From about the middle of the centerboard slot and aft to the transom, the ballast keel’s upper surface slopes downward, leaving a wedge-shaped opening between it and the keel plank. This gets filled in with a large wooden piece called the deadwood. Aft of the deadwood, a separate piece called the sternpost will be fitted.
The deadwood has a curved upper surface that abuts the keel plank and tapering, slightly curved sides that extend down to the ballast keel. I began by building up a deadwood profile template using thin plywood pieces to fit the opening where the deadwood would be.
I built up a plywood template to lay out the deadwood’s profile.
Douglas fir is specified for the deadwood, and what was readily available and of sufficient width was 2 x 10 planks. I cut them so I could glue them, stacked in a tidy pile, to make a blank from which the deadwood piece could be sawn to shape.
I made the blank for the deadwood by gluing together pieces of 2 x 10 Douglas fir planks. I’ve used my template to mark the outline of the deadwood profile on the face of the blank.
The glued-up blank was hefty and definitely too large to cut to shape on my 14″ bandsaw. But boatbuilder Alex Hadden was willing to make the cuts for me on his industrial-size saw. We began by making cuts to bring the blank close to its final shape in profile.
The deadwood is too large to cut on my band saw, so Alex Hadden helped me by making the cuts on his much larger saw. It’s capable of 16″ deep cuts, just enough to make the largest cuts on this deadwood blank. I’ve laid the pattern on the blank to mark out the first set of cuts.Alex is making the last of three cuts to get the deadwood close to its final profile. Here he’s cutting the surface that will adjoin the sternpost.
The broad faces of the deadwood are curved and have a slight winding bevel. We decided it would be safest to keep the bandsaw’s table at 90 degrees for rough-cutting these faces, and then I could finish tapering the sides using hand planes.
Here Alex has begun making the cuts that will become the side faces of the deadwood. I gradually raised the blade guide as the cut progressed. It opened up to a maximum of 16″—just enough to accommodate the deepest part of Justine’s deadwood.
After sawing, the deadwood is close to its final shape. Because of the extensive tapering of the shape, there’s quite a bit of wood to cut away from the original blank.
The big bandsaw cuts are done. I still have to cut the opening for the centerboard slot (marked out and visible here), and bring the blank to its final shape using hand tools.
I used my No. 7 joiner plane to smooth the two flat faces of the deadwood, and both a compass and block plane to smooth the curved face that adjoins the keel plank. For the slightly curved, broad side faces I started with a scrub plane to do some of the tapering, and was able to use smoothing and block planes to bring the sides to their final profile.
I’ve smoothed the deadwood with hand planes. I made an impressive pile of shavings, some visible on the ground here.
I was able to cut the centerboard slot in the deadwood on my 14″ bandsaw, then it was ready to put in place and drill for the keel bolts that need to pass through and secure it.
Checking the deadwood’s fit. It’s ready to install.
John Peterson helped me prepare and fasten the deadwood in place. We used more roofing cement and canvas to bed the deadwood, as we’d done for the ballast keel.
The sternpost attaches to the aft end of the deadwood. Its primary function is as a strong attachment point for the rudder, so it’s made from a piece of white oak. The sternpost also serves to seal the deadwood’s end grain, which could otherwise facilitate transport of water into the deadwood. The sternpost is tapered so that it fairs smoothly into the deadwood’s shape, and match the butt of the ballast keel at the sternpost’s lower end. The three mating surfaces of the sternpost get the same roofing cement/canvas treatment as the ballast keel and deadwood.
John Peterson helped me install the deadwood and sternpost. Sternpost surfaces have been coated with a thin layer of roofing cement, a layer of canvas, and it’s ready to bolt in place.Once the sternpost is bolted in place, there’s lots of squeezed-out roofing cement to clean up. John’s getting a start, using a putty knife.Deadwood and sternpost after installation. Two large bungs are visible on the aft surface of the sternpost. (They have not yet been trimmed flush.) The bungs cover carriage bolts that extend up through the deadwood and keel plank. Two of the rudder’s three bronze gudgeons (rudder attachment fittings) are in place near the bottom and top of the sternpost. Both the deadwood and sternpost have been darkened in the process of cleaning up squeezed-out roofing cement. Both parts will get a coat of red lead prior to application of bottom paint.
There’s one last piece of the underbody to make and install: a fairing piece that fastens to the keel plank, just ahead of the ballast keel. It extends forward in a graceful curve that fairs in to the shape of Justine‘s stem.
A piece of white oak is shaped and fastened ahead of the ballast keel to provide a smooth, fair shape to this part of the hull.
The last two photos were taken on August 16, 2016.
Boatbuilder Alex Hadden and friend John Peterson provided essential help getting the ballast keel moved under the boat, positioned for keel bolt holes to be bored, and then bedded and bolted in position. Great care is necessary in moving a keel weighing more than 1200 lbs., and jacking and nudging it into position. Both Alex and John had prior experience doing this sort of thing.
