Saturday, 12 December 2015

Finished the coamings

After gluing the coamings in place, the next step involved trimming them so they were the correct size. This involved a process not-unlike trimming my fringe. Take a little off one side, look at it from afar, take a little off the other side, look at it from a distance, take some more off... Luckily I managed to stop myself before I reached the deck.

Then I sanded things smooth, coated with epoxy + filler (this 4mm ply has a pretty crap open-grained face ply, which swallows epoxy), then a couple of coats of unthickened epoxy, then sand down to 180 grit, and finally toplac paint.

Here's what it looks like tonight.

The shaped bit in the bow is to allow clearance so I can flip the forward thwart hatches over. The coaming is about 65mm above the deck at the bow, and 22mm above deck where I'm likely to sit on it.

Next job is to complete sanding the decks out to 180 grit and then paint them with top coat. No, I'm not using undercoat. I really dislike the stuff - it clogs emery way too fast for my liking.

6 comments:

steve said...

Lovely coatings Suzy. I made mine too high on Arwen in hindsight although I have always been really pleased about extending them down to the seat.
Can I ask, what are the three holes in the side thwart wall for?
Steve
Arwen's meanderings

Suzy said...

Hi Steve,

I considered copying Arwen and extending the coamings to the seat, but would like to stash my oars under the deck, so decided against it.

The three little holes are sockets for a rod to support the rowing stretcher. I figure that by having three I have some adjustment. The rod will do double duty to support a raised floor for sleeping, or at least I hope.

Unknown said...

Lookin" real good Suzy, you'll have to come down and mooch about on the inlet, Merry Xmas

Suzy said...

Thanks Dai! Missing you heaps, got nobody to pay out on.

steve said...

Ah! Rowing sockets, of course, that makes heaps of sense. I store the oars out on the side deck. I am fiddling around trying to design a little bracket that will hold their outer end against the bowsprit. I'm hoping some bright GCSE student will take it on in school as part of their engineering portfolio. I saw the idea on my friend's postboat, where one oar is stored either side with the blades reaching the end of the bowsprit on a bracket. However, my problem with them was deploying the anchor. Hence I have moved both sets of oars to starboard side. Slightly more fiddly deploying them but I am getting the hang of it.
Loving what you have done Suzy. Love the Ducati as well, although as you will no doubt know, mine secret passion is my 1969 motovespa 125 super "Stacey"
Have a lovely Christmas and new year. Really looking forward to your launch date
Steve

Lorenzo said...

Thank you for your message on the JW group Suzy. I see what a wonderful job you've made of the coamings. I will draw inspiration from it.
Kind regards
Lorenzo