Most of the coaming is
straight forward, but at the back of the cockpit, behind the rear seat
back, it continues straight across the boat approximately at right
angles
to the side parts. The plan calls for fillets to join the sections
together, a technique which I have seen described as "lubberly". Proper
rebated blocks would be better, but there is no room for that sort of
thing, so the only non-lubberly option is to do what the old timers
did: dovetails.
The dovetailing will be complicated by the fact that the pieces do not meet at exact right angles, because the cockpit is narrowing towards the rear, and the side coaming is also sloping downwards to the rear to follow the slope of the carlings. This dictates that the pins of the dovetails should be on the side pieces, and the tails on the back, as it is a lot easier to cut sloping pins that sloping tails. Normally, in furniture making, I would make pins and tails slightly proud and plane them back after assembly, but in this case they will have to be cut exactly so that the coaming pieces fit snugly against the carlings and the top of bulkhead E. Furthermore, although much of the joint will be hidden behind the rear seat, 50 mm. of it will be very visible above the level of the decking, so a good job is needed.
The side pieces of the coaming will be screwed and glued to the carlings, and in order to hide the screws, I propose a trench be cut along the length of the timber, to be filled later by a contrasting cockbead. The bead will match similar elements on other parts in the cockpit, which is described in the next section. But, the screw line will have to follow the carlings too, which means that the trench will have to parallel their line as well. The way I want to do that is to cut the bottom of the coaming to be parallel with the carling, and then use a router with a following post fitted to cut the trench.
The top of the side pieces is virtually straight, from the rear, to the top of the side frame of the windscreen, so the cross cut for the back end is not going to be a right angle. It can be taken from a string line stretched between the top of the rear piece and the top of the windscreen side frame, and transferred to the timber, then fine tuned until it fits tightly against bulkhead E and touches the frame. Once the fit is perfect, the bottom of the timber can be marked and sawn to parallel the carling, leaving enough width to cover the screw holes in the lagging strips. The edges are then rounded and the piece removed for dovetailing.
The back piece sits on top of the angled supports for the rear seat back. If necessary, it can widen lateral to the supports to match the final width of the back end of the side pieces. It, too, needs to be a tight fit between the carlings of the two sides, and angled to meet them perfectly. Once it is, it can be removed for dovetailing as well.
Behind the rear seat, the coaming has to be cut for a tight fit. Here a piece of scrap is used to measure the cut angle.
The first cut, across the width, determines the angle of the mitre gauge on the saw, but leaves a small gap between the front of the
scrap and the carling. A second cut through the thickness determines the angle of the saw blade, and makes it a flush fit.
To further help in cutting the tails a block is shaped to fit into the corners where the joints will be. It can be used as a guide for the chisel to ensure the correct angle is used, and can then be transferred to the pins for the same purpose. Once the joints are cut and assembled, the structure should be replaced into position to check for fit, before any glue is applied. It is advantageous to leave the side coaming boards a bit long so that they can be tapped back from the front into the corners to assist in this fitting. Once satisfied with the fit, the excess is marked for trimming and the structure is removed again for front end cuts.
Finally, the dovetails are glued. Then, the front ends are screwed and glued to the screen side windscreen frames, but only after the screws to the carlings are driven home so that the outward curve of the carlings is accommodated and the coaming is not left short and bowstringing.
This is awkward and heavy work, and there is a constant danger of damaging the windscreen members during the manipulation, but, if it works well, there is no small amount of satisfaction in seeing a well executed dovetail.
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Before the main coaming boards can be fitted the lagging has to be completed. As yet there are still some gaps in it on the port side, so they are filled, and the dash bulkhead lagging is carried over to meet the side.
The final elements of the cockpit lagging are positioned in preparation for the coaming.
The time has come to start gluing in the lagging strips. Again, this process starts at the rear seat level. The short strips here are removed and bevelled on the router table, then replaced and glued top and bottom to the carling and the cleat respectively. A minor complication arises when the sternmost strip is being fitted: the cleat, which has to be attached to it to support the lateral extension of the seat back, will not allow the strip to slide into position. Being wedge shaped and a tight fit against the rear seat back support, it only fits when the lagging is housed into the groove on the carling.