The first step involved moving the keel from its position outside the shed to directly under the boat. Tools at hand included pieces of pipe to use as rollers, strips of plywood to support the rollers, John’s tractor with a front-end loader, ratcheting straps, and some hydraulic jacks. To make space under the hull, we moved stacks of cribbing as far forward and aft as we could manage, and used jack stands to keep the hull upright.
Cribbing under Justine’s keel plank was moved sufficiently forward and aft to enable moving the ballast keel under the hull from the starboard side.
The bucket on John’s tractor was able to lift one end of the keel so we could get rollers under it, and using a strap we pulled the keel out to the front of the shed. This was easy, as the pitch was slightly downhill. By adjusting the angle of the keel’s position on the rollers, we could steer it reasonably well.
John Peterson’s tractor was used to pull and push the ballast keel into the boat shed. Here we used pieces of galvanized iron pipe as rollers to make the keel easier to move.
We were able to push the keel up the slight incline into the shed, then lift it with the hydraulic jacks and pivot it into position under the boat without disturbing the cribbing.
John and Alex are discussing the best way to lift the ballast keel up into position. Alex brought his floor jack to help with the heavy lifting. The keel’s aft end has already been raised onto a 6×6.
The centerboard slot in the ballast keel needs to be aligned with the slot in the keel plank. We used pieces of lumber about 1 1/8″ thick, spanning the slot in both parts to guide the keel into position as we raised it with jacks. With the ballast keel contacting the keel plank for the first time, it became apparent that the fit was good, but would be improved if a bit of the ballast keel were shaved away. So we lowered the keel and John and I pared it down using a block plane and rasp.
The ballast keel has been brought into position against the keel plank. Short pieces of lumber were inserted through the slot in the ballast keel and up into the centerboard to facilitate alignment. John and I planed and filed the top of the ballast keel to eliminate most of the gap you see between the ballast keel and keel plank.
Holes for the keel bolts had been drilled in Justine‘s floors before they were even riveted to the frames, and acted as reliable guides for extending the holes down through the ballast keel. Keel bolts are 3/8″ and 1/2″ diameter, and lead is very soft, so it requires drilling at low speed and using kerosene or something similar as a lubricant. The holes drilled were up to 8″ long.
Ballast keel in position, ready to fasten. A large wooden piece called the deadwood will fill the wedge-shaped opening on the left.
After drilling for the keel bolts, the keel was lowered once more, drill shavings cleaned up, the upper surface of the ballast keel was coated with a layer of asphalt roofing cement, a layer of canvas, and a final layer of roofing cement. (The roofing cement and canvas act as a gasket to keep the joint from leaking.) The same process was used in fitting the deadwood.
One layer of asphalt roofing cement has been applied to the top of the keel, and a piece of canvas with oversize holes for the keel bolts and centerboard slot laid on top. It’s ready for another layer of roofing cement before being bolted on to the hull.
We then bolted the ballast keel in place using silicon bronze carriage bolts I forged from bronze rod.
Keel bolts are inserterd from underneath the ballast keel, through the keel plank and floors. Each gets a washer, lock washer, and nut to secure them. Single bolts are used at stations 10 and 12 (visible in the upper part of the photo), and pairs of bolts are used at stations 14 (visible) and 16 on both sides of the centerboard trunk. Additional bolts will be installed when the deadwood goes in.
Bedding the keel with roofing cement is messy, particularly containing and cleaning up the squeeze-out as the keel bolts are tightened. The roofing cement continues to ooze out for several days. But there’s a great sense of accomplishment once those keel bolts are in place!
So far my blog has been mostly chronological. But I’m interrupting that practice with an important update: She’s in the water as of Saturday, May 27, and we had our first sail on the following day!
The weather was fine but a bit chilly. Ideal conditions for great photographs!
Justine comfortably on her mooring in Harmon Harbor after being towed from the launching ramp at Todd’s Landing in Georgetown.
Needless to say, the weeks leading up to launching were very busy and kept me from making regular posts on this blog. But I’ll get back to it very soon, picking up where we left off with the ballast keel installation.
Although the Flatfish design incorporates a centerboard, it also has a substantial ballast keel consisting of a lead casting of 1270 pounds that is attached under the keel plank. The casting is about 8′ long. In the photo below, you can see that the longer bottom surface is flat, and the longer top surface is curved to match the curve of the keel plank that it will be fastened underneath.
Justine’s ballast keel on site outside Justine’s temporary shed. I’ve placed the centerboard in the slot in the keel to check that it will pass through. I’d done some filing to remove some rough spots in the slot. I was able to turn the keel on its side by inserting the crow bar in the slot and using it as a lever.
The Flatfish plans set includes drawings for construction of a wooden mold in which the keel can be cast. The keel is cast upside down, so that the curved upper surface of the casting is formed by the bottom of the mold, and the flat bottom surface of the casting is at the top of mold and corresponds to the mold’s “fill line” (the top of the liquid lead just after the mold is filled).
