The rear view of "Oleanda".

The plan specifies two layers of 6 mm. ply for the deck, and then confusingly says that 4 mm. strips of teak may be used as the top layer fore and aft, instead of the second ply skin. Skirting along beside the cockpit is supposed to be a pair of strips of 75 mm. covering board, separated by a 4 mm. wide epoxy and graphite fillet from the rest of the decking strips. I do not understand why this would be the case instead of a single piece of timber for the covering board all the way up to the coaming, unless it be a cost saving measure. Anyway, I propose to use single piece covering boards all along from bow to stern. I will be using 5 mm. strips of solid timber, but it will not be teak, except possibly on the inside strips. The covering boards and stern log substitute will be mahogany.

The original fence which came with the router (left), and the facsimile I have made (right).


Facsimile with compass beam attached.

Teak and ash faced ply.

Caulking

Caulking is another area of too much choice. The suggestion in the plans for this boat is that graphite thickened epoxy should be used as caulking between the top boards, if a second ply skin is not used. As there is no need for the fully functional caulk, such as is needed on laid decks, the material is really mainly decorative, although is still has to be adherent enough to seal the edges of the boards and prevent the ingress of water to them or to the underlying ply.

It would also be good to have a material which is easy to sand and will accept a finish on top, and preferably one which does not irrevocably stain the timbers, especially the pale one. As a lot of the decking is on a slope, particularly the rear deck, a self levelling material would not be helpful. So I feel that epoxy is a poor choice, based on difficulty of removal, sagging characteristics and staining.

The commercial caulking compounds available have an additional advantage of being packaged so that they can be applied with a caulking gun, which is neater, and come in a small variety of colours. However, there is no question that the second layer of decking will be epoxy glued to the first, which will inevitably mean that the sides of the second layer timbers will be epoxy coated. To ensure a good bond between the caulking compound and the epoxy a primer must be used. The products I have chosen are Sika primer 215 and Sikaflex 291. The application times are important, as the primer should be applied to a substrate whose temperature is falling, and the caulking should go on top within 24 hours. Luckily, the deck on Ariadne is divided into two fairly easily managed sections, fore and rear, of which the rear is the smaller. So I shall start there.

Finishing

Masking the decking strips is recommended to keep the Sikaflex off them, but even greater protection can be afforded them if there is at least one coat of finish on them, and preferably more. So it is also time to consider the finish for the deck. It certainly will not be epoxy, for two reasons: one, it runs and drips constantly down the nearest available slope, and, two, it is UV sensitive, so has to be covered with a UV blocking top coat anyway. So, why not use a UV resistant varnish in the first place? International Paints produces one called Schooner Tropical, which appears to be similar to their Goldspar range with UV filters added. It dries to a full high gloss finish, which is going to be a little at odds with the satin finish in the cockpit, but I suppose that it can be rubbed out to a satin. (The Goldspar satin is only formulated for inside use). It does require 6 to 10 coats for full protection, but so do they all. There is no way that any protective coat of finish which is applied to the strips before caulking would form part of the final build, because the caulk will need sanding anyway. So there is no point in trying to build up any more than two coats at this stage.

The major disadvantage of Schooner Tropical is that it is amber in colour, so the Beech strips are going to be orange. Even the Bondall Monocel Gold which I have used on the interior has a yellowing effect, but it is not too pronounced. It would be an alternative, and comes in gloss if the satin seems to be too drab. The sad fact about all clear finishes on outdoors timber is that, even with UV filters, they break down over time and need replacing, So I don't feel as though any decision made now will lead to years of regret. I think I will go with the Bondall because of its clarity.

Teak?

The whole purpose of teak decking is to provide a weather resistant, slip-proof surface on which to walk. The slip-proof properties of teak depend on its alternating pattern of hard and soft growth rings, and the surface has to be either open to the air, or at least no more than oiled. So, varnishing a teak deck seems to me to be a total waste of time, money and resource. Admittedly, the mahogany I have been using is a little soft, but, with 6 to 10 coats of varnish on it, it should be reasonably scratch resistant. There will be no foot traffic on Ariadne's decks anyway. A pattern of mahogany, beech and black caulking should produce a beautiful deck, such as is seen in this commercial photo.