The problem is overcome by screwing the cleat temporarily to the strip, including a third screw which is put in from the ply side to the cleat. It and the lower screw which cannot be accessed once the unit is in position are then removed. The placement can then be made and the cleat, attached only by the top screw, is swung down to its correct location. Glue is swiped over the surface of the lagging strip where the cleat will lie, and, provided the top screw is not too tightly applied, there will be enough of a gap that the glue will not be completely wiped away when the cleat is swung. The top screw is then tightened and the third screw is introduced from behind (ie. in the cavity) with a short screw driver. It is a bit messy behind the seat back extension, but that area will be permanently hidden once the coaming is in position, so it does not matter. It is, however, extremely awkward reaching back to drive a screw blindly and left handed. If necessary, the side decking can be removed for access, as this has not yet been glued down either.
The process of placing the sternmost lagging strip and cleat.
The bevel on the opposing edges of the lagging, and the sternmost strip in position.
Before progressing to the area forward of the rear seat, an approximation of the opening to the glovebox is achieved by holding the cutout from the dash console over the place where it will be. Scrap is added to represent the rear seat cushion and the coaming. Continuing the truncated triangle shape of the dash onto the glovebox openings seems to be a good idea and the cutout is just about the right size for the opening, which means that it will have to be cut down by 8.5 mm. all round if it is to be used as a routing template.
Approximating the glovebox opening.
The board is now removed from the boat for bevelling, cutting and finishing. Before it is permanently replaced the glove box space will be painted black.
The old cut out from the dash is used as a marker to position the glovebox opening (left), and the actual template, which
is smaller, is screwed on (right) in preparation for routing.
With the aperture to the glovebox cut it is apparent that there will not be enough room to reach very far back into the cavity behind the lagging, so the rear wall to the box is constructed. It does not reach right up to the subdeck, so that ventilation to the cavity next to the seat will be adequate.
Fixing the sole requires that all lagging strips be removed from the side and dash on the starboard, and I take the opportunity to feed a battery cable through the conduit, as it will be more difficult later. The sole segments are oiled on top and laid over their floors, and a fillet is applied to their join on the hull.
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of Page
The dovetailing will be complicated by the fact that the pieces do not meet at exact right angles, because the cockpit is narrowing towards the rear, and the side coaming is also sloping downwards to the rear to follow the slope of the carlings. This dictates that the pins of the dovetails should be on the side pieces, and the tails on the back, as it is a lot easier to cut sloping pins that sloping tails. Normally, in furniture making, I would make pins and tails slightly proud and plane them back after assembly, but in this case they will have to be cut exactly so that the coaming pieces fit snugly against the carlings and the top of bulkhead E. Furthermore, although much of the joint will be hidden behind the rear seat, 50 mm. of it will be very visible above the level of the decking, so a good job is needed.
The side pieces of the coaming will be screwed and glued to the carlings, and in order to hide the screws, I propose a trench be cut along the length of the timber, to be filled later by a contrasting cockbead. The bead will match similar elements on other parts in the cockpit, which is described in the next section. But, the screw line will have to follow the carlings too, which means that the trench will have to parallel their line as well. The way I want to do that is to cut the bottom of the coaming to be parallel with the carling, and then use a router with a following post fitted to cut the trench.
The top of the side pieces is virtually straight, from the rear, to the top of the side frame of the windscreen, so the cross cut for the back end is not going to be a right angle. It can be taken from a string line stretched between the top of the rear piece and the top of the windscreen side frame, and transferred to the timber, then fine tuned until it fits tightly against bulkhead E and touches the frame. Once the fit is perfect, the bottom of the timber can be marked and sawn to parallel the carling, leaving enough width to cover the screw holes in the lagging strips. The edges are then rounded and the piece removed for dovetailing.
The back piece sits on top of the angled supports for the rear seat back. If necessary, it can widen lateral to the supports to match the final width of the back end of the side pieces. It, too, needs to be a tight fit between the carlings of the two sides, and angled to meet them perfectly. Once it is, it can be removed for dovetailing as well.
Behind the rear seat, the coaming has to be cut for a tight fit. Here a piece of scrap is used to measure the cut angle.
The first cut, across the width, determines the angle of the mitre gauge on the saw, but leaves a small gap between the front of the
scrap and the carling. A second cut through the thickness determines the angle of the saw blade, and makes it a flush fit.
These scrap cutting angles are
transferred onto the coaming piece, which has been made up of two
lengths of timber. The joint between them lies at the level of the top
of the seat back, and a trench is cut along the joint, to allow a small
rubbing strake of inlaid hardwood to be positioned behind the seat top
to prevent wearing of the softer mahogany.
