difference in the height from front to back of the coaming. The back deck now sits at 7" and front at 11" With the cockpit coamings, the heights will be 7 3/4" and 11 3/4" which is still pretty low. This should make a big difference in the ability to do lay back rolls!!
Next on the list - cockpit coaming and skeg control box!!
Thanks for dropping by,
Sean
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