Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #3-2C . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Here's why you NEVER, EVER, throw anything away, during a boat build.
Remember this bench seat template, from June of '24? 
I was forced to scan the plans into a computer, scale up the drawing, then print out pages and Scotch tape them all together, since my partial SCAMP kit purchase did not include the bench seats.
(Or several other components, for that matter!) 
Plus, as it turns out, I totally Suck!!      At lofting. 
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I needed a template to cut out the EVA (Expanded Vinyl Acetate) foam bench seats and decking, for the boat.
Good thing I had saved that bench seat template!! 
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First thing to do, was to get all the foam pieces put out in the Sun to warm up and lay flat, after having been rolled up in boxes, for over 8 months.
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Thank goodness for lead scuba diving weights; the unsung heroes of this whole project!! 

Traced the template onto the foam, (and with much trepidation!)    cut it out.
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I needn't have worried . . . .
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It fit just fine.  (Starboard side.)

Center board cover laying on its side.
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Holes for hatches roughly cut out. This was necessary, because I kept leaning on places where there wasn't any plywood! 
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Got the port side installed, along with the lazarette.  Those bench/lazarette gaps are there on purpose, for water drainage channels and will actually be widened a little, later on.
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Notice the spaces on either side of the cockpit sole, also for water drainage.

Later on, I did make good on my threat to widen the lazarette drainage channels. 
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Got the filler boards locker covered and also the veranda flooring done, up forward.
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That dowel was used to apply rolling pressure, to stick down the EVA foam and prevent any air bubbles.

All that's left to do, is the foot well cover.
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And now, all the EVA foam is DOWN!! 
That foam decking is a great relief, to aging knee cartilage.
At my age, kneeling or crawling around on epoxied plywood is painful, otherwise. 
Being a non-slip surface, it is equally useful, to help preserve aging hip bones!! 
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Also, it greatly toned down that: "Geeze!! I think I built a Banana, instead of a Boat!"    vibe, that I had with the all-Hatteras Cream colored, cockpit and coamings.

I've still got a LOT of trimming to do, but I couldn't resist sticking in all ten hatches, just to see how they're going to look. 
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Getting those hatches from temporary to finished, is going to take at least a day, maybe two. 
(Said the Eternal Optimist, on the eve of yet another massive cold snap.) 
EDIT: Yeah, it took two days. 

Yup.
Massive cold snap, the very next day.
Forced to stay inside, all that day.    Even though I live in north central Florida now, my bones still feel like they live in SOUTH Florida!! 
While casting about for something to do,  I made a line to go from the throat of the yard, in order to make it easier to attach to the halyard, as part of the rigging.
I bet I looked at the Gig Harbor Boat Works SCAMP rigging video, about a bazillion times, all while shaking my head at all the wasted motion and movement. 
You guys DO know you're going to have the exact same issues, the very NEXT time you have to rig the boat for sailing, Right?!? 
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Why is there a sailmaker thimble on one eye and none, on the other? 
The "soft" eye will be lashed to the throat end of the yard permanently, and the thimble side is what the halyard snap shackle will be hooking onto, all the time.
(Hey, Spot!! Still think I was kidding, about the "surprising complexity" of a balanced lug rig??!!??) 

A big problem (for me, anyway) was figuring out how to center the Armstrong hatches so that I could cut out around them, in the EVA foam decking. 
After all, you don't want a quarter-inch reveal on one side of a hole, and over an inch of reveal on the other side of a hole, when the hatch is open.
(BTW: Thanks for putting me onto these, Doug!    HATE  the threaded-in kinds of deck flanges and lids, that jam up on most any warm day, or some other provocation!!)   
I also wanted about ½-inch of reveal all around them, to make it easier to get the hatches on and off.
My solution, was to cut slots into the traced-out cardboard templates.
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Astute observers may note that the Armstrong hatch arms are backwards from stock hatches, in that the arm ends usually face toward the deck.
This is primarily because they are designed for much thinner fiberglass boat decks.
Since I had plywood doublers under all my hatches, it made them far thicker than typical fiberglass boats, so the stock fit was extremely close and difficult to get the hatches in and out, easily.
By popping off the C-clips and reversing the arms and then reassembling them, it gives me a lot more space and flexibility in use. 