With the seat back folded forward the coaming is seen in its entirety; with the seat upright the back rests on the hardwood inlay.
With the seat back folded forward the coaming is seen in its entirety; with the seat upright the back rests on the hardwood inlay.
The seat back above
has had a coat of Deks Olje. After the seat hatch has one too the area
looks like a garden bench.
But not for long: the coaming piece needs to
be shaped to the camber of the deck, which
is a relatively simple job, once the line is scribed from the level of
the subdeck behind it. The subdeck on the starboard side has already
been glued down, but the port is only held on with screws, which would
interrupt the scribe line. So, I can leave the shaping until after the
gluing. Being unshaped will not hinder, in fact, may assist in the
cutting of the dovetails.
But not for long: the coaming piece needs to
be shaped to the camber of the deck, which
is a relatively simple job, once the line is scribed from the level of
the subdeck behind it. The subdeck on the starboard side has already
been glued down, but the port is only held on with screws, which would
interrupt the scribe line. So, I can leave the shaping until after the
gluing. Being unshaped will not hinder, in fact, may assist in the
cutting of the dovetails.To further help in cutting the tails a block is shaped to fit into the corners where the joints will be. It can be used as a guide for the chisel to ensure the correct angle is used, and can then be transferred to the pins for the same purpose. Once the joints are cut and assembled, the structure should be replaced into position to check for fit, before any glue is applied. It is advantageous to leave the side coaming boards a bit long so that they can be tapped back from the front into the corners to assist in this fitting. Once satisfied with the fit, the excess is marked for trimming and the structure is removed again for front end cuts.
Finally, the dovetails are glued. Then, the front ends are screwed and glued to the screen side windscreen frames, but only after the screws to the carlings are driven home so that the outward curve of the carlings is accommodated and the coaming is not left short and bowstringing.
This is awkward and heavy work, and there is a constant danger of damaging the windscreen members during the manipulation, but, if it works well, there is no small amount of satisfaction in seeing a well executed dovetail.
I had originally intended to use a pale coloured
cockbead on the coaming, to contrast with the dark mahogany, but the
paleness of the Fijian mahogany caught me by surprise. In fact, the
contrast between the dash console and the steering wheel, which is also
called mahogany, is stark. That then gives me the opportunity to bring
in the colour of the steering wheel as a highlight in decoration, and
the cockbead is an obvious place to start.
The kickboards can also be adorned to reflect the cockbead, and a beading can be run along the bottom of the bottom frame of the screen. It has to be kept subtle or it will look gaudy, but if it is well done it can have a harmonising effect of the colours rather than the reverse.
The beads on the kickboards serve a dual purpose: they will be held in not with glue, but with double sided tape, so that they can be removed and allow the kickboards to be unscrewed. That, in turn, will allow access to the space behind the lagging if it becomes necessary.
Until that stage of the work is reached, however, I can spend some time fixing up the space behind the rear seat. It is looking pretty sloppy with epoxy spills and exposed meranti ply, so a covering of hoop pine ply is fitted, to which mahogany trim is added.
The kickboards can also be adorned to reflect the cockbead, and a beading can be run along the bottom of the bottom frame of the screen. It has to be kept subtle or it will look gaudy, but if it is well done it can have a harmonising effect of the colours rather than the reverse.
The beads on the kickboards serve a dual purpose: they will be held in not with glue, but with double sided tape, so that they can be removed and allow the kickboards to be unscrewed. That, in turn, will allow access to the space behind the lagging if it becomes necessary.
Until that stage of the work is reached, however, I can spend some time fixing up the space behind the rear seat. It is looking pretty sloppy with epoxy spills and exposed meranti ply, so a covering of hoop pine ply is fitted, to which mahogany trim is added.
The
outer sections here have been lined and trimmed. Looking at the inner
section you can see why.
The central section is fitted
last, and completes the decoration of the area. Originally I had
intended to put an opening behind the seat back into the rudder
compartment to allow an emergency tiller to be fed through there, but
in those days I was still hoping that the rear hatch might not be
necessary. Now that the hatch is a reality, any emergency tiller can be
connected through it, so the opening is not needed. But the central
span behind the seat, where the opening might have gone, can now be
used to house the extendible rear deck riding light which will only be
plugged in to the deck when required.
