3456Hrs – All Hands On Deck

For the last two days I’ve been concentrating on the decks. I’ve made and fitted the eight hardwood supports for the forward decks and they’re now epoxied and through bolted to the hull sides.

I got all the forward deck slats cut to length and they’re now lying on the bearers ready to be spaced and screwed in place, that’ll be tomorrows job if the stainless decking screws I’ve ordered arrive.

Even with the slats lying there loose ‘Gledas’ appearance has changed once again and I’m left amazed at the seemingly vast area of deck space that has materialised.

And now I have a basement between the hulls!

This afternoon I spaced and screwed down the centre deck slats and then made the small hatch opening in front of the deck pod. This will eventually be hinged with rope and it can be used to haul up buckets of seawater, as a sea toilet, and as a safe place to be seasick.

It was one of those jobs that should have been simple but that actually took me ages, not because it was particularly difficult, but because I had my stupid head on. If you look closely you can see all the holes left behind from my cock ups. I may just fill them but then again I may just start again. Sometimes I wonder how the hell I’ve ever managed to build this boat!