Since the boat has been turned upright, there has been a lot of time spent organizing the shop space and sorting out what the next steps are going to be. One thing that I would like to avoid is working inside the boat on large parts of the fit out with the deck installed. Crawling around on my knees or half hunched over is not my idea of fun. So, my plan is to basically work from the bottom of the boat upwards as much as I can.
Currently, I have fitted the 3 extra floors on the bottom of the boat, the skeg doubler plate and the crash box framing and plywood "bulkhead". ( small one under the lid ) I have coated the crash box interior back to Frame E with 3 coats of epoxy to seal it up.
**** If I could offer some advice to future builders ****
I would have coated the forward crash box area with 3 coats of epoxy prior to fitting the plywood hull plating. Especially around the forward part of the knee .... It would have been much easier to access and I would have felt that it was coated more thoroughly. However, I feel that I was able to reach all of the bare wood and have a good system on there but sometimes there is a better way if you had to do it again.
The pictures will show that I am coating the Meranti plywood with epoxy and NO paintIforward of Frame D1. I feel it would be a shame to paint wood that is looking so beautiful just the way it is. I have been considering what I will do in the main salon of the boat but I know the v-berth area will have the wood accents with an off white ceiling.
I don't want the boat to be too dark so I might be coating the rest of the boat with the off white paint on top of the epoxy system that I started in the bow.
At this stage there are a lot of things to consider .... where do I need reinforcing underneath the deck? Where are all of the major fittings / rigging to be located? The reason this is on my mind now is that I want to do all of that work before I attach the deck so I minimize the overhead / working in cramped spaces as much as possible.
I'm sure I will overlook a few things !
You will see in the photos that I am reinforcing a fair bit of the deck forward of Frame E. This will pick up the deck cleats and the forward attachment point of the stainless steel bow pulpit.
I am sure glad that I don't have the plywood installed on to Frame D1. This has been nice to be able to walk through the Frame with no obstructions. Now on to framing in the rest of the v-berth and then the bunks / cabinets in the salon.
Anyway, it's been great to be working inside the boat ! It's given me a new perspective on the final look of the boat and I am more that impressed with it's cool design ! Wahoo ... 😎
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