Boat Cover | Making the Support Frame

When the boat was first moved outside onto its trailer, it immediately became obvious that it needed a decent cover to keep it clean and dry during the wet UK winter.

I tried using a plastic tarpaulin, but that was hopeless, so I had a really good canvas cover made by SealSeam - a specialist UK cover manufacturer.

That was excellent, but as soon as it rained the canvas bellied down into the cockpit and filled with water, so I quickly made a ridgepole to fit between the companionway slide and the transom skirt to hold the canvas cover up above the cockpit.

That worked to certain extent, but the canvas still sagged either side of the ridgepole and formed deep pools of rainwater.

It was obvious that a more substantial framework was required, to fully support the canvas.

But before I could make anything the original marine paint failed and blistered in the wet weather, and the boat immediately went back inside the workshop without further ado.

Now, however, we were about to move her outside again.

And a substantial support framework for the cover was required to prevent the same thing happening again.

I decided to make a new and better ridgepole.

And to hold and support the canvas I decided to make four support arms to fit between the ridgepole and the seatback tops on each side of the cockpit.

I thought that should do the trick!

So I started by making a new ridgepole, fitting a plywood tongue at each end of a length of inexpensive studding timber from the builders' merchants.

Here I am fitting the tongue to the front of the pole, where it sits on top of the companionway slide.

Next I made  a set of support arms - four on each side of the ridgepole - to span the cockpit.

Here they are in a trial fit using the original ridgepole, to get the correct dimensions.

I connected the arms and the ridgepole with hooks and eyes, like this.

These are just plain steel, to be used while working out how it all works.

The outer ends of the arms were chamfered, to sit flat on the seatback tops. Like this.

Next I rounded over the edges of the new ridgepole, to provide a smooth surface for the canvas cover. Here I am working with the router.

This is my ancient Elu 1/4" router, fitted with a 1/2" round over cutter.

The support arms received the same treatment, using the router table. Like this.

Next came a trial fit of the new arms on the new ridgepole. Here they are, looking good.

At this point the ends of the support arms have all been trimmed, shaped and rounded to sit nicely on the seatback tops. Like this.

All the support arms were then varnished and left to cure, as here.

The same thing happened to the ridgepole. Like this.

Lastly the support arms were fitted with A4 stainless steel hooks and labelled. Here they are.

The labels indicate port and starboard, front to back. It's amazing how they vary slightly in length from side to side - PocketShip is not 100% symmetrical!

Here are the labels.

Now came the final coats of varnish to the ridgepole. This is the last one being applied.

Now it was time fit all the pieces together!

The tongues at the front and rear of the ridgepole needed to be padded, to prevent scratches and slippage.

I used non-slip pads designed for furniture, from Gorilla. This is a quality brand which I have used before, so I was confident the pads would work. Here they are.

These are large square pads which needed to be cut to size for the ridgepole. Here are the cutting tools.

The self-adhesive pads were exactly what was needed.

This is the rear bracket of the ridgepole.

And this is the front bracket.

Next stainless steel eyes were fitted to the ridgepole and it was installed, together with its support arms.

This is how it looked.

I had also fitted non-slip pads to the support arms, like this.

These were also by Gorilla - 1" diameter. This is them.

So far, so good. The support frame was ready for a trial fitting of the canvas cover.

So it was retrieved from the cupboard inside the house where it had been languishing and fitted to the boat.

Here is the cover, viewed from the stern.

That looks good. And here is the view from the bow.

That looks good too.

I did briefly wonder if the forward deck well might need its own small ridgepole, but I don't recall that being a problem before so we will leave it for now. It will be a simple addition if it turns out to be useful.

So that's the support framework complete, and another task ticked of the list.

Next up is to add her name to the transom.

We are getting there!!!

Chain Plates | Making Spacers

The chain plates are practically the last hardware items to be fitted to the upper hull, but this cannot be done until PocketShip is on her trailer.

This is because the mast has to be raised to allow the shrouds to be correctly aligned with the chain plates, so that the latter can be accurately fitted.

We could guess at their positioning and fit the chain plates now, but the chances of it going wrong are high - so we will wait!