Getting a wide board reduced to a thickness of 5 mm. is not easy. Some timber merchants here have the necessary equipment to do the resawing task, but the ones I have asked have only been willing to do it on timber they have sold you themselves. Warringah Timbers, for example, refused to resaw my mahogany for me, even although they do not sell it themselves. One wonders whether the reduced sales volumes they might expect to experience in the recession which is under way, might not make them more obliging in the future, but in the meantime I have to do the job myself.

The table saw needs all the help it can get to produce a reasonably smooth cut, especially as a rip blade is an absolute necessity for this task. The auxiliary high fence helps to keep the board vertical, and rollers on and off the table help keep it horizontal. Even so, the cut has to be at least 6 mm. thick, and the resultant strip has to be thickness planed to 5 mm.

A wide mahogany board ready to be sliced to produce 5 mm. tranches.

I have mentioned before that my blade will only cut 75 mm. above the table. That done on both edges leaves 60 mm. in a 210 mm. board which has to be sliced manually. With great care and a thin saw blade it may be possible to get three slices out of a board like this, which has already been dressed down to 22 mm., and that would be enough to provide the stern covering board and the stern and forward king planks. But this board has a little cupping on it, so need to go through the thicknesser first. That eliminates any possibility of getting three slices out of it, so I might as well save myself the anxiety and make the cuts a comfortable 8 mm.

Well, that was the idea. The reality had me sawing through the board for half an hour to make 200 mm. progress, and my shoulder was beginning to tell me that I am too old for this job. So I gave up on it and cut the board down the middle of its width. That allowed me to finish the thickness on the table saw. The two halves had to be glued together again to give me the required width. It is lucky that I did not cut the board to width before attempting the slicing, otherwise I would not have had enough left.

After abandoning the manual sawing the two halves are glued together.

This will be the method I will use with the forward covering boards too. Now I understand why the plans stipulate two strips of 75 mm. for the sides, rather than a single one. Anyway, eventually I am able to get the slice I want. It is seen alongside the compass beam for the router which will cut it.

The 5 mm. mahogany slice sits next to the router's compass beam.

All the while, the second front seat nears completion. It just needs varnishing and installing now, before its decoration completes the job.

In order to produce repeatable cuts for all the boards involved, the compass beam and the router were set up on a piece of 19 mm. ply, attached to a line drawn down its centre. The stock for cutting was fixed to the end of the ply with double sided tape, and the fulcrum was screwed in where the outer side of the router bit was just on the 110 mm. point from the middle of the back edge of the stock. A trial swing was done, with the bit disengaged, and I was in for a shock. It did not come anywhere near the places it was supposed to at the ends of the stock. Evidently the radius of 2 metres was way too small.

Back to the boat, and some new measurements of the chord of the transom, and some trigonometry, and the result: the transom is on a 2.7 metre radius!

The only possible explanation for that is that the laminations of the transom's inner layers must have exhibited a great deal more spring back than I appreciated when they were removed from the clamping jig. Luckily I still like the look of the curve, but it meant that I now had to lengthen the radius of the compass beam to 2.7 metres. Now the points were all engaged by the new arc of the router, and the first cut was made successfully.

The router set up on the ply sheet, and the result of the first cut on the transverse covering board.

I was now able to check the curve by taking the offcut and placing it on top of the transom. It was a prefect fit, so the fulcrum was advanced to set the near side of the bit against the back of the board's centre, and the second cut was made. The resultant piece sits well over the transom, waiting for the glue down.

The "stern log" waiting to be glued down.

The router set up will now be left in place while the rear king plank is manufactured, as it can be used to cut the plank's stern end for a perfect mating with the covering board. The king plank is currently being made from the other half of the timber used to make the stern log, so it is being glued down the centre too. I must admit to being a little uneasy about the presence of a glue line at the crest of a cambered deck, because, while there will be no possibility of the plank lifting from the underlying ply, there is no guarantee that the line will hold against the elements and maintain the integrity of the upper surface. I will leave the plank in the garage for a few days to see if it develops a cup. If so I will glue it concave side down to relieve any stresses on that joint as much as possible. Alternatively, since the king plank is only 130 mm. wide, I could cut one from a 6" board and have it in one piece. That would leave the newly glued structure to be used as a covering board where the camber is not as severe.

