Installing the deck framing

Its been about six months since I originally traced and cut the deck beams from the full size patterns given in the plans. I finally got to install them, if only temporarily, so I could fair the framing so the plywood decking will lay flat. I didn’t glue them in so I could take them out and epoxy coat them for waterproofing.

After encapsulating the deck framing in epoxy, I permanently installed it with thickened epoxy glue and silicon bronze screws. I recruited a friend to help install the carlings, which made it much easier! We used some moving blankets to protect the hull from any epoxy drips.

The next day, I finally got to take the plastic drop cloths and moving blankets off so I could see what it looks like

I also brushed a coat of clear epoxy on the carlings to protect them from water.

The last step before I can install the mahogany plywood decking is to add blocking to support the deck hardware.  The deck will have four 6” cleats to tie the boat to a dock (port and starboard at the stern and bow), a pair of 18” slide tracks for the jib sheet fairlead and cam cleat, and a pair of stand up swivel blocks for the main sheet.  These will all be under some force so they need to be solidly attached; the 6mm deck plywood alone isn’t strong enough on its own. To make in stronger, I added  3/4” mahogany bracing between the carling and sheer clamp at all the points where the deck hardware will attach.  This way everything will be attached through the plywood decking into the 3/4” blocking, which is attached to the boat’s frame.

The blocking for the deck hardware is attached with screws and epoxy. I used a belt sander and hand plane to fair the blocking so it is flush. Now I am ready to install the actual decking. 

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