The fiberglass tape came in on Wed. (Hooray) and we got to work immediately and glassed the port seam and installed the aft bulkhead that will support the rear seat. Then Thurs. we removed the temporary bulkhead, fitted the side bulkheads for gluing and made some final decisions concerning the cuddy cabin. We decided on the seat height inside the cabin as well as where the entryway bulkhead should go.
We played with the idea of extending the cabin door bulkhead to the center thwart giving a LOT of cabin space. But maybe too much. And the cabin door would have to be offset to one side (probably opposite the centerboard) because of the mizzen mast location and other problems as well such as the sail getting in the way of the cabin door when running downwind. We decided on a location that leaves 7ft of horizontal room inside the cabin for laying down. We also decided that the narrow width inside the cabin around the centerboard was too small to warrant feet room on both sides of the keel batten (thing that runs down the middle of the boat) so there will only be foot space on the port side of the cabin. Thus the starboard seat top inside the cabin will be wider than the port seat top. A board will be made such that the gap between the centerboard trunk and the port seat top can be closed when in "sleeping" mode so that there will be ample sleeping space for two persons. This picture gives you an idea of the space there will be, i.e. not much. But enough to change cloths and get out of the elements. There should be enough room for 2 people to sit side by side. Also, I am sitting the wrong way for what I just described since there would be no foot room on the starboard side. Also the centerboard is offset to starboard by about 3 inches due to the main mast. This has a negligible effect on sailing performance and makes the keel stronger since the keel batten does not have to be split by the board.
This picture is as of tonight (firday night) and you can see (from the bow back) the tabernacle bulkhead, shortened forward bulkhead, the lower half of the cabin entry bulkhead and the side bulkheads. None of which are glued in yet (thats for tomorrow). The sticks are representative of the cabin entry bulkhead. The top stick is 48 inches above the keel batten which we decided was a "comfortable" height for a sitting person. The cabin roof will curve forward and down meeting the bow deck at the location of the forward bulkhead. The tabernacle bulkhead is the furthest vertical wall inside the cabin. There will be a 8 to 12 inch wide (not sure yet) rail around the cabin side for walking forward to the main mast. We are planning another bulkhead between the forward bulkhead and the entry bulkhead that will end the foot well in the cabin. There will be storage under the cabin seats on port and starboard as well as under the forward seat.
This picture shows the cabin entry bulkhead and centerboard stuck in. It is not in the correct position (it's way too far forward) but you get the idea. We fiberglassed the centerboard trunk sides today as well and hope to get the trunk installed this weekend as well. The trunk will be installed first then the lower cabin door bulkhead will be installed around it. We are planning to sink the trunk sides through the hull and butt the king posts against and bottom and trim the trunk sides off when we flip the hull over. This will make more sense with pictures later. If we get the side bulkheads in tomorrow we can also start on the vertical cockpit seat sides and hardwood longerons and we also need to finish up the hardwood on the transom that goes across the top and the vertical piece plus the aft seat support stringer across the middle of the transom. Aaaand we need still need to glue in the bottom stringers that support the 1/4inch forward bottom panels under all those cabin seat bulkheads.With any luck, we will be ready for epoxy paint after this weekend because we will be ready to close up the cockpit seats with seat tops!!! Ok maybe we won't get thaaaat far but you have to think BIG. Hey dad, better order the epoxy paint.
