boat building

Since we finally got the keelson in, it's on to the next structural pieces; the bridge step support and the aft bulkhead.

The keel winch on my boat was originally located inside the cabin, behind the companionway bulkhead, with the handle protruding from the bulkhead. A previous owner (I believe my boat has had many) moved the keel winch to the cockpit, most likely for easier singlehanding. We decided to keep it in the cockpit so it's going right back where it was. Unfortunately, the previous owner that moved it did a terrible job at keeping the water out and the wooden board (bridge step support) that was originally glassed in rotted. So a new one must be installed to give the winch something sturdy to attach it to. There is a lot of force at work when lowering and raising a heavy keel, so the bridge step support is important.

The aft bulkhead was more of the same. The boat was neglected and water was allowed to stand in the cabin. As a result the aft bulkhead had rotted near the bottom.

So this past weekend we picked up some wood and fabricated a new bridge step support and aft bulkhead. The bridge step support is a simple rectangle. No problem there. The aft bulkhead was a more complicated shape so we used a big piece of foam to do a mock up of the part to make sure we got it right. 'Cause wood is really expensive, and nothing seems to go right the first time anyway. :D



And then we installed the foam part and tried it out in the boat.



A few minor adjustments were made to the foam template to get the perfect fit. Then we traced the template onto a piece of hardwood and cut it out and routered all the edges.

Here are the two new pieces, the bridge step support on the workbench and the aft bulkhead is leaning against the wall behind it.



The Heineken is self explanatory. :D