Odds & Ends: Getting Ready to Flip the Boat

Several small jobs are called for before flipping the boat over to finish the hull.  One is to cut the lazarette holes, which I had already done and then test fit the Bowmar hatches.  The hatches fit just fine, as shown here: 

Lazarette Hatches Test Fit

 (You can also see the hole I cut for the tiller, which I will discuss later.)

Portholes

Next I cut out the portholes for the little cabin (or cuddy as they call it).

Porthole Flanges

Porthole flanges are glued in next as shown here.  Later Lexan windows will be placed over the flanges.

Cowl Vent Test Fit

Cowl Vent Over Dorade Box

The next thing I did was to cut the holes for the cowl vents on top of the dorade boxes.  Here are the vents sitting on the dorade boxes.  The vents will not be permanently installed until much later.





The dorade boxes will have small drain holes in the hull, so any water that finds it's way into the cowl vent will drain out over the side instead of into the cabin.

Tiller Hole

Test Fit of Rudder and Tiller

There needs to be a hole in the transom for the tiller to pass through.  Here is the hole cut and rounded over with a router.












This shows a test fit of the tiller from outside the back of the boat.  The rudder is sitting on a stack of shim boards to get it to the correct height it will be when it is permanently installed.

Struggle with Rub Rail Strip #2 on Starboard Side

One of the jobs that is called for before flipping the boat is to install the rub rails.  The rub rails are made up of three, 3/4" thick strips on each side, for a total width of 2 1/4".  I was able to install the first strip on each side without much trouble, but the second strip on the starboard side did not want to cooperate at the bow end, where there is the greatest amount of curve.  My good friend and neighbor, Dave Hardy, walked up at just the right time and offered his help.  He had the very good idea of using tie-down straps to pull the strip over into place.  Two straps are hooked together and reach all the way to the back of the boat, across the transom, and hook on to the same strip extending out the back.  This worked extremely well and it was a very good thing Dave showed up when he did, before the glue started to cure.  Many thanks to him, and by the way this is not the first time he has "saved my bacon" with problem-solving ideas on this project.

I plan to use this same technique for the remaining rub-rail strips.

The manual also calls for a large, square hole to be cut in the stem, just above the rub rails.  The hole will be for the bowsprit to pass through.  I may cut the hole before flipping the boat or afterwards, it doesn't really matter.