Lead melts at 323 °C (613 °F) and this is hot enough to char wood but not burn through a 1″ plank. And if the wood surface is coated with a thin layer of refractory (e.g., water glass), wood makes a perfectly good mold material for Justine‘s ballast keel. So the Flatfish plans suggest making the keel mold from 1″ pine planks.
The base of the mold is a 2″ spruce plank on its edge with the edge curved to match the underside of the keel plank. The remaining pieces of the mold are 1″ pine. One pine plank is being fastened to the curved edge of the 2″ plank (in the workbench vise) to form the bottom of the mold.
The mold tapers significantly toward both ends, and its sides slope somewhat. All the joints need to be reasonably tight so molten lead will not leak out.
The bottom of the mold also has shorter flat section, and that as well as one of the mold’s sides is being attached.
The slot for the centerboard is formed when the keel is cast. It’s made by a wooden insert about 1 1/4″ thick fastened along the centerline of the mold.
The ballast keel’s slot is formed by the plank being fastened on edge along what will be the keel’s centerline.
The after end of the mold is covered, forming a facet in the casting (this is where the “deadwood” will be—more about that in a subsequent post).
Keel mold near completion. The top of the mold is open and the fill line is about 1″ below the top of the mold.
Small cleats across the top of the mold hold the centerboard plug in place, and keep the lead from forcing the sides of the mold apart.
The mold is braced across the top to keep the sides from bulging when it’s filled with molten lead. Some of the cross pieces also keep the centerboard plug properly positioned.
Some home boat builders will melt lead and cast their own keels. I chose to have I. Broomfield and Son, a commercial foundry in Providence, RI, do the casting. A significant part of their business is casting boat keels. But I did collect as much lead scrap as I could (about 800 pounds) to save the expense of having to buy all the lead. About half of it was recycled roofing flashing, and the remainder took the form of large toroidal pieces that had been scrapped by MIT’s research reactor! (It had been checked with a Geiger counter to ensure it was not radioactive.)
Truck loaded with keel mold and 800 pounds of lead for delivery to the foundry.
Wood keel molds get used only once because of the extensive charring that occurs as the molten lead solidifies and cools. The foundry simply pries the mold pieces off the casting and they are discarded. I also had them fair (some machining, and a skim coat of filler material) and paint the casting’s surface.
On the second trip to Providence, my high school classmate Bill Hindle generously agreed to use his new truck to haul the keel casting back to Georgetown. The keel was on a wood pallet, and the foundry’s fork lift placed it on the open trailer I’d rented for the trip. We did our best to lash it down with straps, and while it remained more or less in place horizontally, the pallet took quite a beating each time we went over a big bump in the road. I’m sure we never exceeded the speed limit on the return trip.
I rented another trailer for the return trip from the foundry to Georgetown. Bill Hindle is helping to tie the keel down.
I’d arranged for help in Georgetown when we returned with the keel. Our friend Dave Polito brought his tractor, made a rope sling that passed through the centerboard slot, lifted the sling with hooks on his front-end loader, and moved it onto blocks just outside the boat shed.
Back in Georgetown, we had mechanical help getting the keel off the rental trailer, in the form of a neighbor’s front-end loader.
The finished keel was on site on August 5, 2015. It would be a little over a year before it actually was moved into position under Justine and bolted in place.
Quite a bit of finish carpentry needs to be done to complete Justine‘s interior. Both the cuddy and cockpit need a sole (floorboards) and seats. The opening to the cuddy needs appropriate finish carpentry, and canvas edges on the afterdeck and cuddy top need trim pieces.
The cuddy sole is made from four 7/16″ cedar boards that are attached to the floors. Two more boards extend up along each side of the hull, one below each seat and one above. Cedar seats are supported by cleats on the forward and after cuddy bulkheads, as well as a triangular piece under the middle of each seat. The seats are very low to the cockpit sole, so as to provide sitting headroom under the cuddy top.
The cuddy sole in place. The mast step is visible near the forward bulkhead, and supports have been installed for the low seats that will be fitted next. A mahogany header for the cuddy opening has been installed.
The cuddy opening gets a mahogany header, jambs, and sill. Each piece incorporates a stop for the doors. (I’ll describe making and fitting the doors in a later post.)
Low seats are installed in the cuddy, and mahogany jambs and a sill are now in place for the cuddy doors. A mahogany cap for the lower opening of the centerboard trunk (which is below the waterline) has been fitted and bedded with 3M 5200.
The cockpit sole is also made of cedar slats. The sole tapers aft as the hull’s beam decreases. I used small pieces of 1/4″ plywood as spacers when driving fasteners for each piece so as to get a consistent gap between all the boards.
I’m fitting the cedar slats for the cockpit sole. Three pieces on each side of the centerboard trunk will be removable for pumping out any water that collects there, and is also handy for retrieving objects that happen to fall down there. There’s a small “step” between stations 19 and 20, just forward of the after compartment. A cleat that will support the port cockpit seat is also visible.