One thing I did discover when initially offering up the chain plates was that they are extremely close to the toe rails.

This pic shows roughly where the chain plates will be fitted, with three machine screws to secure them to the cabin sides.

And this pic shows how close they are to the toe rails at the edge of the cabin roof.

They aren't quite touching now, but they will do when the boat and the mast start flexing around - which will gouge the toe rails and possibly bend the chain plates.

A spacer was clearly required, to sit between the chain plate and the cabin side in order to distance it from the toe rail.

I marked up some spacers from two thicknesses of scrap marine ply and coated them with clear epoxy resin. Like this.

Then I sanded them and clamped them together, like this.

And then I drilled holes for the machine screws, like this.

The spacers were then cut out and shaped, and a second coat of clear epoxy resin was applied. Here they are, hanging up to cure.

Finally here are the finished spacers, sanded and ready for fitting as required, depending on what thickness is necessary.

I hope they are adequate - otherwise I will have to make some more!

Boom Gallows | Revarnishing

I wondered for ages about the need to revarnish the boom gallows, to replace the original varnish from the first and original paint job.

The old finish wasn't too bad, but it could have been better and shinier. So I bit the bullet and wet sanded it with a P400 grit, and applied fresh Epifanes varnish.

A total of 8 coats of varnish were applied, lightly sanded between coats.

I used a pair of dowels to hold it upright so I could varnish it all in one go, like this.

When finished and dry I moved it inside the house to await installation.

Looking good!

Buoyancy Bags | Trial Installation

The inflatable buoyancy bags had already been fitted once before, but I did it again for the sake of completeness.

I installed the straps and buckles, inflated the bags, and strapped them in place.

Here is the bag in the port lazarette, beneath the footwell.

And here is the starboard bag.

That was all very straightforward.

See previous posts about how they were specified, designed and fitted.

Another box ticked!

Ballast Bags | Trial Installation

We made the ballast bags some time ago, before the last trip to the southern hemisphere, and they had been sitting patiently in a rack waiting installation.

I first of all had to remind myself how many were required, and how much they weighed. I stuck a Post It note to the cabin wall to remind me - here it is.

Five bags of lead pellets weighing 8kg each were required on each side in the forward compartment below the floorboards, next to the centreboard case.

Then another two bags of 5kg each were needed on each side, to bring the total internal ballast to 100kg.

This was the weight suggested by the build manual, so we will see how it goes. I can always add or remove bags.

Here  are the bags stowed under the starboard floorboards, with the hatch raised.

It was a tight fit, but all the bags fitted snugly. They won't shift when the boat heels.

Here are the bags to port.

And lastly here are the boards back in place on the starboard side.

That looks ship-shape. What's next?

Tabernacle | Trial Installation

With the rudder sorted out, next came the tabernacle. It fitted easily into place and the bolt holes lined up nicely.

I slide the bolts into place and tightened the nuts. Here is a view of the acorn nuts from inside the cabin.

I'm not sure about the wisdom of using acorn nuts. It is not possible to easily see if they are working loose - I may well replace them with Nyloc nuts before launch.

Anyway, here is the tabernacle secured against the forward cabin wall.

That all looked good. I fitted the pivot bolts - here is the bowsprit bolt with the halyard cleat visible.

All good.

I want to test fit the bowsprit but that will require moving the boat to make sufficient room, so that will have to wait a short while.

Rudder | Trial Installation

With work on the upper hull largely complete, I turned my attention to trial fitting various components.

This was in readiness for moving the boat outside onto her trailer and getting her ready for a survey.

I didn't want any surprises once she was already committed to staying out in the elements yet again.

The first such test was a trial fit of the rudder, which was recently finished and ready for installation.

So I found a cardboard box of exactly the right height and balanced the rudder on top while I aligned the pivot eyes and slid the pivot rod into place, and fitted the lower cotter clip to retain it safely.

Here it is in place.

And here is the top of the pivot rod, showing the upper cotter clip inserted through the hole drilled in the rod.

Next the tiller was slotted into place. Here it is.

The tiller was securely held in place with a 8mm fastpin, like this.

That's looking good. Here is a view of the fully installed rudder, ready for action.

That feels like progress!