Sunday, December 27, 2009

Happy Holidays!

The winter holiday season is a great time with lots of family and friends. Not so much boatwork I am afraid.

I managed to get away for a few minutes to oil the backsides of the cherry paneling.



I also managed a quick trip out to check on the boat. (She is just fine.) Last week I mentioned the difficulty in getting the 3/4 inch plywood sole to fit. Here is a picture looking into the forward starboard end of the main saloon cabin sole.



... and the approximate shaving necessary to get it all to fit.



A further complication is that I tabbed the plywood undersole with 14 oz. biaxial cloth which is strong and... rather thick. The plyboo cabin sole sits on this tabbing putting it about 1/8 of an inch above the plywood undersole. I had cut the access holes in the undersole deliberately undersized to support the hatch covers. In the original sole, the hatches were supported by nailed and glued fiddles which were coming loose. My idea of the plywood undersole with the undersized holes was an effort to improve the design. There is no question that the new design is much stronger. I just never factored in the thickness of the tabbing. I think I am going to simply rely on the wonderful gap filling properties of epoxy rather than figure out a way to have the entire plyboo sole sit flush on the undersole. I am not up for cutting a step that large in the plyboo. Next time I will come up with something better.

More relatives are arriving and I have to cut the posting short. Here's to hoping for a free weekend of boatwork soon!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps instead of undercutting the plyboo to accommodate the thickness of the biax tape, you could lay a few strips of biax across the subsole to create more uniform bearing? ;)

(good stuff. You're doing 10X more on your boat this month than I'll do all year)

-Mike

Britton said...

Now why didn't I think of that. Laying a few strips of biax tape would be dead simple and would solve the problem easily.

Thanks Mike!