The king plank of the rear deck is laid in position. It has yet to be trimmed to size.

The rear deck I most admire in the pictures available is this one on the left. While it is not the alternating pattern which I am going to use, it does have the same caulking pattern. The covering boards meet the stern log in a perfect curved butt, whereas the king plank and the other boards are separated from it by a uniform line of caulking. To achieve this effect the stern end of the king plank is shaped on the router set up which made the stern log, but to begin with, the forward end has to be bevelled to fit up tightly against the coaming. Then it is overlaid on the deck and its length to the forward edge of the stern log is marked. The plank is now removed to the routing jig and the length marks are placed level with the corresponding groove in the sacrificial ply where the stern log's rear edge was cut. With the left hand side of the plank supported to prevent tear-out from the bit, the stern of the plank is routed to fit. (The router has to pass right to left for this cut).

Before committing to cutting the plank to width I arrange the deck hardware, which it is going to support, into its position. The widest member here is the clam shell vent near the transom, and there is plenty of lee way to reduce the plank to 130 mm. (The other items are, from stern forwards, the stern light, the detachable hinge for the hatch, the flag staff socket and the cleat). The cleat is lying quite close to the rear coaming because of the clearance it has to give to the hatch. It may interfere with the canopy up there, so may have to be replaced with a more compact bollard in due course.



Once the king plank is trimmed to width it has to be bevelled and cross cut to accommodate the hatch, and then routed to mate with the stern log. Some care is taken to ensure a continuous grain pattern across the gap to the hatch, although this may be obscured later by the chrome surround.

The newly milled mahogany is very pale compared with the pieces which have been exposed to the air, as is seen in the flash photo below, right. So, I have decided against putting a coat or two of finish on these strips before gluing and caulking them. It seems to take forever for the wood to darken once it has a finish on it.

Old and newly milled mahogany.

The white beech is a bizarre timber. It feels like candle wax when cut, and smells like black olives. It is also quite irritating to the skin, but it planes very nicely and should do well, provided I can get the glue to take on it. It may have to be treated like teak and rubbed down with acetone to remove some of the wax. My timber merchants, Trend Timbers, also recommend leaving it for a few days and not smoothing the gluing surface too much. The first two strips are laid against the king plank before being cut in the same way that the plank was. At this stage not much difference is visible between the mahogany and the beech.

Strips of white beech flank the king plank.

In order to avoid surface depressions in the wood, I am using small ply "washers" under the screws. The king plank is the first to be screwed down, after it has been cut into sections to allow the hatch to lift. Screws with a diameter of 3 mm. are placed hard against the edge of the strip, and the neighbouring strips are added sequentially.

To get the shaped stern ends to line up properly the stern log is moved 3 mm. forward, and the shaped rear segments of the decking strips are butted against it. They are cut slightly overlength, so that any excess can be planed back at the level of the hatch. After a day of work six strips and the king plank are screwed down. These are the most intricate because of the intervening hatch. There are two more which involve the hatch, but right on its sides. After that the decking runs from the coaming all the way to the stern log or the covering boards.

The king plank is laid and screwed down.


Then the inner beech strips...


...followed by the inner mahogany ones, and more beech.

It may have been a good idea to design the decking to finish on the edges of the hatch instead of what I have here, but that would have widened the strips, and, besides, the edges will be covered by the chrome flashing anyway. The outer edge of the last laid strip is only 20 mm. from the edge of the hatch. With a 3 mm. caulk, that leaves only 17 mm. of timber required to cover the hatch. Luckily there is no need to keep the grain pattern unbroken in that strip, because it will be covered later. That means that the next strips can be laid over the opening for the hatch and have its outline scribed onto the undersurface. The sequence of events is to bevel the forward end to butt against the coaming, lay and secure the strip, scribe the hatch opening, remove the unwanted timber, and finally shape the stern end. Because of the bevel angles associated with the front and rear of the hatch, I prefer to make the cut out a little shy of the mark, and finish it off with a chisel flush against the sides of the hatch opening.

