Companionway Hood

 I'm back in the workshop after a bit of time off travelling around.

 Time to build the Companionway Hood. I'm thinking of constructing the sides, forward section and trim from Hoop Pine and lacquering them bright. 

Construction commences with the cabin top sills. 

The sills are located around the companionway top and prevent water from entering the cabin. 

I milled up some old Oregan (Douglass Fir) timber that was originally used in a backyard shed. So out with the trusty triton and time to create some dust. 

I carefully selected knot free sections and starting with the forward sill I used a compass to mark the cabin top curve.

 

A band saw is used to cut the curve and butt block notch.

 

The section is cut a few mm larger and will go through a thicknesser until it measures 12mm x 25mm.

The Sill side sections are trimmed, routed and sanded. Several trial fits are required to obtain the correct bevel that allows them to sit neatly on the cabin top.

The pieces are epoxied in place and held with clamps. To ensure the side sections are correctly aligned I clamped plastic covered ply offcuts to the cabin carlins.

The sills pieces are cleaned up and small epoxy fillets layed.

The Companionway Hood (Sea Hood)

Construction commences by making a template for the front of the hood. The template is raked at 66 degrees from the cabin top.

An adjustable "T" Bevel is taped in place to hold the template at the appropriate angle. 

A curve is scribed onto the template with a compass.

The curve is traced from the template onto the Hoop Pine. Unfortunately, my Band Saw is too small and doesn't have the grunt to cut thicker timber sections so out with the old jig saw and time to make some dust. I made the width slightly wider than the plan to give a bit of wriggle room in case any minor adjustments are required.

The Hoop Pine is trial fitted on the deck, the angle on the bottom looks a good fit.

A parallel line is scribed using a template measuring 114 mm. I simply moved the template along the deck top while marking the height and again cut the section with the jig saw.

The Companionway sides, and the Companionway slide sections are cut from the plans. I use Hoop Pine in parts of the Sea Hood that will be lacquered bright and Oregan for the sections that will be painted.

Here are all the components for the hood and slide.

The lower edges of the side rails are beveled, and the grooves for the companionway slides are cut on the table saw.

The companionway hood and slide units are assembled.

 

Several trial fittings and further minor adjustments were required to ensure the hood fitted neatly.

Timber spacers are clamped between the companionway side and the sill to ensure the sides are parallel. 

I temporarily screwed locating blocks to ensure the Hood remained in the correct position. This is the forward locating block and.....

this is the aft locating block. 

The hood is screwed into place.

The slide requires rails to ride in the slots. I had some old Lexon off cuts from a previous boat build, it measured 6mm in thickness and cut easily on a table saw, PERFECT.

The rails are screwed onto the slide.

The trim piece for the rear of the companionway hood is cut from the left over of the front section of the companionway hood. The next picture shows the trim piece sitting atop the companionway hood.

The companionway slide is trial fitted, it required some adjustment and trimming to ensure its smooth operation.

To prevent the companionway slide from coming completely out and to ensure it is correctly located when fully closed I decided to insert a 6mm ply blocking piece into the forward arch. I marked the arch with a small template resting on the sill.

I made several passes on the router table to form the recess in the arch. The recess was made deep enough to ensure the fully closed hatch overlaps the drop boards thus preventing water egress.

Here you can see the recess in the forward arch.

And here is the blocking piece screwed into the arch. This can easily be unscrewed and sliding hatch removed providing access to the inside section of the companionway hood.

Now it's time to pretty up all the Sea Hood.

I removed and dissembled the Sea Hood and slide. Before installing the hood and slide top deck I decided to laminate 6mm thick strips of blue gum into the hoop pine sections. 

This follows the theme I had commenced on the bowsprit (see April 2024 post).

 Two parallel 6mm wide by 2mm grooves are routed into the two side sections using a small trimming router. The side fence simply followed the edges.

This pictures above shows the shallow grooves in the hoop pine and the blue gum strips.

After setting the strips in place with epoxy the pieces are clamped together. Plastic sheets placed between each section to prevent them sticking together.

The excess is cleaned up with a hand plane. 

And cleaned up with an orbital sander.

I decided to laminate a blue gum strip on top of the companionway hood and slide trim pieces. After shaping the trim pieces, I cut them lower by 7mm. Then I shaped two blue gum strips.

The blue gum strips are epoxied to the trim pieces and held with clamps.

Clamps off ready for cleanup.

Time Out from Build

 

Hi to all PocketShip builders & enthusiasts, just advising of a short delay in building while my wife & I take a short holiday.

Look forward to getting back into the build in July

Cheers from Terry

Fwd Anchor locker Completion

 Now I have built, and trial fitted the Bowsprit I can complete the forward anchor locker lid. The construction of the forward locker Mod is covered in the September post 2022.

I needed to trial fit the Bowsprit so as to locate the hinges and allow the lid to fully open. The lid cleared the Bowsprit but touched the upper breast hook. I had to cut a small section from the breasthook to allow the lid to fully open. I made the cut with a decorative curve; I think it looks OK.

The first step was to install the remaining cleats that will support the lid. 

Next, I glued 4mm thick pads for the hinges and barrel bolt to be screwed on. The pads are 4mm thick and the same shape but slightly larger than the hinges and barrel bolt. They provide a decorative and thicker section for screwing down the hardware.

As I outlined in the September 2022 post the construction of the forward anchor locker when closed has to be completely sealed thus providing buoyancy when closed. 

To achieve this, I needed to do two things, firstly I installed a transom bung into the anchor locker drainage hole (as outlined in the September 2022 post) and secondly make the locker lid completely sealed when closed.

The locker lid was made from two pieces of 6mm ply glued together. The top piece fitting the opening and resting on the cleats, the bottom section was slightly smaller leaving a recess around the lid where a rubber seal will be glued. The recess was routed down to 4mm thickness to allow the lid to sit flush with the deck when the rubber seals are installed.

Small fillets are applied in the corners to allow one piece of glass cloth to be applied to the underside.

After a cleanup the underside is painted, and rubber seals are glued to the edges. The seals will ensure the anchor locker space is watertight and adds buoyancy. 

The rubber seals are glued in place with Cyanoacrylate or commonly known as Super Glue.

The Lid is screwed in place and the Bowsprit inserted. The lid clears the Bowsprit providing good access to the anchor locker.

There is enough room for the sand anchor, chain and plenty of rope.

 

Remember when the locker is closed and locked in place it is fully sealed maintaining buoyancy.

This overhead pic shows the locker locked closed. 

And to ensure I never forget where the anchor is I glued this little plaque made from scrap.

The base of the plaque is made from a thin off cut of Hoop Pine, the ring from coat hanger wire and the anchor from thin strips of Red Gum.

The entire assembly was given three coats of epoxy and finished with several coats of polyurethane.

Yes, I've said it before, and I'll say it again I'm a retired old man with too much time on my hands........but I'm loving it.

It’s now two years and five months since construction commenced.