I hit quite a stall during Christmas and haven’t gotten much done in a while. It’s that bilge. The thought of sanding all those nooks and crannies multiple times I think just ran me down.
I did however get all my floorboards ready for install as that part was fairly easy and so more fun to tackle. Or vice versa.
All this was pretty straightforward per the manual. Each board got 1/8″ roundovers on all edges and then sanded through grits down to 220. I then used a countersink bit on each screw hole to make sure all the install screws will seat in flush.
Then a few coats of Danish Oil on all surfaces to seal the boards. Here are shots of a few boards at this stage…
This is also the point at which I built the lift-outs for the bilge hatches. My lift-outs are slightly different from the manual but only in the fact that they are one bulkhead longer. Mine run from bulkhead 4 to 7, one hatch on each side of the centerboard trunk.
What I did think about a lot was creating other lift-outs that would allow me access to any section of the bilge in case something were to fall through the cracks and need retrieval. In the end I decided against it as I envisioned bouncing around at sea and having hatches spilling out all over the place.
Here are my two lift-outs, hanging out of the way, ready to go. I only drilled one finger hole and positioned it at the aft end. Seems cleaner to me.
Aft cleating & conduit
As other builders have noticed with kit floorboards, they seem to be a tad short and so a little extra width on the bulkhead 8 floorboard cleat is needed. Once that piece was glued in, I repositioned those boards that rest on that cleat and drilled my holes for screws.
You’ll notice a hole in the floorboards that is in line with a hole in bulkhead 8. This is where I will run my electrical conduit into the aft compartments. This conduit will carry low voltage for a stern light, transducer, and a USB outlet in one of the seatback lockers.
I have some flexible tubing for conduit that I will run under the floors, but I am using PVC for the exposed run from above the floors and through bulkhead 8. I prefer some rigid protection here. I will epoxy the T into bulkhead 8. The 45 deg. elbow and the small extension will not be glued.
Next
Prepping and painting the bilge.