With the tabs bent up, I could measure the spacing to the edge equidistantly, which would give me side-to-side and up-and-down symmetry.
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Then, when everything was centered, I could fold the tabs back down and trace around the circular template,

Guess it worked!! 
Hatch installation was not without its challenges, though.
There was NO way to get my regular box cutter in behind the coaming (or even hold it, back in there),  so I had to . . .  uhh . . . .  improvise. 
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(Pic taken, after all the blood spots were washed off the decking!) 
Just like Captain Jack Aubrey, there's nearly enough of my blood in this boat, I could almost claim it as a relative!! 

This particular hatch is for the ballast tank, and any overflow water during filling, needs to be able to drain easily into the foot well, so it was necessary to cut in a large drainage channel.
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I was concerned about just simply tracing around the rectangular hatches, for fear that I might end up with one side exposed and the other side over-lapped. 
So I used a pair of scratch awls, to align the hatch with the existing hatch mounting holes.
(The holes I made over 19 months ago, so I could have exactly these reference holes, at this point in time, for this reason. It's called: Attention to Detail and Planning Ahead.) 
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The whole purpose of this exercise, is to get the hatches a little more flush, for more comfortable seating.
The hatch flange is roughly the same thickness, as the EVA foam, so unlike the Armstrong hatches, a zero-reveal outline was a priority.
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Bedding tape was added all around the mounting flange . . . . .
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And here's the hatch installed and screwed down. 
Check the 3 screws at the rear of the hatch; they took longer to do than did the other 7 screws combined, since the lid wouldn't go all the way up, because of the coaming.
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Came out just as I had hoped.
I took a fond, loving look, at the last time the inside of that locker ever again, would be that clean, or that pristine . . . . . .
Hey!    I've SEEN the inside of my boat lockers!! 

Enjoyed it, while it lasted and then popped the hatch cover back on.
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(BTW: How about that even hatch reveal?!?) 

Decided to tie the ballast drain plugs to the hatches, with a lanyard. 
That way, if I ever drop a plug it won't be bouncing around loose, inside a ballast tank that's maybe full of ice-cold sea water! 
Almost used a black lanyard, then realized the folly of a black line in a black ballast tank and went with something more easily visible.
I bought a used hatch (the top one) at a marine flea market for $5 bucks, in case you're wondering why the clamp arm is yellow and old -looking.
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I regard water ballast as necessary, to the safe operation of the boat.
In the event of a capsize or other misfortune, if the ballast hatch cover were somehow to be lost over-board, the boat's stability could be compromised.
(Not a Good Thing, in inclement weather.)
So I consider a spare hatch and plug as a critical boat spares component, to be kept aboard at all times.

Finished out the day, installing the remainder of the boat cover bungee cord tie-downs; fore . . . .
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Aft . . . . . .
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And stern.
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I had really been sweating getting the flooring down, neatly and correctly,    and all the hatches installed and I'm very glad, all that's now behind me. 
Next big task is re-working the Bimini top and framing, followed by (FINALLY!!)    mast, spars, and sail rigging!! 
I'm really on a roll, now!! 

Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

Absolutely eye-popping!

[Charles Brennan]

Dale, Thank you for your kind words.
As much as I'd like to bask in all the glory and recognition, the plain truth is, I shamelessly STOLE the  ideas off the Scamp Sailboat Builders, Sailors and Dreamers, facebook page!!     
I'm indeed fortunate, that those guys all got their boats done, before I did!! 
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At least, I'm not afraid to put my own implementation up against theirs!
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Thanks,
Charles Brennan

[Riley Smith]

Oh yes!!!