I didn’t want anyone to slip on the cockpit or cuddy sole, so I purchased some sand anti-skid paint additive and sprinkled it on a fresh coat of paint as I was building up several coats of paint. It was hard to get an even coating of sand, but after two coats of paint over the sand layer, it looked fine and provides a very effective anti-skid surface.
I gave the cockpit sole slats several coats of paint, and used some sand on a wet coat of paint to make the surface anti-skid. It looked good after two additional coats of paint. The six finger holes allow for easy removal of those slats when needed.
The Flatfish plans offer two options for seats: 7/8″ varnished mahogany boards of uniform thickness; or 1″ cedar boards that have a sculpted profile that are presumably more comfortable. I chose the latter option.
I glued up cedar boards to make a 1″ blank for the cockpit seats.
I made a plywood template to help me gauge how to plane and scrape the profile of the seats. I also made a similar shaped sanding block to smooth it.
Joel White’s Flatfish design allows for sculpted cockpit seats. This is a template I made to help me make my seats close to the designed shape.
The seats are supported by cleats attached to the after compartment’s bulkhead and the cuddy bulkhead, as well as a center column.
Test fitting of the seats after sculpting their top sides to the designed profile.
The center column is a spindle with a shape identical to those used by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company’s boats. I turned mine from black locust offcuts remaining from the plank that provided Justine‘s stem.
The turned center support for the starboard seat is being fitted, along with a wooden bracket that will hold the cuddy doors when you want to leave the cuddy open. There’s a matching bracket on the cuddy bulkhead.
There’s a significant space between the cockpit seats and the frames and planking. Nat Herreshoff’s design made use of the space for storage by fitting a shelf or tray behind each seat. I expect these will be quite handy. All the pieces of the tray are cedar.
A very nice feature of Herreshoff’s design is long trays that fill the space between the cockpit seats and the frames. Small gaps are left between the seats and trays, and at the outer edge of the trays, for drainage.
There’s a lot of painting to be done as you build out the cockpit. I used only Kirby Paint Company’s products. The frames and planking are “green gray,” the bulkheads, centerboard trunk, and trays are “cream,” and the seats, decks, and floorboards are “putty.”
After painting, the seats and trays are installed for the final time. I’ve also installed a mahogany half-round trim piece at the front edge of the after deck to cover the stapled edge of the afterdeck’s canvas top. The afterdeck’s hatch is in place, secured with mahogany turn buttons. It rests in a groove in the sill piece.
Several pieces of mahogany half-round trim are required to finish off transitions between decking and vertical surfaces. I made these by planing and sanding the edges of mahogany boards of appropriate thickness to get the half-round profile, then cut the molded edge off the board. The moldings are thin enough to be bent to shape as they are being fastened.
The three half-round pieces shown below are installed around the edge of the cuddy top, covering the stapled edge of the cuddy top’s canvas and concealing it.
I made pieces of half-round trim for the edge of the caddy top. One piece had a bit of a dog leg, but it was easily bent straight when I fastened it in place.
I bedded the moldings with Interlux Boatyard Bedding Compound as I fastened them down with #6 oval head screws.
The cuddy top looks sharp after the canvas’s ragged edges are hidden under the trim pieces.
Justine’s cuddy top is supported by four deck beams that in turn are supported by cleats fastened to the inside of the coamings. It also gets support from the deck beam atop the cuddy bulkhead at station 12. The cleats are 3/4″ mahogany and have essentially the same curvature as the coamings to which they are fastened, so I was able to steam-bend them using the same form I used to bend the coamings. The cleats are notched to receive the ends of the deckbeams, and they also serve to make more room for driving fasteners at the edge of the cuddy’s plywood deck.
A notched mahogany cleat is installed along the inside of the coaming to support deckbeams for the cuddy top. I steam-bent the cleats using the same form I’d used to steam bend the coamings. The unfinished edge of the plywood foredeck is visible between the carlin and the coaming. This will eventually get covered by a mahogany trim piece.
I’d read several articles about deckbeam curvature over the years but didn’t fully appreciate the subtleties until making Justine‘s cuddy top. From the Flatfish construction plans it would appear that all the cuddy’s deck beams would be cut to the same curvature, so that’s what I did initially for the cuddy top. Once I tried setting the deck beams in place, the result was not pretty: viewed from the side, there was a distinct dip in the cuddy top’s profile. A straightedge placed at the centerline of the deck beams and forward to the point where the coamings join showed a big gap on the forward-most cuddy deckbeams. The cuddy top’s profile should be straight or perhaps even have a bit of a crown, not have a dip. (The same is true of the foredeck, but because of the trajectory of the Flatfish’s sheer line, the foredeck profile is pretty straight even when all the foredeck’s deck beams are made with the same curvature.)