With those hatch side strips complete, the next three strips make the straight run to the transom, but after that the subsequent one meets the covering board before it reaches the stern. Clearly, the covering board has to be in place before those last members can be cut, and this is a tricky task.

The covering board spans 2300 mm. from stern to side deck. It has to butt perfectly against the stern log, and against the side coaming. Its width is a constant 170 mm. I start by making a paper template of the part which covers the side deck, and superimposing that on the board in its approximate position. The board is only 2400 mm. long, so there is not a lot to spare. The outline of the template is transferred to the board, and the cut for the board-to-coaming joint line is made. The excess is removed so that the board can be fitted up against the coaming, and it is trimmed until an acceptable fit is achieved. Keeping an eye on the board's rear end all the time to ensure that it still sits over its allocated position, the cut can now be extended back to the board's end, leaving plenty of extra timber wide of the line. Once it is able to be secured in place the line of the hull is drawn on its under surface, and the outside waste is removed, again leaving the cut a little shy of the line. The board is now planed precisely to the level of the hull's topsides. The point of junction between the athwartships and side coaming is marked on the board, and it is removed to the router, where the inner side is trimmed to achieve a width of 170 mm. just up to that mark from the stern. All that now remains is to shape the rear. To do that, the stern log is now screwed down 3 mm. behind the rear of the decking timbers, and the point of intersection between the log and the board is incised onto the board. The perpendicular distance of that point from the centre line of the boat is recorded, as is the distance of the coaming junction. Those points are transferred to the sacrificial ply, and the covering board is secured on top of them in the appropriate places. A pass with the router should now result in a perfect fit between covering board, stern log, coaming and deck.

Here, the covering board has been cut to fit against the coaming, but its inner edge is not yet shaped.


After shaping the inner edge and the stern end, the butt joint against the stern log is tight.

There is a half day's work in making up the covering board, so all I had time for was two more strips of mahogany. There are still five planking strips on each side to go.

The laying of strips goes uneventfully until you reach the second last. That is where the strip runs up against the covering board on its side, as well as the stern log at the rear. The procedure here is to cut the strip as usual, shape the rear end and put it on the deck, but this time with a 6 mm. space separating it from the previous strip, instead of 3 mm. The covering board has to be lifted to allow the strip to slide in underneath it, and the line of the inside of the covering board can be drawn onto the strip.

The second last strip is placed under the covering board with 6 mm. spacers holding it away from the previous strip.

The spacers are removed and the strip is moved to 3 mm. from the previous strip. The line drawn on it now sits 3 mm. away from the covering board. The actual shaping of the strip's edge can be done with the router, but the drawn line gives an idea of where the router bit should be reaching. Because the inner edge of the covering board was cut with the same procedure on the router the strip has to be parallel to the covering board, and, provided the bit is accurately positioned, there will be a 3mm. gap all around.

Routing the outer edge of the second last strip.

The last strip is done in a similar fashion, except that the presence of the coaming prevents the router from completing the pass. It has to be finished by hand with a block plane or a spokeshave. That completes the starboard side, and part of the port. The second covering board has to be constructed, and the remaining strips have to be laid. Careful attention to the fore/aft position of the apex of the last port strip will be necessary, because any discrepancy there would be easy to see. Any slight irregularities in the slope of the subdeck could result in the last port strip being out of position, so it may be necessary to adjust the width of the strips very slightly to accommodate that possibility. For that reason, I will complete the port side from the outside in.

In the meantime I have started to consider how I am going to clamp these pieces down while they are being glued. The covering boards and stern log are the main problems. Their outer edges have no easy clamping possibilities, although the stern log can be clamped with the aid wedges. A simple solution presented itself with some timber offcuts and the ceiling of the garage. Elementary!

