3113Hrs – Double Decker

Time has flown again and I genuinely thought it was Wednesday today, I’m not sure where I lost a day but then again my lifestyle means that days of the week are somewhat irrelevant these days. Gone are the days of waiting for the weekend, I enjoy every day that comes along 🙂

Anyway I was keen to pick up where I’d left off with the engine boxes and after studying the plans for a few minutes I decided to have a look at the centre deck detail and mock up where everything went.

Basically there are two stringers that run along the inboard edges of the engine boxes upon which the four 45 x 70 main deck bearers sit. I found some softwood of the right dimensions to use for my mock up but I’ll have to find some better quality timber for the proper job.

As soon as I got the first bearer dropped in place I could see that it wasn’t sitting square to the beam because the inboard edge of the starboard engine box was about 10mm too low. When I put it in place the other day it seemed fine but it was out none the less.

To correct the problem I got a trolley jack and a post underneath the engine box, removed the stainless pin, dropped the box to the correct position, marked the hole and then re-drilled it.

I’m so glad I chose to put everything together as a trial first because it would have been immensely frustrating to have found myself butchering nicely glassed and painted engine boxes.

Anyway I soon had it back in the right place and was able to drop in the mock deck timbers to see how things sat and to get a clear understanding etched into my brain. I even found a couple of 70 20 planks to simulate where the slatted deck planks will sit. I’m probably going to use Iroko decking for those.

Here’s a photo showing everything in place:

Next up I decided to look at the narrow pieces of deck that close the gaps between the outboard edges of the engine boxes and the main hull decks. The inboard edges of these decks sit on top of the engine box and the outboard on top of hardwood strips epoxied to the main decks.

It took a while to work out the right size for these strips and to get them cut to the right angles to fit nicely on the sloping decks but once that was done I was able to drill some drain holes along the bottom edges and smooth them off before offering them into position and seeing how the deck sat.

The photo below left shows the support strips in position and on the right with the side deck in position.

Once I was happy I was able to mark and cut the forward edge of the deck so as to give access to the deck filler and to give space for the beam lashings:

Tomorrow I’ll have a look at the engine box lids and the starboard side deck.