I first made all the cuddy top deck beams with the same curvature (specified in the plans set). I discovered that this would have resulted in a distinct hollow in the deck’s profile, which would greatly detract from the finished boat’s appearance. Back to the drawing board…
What to do? I actually tried trimming down the forward part of the coaming a bit but quickly realized that would not be a good solution, so I built the coaming back up. I realized I’d need to make a new set of deck beams, each with its own curvature, such that the deck would have a straight profile. I’d have to calculate the curvature required for each of the deck beams. This required measuring the span of each deckbeam, and the intended height of the cuddy top’s crown at that deckbeam location. With that information—chord length and height at mid-chord—you can calculate the radius of each of the deckbeams. I made the new ones and the cuddy top’s profile was nice and straight.
I made a new set of deck beams after calculating what each one’s curvature should be. A also found it necessary to add a thin shim on top of the deckbeam at station 12, above the cuddy bulkhead.
The cuddy top is 9 mm marine plywood, and it’s got a enough curvature that I was a little concerned that it would not be easy to spring into the correct shape as I drove fasteners into the deckbeams. I started a row of fasteners along the boat’s centerline, and worked outward, spacing fasteners about 4″ apart, and had no problems. I first drove all the fasteners into a piece of plywood that was a bit oversize, scribed a line around the perimeter, then removed the plywood and trimmed it to size.
9 mm marine plywood piece temporarily fastened and ready for scribing and trimming to shape.
I painted the underside of the cuddy deck and then installed it, again using some 3M 5200 along the joints with the deckbeams and coaming. The edges of the plywood were treated with epoxy to help prevent any water from working its way in over Justine‘s lifetime.
I started fastening the cuddy top along the centerline, then worked my way outward driving fasteners into the deck beams, then into the coaming along the edge of the decking. I’ve filled over all the fastener heads and sanded the surface smooth in preparation for laying canvas.
I laid canvas in Titebond II, used a squeegee to smooth it and work out excess glue, and stapled the perimeter around the edges of the plywood.
I used the same technique for canvasing the cuddy top as for the fore- and afterdecks. I spread the glue and laid the cuddy top’s canvas in two stages.Giving the cuddy top a coat of paint.
After painting the canvas, the only remaining detail to finish the cuddy top is installation of half-round mahogany molding pieces over the three edges of the plywood deck.
The Flatfish design has cockpit coamings that extend forward of the cuddy bulkhead and form the sides of the cuddy top. The port and starboard coamings meet at a mitered joint just aft of the mast. I made the coamings from African mahogany boards planed to 5/8″ thickness. The forward sections of the coamings are significantly curved and twisted. The coamings are each about 16′ long, so I scarfed shorter boards together to make pieces sufficiently long.
I began by making a pattern out of 1/4″ plywood pieces. The bottom edge of the coaming makes a jog at the cuddy bulkhead. Forward of the bulkhead the coaming lies atop the foredeck, and aft it forms a wide backrest for the cockpit seats. The jog at the bulkhead provides a starting point for fitting the patterns.
Fitting a plywood pattern for the starboard coaming. Note how the pattern rests on the edge of the foredeck forward of the bulkhead, and jogs down aft of it. Also, there is a considerable twist in the forward-most part of the coaming. I’ll attach another piece of pattern stock for getting the coaming’s shape as it proceeds back to the transom.
Given the 5/8″ thickness of the coaming and the degree of curvature in its forward section, it requires steam bending. I made a form that would impart both bend and twist using a plank of nominal 2″ thickness to get the bend, and mounting cross pieces that would set the twist. The cross pieces were attached with saddle joints, so they were easily removed and reversed for making a mirror-image coaming.
I made a bending form for steaming the coaming stock to match the shape and twist of the coaming’s forward section. I’ve installed brackets to keep it in place on the barn floor. (The form is set for bending the port coaming. Simply reversing the cross pieces resets it for bending the starboard coaming.)
When I was deciding how to cut the mahogany planks for the coamings, it turned out that the scarfs would have to lie forward of the cuddy bulkhead, in the region where the coaming would need to be most highly curved. I wasn’t sure that the epoxy I used (West System) for the scarf would maintain its strength at the steam temperature, but it did so. I was careful to place a clamp right over the scarf when I secured it on the bending form.
The after section of each coaming is relatively straight so it does not require steaming.
Starboard coaming steamed and clamped in place on the form. The after end is being pulled downward by a line outside the barn. The scarf in the coaming is right under the clamp in the middle of the picture.
Except for the winding bevel on the bottom of the coaming where it lies on the foredeck, I left all other edges somewhat over size so that I could drive the fasteners, then mark the coaming’s final profile, then remove the coaming and do the necessary trimming before fastening it for good. I used 3M 5200 (mahogany colored) in the joints.
Coaming in place forward of the cuddy bulkhead. I’m using a line at the after end to impart enough bend to get a good fit in the area near the cuddy bulkhead. And the coaming’s after end is still a little long; it needs to be trimmed for a mitered fit where it meets the transom.