[Timm R Oday25]

Charles ,I bought that same flooring for the sole of our boat.  There is a section of the sole that periodically needs to be lifted off to inspect the bilge.  Does the stuff you bought have some sort of adhesive backing ? We're you tempted to add anything to improve the grip?

[Doug SC]

Beautiful!

[Charles Brennan]

Timm, Your query:

Does the stuff you bought have some sort of adhesive backing ?

Yes, it uses 3M 0448A Double-coated tissue tape applied by the Oceanbroad Teak Decking manufacturer.  (Not consumer-grade stuff.)

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40070491/

It is a tenacious adhesive.  After it was laid down and pressed with a wood dowel roller, removing portions of it, was a challenge.
You can see where I cut a reveal in the foam, for easier hatch movement. The foam that was removed for the reveal sometimes tore, rather than separate from the adhesive tape.
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Other times, the tape adhered so strongly that it lifted the paint, as shown in this close-up.
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What I finally figured out, was that you lift just a small area of foam at a time and use a fingernail to "roll" the adhesive, so that it doesn't do so much damage to the paint.

Were you tempted to add anything to improve the grip?

In a word: No.

There is a section of the sole that periodically needs to be lifted off to inspect the bilge. 

I haven't seen your particular cabin sole layout and don't know the particulars but to generalize, if it was me in your shoes, knowing what I know about this product:
1 ) We're assuming you have some kind of board, that is your inspection plate. 
2 ) Lay out and cut to fit, your Oceanbroad Teak foam decking, onto your sole, including the inspection board.
3 ) Here's where it starts getting tricky.
4 ) Lay the foam in place, taking care to align everything with the cabin sole.
5 ) Holding one side down firmly, (weights, clamps, whatever you got) lift the other side up and remove several inches of the 3M adhesive backing along it's length. 
6 ) Fold back the paper backing, leaving the edge exposed and adhere it gently.
7 ) Now, lift up the foam decking from the opposite (un-stuck) side.
8 ) Lift, until you can reach the folded back paper backing and then continue removing a portion of backing a few inches at a time, then laying down (adhering) the foam, as you go.
9 ) When you get to the edge of the inspection board area, STOP!!
10) Expose (remove) the adhesive backing for half the width and length, of your inspection piece and keep the foam folded back.  (Not touching anything.)
11) Lay down the adhesive exposed foam over the inspection piece.  Press very lightly.
12) Lift up the edge of the foam and fold the foam over, until you can see your inspection piece.
13) Using a box cutter with a brand new blade, pierce the foam from the adhesive side.
14) Trace and carefully cut out the foam around your inspection piece from the foam side, while watching from the adhesive side.
15) Once the foamed over/inspection  piece has been cut out, remove it from the larger foam piece.
16) Remove the rest of the paper backing and finish adhering the foam to the inspection piece and set the inspection piece aside.
17) Returning to the sole, continue removing adhesive backing paper and laying down the foam decking, until completed.
18) Place your foam inspection piece, in the inspection hole.
19) Roll down entire area with some compression device (rolling pin, dowel, etc.)  to ensure uniform adhesion.

The foam is pretty forgiving about seams, if you have a good fit.
Shown below, is the centerboard trunk cover, with foam on top of it.
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There is a small strip of foam in front of it and if you look at the right side you can see the seam is nearly invisible, only showing at the left side and even then, only because I didn't "smooth" the seam together.

I don't know what secures your inspection area.
If it is just screws, then consider adding cup washers for a finished look.
If it is just some kind of a lift-out arrangement, consider adding a flush mounted ring-pull. You will want to drill, rout, cut out, etc. the flush ring in the board, first.  After the foam is installed, feel for the ring pull impression, put the ring pull on upside down and trace around it and cut out the foam. Screw the ring pull down, to finish.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan