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".