Cabin and Anchor Well...

Anchor Well...

The anchor well is located at the forepeak, between the stem and the first frame (#2). 


Horizontal windlass

So here's the thought process...  I'm standing on a bar stool sized piece of deck, slimy anchor rode in hand, co-pilot is easing the boat forward as I gather in the scope that is piling up in an open locker below me as I straddle the open pit.  This is precarious enough but we are now straight over the anchor and I attempt to break her free, all back, as if I am trying to take off my "tenny shoes" while still standing in them. 



 

I have a better solution but it'll cost a few bucks, an anchor windlass. This is basically a winch that mounts on the deck and feeds the anchor rode (line) and or chain trough a hole on deck (hawsehole) into a locker.  The Lewmar Profish is one option, kind of fits my boat's size bur is a.  The only problems are the amperage requirements which are steep and the cost.  I'll have to save my pennies to get this purchased but anchoring is a daily chore that can be made much more tolerable with the right equipment and I think in the boat's daily use it is money well spent. Especially in the use that I anticipate which is multi-day cruising. My son in law Adam made a suggestion that I look into a vertical windlass.  We were discussing it the last time he was here and said that they can be useful in docking when current or wind is pushing you off.  It was something they did in the CG and it sounds like a great idea and a solid suggestion when we are shorthanded.



Epoxied anchor well

So the anchor line needs a home.  Of course the anchor itself can't go through the hawsehole so to deal with that we will store it on a bow roller, ready to drop at a moment's notice.  The anchor locker was constructed out of marine ply and will be lined with Xynole fabric. heavy fillets on all seams and will have two drains at the bottom above waterline. Here is what it looks like so far.  The milky look is attributed to some white pigment I was experimenting with as an epoxy colorant.  





    

Cabin Construction...

To start this portion of the build let me first say that I jumped around a little in construction.  You will see portions of this build out of sequence, things constructed that haven't been covered but we are bringing all of this up to date.  I had taken a week off of work and was fortunate enough to be able to spend most of it working on the boat.  Now it's time to get this blog sync'd with construction.

Because the frames were not beveled and there was such a steep angled leaving a large gap between the hull side and the frame, we filled the gap with thickened epoxy and taped with 24oz biaxial cloth/mat on the worst joints.  probably not needed but gave piece of mind with only edge contact and fasteners.

Carling sprung in place

Coating all surfaces.  Undersides of panels are coated then
installed, wet side down.

Water tanks will be stored under the V-Berth along with the water heater at the forepeak right behind the anchor well; a 46 and 36.  Also the fresh water pump will be installed under the berth. To provide support for the tanks and the mattress deck we installed bulkheads separating them. The 1x2 mattress support is let into the plywood bulkheads and sprung to the frames.  The water tanks will be installed on level surfaces with cleats to hold them in place.  All surfaces were coated in un-thickened epoxy, both inside and out of areas that will be foam filled. At this point we were ready to start up with the cabin sides and  needed the carlings sprung in place to attach the tortured  ply in place for a smooth bend.  The 1x2 carlings were glued and screwed into pre-notched deck members that were part of the original frame build. Once accomplished we needed to mill the mahogany strips that will form part of the finished cabin interior.  This will be the part of the berth wall that follows the hull curvature that the perpendicular sides slightly overlap.  We milled these 1/2" x 2" and rounded over one side, the other lies flat against the frames.  Before attaching them we stapled (SS staples) landscape fabric over the area to contain the eventual foam pour and to create a black background if seen.
Oddly enough I failed to take any photos of the installation process but it was pretty straightforward with six strips on each side being sprung into place and countersink screwed at each frame location.

Starboard cabin side in place

Bead board liner attached.  You can just see the mahogany strips below.

From here we moved on to the actual cabin sides themselves.  1/2" marine ply is the material and must be bent into place. I will also line this with the same bead board material. Now, getting this in place was tough.  Real tough.  We screwed a cleat in place at the pilothouse front wall and secured that edge to that cleat.  Standing in the cabin we tried throwing a hip into the ply as it grabbed and held itself against the anchor well. That got it started but needed more.  We used some 6" timber screws (the kind used to secure landscape ties together) with a cleat to spread the force and jacked the ply in with an impact driver at frames #4 & #6.  Once in place the ply was permanently affixed to the carling every 4" with #8 screws.  The bead board was then cut and attached with glue and staples. Clamps were used to temporarily hold it in place. 



Cabin Deck...

Cabin Deck (1st layer of 3/8" Ply-bead) installed.

1-3/4" Mahogany beam (needs a bottom arc and hanging knees)
Will update with picture below...

The cabin deck was the next step and for this we start with bead board again, but first we installed a center support cabin beam with the proper arc struck on it, as well as, a support cleat with the same arc attached at the pilot house wall. Both of these are "show" pieces and are cut from mahogany stock. The deck itself will fall against the slanted windshield so needs to be scribed to the arc formed as the windshield falls back and the decking arcs down.  We did this by sliding the deck against the windshield as far it would go, centered halfway down the cabin running fore and aft and using a compass, marked the arc holding one side against the windshield and the pencil part of the compass on the deck.  Once cut it was put back in place and the panel was scribed along the outside dimensions of the cabin side and cut to final shape.  Thickened epoxy to peanut butter consistency and dropped into a disposable Wilton cake decorator bag (buy them by the tear away 50 pack at Wal-Mart) was spread along all edges and screwed down, wiping up all of the squeeze out.
By the way, we had already  installed the windshield panel prior so it was in place for the cabin roof to attach to.  At this point we will come back later and installed two 1/2" layers of polystyrene sheet insulation with a 1/4" marine ply layer. All layers epoxied in place. We will build up the outer inch and a half of the deck with solid plywood strips that will be rounded over. Pocket lights will be installed in the deck for interior lighting.  We have also decided that the mahogany beam needs a bottom arc and hanging knees to look right so we'll fix that and post an updated picture when finished.  Moving on to the sole (floor) of the pilot house and cockpit next.

The Cabin so far... we will have trim and molding added once the bead board is primed and painted gloss white.
We will also have to install plugs in the Mahogany strips.  There will be an access panel in the bulkhead wall to get to the anchor well in case of a tangle. There will also be inspection ports to get to hardware installed in the boat deck (cleats and railing) right above the mahogany.