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Before the main coaming boards can be fitted the lagging has to be completed. As yet there are still some gaps in it on the port side, so they are filled, and the dash bulkhead lagging is carried over to meet the side.
The final elements of the cockpit lagging are positioned in preparation for the coaming.
Forward of the windscreen frame there is
a continuation of
the carling up to the bulkhead, which needs to be covered by a sub-deck
level continuation of the coaming. This will further complicate the
fitting of the rear dovetails, as there will not be enough room to
slide the side coaming forward and backward to engage them. It may be
necessary to use a separate piece of wood for the sub-deck portion.
On the starboard side, near the steering column, forward of the windscreen frame the last two lagging strips meet the carling beyond
where the coaming will stop at the level of the frame. Here, the extra length of sub-deck coaming will be fitted to cover the join.
On the starboard side, near the steering column, forward of the windscreen frame the last two lagging strips meet the carling beyond
where the coaming will stop at the level of the frame. Here, the extra length of sub-deck coaming will be fitted to cover the join.
At the back of the cockpit
the remaining lagging strips for the seat front and the cockpit side
are cut and fitted, so all is now prepared for the coaming.
The two darker lagging strips already have finish on them.
The two darker lagging strips already have finish on them.
The time has come to start gluing in the lagging strips. Again, this process starts at the rear seat level. The short strips here are removed and bevelled on the router table, then replaced and glued top and bottom to the carling and the cleat respectively. A minor complication arises when the sternmost strip is being fitted: the cleat, which has to be attached to it to support the lateral extension of the seat back, will not allow the strip to slide into position. Being wedge shaped and a tight fit against the rear seat back support, it only fits when the lagging is housed into the groove on the carling.
The problem is overcome by screwing the cleat temporarily to the strip, including a third screw which is put in from the ply side to the cleat. It and the lower screw which cannot be accessed once the unit is in position are then removed. The placement can then be made and the cleat, attached only by the top screw, is swung down to its correct location. Glue is swiped over the surface of the lagging strip where the cleat will lie, and, provided the top screw is not too tightly applied, there will be enough of a gap that the glue will not be completely wiped away when the cleat is swung. The top screw is then tightened and the third screw is introduced from behind (ie. in the cavity) with a short screw driver. It is a bit messy behind the seat back extension, but that area will be permanently hidden once the coaming is in position, so it does not matter. It is, however, extremely awkward reaching back to drive a screw blindly and left handed. If necessary, the side decking can be removed for access, as this has not yet been glued down either.
The process of placing the sternmost lagging strip and cleat.
The bevel on the opposing edges of the lagging, and the sternmost strip in position.
After a good deal of
fiddle, including some shimming of the lagging to bring it out to the
level of the carling, the first three strips are glued in. Two more go
in front of them before the first wide mahogany board is reached. (When
it is it will have to have its apertures cut for the speakers and glove
box openings, so yet another jig will be needed for the latter.) There
is no finish on the first lagging strip yet, apart from on its mahogany
edge, because a beading will have to be glued to it when the seat back
extension is added. It would not stick over a finish, so this strip
will be varnished after the beading is stuck on. But the other strips
are now showing a pleasing level of crispness and contrast with the
bevels and the finish on them, and the hoop pine in particular is very
attractively buffed by the Monocel
Before progressing to the area forward of the rear seat, an approximation of the opening to the glovebox is achieved by holding the cutout from the dash console over the place where it will be. Scrap is added to represent the rear seat cushion and the coaming. Continuing the truncated triangle shape of the dash onto the glovebox openings seems to be a good idea and the cutout is just about the right size for the opening, which means that it will have to be cut down by 8.5 mm. all round if it is to be used as a routing template.
Approximating the glovebox opening.
The board is now removed from the boat for bevelling, cutting and finishing. Before it is permanently replaced the glove box space will be painted black.
The old cut out from the dash is used as a marker to position the glovebox opening (left), and the actual template, which
is smaller, is screwed on (right) in preparation for routing.
With the aperture to the glovebox cut it is apparent that there will not be enough room to reach very far back into the cavity behind the lagging, so the rear wall to the box is constructed. It does not reach right up to the subdeck, so that ventilation to the cavity next to the seat will be adequate.
The box is painted with black
Japan, a semi-transparent stain which soaks into the wood a little.
That way, scratches will not be noticed as much as if a surface paint
were used. The box and the speaker grill colours now compliment each
other.
