After the cabin roof doublers cured, I attacked the front edge with a portable belt sander and whipped it into shape, fairly quickly. 8)
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And the same on the aft edge of the cabin roof and doubler.
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I originally had an open bow chock for securing anchor rodes and whatnot.
The thinking on all the SCAMP forums is to use a closed eye bow chock, because all the bouncing around at anchor can cause the rode to pop out of the chock and putting it back in with a boat hook all the time gets to be really old, really quick. :-X
So I acquiesced to everyone's experience and ordered a closed eye bow chock.
It finally came in the mail and I immediately tried it out on the boat.
Hmmm . . . . . . . flat bow chock, rounded bow deck. >:(
So I persuaded ::) it to conform to the curves on the deck a little better.
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I also enlarged the holes and expanded the counter-sink to accommodate a 10-24 machine screw, instead of a #8 wood screw.
(What were they thinking?!?) ???
Machined and drilled a left-over piece from the skeg rub rails, to make a rub rail for the anchor rodes in front of the bow chock, so I don't chafe a groove into the bow.
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Then over-drilled them for re-filling with thickened epoxy, later on.
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Like so:
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Used some bedding compound to make a dam, so I don't spill epoxy all over a curved, sloping, deck.
Finally got to the requisite 3 coats of epoxy on both sides, for my grate stiffener re-work.
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And promptly glued everything in place.
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Will fillet edges later on, with left-over fillet material.
I read on the build blogs where guys laminate wood strips on the cabin roof for a kind of a grab rail and then they have to sand and shape it in place, right there on the cabin roof.
Always looked like a lot of work to me. :P
So I placed a strip of packing tape across the roof, so I could mould the laminated strips in place and then remove it to shape and sand and whatnot, without having to work around being on the cabin roof. 8)
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Still takes a bunch of clamps, to get the curved form.
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A closer side view, showing the packing tape on the cabin roof, so the lamination can be removed after curing.
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After the laminations cured, I took the curved piece over to the belt sander and gave it what for.
Doesn't look too bad. 8)
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After I get the roof glassed over, it will get glued down permanently. Still to do, is to round the top edges with a router.
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While waiting for lamination cures, I skipped ahead to starting on the coamings.
I needed to cut a notch in the coamings, so I could open the bench hatches more fully.
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Looks like it will work out fine. 8)
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Taped the back of the coamings, to avoid the round-over drips from epoxy coating; a major time-saver.
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And while I was at it, the transom cap and transom cap doubler.
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All ready to coat with epoxy in the morning, if the weather co-operates.
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Had to bevel the transom; the angle looks a little extreme, because I had doubled the entire transom.
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But, we're a ways away from having to deal with this task; :P it's towards the end of the hull build.
Got the first coat of epoxy on the coamings and transom cap.
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Check the curved lamination at left; not ready to epoxy, yet.
Helped out a neighbor this morning, with a near-impossible wiring problem, on his 23 foot Sea Fox power boat.
Garnered me some neighborly good-will, and perhaps a fishing trip or two, in the future. :)
And STILL had time to get the 2nd coat of epoxy down.
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Most SCAMP builders fiberglass the cabin roof as soon as they get the roof glued on.
I couldn't do that, because I needed to have the grab rail doublers glued to the underside before I inverted the hull.
I'll be adding fillets, then sanding, then priming and painting the roof from inside, and the doublers have to be in, BEFORE all that stuff happens.
(Sigh.) :'(
Ya try and think, and measure the boat, then check against the plans and then think some more, then measure some more, to the point of Obsessive-Compulsive behavior . . . . . .
Give it your best shot and STILL, you screw up!! :o
Remember these guys, from last May? ???
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Doublers for the grab rails.
Applied the requisite 3 coats of epoxy per side and set them aside with the grab rails, until the cabin roof could be done.
Knew I had to cut them in half, since bulkhead #3 was in the way.
They were to back up the grab rails screwed to the cabin roof, since I didn't trust 6 mm plywood alone, for a grab rail to hold a panicky, hefty person, in extremis. :o
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Well . . . . . . .
When I went to put them up to the inside of the cabin roof, my FIRST problem was, I hadn't allowed for the cabin side bulk head cleats, >:( since they weren't installed when I made the grab-rail doublers.
I could see the cabin roof cleat from inside so since I knew the cleat dimensions, I could measure over from the doubler hole and see where the grab rails would sit, on the cabin roof.
Durn . . . . . . . . >:(
Now, I'd be the first to admit that I am a Form-Follows-Function kind of guy, but those grab rails did NOT sit where I envisioned them.
(And they would have been harder to reach from the dock, the main reason for even installing them in the first place.) :o
So I installed them where they looked best (and worked best!) :P and drilled holes and put some bolts through the grab rails and checked from underneath.
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Doublers shaped a little different, huh? ???
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OK, I knew I'd be cutting ¾-inch from one end on both sides, because of the cabin side cleat. I DIDN'T know :-X I'd also have to trim the forward doublers to accommodate my new grab rail position.
But I did, and now they'll fit, but they will also need 3 coats of epoxy on the newly exposed, cut edges.
Over-drilled the grab rail holes so I can fill them and re-drill them and glue the doublers in.
So much for glassing the roof and inverting the hull, this week. >:(
And so it goes.
But the steps sequence is the steps, and they take as long as they take.
At least, I'm STILL getting closer and closer to having a boat!! ;D
Charles Brennan
Making some great progress... gonna have to come by soon and see it in person! It sucks living 1 1/2 hours away. I'd still make the trip if you needed help with anything!