Cutting the miters where the coaming joins the transom requires care. I made a reference mark well forward in the cockpit, and a corresponding reference mark on the coaming piece when it was in the position shown in the photo above. Then I measured the required length of the coaming, took off miter angles with a bevel gauge, and transferred these onto the coaming. I made the first miter cut a bit long, tried the fit against the transom, and removed a bit more, repeating the process until I had a good fit.
Fasteners have been driven in the starboard coaming but I’ve not yet trimmed it to its final profile. I’ll mark it for trimming, then remove it, trim it, and do the final installation.
I didn’t do the final installation of the coamings until after I’d canvassed the foredeck. This makes for a much neater job: otherwise the edge of the canvas would have to abut the coaming, rather than be concealed under it.
Both coamings are refastened aft of the cuddy bulkhead. I am ready to trim the forward ends for the mitered joint where they will meet up. This forward mitered joint also requires considerable care to do well. It helps that the joint will lie on the boat’s centerline. You need to get the compound miter angles right so that the outward tilt of the coamings is correct and at the same time ensure there will be a tight joint where the coamings meet. Once the miters are cut properly, a piece that lies inside the “V” of the joint is used to provide secure fastening of the mitered joint. This piece is just visible in the photo below.
After a few preliminary coats of varnish and installation, the coamings are looking very handsome!
Near the transom, the upper edge of the coamings has a very sweet curved profile, a fine detail in Nat Herreshoff’s design.
Over the years I’d read quite a few articles about how to make coamings for the Herreshoff 12 1/2 footer, and I approached making my own with some trepidation. I adapted what I’d read to what I thought would work best for me, and proceeded deliberately. My process worked very well and I didn’t have to re-make any parts!
Justine‘s foredeck extends back to the cockpit. Its construction is made a bit complicated by the way the foredeck wraps around her cuddy (enclosed forward compartment, between stations 8 and 12). To gain additional headroom in the cuddy, the cuddy top is elevated about 6″ above the foredeck. From stations 9–11 the foredeck beams are not continuous across the hull, but consist of partial deck beams, one to port and one to starboard. The inboard ends of the partial deck beams are supported by structural members called carlins.
One more bulkhead…
The third (and final) bulkhead to install is at station 12, and the foredeck extends aft somewhat beyond that. So it needs to go in before the foredeck can be completed.
This bulkhead has the opening for access to the cuddy. Because the cuddy doors will extend most of the way from the cockpit sole to the cuddy top, the bulkhead can be made from two pieces of plywood, one to port and one to starboard.
My pattern for the bulkhead at station 12. It will have frame-and-panel doors for access to the cuddy, and the bulkhead opening will extend nearly all the way up to the cuddy-top deck beam. So the bulkhead can be made of two separate pieces, with a small plywood filler piece added to the back of the deck beam, between the two panels.Putting the finishing touches on fitting the bulkhead pieces. The bulkhead is positioned just forward of the frames at station 12, and sits in a rabbet in station 12’s floor. The aftermost deck beam for the cuddy top will be fastened to the forward side of the bulkhead.Cuddy bulkhead installed and painted. Note that I’ve left in the 2 x 4 just aft of the bulkhead to maintain the hull’s proper beam, as the two-piece bulkhead does not provide much support across the hull. Once more of the cuddy structure is in place, the 2 x 4 will come out.
Laying the foredeck up to station 9
I decided to make the foredeck out of 5 pieces in order to use the expensive marine plywood in the most economical fashion. Three pieces would be used forward of station 9, each running between the sheerstrakes. One piece would be used along the port side of the cuddy, and one along the starboard side.
Foredeck support ready for decking. Oak blocks have been installed between some of the deck beams. From fore to aft, these are for: mooring cleat attachment; jib traveler attachment; watertight compartment pump-out access; and mast partner.
The foredeck is made from 9 mm marine plywood. I arranged for seams between the pieces fall on deck beams so there is no need for additional support at the seams.
Front panel of foredeck ready to install between the stem and station 2. All decking fastening is accompanied by 3M 5200 for sealing and reinforcement.The foredeck is 9 mm marine plywood. Fasteners are driven into the deck beams and sheerstrakes, and this piece also has a few driven into the breasthook. Seams in the foredeck panels fall along the midlines of deck beams. The underside of the deck is given several coats of paint before being fastened down.The second piece of the foredeck I installed covered stations 2–5. I placed the mooring cleat in position for inspiration, but didn’t fasten it until much later, after the foredeck was canvassed.
The third piece of the foredeck spans stations 5–9. This includes the deck beam at station 8, into which the watertight bulkhead is fastened. I wanted to seal that joint with 3M 5200, so I left an unpainted strip on the underside of the decking so the adhesive bedding compound would make a good bond.
Foredeck’s third panel ready to install. This piece spans the watertight bulkhead at station 8. I’ve painted the underside, leaving the wood bare where the panel will be bedded to station 8’s deck beam.
Before fastening the third piece of decking, I cut the hole for the pump-out port just ahead of station 8. After the panel was fastened I carefully cut the hole for the mast, immediately above the mast partner.