These measures are not just for the gluing either. While the strips are sitting on the subdeck their under surfaces retain their moisture content, while their upper surfaces dry out in the air. The result is upward cupping, which can be severe enough to split the wood if it is forced back into conformity with the deck camber. It is easier to keep the strips in their required shape by restraining them before that happens. Hence, the ply "washers", and the vertical holding battens will stay there until the glue-up time arrives.

The completion of the port side then has to start with the covering board. It is manufactured the same way as that on the starboard was, out of two lengths of mahogany. The other strips are already cut to thickness, but their width has been left generous for last minute adjustments.

The port covering board and the last decking strips are positioned.

The covering board, which is closest in the photo above, is considerably paler than the starboard one because of its recent thicknessing. Already, the mahogany decking strips, which were laid a week ago, are beginning to darken in the atmosphere. The longer these are left before finishing the better will be the contrast, but the entire deck will need sanding after it has been glued down, so it will be a few months before the varnish goes on.

The fully laid rear deck.

The ivory tower approach.

So, to get back to basics, I draw what I think looks best, and come up with a sleek design, better than you see on the river, and, therefore probably impractical:

The arty approach.

Resorting to actual measurement now, I set up some cushions on the rear seat and an adjustable arch to achieve clearance above my own head. The ability to lean back on the raked seat makes the height requirement a lot less than is needed in theory. A mere 650 mm. of height at the level of the side deck is comfortable. I need to check that again against the 6'3" member of the family, but the drawing is altered to incorporate the new measurements, and it still looks quite acceptable.

The scientific approach.


Measuring for canopy clearance.

There can be no argument that the arty design is the best looking, but the scientific one gives a usable compromise. If the boat were longer than its 22 feet it would support a taller top with no loss of aesthetic appeal. On the other hand, if its deck were lower to the waterline, as the Andrews boats are, it would again begin to lose its visual appeal with the same size top, so there are swings and roundabouts here. I am just glad that I lowered the rear seat from the original plans back in March '06, quite without realising how important it would be.

The pale ply template is cut and suspended over the top of the coaming.

This is the system as provided to me by Solarboat:

The components seen are: the controller (blue), the main ammeter shunt on its left, (which will be replaced by the one I already have), the contactor (black in foreground), and the connector box for the CAT 5e cable (white foreground). The red and green wires dangling over the front of the aluminium heat sink are to go to the on/off switch. The main positive cable from the circuit breaker goes to the upper terminal on the contactor. Small red feeder wires leave that terminal to a junction which supplies the positive to the kill switch, and another to the CAT 5e connector box.

The 16 point terminal on the left of the controller, the B terminal, is multifunctional.

Point 1 takes the positive input from the contactor.

Points 2 and 3 are the forward/reverse functions from the CAT 5e junction box.

Point 4 is empty.

Points 5 and 6 take the negative from the controller, for the activation of the contactor.

Point 7 is empty.

Point 8 issues the negative back to the contactor.

Point 9 is empty.

Point 10 goes to the pot box wiper via the junction.

Points 11 to 15 are empty.

Point 16 is for re-programming the controller

The main positive cable from the drive battery breaker connects to the positive terminal of the contactor, and once the coil is closed, to the main positive (B+) on the controller. A parallel circuit is established before the coil to both the kill switch and the pot box.

The main negative (B-) from the controller returns to the pole on the ammeter shunt which is nominally its positive side. The other side of the shunt continues in the negative to connect with the main negative bus.

The connections to the motor are from and to M+ and M-, which are to the left and right of the B+ terminal in the photo above.

This orientation would require that I change the arrangement in my existing circuit somewhat, as I currently have my main ammeter shunt in the positive side, immediately after the circuit breaker for the drive batteries. The alteration would take a cable from the circuit breaker directly to the line contactor. On the negative side of the controller the shunt, in its new position, would record the current passing from the controller to the main negative bus, to which both sets of batteries are independently connected. On the other hand, the shunt could be left on the positive side and the wiring could be rearranged to accommodate it. The other connections to the negative side shunt seen above include one negative feed to the throttle, which can be located on any negative, and wiring back to the CAT 5e box which are designed to connect to the ammeter and battery condition monitor via that junction. As my ammeter and monitor are independently connected, that frees up the shunt connections entirely. It can be replaced back into the positive side between the breaker and the contactor, and the big black cable from B- can go straight down to the main negative bus.

