The Arctic Tern Project

Volume 6                           Issue No. 7                       July 2009

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Summertime and the Living is Easy

Ok, last month I’d made my confession about trying to make it to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat festival in September and how working to that deadline was killing the joy of it.  Although, publicly, I was starting to make noises about not making it; privately I still nurtured a small hope that it was possible.  That small hope has finally been extinguished and I feel an increasing lightness of being as a result of it.  Whew.  Sure, I’m disappointed (and a little embarrassed) that the boat won’t make it to the show but some things are possible and some aren’t and finishing the boat in a month and a half is just not possible.

 

A corollary to this is that summertime is a miserable time to be building a boat.  Thank goodness that on the west coast of Canada we can build boats in an unheated shop year round because Autumn, early Spring, and, yes, even Winter are my favourite times to be building a boat.

 

Ok, so on to what happened this month.

Saving the Forward Hatch

Alright.  Last month the forward hatch had a near brush with death but was saved from the bin by some 1/8” weather stripping found at Canadian Tire.  I also found a brass support strut that seemed to work with the trapezoidal shape of the hatch opening.

 

 

Things seemed to be working out so I finally committed to gluing it all down permanently.

 

 

While this is going on I give the lid a few more coats of epoxy.

 

The hatch frame also gets multiple coats of epoxy after being installed.  I also mould some rounded corners on the inside of the hatch frame and plug the screw holes.  Screw holes in areas that will be finished bright (inside) get mahogany plugs; all the rest get filled with thickened epoxy.

 

 

Then she all goes back together.  The shiny epoxy will eventually get sanded in preparation for paint but I’ll leave that for another time.  I’m happy with the results.

 

Companionway Hatch Version 2.0

Ok, unlike the foredeck hatch, the companionway hatch didn’t make the cut.  I came up with an alternate design that I thought would be more robust and not so dependant on the vagaries of coating thicknesses.  Happily, because the original components were only dry-fit, I didn’t need a chainsaw to change things and I figured I could save most of the pieces.  The only things that I’d rebuild would be the rails themselves and the side pieces of the hatch cover.  All else would be re-used.  I started off by remaking the rails in single pieces of Doug fir rather than laminating them from mahogany.  I did this for three reasons; 1) the fir is straighter, 2) the fir was available, and 3) I didn’t want to spend the time laminating.  The basic rail shape was going to be similar to the original but would use a brass strip on top as the runner rather than a groove cut in the side.

 

 

I spent some time getting them lined up on the cabin top without the use of screws (because the screws could pull them out of alignment).  The brass strips are already mounted on the top of the rails at this point.  These strips overhang the outboard edge of the top of the rail (where the cove has been cut into the rail).

 

 

During this check I discovered the starboard-side rail was a little down at the front and so shimmed it up with a wedge.  Then I moulded the bottoms of the rails to exactly fit the cabin top with thickened epoxy.  I use packing tape on the cabin top to prevent the rails from bonding.

 

 

By moulding the rails exactly to the cabin top I can prevent them from being twisted and pulled out of alignment when the mounting screws go in.  After the epoxy sets the rails get pulled off and cleaned up.

 

 

Then they go back on and the mounting screws get put in.

 

 

Next I start working on the hatch cover.  The plan is to have Teflon strips under the hatch cover to run on the brass strips on the top of the rails.

 

Brass clips that grab the outboard edge of the brass strip on the top of the rails will keep the hatch cover on.

 

 

Here’s how it looks.  Eventually I would make side pieces for the hatch cover that would hide the brass clips.

 

I gave this a slide back and forth a few times and was disappointed with the results.  It sounded and felt like it was rolling on gravel.  The brass clips on the brass strip were a problem.  I decided to abandon the clips in favour of a channel created from plywood.  I’d still use the Teflon to support the hatch on the rails but the plywood channel would prevent the hatch from lifting off.  Although this would introduce some dependency on coating thicknesses I figured I could get away with it.

 

 

A dry-fit showed this to work pretty nice.

 

 

So I glued the pieces onto the hatch cover and did some final shaping.

 

 

It worked out well although it kind of looked like something that belonged on the hood of 1955 Studebaker; too many round corners and edges, oh well. 

 

Next I make the scupper holes in the rails using a forstner bit and the drill-press.

 

 

Then I prepare all components for final assembly by putting four coats of epoxy on the rails and then scraping and sanding them down.  I also put some more coats of epoxy on the lid.

 

 

One more dry-fit and all is well.

 

 

Then the rails and associated trim get glued down.

 

 

I mould curved corners in the bottom of the hatch-board track to prevent water and junk accumulation.

 

After the clean-up it all looks good (and works well too).  Sliding hatch version 2.5 is a keeper.

Chainplate Backing Pieces

Next thing is to glue in the chainplate backing pieces.  I start by roughing up the faying surfaces.

 

Then glue them in using building supply ¼” bolts to hold them in place.

 

The bolts are removed when the epoxy has cured.  The next thing is I want to overbore the mounting holes and then line them with thickened epoxy to isolate the mounting bolts from the plywood.  I try various methods using the chainplates to keep the holes in the right place and only doing two at a time.

 

But eventually discover that drilling the overbore about ¾ of the way through and then just slipping the bolt in covered in thickened epoxy works best.

 

 

I also relieve the rub rail using a forstner bit in the hand drill so the top carriage bolts will clear.

 

Rubrails

The next thing I do is reposition the aft-most screw in the rub rails.  It seems the back of the rub rails need to be kicked up a bit to look right. 

 

I check the flow of the rubrails by putting tape along the top edge (so I can better see the curve).

 

 

Then I pull the rubrails and give them five coats of epoxy.  At this point it’s about 35 degrees Celsius so I can put on two coats of epoxy in a day (using slow hardener).

Preparing for Cockpit Latches, Etc.

Around this time the rest of the bronze cockpit latches arrive so, using the router, I relieve the locker lids to accept the top part of the latch.

 

 

I also relieve the cockpit trim in way of the central mainsheet pad-eye to accept the stainless backing plate.

Next Time

Mount latches, pad-eyes, rub rails, etc.