The third piece of the foredeck is in place and I’ve cut holes for the mast and watertight compartment’s pump out fitting.
There’s an additional “filler piece” that lies under the aft panels of the foredeck, so it needs to go in at this stage of construction.
A curved “filler piece” provides a place for fastening the coaming along the sides of the cockpit. It’s fastened to the sheer clamp and its top surface is pared down slightly for a good fit with the deck beam mold. Aft, this will support mahogany “covering boards” that will be fitted between the cockpit coaming and the sheerstrake, and forward it helps support the after panels of the canvassed foredeck.
Carlins
Herreshoff’s Fish Class design has a tall coaming that helps keep the cockpit dry and serves as a backrest for the crew, and which extends forward to form the sides of the cuddy’s projection above the foredeck. The port and starboard coamings meet up along the hull’s centerline, just aft of the mast. The plywood foredeck continues aft slightly shy of station 14, athwartships from the coamings to the sheerstrakes. The cuddy top and adjacent foredeck pieces need structural support in the form of curved pieces called carlins, as do the partial deck beams that will lie between the carlins and sheer clamps forward of the cuddy bulkhead.
I sprung a thin batten from the edge of the “filler piece” forward to a point on the hull’s centerline just forward of station 9. The batten contacts the cuddy bulkhead where it projects above the foredeck. Then I used a spiling board (actually my deck beam mold) to take off measurements for the curved shape of the batten.
A long thin batten has been sprung in the position that the cockpit coaming and carlin will lie. I’m using the deck beam mold as a kind of spiling board to take off points on the batten’s curved shape.
To get the high curvature required of the carlin shape in Douglas fir (specified in the Flatfish plans), I decided to make the carlin from laminated fir strips. So I transferred the carlin’s spiled shape to a piece of 3/4″ plywood and affixed cleats so I could use it as a form for laminating the fir strips into the required shape.
I transferred the carlin shape onto a plywood panel and fastened cleats that I’d use to build up the carlin from laminated strips of Douglas fir.
I milled the fir strips, coated them with epoxy, and clamped them onto the form’s cleats. Wax paper helped prevent gluing the carlin blank onto the plywood bending form.
Fir strips have been coated with epoxy and clamped in place on the bending form to give me the curved shape needed for the carlins.
I’d made the fir strips a bit wider than the carlin’s 5/8″ height so that I could clean up the surfaces using my thickness planer.
Laminated carlin, after cleaning up excess hardened epoxy. I used 11 laminations, and there was negligible spring-back when I removed the clamps from the mold.
Once laid in position on the hull, it was easy to scribe lines to trim it to fit at both ends.
Laminated blank for the starboard carlin ready for marking and trimming.
Three partial deck beams provide additional support to the foredeck. The carlins and partial deck beams follow the curve of the deck beam mold when it is positioned across the sheerstrakes.
Both carlins are in place, and I’m fitting the partial deck beams between the starboard carlin and the sheer clamp.
More filler pieces are fitted above the “squiggle” in the sheer clamps between stations 10 and 14. This provides firm support for pieces of sail track that will be mounted on the foredeck for Justine‘s running backstays.
The remaining plywood panels that make up the foredeck are ready to install. The seams along the perimeter of the panels will be sealed with 3M 5200.Aft-most plywood panel of the foredeck in place and fastened.
After filling over all the fastener heads and plywood seams and sanding everything smooth, I applied canvas to the foredeck, using the same process as I described for the afterdeck.
To avoid having to make a seam in the canvas for the foredeck covering, I purchased a piece of canvas that was wide enough to be able to cover the entire foredeck in one piece.Once the canvas is on, trimmed, and painted, all that remains to complete the foredeck is a small mahogany strip that will cover the foredeck’s edge and the staples there that helped secure the laid canvas.
There is a storage compartment under Justine’s small afterdeck. It has a bulkhead with a lift-out access panel, floorboards, and is covered with a canvassed plywood deck. A few trim pieces give it a very classy look. Building out the compartment served as a warm-up for constructing other parts of Justine’s interior.
The compartment’s bulkhead is fastened to the forward side of the frames at station 21. A varnished mahogany sill rests atop station’s floor, and the bulkhead and access panel fit into a groove milled into the sill piece.
A mahogany sill piece sits atop the floor at station 21. The storage compartment’s plywood bulkhead and door fit in the 9 mm groove on the top of the sill.
The compartment’s bottom is planked with cedar boards that help support items stored back there, while keeping the area closest to the keel plank open for improved ventilation of the compartment.
Cedar floorboards are fitted to make the storage space more attractive and easier to use.
I made a pattern for the bulkhead. The pattern’s bottom piece fit in the groove in the sill piece, and the side pieces were scribed for a close fit against the hull planking.
The pattern for the storage compartment bulkhead is being assembled.
