Companionway Hood | Marking Up

While making the companionway sill I also started work on the hood.

The timber provided for the whole companionway structure is beautiful, clear Ash and will be very strong as well as handsome.

Here I am marking out the two side pieces, using the pattern provided.

And here I am marking out the front face of the hood with the full size pattern.

The front face is angled backwards at 66 degrees, and of course requires a curved bottom edge to fit the transverse curve of the cabin roof.

So some very careful cutting is necessary.

As usual the build manual exhorts us to use our non-existent band saw with tilting table, and as usual some imaginative use of whatever tools we possess is required!

The jig saw seemed to be the only viable solution to cutting the curves, but I soon found that my Festool does not have a tilting sole. Huh?!

No doubt Festool would sell me one for a large sum, but I'm only going to do this once so it would be a waste of money.

Luckily my son has a jig saw which satisfies the requirements. It is a nice cordless DeWalt.

I immediately liberated it from his garage (thanks Nick!) and made a few test cuts on scrap MDF.

It worked well and produced a clean, accurate cut at pretty well exactly 66 degrees, so that was the way ahead.

I was reluctant to cut wood until I had thoroughly thought through what to do, and for now I simply labelled the piece with how the bevel should be cut on the front face, like this.

I was still not sure if this was the best way to make the cuts, so left it alone for a day or so to think.

Companionway Sill | Making & Test Fit

With all work on the rub rails suspended until I could remake the third port laminate I decided to start work on the companionway.

This looked like a large and interesting project in itself, and was not dependent on anything else so could be carried out in parallel to the rub rails.

This is unusual with PocketShip. Most things are on a critical path, so it would be good to take advantage of the situation.

The first step is making the companionway sill, which surrounds the top opening of the hatchway

It consists of just three pieces of Ash - the front and two sides.

The front piece is shaped to fit the transverse curve of the cabin roof, and is marked out with a pattern.

Just one full size pattern is provided - for the front face of the companionway hood - but the curve is the same on all the other transverse components of the companionway so this pattern is all we need.

Here I am marking up the forward piece of the sill, using the pattern.

The piece of Ash provided for this part is only just wide enough to make it the correct height. Ideally it could be an inch wider to be sure of not making a mistake and wasting the wood.

Anyway, I cut it out and trimmed it to size with the block plane. It was fine.

Next came the side pieces. They require a bevel of 78 degrees for them to sit vertically on the cabin roof.

I had issues measuring angles for bevels earlier in the build and realised that I needed some sort of small protractor - especially for the companionway.

So I was delighted when I recently found this little steel protractor at the DIY store.

It is fitted with a pivoting and locking rule so it is excellent for marking and measuring  angles, such as for small bevels.

The bevels were marked on the top and bottom of each side piece and planed to shape in the vice.

Next I made a test fit of the sill, as in this pic.

Looking good! The butt strap which joins the two halves of the cabin roof stops half an inch short of the companionway, which accommodates the front of the sill perfectly.

However, as I was fitting the sill I realised that the same was not true of the front end of the butt strap which ran all the way to the forward cabin wall.

The front face of the companionway hood lands there, and the strap was surely in the way?

Sure enough, a rapid consultation of the build manual showed that the strap should stop 2 1/2" short of the front.

I'm not sure how I overlooked this because it is crystal clear in the instructions!

So I marked where the strap should end (below) and prepared to cut away the excess very soon!

Rub Rails | Port Third Laminate & Fifth Cock Up

Emboldened by the successful installation of the first two laminates on the port side, I marked up both port and starboard third laminates and drilled the port piece for temporary screws.

As before I offered the third layer up to the port rail, holding it in place with a loop of string over the overhangs at each end.

It bent quite easily into place and I was just about to clamp the ends when ... BANG!

In the blink of an eye the third layer shattered and fell to the floor in three pieces.

Here are the pieces on the bench.

I think what happened was that the laminate slipped off the top of the rail on the boat but because it was tethered at both ends by the loops of string it effectively twisted itself and snapped.

It fractured in two places - each where a hole for a temporary screw had been drilled, making it a weak spot.

Here is what the break looked like.

That's pretty terminal damage.

Needless to say I was not very happy about this outcome.

