It
isn't perfect, but I think I will stay with the gloss unless the other
side is a lot worse. In the view above, the contrast with the satin
bottom paint is not as
dramatic as it could be, but from another angle it is better.
I
am also biding my time now by cleaning up the epoxy ooze from between
the two parts of the carlings. Although I was careful to wipe up any
spill at the time they were being glued together, I did not go back for
a second wipe after a few minutes had passed, so I did not notice that
drips had reaccumulated. By working from under the boat while it is in
the upsdie down position, I can chisel the spills away fairly easily.
(The under surfaces of the carlings need to be smooth for the
attachment
of the cleats, which will eventually hold the lagging boards).
Epoxy spills
under the carlings need to be cleaned up.
40. The
Second Rollover
Judging
by the weight of the boat now, it is not going to be a simple 6 man job
to roll it over this time. Once again, I hoped to depend on the next
generation to provide the muscle, while I provided the guidance (and
the
lunch). This time we had the keel to be careful of, and, more
importantly, the paint.
41. Finishing
the Rear Seat
With the boat back
upright it takes a little readjustment to start thinking the right way
up again. When It was first inverted, the rear seat was half completed,
and this seems like a good point to take up work again. However, this
time the rudder post is in place, and the question of whether or not to
plan for a rear deck hatch has to be decided. I have been keen to
avoid one if at all possible, because I think they are ugly, but in the
largest of the Andrews launches, the 50' models, there was a rear hatch
for just the same reason as my boat may need one: the distance from the
rudder to the passenger compartment might be too great to allow a reach
through the back of the rear seat and its bulkhead. And, I would have
to admit that the hatch on the 50' boats does not look too bad, and on
the smaller boats they can look alright if they are subtle enough.
If it is done well the rear hatch is not
unattractive.
If it does prove to
be necessary, it might be tempting to think that leaving out the
chrome surround would make it even less conspicuous, but the plain
treatment of
the hatch seen on this 20' Andrews launch does not make an improvement
to my eye. Perhaps it is better to make a feature of it after all.
Sorry about the cat. Just look at the
hatch.
Of course, you
could always go over the
top, like the hatch on this Hobbs launch:
Anyway, at the
present time all I have
to consider is whether the hatch is necessary. The distance from the
bulkhead behind the rear seat (bulkhead E) to the rudder
is 800mm. So it is too far to just reach through a
hole in the bulkhead to get to the steering gear. The height of the
bulkhead above the seat and below the upper frame is enough to squeeze
a small body through, which is hardly a description of mine, but it is
an option. The length of the tiller brings the steering cable into
reach 150 mm. in front of the rudder, so it may be just possible to
avoid the hatch, provided a sufficiently large hole is cut into the
bulkhead to allow a small person access to the mechanism.
Do I want that large a hole in the bulkhead? It would mean doing away
with any central support for the deck stringers, because I have already
determined that there needs to be a pair of fixed lateral sections to
the seat back. They have to ride on the bulkhead, so the solution shown
in the boat below is not an option.
My gut feeling
tells me not to go
without a
central support, so I
guess that I had better go with the hatch. I don't have to decide
finally until the time comes to lay on the deck stringers. Once the
rear seat is in place I will re-assess access to the rudder
compartment, and commit myself then.
So, on to the seat itself: currently the seat platform is in place, and
the hatch cover to the under seat locker is ready to be dropped into
position. Two seat back supports are attached to the bulkhead behind
the seat (bulkhead E), and a batten is attached to the platform which
will act to throw the seat back forward at platform level to achieve
the required rake of 10°. Two more supports will have to be cut and
fitted near the point where the cockpit lagging will eventually meet
the seat platform, as was determined in April '06.
Another support will be fitted where the
arrow points. Outboard of
that the seat back will be fixed. Inboard of that it will be hinged.
The idea is to have the seat back foldable between the outer supports
for
access to the bulkhead, but fixed laterally. To allow for the folding I
could use a piano hinge fixed to the bottom of the seat back and the
platform, or I could fix a narrow strip of seat back to the platform,
and hinge from that strip to the rest of the back.
The central portion will hinge forwards
between the supports.
If, instead, I fix a narrow strip of seat back to the batten, and hinge
the rest of the back to this piece, I can use the batten itself as a
backing block for the fixed piece's hinge screws, and put another block
behind the lower edge of the remaining section of the back for its
screws.
Of course, there is no real need for piano hinges. Simple butt hinges
would do the job. But before any of that can be done the dimensions of
the space behind the lagging needs to be determined and marked out. In
April '06 I marked the position on the seat platform which coincided
with the inboard surface of the lagging boards. Now, to locate the
batten to which they will be screwed, another line 8 mm. outboard of
the first one is scribed onto the platform.
The
location of the lagging board batten is marked onto the seat platform.
The batten itself has to be twisted
slightly to follow the contour of the carlings, so
it is fixed down with three screws while the glue dries. I am using
polyurethane glue for this job. It tends to foam up while it is
setting, so it is helpful to mask off the surrounding areas for later
removal of the foam.
Battens fixed to seat platform.
Next, the lateral
back supports are added, after first mocking up some coaming boards to
ensure that the seat back will have room to fold forward. A second mock
strip is built up on to the coaming, to represent the cockbeading which
will eventually hide the screws in the coaming.
The dark wood is the mock coaming and
its cockbead, and the lateral support is located just inboard of that,
to allow the back to swing.
Mock coaming is placed along the bulkhead, and the seat back
is added.
Before the seat
back is hinged into
position it needs to be trimmed with hardwood, and shaved to sit flush
with the rear section of the coaming, and a couple of finger holes will
be put into it, like the seat bottom.
The rest of the seat structure,
namely the fiddle for the bottom cushion, and the back lateral to the
hinged portion, will have to be left until the coaming, lagging and
cockbeading are being done. The tasks for June will begin with the
completion of the floor timbers.