Before the lagging strips can be
permanently fixed over this section the sole has to be glued down, so
for the last time it is lifted and finished with Deks Olje, before
being screwed down onto an epoxy bed.
Fixing the sole requires that all lagging strips be removed from the side and dash on the starboard, and I take the opportunity to feed a battery cable through the conduit, as it will be more difficult later. The sole segments are oiled on top and laid over their floors, and a fillet is applied to their join on the hull.
The lagging can now be put back
and glued on, but some allowance for the throttle mechanism has to be
made next to the driver's seat before that compartment is sealed off
permanently.
101. Making a Picnic of It
Some slipper launches have facilities
which lend themselves very nicely to comfort afloat.
Picnic tables, drink holders and handy shelves help define a luxurious ambience.
I am still working on a plans to make the driver's seat convertible, so that it can turn to face astern and allow for a shared table to be used. That was easy enough in the old boats, with their Lloyd Loom chairs, but I am proposing a more substantial seat, such as that seen above left. Amongst other reasons, the house battery has to be located under the driver's seat. That still leaves the possibility of having the actual seat part on a pivot, on top of the base, but the narrowness of the cockpit at the level of the driver's seating will make it very difficult to design a seat which would have enough room to swing around, let alone enough for its back to avoid the steering wheel. A removable back is worth a thought, but that adds to the general clutter, especially if there is to be a table as seen above centre, which would also be removable.
One thing seems clear now, and that is that there will not be enough room for the side seating shown above, so there will be little need for the Rolls Royce type fold down seat trays, which would be too far from the back seat to be useful. The fixed trays under the windscreen are good, and so too the drink holders provided they do not get in the way. Perhaps a foldable one would be the solution.
All of these things are really in the realm of finishing touches, but they have to be planned for now. For example, I am hoping to be able to stow the fridge under the passenger front seat, so the placement of the power outlet for it will depend on the type of seat used, and that placement has to be decided before the lagging is finally glued in.
Picnic tables, drink holders and handy shelves help define a luxurious ambience.
I am still working on a plans to make the driver's seat convertible, so that it can turn to face astern and allow for a shared table to be used. That was easy enough in the old boats, with their Lloyd Loom chairs, but I am proposing a more substantial seat, such as that seen above left. Amongst other reasons, the house battery has to be located under the driver's seat. That still leaves the possibility of having the actual seat part on a pivot, on top of the base, but the narrowness of the cockpit at the level of the driver's seating will make it very difficult to design a seat which would have enough room to swing around, let alone enough for its back to avoid the steering wheel. A removable back is worth a thought, but that adds to the general clutter, especially if there is to be a table as seen above centre, which would also be removable.
One thing seems clear now, and that is that there will not be enough room for the side seating shown above, so there will be little need for the Rolls Royce type fold down seat trays, which would be too far from the back seat to be useful. The fixed trays under the windscreen are good, and so too the drink holders provided they do not get in the way. Perhaps a foldable one would be the solution.
All of these things are really in the realm of finishing touches, but they have to be planned for now. For example, I am hoping to be able to stow the fridge under the passenger front seat, so the placement of the power outlet for it will depend on the type of seat used, and that placement has to be decided before the lagging is finally glued in.
102. The Second Deck Skin
An examination of pictures of the
traditional slipper launches shows that the decking, which is a fully
laid plank deck, leaves the side of the boat a little at the bow, so as
to cover the rather large stems they have. Ariadne has a small, narrow
stem, which only protrudes a short distance from the hull. That gap
will be filled by the gunwale rubber, so there is no need for the deck
to cantilever out. However, the subdeck was shaped to skirt around the
stem, and allowed it to penetrate, so that its end grain was level with
the top of the subdeck. The second skin now covers the end grain of the
stem by capping it.
The first task with the second skin then is to lay the "king plank", which is in reality a piece of 6 mm. mahogany. It passes from the stem to the apex of the windscreen, and is halved over the opening hatches, but its grain pattern should be continuous, so it has to be cut from a single piece of timber. It is easy to get two pieces of 6 mm. thickness from a 25 mm. thick board, and the second part can be used at the stern, where another "king plank" passes from the coaming of the cockpit rear to the transom, over the opening hatch.
There is a tricky cut where the plank meets the apex of the windscreen, but apart from that it is straight forward, except at the bow, where the covering boards cross over it and meet each other in the midline.
