Installing Port side Stairs and Propane locker

After I had the two side support pieces made I glued and screwed them into place on either side of the opening. I used 5200 and about 8 screws to each piece, so I don't think they are going anywhere.

But just to make sure I also glassed them on each side with 3 layers of 1807 biax tape. This way the drains will be completely sealed.

The aft wall of the locker was next. This actually separates the propane locker from the flash heater compartment. Both side of the plywood were coated with 1 layer 1.5Oz Mat and 1 layer of 2415 Biax cloth before being installed. It will be glassed in on both sides.

The real beauty of this design  is that the propane tanks, the stove and the flash heater are right next to each other. So the longest propane line with be about 12" long. The regulator, transfer valve and shut off valve will all be right in the same locker.

Next I built the two remaining walls that form the area for the 4th tank under the cabinets. Each panel was coated with resin then glassed on the locker side before installing. All the joints were then glassed on the inside of the locker to seal all the joints.

After fairing all the corner glass work in I gelcoated the whole interior of the locker. I am not sure why but this is the only picture I could find of the gel coating. I will have to take some more tomorrow.

The final step was to put the top on the area where the 4th tank lives. It was glued and screwed together with 5200. So now the whole locker is sealed off from the rest of the interior of the boat. All I need to do is cut the drain hole in the side of the hull. I made the floor of the locker so it would drain to that hole.

Side Deck Stairs

I had this brilliant idea (you know the kind) that I could stash 4 20 Lb. propane tanks in a locker under the port side stairs up to the Sun Deck and the dead corner in the galley. So I started to build it by cutting out the floor of it.


This is not a great shot of the floor but you can get the idea. So there would be one tank located where the one in the picture is, the 2nd tank just aft of it, The 3rd tank to the right side of the 2nd tank and the 4th tank will sit on a shelf over the 2nd tank.

One neat little hole full of propane tanks. ABYC rules say that this locker has to be completely sealed off from the rest of the interior of the boat, thus everything is glassed together. It also has to drain directly overboard, so there will be a hole through the hull at the forward bottom corner of the locker. The floor also drains to that corner. Once I got the floor in I realized that I need to know the height of the forward partition before I could build it. Will that depended on the height of the stair tread at that point, which depended on the height of the Sun Deck where the stairs finished. So I had to stop the propane locker and build the little piece of Sun Deck that leads forward to the stairs and then the stair supports.

I did not take pictures of the building of the little piece of deck. But I did record the process of building the stair supports.

It took me awhile to figure out just how to make these buggers. The problem is that if the stairs are going to open than you have to have drains on each side for the water to run off instead of getting into the locker. this is the mold I made for that support and drain piece. It is upside down right now. It is made of 3 layers of plywood, the larger or outside piece is what forms one side of the drain, the middle and top piece form the rounded tread supports. The outside wall of the opening becomes the other side of the drain channel.

Of course you want that to be nicely rounded over and the wood pieces are cut square. So I used this special clay to form the fillets on each side of the channel. It is a slow and tedious process that has to be done for each piece you make. Luckily I have only two to do for this side.

Here is the mold ready to be glassed. The glass will roll down off the mold and onto the larger white piece under it. That will form the flange that I will screw to the side wall of the opening. the 40 Lbs. Lead weights hold everything in place.

One last closeup showing the channel that will form the lip that supports the stair treads. I have already sprayed the gel coat on at time.

Here is the finished piece after I have pulled the mold apart, filled the little imperfections and sprayed another layer of gel coat on. I also filled the rolled over part with a filler I make from grinding powder and resin to add strength to the support.

This is a shot of the back side of it. The part that has no gel coat on it gets glassed and screwed to the wall of the locker opening. The top of the support is at the bottom of the picture and the bottom at the top, so you are viewing it from above the stairs. I found the additive to put in the gel coat that makes it cure very smooth with a great gloss.

Galley Port Bulkhead and first piece of Sun Deck

This is work that I did over the last month and Half. The work was very sporadic because I kept getting called away to my moonlighting job... So I was not keeping the blog up to date.
The first step was to build new piece of the port side cabin side to replace the door opening and rotted existing one.

So here it is viewed from the inside. Part of the new cabin side actually goes all the way down to the main salon deck level where it forms part of the propane locker that is located under the stairs going up from the side deck to the Sun Deck. That is the dark area behind the bucket. To the right of that it only goes down to the side deck level like the old one did. To the left or just aft of it is the opening into the propane locker that forms part of the storage area. That is under the back dead corner in the galley cabinets. More on that later.

Here is a shot from outside. I re-used pieces of the original glass work, glassing them together to form the new wall. No sense in throwing away good glass work to turn around and have to lay up and finish new glass work...
It looks a little rough now but the pieces are all level with each other I just need to sand and paint it over again.

You can see the inboard side of the stir support and the forward partition of the propane locker.

Just above that is the first little piece of the Sun Deck. You can also see the first of the 3 panels that will make up the Sun Deck.

This turned out to be a much more complicated little area than I had realized it would be.