Also taking an origin in this vicinity will be the battery monitor. Its monitoring cables take off from a point further upstream, at the battery selector switch, but its on/off led display function is switched, and this should occur at motor start-up. It also takes an input to the hour meter function from the switched side. These wires can originate from a common point, along with the switched input to the contactor's coil.

And do not forget the DC to DC converter which will power and recharge the domestic circuit. It should be on the switched side, so it can be placed anywhere downstream of the contactor. A convenient plug-in point is terminal B+ on the controller, and B- the return side, but then it would only be activated when the contactor's coil is closed. If, for any reason, it were deemed necessary to have the converter powered up without the motor being switched on it could be connected somewhere after the ammeter shunt but before the contactor. The latter arrangement would be necessary if you were to operate the domestic system without a house battery, ie. from the DC converter only. But, as I have a large capacity house battery I will use the former system, and keep the converter on the switched side.



Top of Page

131. Electrical Plumbing

The house battery circuit is now completed by the move of the battery from the motor compartment to its permanent home under the driver's seat. Both positive and negative leads pass though the same skin fittings from the seat box into the cavity behind the lagging of the cockpit, and thence to the motor compartment. The positive, red cable goes straight to the input side of the domestic circuit breaker. The negative black cable runs up to the main domestic negative bus,

The 12 volt domestic battery in its box under the driver's seat.


The cables emerge through the bulkhead into the motor compartment.


From there they cross behind the motor to the circuit breaker (with red alligator clip), and the negative bus (black clip).

After the motor compartment is painted they will be clamped to the top of the floor in front of the dash bulkhead, which is where they are now resting.

Now that I have finally settled on 48 volts as the potential for the drive system, I can commit the battery condition monitor to that setting. The one I am using is a Curtis combined battery monitor and hour meter which is able to accept either 48 of 36 volt inputs. The wiring is different for each level. I can now wire the high voltage (48 v.) terminal on the monitor to the battery selector switch common output post, and the negative terminal to the main negative bus bar, which I am installing to receive the negative leads from the motor controller, the throttle and the battery monitor, and to join with the negative leads to each battery bank.

The other inputs to the monitor are the positives to the LED display, and the hour meter. These are only needed in the switched-on state, so originate from the switched side of the contactor, or the battery kill switch, whichever is more convenient.

The motor controller is placed between the throttle and the steering mechanism box, and the DC converter is immediately above it.

Having made a total botch of trying to connect the DC converter with the Molex connector, I have left it unconnected while I wait for a new connector to arrive, but when it does, the converter will share the positive and negative terminals on the controller. The short thick black cable leading from the controller is currently going nowhere. I has to be replaced with a longer lead which can reach the main negative bus, which will be located under the steering box. A longer red positive lead will also be needed from the main breaker to the contactor, but that will complete the circuit. Only the batteries are needed, plus, of course, the charger, before the system is fully functional.

Above, the DC converter is now connected to the controller, and (via the white tube wrap) to the 12 volt circuit. The main negative bus has been installed and can be seen below the steering box. It appears to have a purple wire running to it. And the wires to the kill switch have been enclosed in clear plastic tubing. I have also replaced the heavy gauge red wires I had there with lighter blue and green ones, because the heavy ones were too big for the junction terminals. They enter the cockpit through the high level aperture to keep them clear of the push rod for the throttle mechanism. The white CAT5e cable is too long, and will be replaced with a shorter one. The radio antenna (black cable from top left) has to be re-routed out of the way too.

Now that the 12 volt circuit is complete, I have removed the ply wood panels which were protecting the connections, and replaced them with Perspex ones. Access to that part of the boat is difficult enough without being unable to see the circuit boards. The clear view does cause a few "Ooh, aah" comments, and enquiries as to how I know what goes where. I must get down to drawing circuit diagrams while it is still fresh in my mind. And some sort of labelling would help too.