It is interesting to note that the Selway Fisher plans state that the covering boards may be 75 mm. wide, whereas they have to cover a 170 mm. piece of subdeck. That means that there would be an epoxy and graphite fillet running down the side deck...an aesthetic unacceptability in my opinion. I propose to take advantage of the stability of the true mahogany, albeit from Fiji, which I am using, and run a single strip along the side deck and up to the bow and stern.
Clearly, until such time as the covering board is ready to be laid, the king plank cannot be finished forward, so its bow section is not glued down yet. But the other sections can be, and the way to do it is with screws and washers. Choosing 6 gauge pan head screws and generous washers, and using graphite impregnated epoxy to give a black line, the planks are laid in their correct position and screwed down onto the subdeck (no predrilled holes required), not screwing through the planks, but beside them. The screw holes will be filled by the next epoxy fillet. If they penetrate the subdeck, which they should, they might need to have tape applied on the under surface to stop the epoxy running through. You can cut all the decking strips first and lay them all together, or you can work bit by bit and take care to clean up the epoxy carefully as you go.
One method not to use is the one recommended by the plan, namely, to use temporary staples to hold down the second skin, just as was done for the hull. That is all very well if a painted deck is contemplated, but with a bright finished deck such as Ariadne will have it is clearly unacceptable. Not only would there be pin point holes in the planks visible, but there would be the wounds inflicted by the stapler. Remember the hull!
Staple wounds in the second hull skin.
The screw method outlined above is found in the Gougeon Bros book. It is meant to be used on thicker timbers than the ply I am using, but it can be adapted to work here too. Other techniques I have seen mentioned include the use of numerous sand bags to weigh down the top skin, but I can see that ending up as an almighty mess. I will stick with the screws.
With the king plank ready, the covering boards are the next necessity, to define the areas to be filled by decking strips, and the laying of the covering boards is a separate topic involving the dreaded scarf joints again. Their complexity is such that they will be left until the June session.
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The first task with the second skin then is to lay the "king plank", which is in reality a piece of 6 mm. mahogany. It passes from the stem to the apex of the windscreen, and is halved over the opening hatches, but its grain pattern should be continuous, so it has to be cut from a single piece of timber. It is easy to get two pieces of 6 mm. thickness from a 25 mm. thick board, and the second part can be used at the stern, where another "king plank" passes from the coaming of the cockpit rear to the transom, over the opening hatch.
There is a tricky cut where the plank meets the apex of the windscreen, but apart from that it is straight forward, except at the bow, where the covering boards cross over it and meet each other in the midline.
It is interesting to note that the Selway Fisher plans state that the covering boards may be 75 mm. wide, whereas they have to cover a 170 mm. piece of subdeck. That means that there would be an epoxy and graphite fillet running down the side deck...an aesthetic unacceptability in my opinion. I propose to take advantage of the stability of the true mahogany, albeit from Fiji, which I am using, and run a single strip along the side deck and up to the bow and stern.
Clearly, until such time as the covering board is ready to be laid, the king plank cannot be finished forward, so its bow section is not glued down yet. But the other sections can be, and the way to do it is with screws and washers. Choosing 6 gauge pan head screws and generous washers, and using graphite impregnated epoxy to give a black line, the planks are laid in their correct position and screwed down onto the subdeck (no predrilled holes required), not screwing through the planks, but beside them. The screw holes will be filled by the next epoxy fillet. If they penetrate the subdeck, which they should, they might need to have tape applied on the under surface to stop the epoxy running through. You can cut all the decking strips first and lay them all together, or you can work bit by bit and take care to clean up the epoxy carefully as you go.
One method not to use is the one recommended by the plan, namely, to use temporary staples to hold down the second skin, just as was done for the hull. That is all very well if a painted deck is contemplated, but with a bright finished deck such as Ariadne will have it is clearly unacceptable. Not only would there be pin point holes in the planks visible, but there would be the wounds inflicted by the stapler. Remember the hull!
Staple wounds in the second hull skin.
The screw method outlined above is found in the Gougeon Bros book. It is meant to be used on thicker timbers than the ply I am using, but it can be adapted to work here too. Other techniques I have seen mentioned include the use of numerous sand bags to weigh down the top skin, but I can see that ending up as an almighty mess. I will stick with the screws.
With the king plank ready, the covering boards are the next necessity, to define the areas to be filled by decking strips, and the laying of the covering boards is a separate topic involving the dreaded scarf joints again. Their complexity is such that they will be left until the June session.
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