Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #2-9B . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

After the cabin roof doublers cured, I attacked the front edge with a portable belt sander and whipped it into shape, fairly quickly. 
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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. 
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. 
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.   
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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. 
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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. 
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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;    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!! 

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. 
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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.) 
So I installed them where they looked best (and worked best!)    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    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!! 

Charles Brennan

[Chris Muthig]

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!