The 12 volt circuits, now clearly visible behind Perspex screens.

Top of Page

132. Abandoning the Bright Strip

While I have been waiting for components to arrive I have been trying to fix the problem of cloudiness in the bright strip at the top of the hull. Even sanding it back to the glass has not proven to be successful, as there is still a haze to be seen on reapplying the epoxy. So, reluctantly, I have decided to abandon the idea and paint it instead.

The bright strip, before sanding back to the glass (left), and after (right).

If is to be painted, one option would be to paint it brown, but that would look too much like a faux finish. I have also considered covering it with a veneer of wood, but I cannot see that it would be effective for very long before the elements took their toll. So, it will be painted. This gives me the opportunity to reassess the entire paintwork situation, and I have decided to paint the top strip green, but turn the rest of the boat white. The lack of glassy smoothness of the ply has bothered me a bit on the green side anyway, and it is much less noticeable on the white, so over the next few months the paintwork will be redone.

There goes $100 worth of the ironically named "Brightside" paint.

The new white hull will be sandwiched between a green boot top and a green top strake between the gunwale and the rubbing strake, where the bright strip was to have been. Having sanded back a lot of the original green from the hull I am already happier with its smoothness as demonstrated by the new waterline.

The new green waterline.

This concentration on the paint is not premature. As soon as the decking is glued down I want to attach the gunwale so as to protect the edges of the covering boards. It will be easier to fix it over the top of an already painted surface than to paint up to it later. The same goes for the rubbing strake which will mark the lower boundary of the green strip. So, if I am going to paint the strip, I may as well paint the entire hull. Another reason is even more pressing: using a mechanical sander, as I am, to sand back the epoxy on the top strake, I prefer to remove the subdeck. That way is it not rounded over by the sanding pad. In order for there to be a tight joint between the gunwale and the covering boards the edges of the covering boards and the subdeck should be in a straight line with the hull. It is already too late to remove the subdeck behind the windscreen level, but most of the experimental work I have been trying on the bright strip has been forward of that level. That is the area which most needs sanding now. So it is preferable to paint before I glue down the subdeck.

Ultimately, this top strake will carry not only the gunwale and the rubber, but also a caveta line and the decorative painted boat name in gilding. It won't look as good as a bright strip, but it will still be striking.

The gunwale on these vessels is specified in my plans to be a half round piece, 18 mm. in radius. That means it will come 36 mm. down the side of the hull into the top strake. I will be screwing and gluing it there, in a similar fashion to what I did with the keel runners; so, I want to have a strip approximately 25 mm. wide on the top of the strake which is exposed epoxy, not paint. (The remaining 11 mm. are taken up by the 6 mm. subdeck and the 5 mm. covering board). In preparation for that I now mask off the top inch of the strake, while the rest of it is given a coat of Yacht Primer. After that, it will need to be given two coats of Prekote, and one of those at least will extend to the lower hull, down to the level of the boot top.

 

The gunwale area is masked off on the top strake by the green tape, and the rubbing strake by blue tape.


Two coats of Yacht Primer are applied to the top strake, and the hull is masked again for undercoating.

I've been here before. Prekote is reapplied to the hull side down to the boot top, but this time the green goes on the top strake.

I have to say that the application of this Brightside paint with a roller is not very satisfactory. There is a lot of roller stipple in it, and even after brushing out it remains a problem. Compare the top strake, which was rolled on, with the boot top which was brushed.

Top strake (left), and boot top (right).

This first coat of Brightside on the top strake needs sanding back to smoothness before the next coat, this time brushed, goes on.

A rather elongated view (right) from a photomerge.

I will be continuing to paint the hull over the next month or so, as well as preparing the scene for the front decking. The motor compartment needs painting too, and, before the subdeck is glued down I want to take advantage of the present accessibility of the forward compartments to assist in attaching the rubbing strakes at the bottom of the former bright strip. So April will be a hotch potch of painting and gluing all around the boat.

Top of Page