Motorwell and Transom

Prepping the Cockpit for the motor well...

Carling build up sprung in.

Getting the Carlings in along the cockpit was a little tough but nothing that judicious clamping and coercion couldn't accomplish.  I also have to hand it to 6" lags for their ability to give me a warm and fuzzy feeling that what I have put in place, will stay in place.  This is a build up of the 1 x 2 let into the notches just like the cabin carlings; however, I added a 1x3 piece on top of that to move the coamings slightly inboard so the rail cap wouldn't land outboard too far once applied. 

Deck beam cambered to match deck slope angle.

The deck beam that crosses the cockpit is built up of two layers of 1" yellow pine.  The top layer is tapered from the middle and this creates the camber that is just an extension of the deck angle.  There was then a piece of 1x6 attached at a right angle.  This was actually not needed as the motor well took shape so could have been omitted.

 

 

The Moment of Truth...

Transom cut to final shape...

This is where we had some decisions to make about the transom.  We were getting ready to cut a large notch in that big, beautiful piece of boat and had struggled with whether to use a 25" High Thrust or standard 20" (much more common).  We decided on the 20" for versatility which is basically the perpendicular measurement from the top of the C clamp notch (horizontal notch) to the cavitation plate of the outboard.  This is transferred to the transom and a line was struck.  Following the ABYC standard for motor wells we gave the transom notch 26" across the bottom then just created a parallel line following the hull's sides..  the top of the transom is just 1" above the finished deck, and there you have your transom cut.  I made it freehand with a circular saw and jig saw.  Dressed it up with a belt sander.  The fabric covering will extend over the edges and be fully encapsulated.

Framing the Motor well...



The motor well framing begins with deck supports tying the deck beam to the transom. Also note the vertical nailers screwed in place for the sides of the motor well which I'll walk through pictorially...



Using short chunks of cardboard, we hot glued them to each other and aligned them to
angles as dictated by the framing members.  The only 90 degree joint is the one along the floor.

Hot glued pieces ready for transferring.

Both of these have been cut from doubled up 1/2" ply. Screwed in place and coated on the hidden side which also acts to glue it somewhat.
All pieces are essentially doubled in this area.  I used the same pieces for the opposite side but tore them apart and re-glued them as they were slightly
different and I wanted a tight fit.

Back coaming installed.  The notch will accommodate a 12 gallon fuel tank which will fill from the motor well. I have extended this an inch and a half under the carling so that I can attach a nailer for the corner joint formed by the coaming.

Here is the motor well boxed in.  The bottom of the well rests on cleats attached to the sides and a cleat attached to the transom wall.
This will get a heavy fillet and cloth when the deck is attached.

Coaming installed.

Coaming...
The coaming deals with a problem we created by raising the deck so high and that is having enough cockpit height to prevent falling overboard easily.  The lowest part hits above the knee and that is kind of the unwritten rule regarding comfort at sea.  The cockpit will be filleted and glassed.  The corners are reinforced with 1" quarter round made an hour prior.  The nailers attached to the deck and rear coaming serve their purpose on tying this together. The following pictures show the process which is pretty easy once the measurements are gathered.  The coaming once glassed will get a top cap of Mahogany.  Probably laminated, maybe steam bent... we'll see.

Both coamings installed.

Coaming Profile