Plywood Decking Started

Over the last few days I was able to accomplish a few things. First, I put another coat of epoxy in a few dry areas of the sub-decking and transom. I also epoxied the plywood bench to it's support beams. I originally thought it would be nice to remove the bench but I wasn't able to think of a good reason of doing so besides cleaning.

Next, I figured out the cable and pulley system and found where my pulleys should be fastened. I have only seen a few cable and pulley setups at boat shows and a few others online. It seems there are two different ways to set it up. One with the cable ends fastened to a spring and then directly to the outboard, and a second with  the cable and spring fastened to the transom and pulleys attached to the outboard. I went with the cables and springs fastened directly to the outboard because of the height with the raised transom (though this may change). After I've painted I'll post a diagram and pictures of how I did it.

The last project I started on was the 1/4" plywood decking. I had one 4' x 8' plywood board that I was hoping would cover most of the topside and I could use scrap for the rest, but it looks like I'll be purchasing another 4'x8 board. This will also make a more even and stronger finish. I left 1/4" on all sides for margin of error when I cut and it will easily sand down when I get closer to fastening it to the sub-decking. The plywood also does not fit width wise across the boat so I will use a scrap piece that will be supported by the coaming.

The pictures below show the placement of a rear pulley, the plywood decking cut, and the area where the scrap piece will fit on the coaming. As a side note, I will be placing mahogany veneer over the transom to cover up the screw holes.

Added Transom Height

With my 1957 Evinrude, the shaft length is slightly longer than the 20" standard used today (I believe post 1960). This meant to get the cavitation plate level to the bottom of the transom I would need to add some height. I was able to do so this weekend and am pretty happy with the results. I epoxied three pieces of 3/4" mahogany plywood and used 1 1/4" bronze screws to get a good grip through to the transom. You can see the two pieces I added on the front side, I had wanted to make that of one piece but didn't have enough wood to make it work. It still needs some shaping and sanding but overall it has a tight fit. Before I epoxied everything I had thought about getting a different outboard to use, something that would fit better, but now I'm glad I took this route. I can always take a saw and chop off the added height if I want to.

I also played around with the cable and pulley steering system and think I finally have it figured out. The problem I have been running into is the height of the outboard means the cable has to come down quite a bit to fit into the pulley. This means instead of drilling a small hole through the coaming, I may have to make a slit in the top of the decking between the coaming and the sheer. 

Paint Ordered, Decking Ideas

The temperature dropped from the low 90's to the mid to low 60's so I haven't been able to do any epoxying as anything under 70 degrees is not recommended. Instead, I decided to take the plunge and purchase some primer and paint from JamesTownDistributors.com. I ended up going with  2 quarts of Interlux Primer Pre-Kote and 1 quart of Interlux Brightside Light Blue for the sides and Interlux Brightside White for the bottom. Since I will only be using the Squirt for a few hours at a time I decided to go with Brightside for the bottom instead of a bottom paint. I also received some good info from the Glen-L forum about which paints to use which is another reason I went this route. 

For application, I plan on doing at least 3 coats of primer on the bottom and sides. I really want to get a smooth and semi-professional looking finish so I'm hoping the primer will fill in any imperfections and give a good base for sanding. I then figure 2 coats for the Brightside paints should be good enough. 

If I have time this summer, I'm going to do the top decking, but as of right now that's still up in the air. If I'm not able to or don't want to do it this summer then I'll do it next spring; I still want to be able to launch and have some fun on it before it gets too cold. Below I made two designs of the decking I want to do. I'm not sure about the type of wood yet but I'm leaning towards white maple and African mahogany. I also have the hull color scheme I'm going to use, which has the correct color I purchased from Interlux. Hopefully I'll be able to update later this week with more progress. I'll also be pushing the calendar (right side of page) back until it warms up and I can get things done. 

Pulley/Cable Helm and Dashboard

Over the weekend I shaped the dashboard and made a tighter fit against the deck battens. The dashboard sits at a 20 degree angle, and as the middle deck batten is higher than the other two, it was a little difficult getting the right fit. A file worked really well for this process. I also made some support blocking pieces for the dashboard to sit against for added strength. They will be fastened to the coamings at the same time as the dashboard.

Once the dash was in I went ahead and drilled out the hole for the helm. I first sat in the boat and figured out where a comfortable position for the steering wheel would be and then made a mark for it. Once I put the helm into place I realized the wheel was a little too close to center and it would be a strange fit to be steering with two people in the boat. I then made a second hole that fit a lot better and the helm piece is large enough to cover the other hole up.

Next I went about adding height to the transom. It needs to be raised a little less than 3". I cut out some scrap plywood I had that will match the transom, but I'm not sure if that will be strong enough to hold. I was planning to put 2 large screws with epoxy to hold it in place, and then fiberglass as well. Now I'm thinking about finding a metal transom raiser that would be stronger. I'll look online at pricing and make a decision in the next day or two.

The pictures below show the helm and steering wheel in place as well as the outboard (which you can see sits a little low). The second picture shows how much fairing I'll need to do for the decking to fit right, though I'm sitting slightly lower than even with the bow so it's not quite as bad as it looks. On the right on this blog I set up a calendar which will show the fastening schedule I'm going to try and follow. I'm hoping for a splash date in 3 weeks, but we'll see how close I get to that. 

Hatch Sub-Decking and Seating Complete

After a lengthy break from moving, camping, and fishing, I have been able to put some time in again. The hatch sub-decking structure is complete along with the bench which includes the support beams. For the bench I put wood on top of the outer most battens and keel and then put two support beams across those. Once I epoxied those into place I put a coat on the bench board which is 1/4" African mahogany. The bench will not be fastened to support beams as I want to be able to remove the bench to clean and etc.

Next on the list is to finish the dashboard. I'll be really relieved when this part is over because it will be a main focus on the boat, and I don't want to mess it up. I also haven't installed the cable and pulley helm before so I need to get it right the first time. After the dashboard goes in, the pulleys will be next. Then I need to add about 2-3" to the transom to get the outboard cavitation plate in the right position to prevent and porpoising. Once that's complete I'll fair everything down, attach the deck (which will be plywood for now, next year I'll add some veneers and inlay), flip the boat, and get started on painting. Painting should be the last big thing left so I hope the weather holds off this weekend so I can get some work done.

First picture is the bench with a coat of epoxy on it, the second picture is of the hatch, and the third is with the bench in place.