Bridgedeck Project

[Fortis]

Small cheap fan heater.

Lowest heat setting. Works a treat. Get a humidity meter, different humidity when hand laying up glass layers between layers will cause more delamination then anything else that can lurk and be scary with fibreglassing.

[AdriftAtSea]

Alex-

Would use a heater if I had a good AC source there, but I don't.  At least not one that would work reliably, since any extension cord I had would be constantly unplugged and re-plugged in as they move other boats around in the yard.  My boat is about as far as you could possibly put it from any outlet in the place... so any way I run a cord, would be the long way around. 

What do you mean by humidity meter.... like an atmospheric humidity meter, like a sling hygrometer??

[Ol' Coot]

Dan,

If you're using WEST epoxy, and not trying to get a heat cure (as used in carbon/epoxy masts) the requirements for external heat should be rather small.  You only need to get the reaction started.  If its a sunny day, you probably can get enough heat inside the closed box just by taping a black trash bag or two over the outside and letting the sun beat on it for a while.  Once the WEST epoxy starts to kick, there's no stoppin' it!

Kevin

[AdriftAtSea]

Good to know... thanks Ol' Coot.

[AdriftAtSea]

I've gotten the beast all glassed in  and hope to have it faired and sanded this weekend.  I just ordered Interlux Interdeck paint for it, and hope to be painting it on Wednesday or so of next week.

[Frank]

Good for you..the worst is over.Painting is the easy part....its that darn prep work that kills ya  :-[    If, in final sanding you get frustrated...go away for a while...it always seems easier after.  Pictures...we NEED pictures  ;)

[BobW]

Oh, if only it were true... :(  Painting, varnishing - heck, any finishing work is the bane of my existance.  I guess I need to repeat the mantra...

• Painting is the easy part...
• Painting is the easy part...
• Painting is the easy part...

How long will it take for me to believe this to be true?  ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

Unfortunately, I'm not done with the fairing and sanding yet... :(  I've got the camera charged up and will try to remember to take some photos of the setup.  I'm headed back down to the marina tomorrow. :)  Paint won't be in until Tuesday from what I've been told—so I've got until then to get the sanding and fairing done.  :D

[AdriftAtSea]

I haven't finished the painting, but I did get to try out the bridge deck yesterday, since I put the Pretty Gee in the water and went for the first sail of the season.  The taping of the new water line seems to be about perfect, but I have to re-apply the tape on three of the six sides... since some of the tape decided to come off while we were sailing... it was a risk, but one I was happy to take.  :D

To say the bridge deck has worked out well is an understatement.  I love having a fairly large storage area right by the cockpit and galley. It also works quite well as additional seating in the cockpit, and looks like it will have solved all the problems I had previously with water entering the cabin.  I am hoping to get the exterior of bridge deck painted and coated with anti-skid this week, but the weather and work may not cooperate.  I'll finish up the interior of the bridge deck locker next week, after the boat gets soda blasted.

The construction methods I ended up using is very solid... and it doesn't flex or bend at all.  There are no cleats in the final construction, as the only cleat I ended up using was a temporary one to connect the aft panel to the bridge deck top, and that was only needed until the epoxy fillet between the two pieces cured.

[Frank]

 Glad it worked out. I miss having a 'usable' one.They really are handy....and safe.

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

I'll try and get some photos of the bridge deck, once I've completed the painting and anti-skid on it.  I also still have to fair the interior and paint it, but that's a  lower priority, since it isn't as weather dependent.

[BobW]

Dan -

It sounds like a very successful project.  I'm looking forward to the pictures.

[AdriftAtSea]

Unfortunately, the painting keeps getting interrupted by thunderstorms... really good thunderstorms... so I've been working on other projects.  I hope that next week will have a few dry days in a row that I can get to the boat during to finish the painting. 

Besides the head pumpout project, I've also re-routed the water deck fill.  It is now located on the angled aft portion of the bridge deck, and looks quite good there.  Having it on the angled section prevents water from pooling around the deck fill, which was a problem where it was located previously.

As part of the bridge deck project, I rebuilt the companionway drop board rails, and added a hand rail to the starboard side of the companion way entrance, as well as added internal fast pins sockets to the drop board rail.  This allows me to "lock" the drop boards in the drop board rails.  On a monohull, this would be a great addition,  since in the case of a knockdown or capsize, it would prevent the boards from falling out. I mainly did it as an additional security measure.

However, in the course of working on these other projects, I've found that the bridge deck, with the additional storage it provides the cabin and the seating it provides the cockpit, has been a great upgrade to the boat's design and functionality. 

I still have to make a new companionway ladder and fashion a door for the new bridge deck storage locker.  I think I'll make the door for the locker serve two purposes—act as a door, but also function as additonal counter space for the galley when opened.

The work was also delayed by having to do a clean up of the interior of the boat.  Soda blasting does a wonderful job of cleaning up the hull's surface and prepping it for painting, but it also finds small vents and can make a major mess of the interior of the boat if you're not careful to seal all of the vents... including small wiring conduits.  Oh well, chalk that up as another way to learn about my boat.   

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

Should have some photos of the finished bridgedeck for you this week.  :D  Got it painted this weekend but forgot the camera. :(

[Frank]

Great.looking forward to viewing. nice feeling to get things caught up a bit..sailing is more fun, but dreaming up 'mods' is great too....it's just the 'doing' part that gets ya

[CapnK]

Dan - Glad it worked out so well, looking forward to the pics. :)

[AdriftAtSea]

Sorry the cockpit is such a mess—it is in dire need of cleaning. :D but, here are the photos I promised... The bridgedeck's new companionway threshold comes up to almost exactly the same point as the lowermost drop board used to.  Obviously, the lowest drop board isn't used any more.





I had to relocate the water tank deck-fill, and decided to put it on the angled portion of the bridgedeck, since no water will pool around the deck fill, and it is much less likely to get any salt water in the tank. 

[CapnK]

Looks really sharp, Dan - good job! :)

[AdriftAtSea]

Thanks CapnK.

A while back, right after I had finished building the bridge deck, I went out sailing with a friend and he had said that the bridge deck really looked like it belonged in the cockpit...not like it was an afterthought... which was important to me.  The new locker, being right by the companionway, the galley and nav station has been very convenient. 

You can reach in from the cockpit and pull things out of that locker without having to go down into the cabin, which is what you used to have to do, since all the other storage is much further away from the companionway.  I was really surprised at how much space is in the locker too. 

[CapnK]

Q: Wondering - You just reach over and around the forward lip at the C-way to access the space?