I thought for a short while about scarfing the pieces together again, to make a new length.

But that would mean that the third laminate would contain four scarf joints and would at best look a bit odd.

As if it were made from bits of scrap timber, which of course it would be!

It would be easier and less work to simply obtain a new length of Sapele and remake the rail.

So that's what I decided to do.

It was Friday evening, of course, meaning that I would not be able to order the timber until Monday and it would be mid week at the earliest before it would arrive.

Time to move on to something else!

Cleaning Up The Patches!

While waiting for the rub rail to cure I decided it was time to tidy up the fibreglass patches which I applied some time back, which were making the boat look scruffy.

So out came the sander and in short order the patches were feather-edged and disappeared, restoring PocketShip's clean good looks.

Here are the forward cabin wall and the Dorade boxes.

And here are the cockpit and the rear cabin wall.

That's better!

Port Toe Rail | Installation

While the second port rub rail laminate was curing, and while the epoxy was flowing, I installed the port toe rail.

It was a simple task. Here is the view from the front.

And here from the rear.

I haven't yet decided how much to trim off at the forward end of the toe rails, on the top of the Dorade boxes.

The manual says they should be 48" long, but mine are several inches longer than that.

I will see what they look like when I test fit the Dorade vents in the coming weeks.

Rub Rails | Test Fit & Installation of Port Second Laminate

While the first laminate on the port side was curing I prepared the second layer for installation. This required the second and final scarf joint to be cleaned up, after curing inside the house.

This was quickly achieved with a Shinto rasp and the block plane, as here.

The finished scarf looked quite nice. Maybe not quite as tight as I would have liked, but certainly good enough. Like this.

We must remember. It's a boat. Not a piano.

The next task was to mark up the laminate for its temporary screws.

I did this by offering up the laminate to the boat and putting a piece of tape where the screws are required, being careful to avoid the holes which would be left by the temporary screws in the first laminate.

I then copied the mark up to its starboard counterpart, so I didn't have to do it twice for the other side of the boat.

Like this.

Time to remove the temporary screws from the port laminate.

I now always use the heat gun to release screws from any epoxy that may have welded them in place, having snapped the head off several earlier in the build. As here.

Broken screws are a real pain to extract, which is why I now also use a screwdriver rather than a drill driver to do this. The torque from a drill driver will snap a screw without warning, whereas with a screwdriver you can feel how stiff it is. Thirty seconds at 250 degrees C is enough to free the screws.

Next came the test fit for the second laminate. This is it, seen at the bow.

 And here is the rear half, in place.

The fit was excellent, with no gaps.

The overhangs at the bow and stern are great for clamping the ends tightly in place.

So I got ready to glue it up.

Part of the drama when installing the first laminate was caused by 'losing' the pilot holes for the temporary screws in the epoxy, so I used bits of wire to avoid that happening again. Like this.

I used a loop of string at each end to hold the piece loosely in place while I applied the glue and tightened the screws, as in this pic.

As with the first laminate I worked from the centre outwards to the stern and bow, in that order.

It went well. Here is the second port laminate glued in place.

Looking good!

Rub Rails | Installation of Port First Laminate

I spent ages installing the first layer of the port rub rail - more correctly termed a laminate - but took very few photos.

I think I was so preoccupied with not breaking the rail and making sure that it was a fair and secure fit that I forgot about the camera!

I also failed to prepare properly for the installation, and made a dreadful mess with the epoxy.

I was fearful of having a dry joint between the rail and the hull side, and I made up too much glue.

When I fixed the laminate in place with the temporary screws the surplus epoxy oozed out and dripped everywhere. The hull side, the floor and mats, and my shoes all got a large dose of thickened epoxy. Yuk.

But all turned out well, despite the mess and the drama.

Here is the laminate glued in place, seen looking towards the stern.

What a mess.

And it transpired that I needed three big F clamps to hold the rail in place alongside the seatback lockers - not just two.

And here is the view at the bow.

I was very pleased to achieve a tight fit against the hull along the whole length of the rail.

Now that we are installing secondary rather than primary structural components, it is starting to feel like we are moving into the final phases of the build.

I will no doubt regret saying that in the coming days and weeks. Pride before a fall ...