Much More to Show this Time

When building a stitch and glue boat there are times when very little work result in huge transformations .  It has been a while since one of these transformations has taken place.  The last was stitching the hull panels to the keelson and bending the panels together to form the bow.  Epoxying the cockpit deck and footwell in the last post were big but the additions I have made over the weekend are huge and a lot of fun too.

Thar she is!

This weekend the upper panels, bow deck and cabin wall were stitched in place.  It is fun to see the lines and get a real feel for what the boat is going to be like.

Drill press was in the way to back up enough to get the whole boat in the shot.

View from the stern.  Builders take note... the two holes in the cockpit decking make things nice to not only mark the cleats for locating the screw holes but also allow you to reach your hand in for squeeze out clean up.  The holes will be much bigger when the holes for the hatches are cut out so there is not much concern about their neatness or exact location.

One of the foam pieces stacked in the bow section for flotation.  The whole section was filled except  for a tunnel slot left so that I will have access for installing the the bow U-bolt.  Also installed the inspection access in bulkhead 1.  This is the backside.

Installed  the inspection plate in the centerboard trunk.  One item I forgot to do before I installed the cockpit deck.  No big deal I just had to lay down on my side underneath the cockpit deck.  It was really quite comfortable.

This is a PVC pipe I picked up at Lowes.  My friends insisted that I have built in cup holders for some reason.  I will use this pipe for a mold.  Somehow I will build in a drain in the bottom that I probably run to the footwell.  I'll have to think about that one a while.

Wooden "washers" used to prevent damage to the plywood when holding down the deck for epoxy.

The little soldiers have don their job.

I found it is good to stay busy when epoxy is curing.  Here I am working on interior dead light trim.  Dead lights are portholes that don't open.  The trim is mahogany.

Chipping away...

The progress continues!  Yesterday was one of those days where everything I touched on the boat just made things worse.  It was the old one step forward three steps backward.  Today was much better and maybe I dare say even productive.

Finally everything under the deck that needed to be done to install the cockpit deck has been.  I finally was able to start a new chapter (literally in the manual) and proceed to the upper parts.

One of the tasks I had to complete is what to do about the separation of the foam flotation under the footwell.  There are several schools of thought on how to tackle this area. I almost went with what the original Pocketship bloger  Dave  but instead I went for maximum  volume for storage and protect the foam.

Mostly pictures this post.  Some of them may be only interesting to builders...

Added a seal (wall) in the lazarette.

Covered with fiberglass and epoxy, added a fillet and a bit of bondo to smooth things out.

A different view showing both sides.

Finished product sanded and painted

Footwell sole.

There has been a bit of discussion among Pocketship builders about this footwell being a bit too narrow.  Allegedly the designer is over 6 foot tall but has tiny feet.  My size 12 is a little tight.

Epoxy filled pendent hole.  This is where the line to operate the centerboard will go through.  It is located at the front of the footwell.

Added shims inside the centerboard trunk for the roller that the pendent line will roll on.

Roller installed.

Deadlights came in!!!

Tip to builders...tape for squeezout.  It is worth the tape and effort.

Also tape the underside of the deck for squeeze out too.

Tape the cleats and underside of the cockpit deck for squeeze out.  After marking the cleat positions it is easy to tape.  I gave myself about an 1/8th of an inch of room on both sides of the lines.  Problem I had was being able to mark the underside in the hatch area without the hole for the hatch making the area sealed.  I cut the hole (can be seen in picture above) where the deck hatch will be cut (but much larger) so I could get my hand and a pencil in to mark the underside.  The hole was also was nice to reach in to scrape squeeze out too.

While waiting for paint or epoxy to dry I have been getting my electronics together and building a dashboard.  More on that next post.

After a lot of fitting the cockpit deck goes on!  Wow I need to clean the shop.

View from underneath.  The squeeze out tape doing its job!

Cockpit deck installed with wooden "washers".