I cut out the bulkhead using the pattern I’d made, leaving the sides a bit oversize because of the need to bevel those edges. I also left the top edge oversize. Once I’d adjusted the bevels on the sides, I put the bulkhead in place and scribed a line from the top of the deck beam at station 21, and cut the top of the bulkhead to the scribed line.
The bulkhead has been cut from a sheet of 9 mm marine plywood and the edges beveled to fit against the hull planking.
Once the bulkhead was cut and trimmed to fit, I marked out the cuts for the access panel and cut them with my jig saw.
I’ve laid out the opening I need to cut for the storage compartment’s access panel. Holes have been drilled near the corners, and I’m about to make the cuts with my jig saw.
I made stops for the access panel from strips of white oak and fastened them to the rear of the bulkhead.
Bulkhead ready for fastening. Oak strips have been added on the after side of the bulkhead’s access panel to serve as the stop.
After completing the bulkhead, but before fastening it in place, I began work on the afterdeck. Again, I started by making a pattern that fit the opening, then transferred the pattern to a piece of 9 mm marine plywood. Then I cut and fitted the plywood to the space. The aft end of the afterdeck has a steep bevel because it butts up against the transom.
Afterdeck template.
I had a small supply of lead ingots that came in handy at several junctures. I used them to weigh down the afterdeck panel as I was doing the fitting, so the panel would lie tightly against the deck beams. Once the side and rear edge fits were satisfactory, I scribed the front edge using the compartment’s bulkhead. (I left the front edge of the afterdeck set back about 1/16″ from the front of the bulkhead, to allow the afterdeck’s canvas to be turned over the front edge of the afterdeck and fastened there with monel staples.)
Afterdeck being fitted. I used some lead weights along the edges to force it temporarily into full contact with the deck beams. Bulkhead fasteners have been driven by this point.
The afterdeck got several coats of Kirby “green-grey” paint on its underside, then it was fastened with screws and 3M 5200 to the deck beams and the support piece attached to the transom. All the screws are slightly countersunk, and need to be filled and sanded. I used a mixture of epoxy and microballoons for this.
The afterdeck has been fastened to the deck beams, and I’ve filled over the fastener heads with epoxy and microballoons.
All of Justine‘s plywood decking is covered with canvas. I decided to use actual cotton canvas, applied according to the process described by Tony Grove, “A New Look for Canvas Decks in Wooden Boats,” WoodenBoat Vol. 208, page 33 (May/June, 2009). This involved laying the canvas in Titebond II woodworking glue, smoothing it with a squeegee, and after drying overnight saturating it with a mixture of Titebond II and water and letting that dry. Finally, it gets painted.
I laid the canvas in Tightbond II glue and used a squeegee to smooth it and work out any lumps from excess glue. Note that the port and starboard edges of the afterdeck extend only to the frames at stations 21–23, leaving a space between the afterdeck and the hull planking.After smoothing the canvas with the squeegee, I fastened it along the perimeter using monel staples and copper tacks in places that the staple gun couldn’t access. The forward edge of the canvas is rolled over the front edge of the deck and fastened there with staples. That edge eventually will be covered with a half-round mahogany molding.
The joint between the afterdeck and the transom is fitted with a wide mahogany molding angled on its underside to fit against both the afterdeck and the steeply raked transom.
A wide curved molding covers the joint where the afterdeck butts against the transom. It wasn’t yet varnished when this photo was taken.
The gaps between the afterdeck and the planking on both sides of the hull are covered by pieces of cedar that fit against the afterdeck and is screwed to the frames. There’s a gap at the top of this piece, and the openings allow for ventilation of the after compartment.
Cedar boards cover most of the opening above the afterdeck close to the hull planking. A gap of about 1/2″ is left at the top to provide ventilation of the after compartment. I also made oval mahogany turnbuttons to hold the access panel in place.
I completed this part of the project in June 2015.
I expect the vast majority of small-boat sailors have experienced a capsize—and certainly some large-boat sailors as well. Unless you want to take the risk of your boat sinking after a capsize, you either need a boat that is inherently buoyant or the boat design needs to provide for some means of supplemental floatation. Herreshoff’s Fish Class and the derivative Flatfish design incorporate a forward watertight compartment for floatation. The compartment extends from the stem back to the cuddy’s forward bulkhead. The compartment is completely sealed except for a 2″ fitting in the deck that can be opened as needed to pump out any water that might seep into the compartment.
Justine‘s watertight compartment is isolated from the rest of the interior by a bulkhead located at station 8 made from 12 mm marine plywood. Obtaining a good fit when you make this bulkhead is important. And with a sheet of this marine plywood costing about $80, there’s an incentive to get it right on the first try.
I started making all three of Justine‘s bulkheads by making patterns from various pieces of scrap I had on hand: some plywood, and some solid wood. My technique involved making the pattern from several pieces, one for each side of the opening. The watertight bulkhead is approximately triangular, so I made the template from three pieces, and added a fourth vertical piece to help keep the pattern from distorting.
I made bulkhead patterns from narrow pieces of thin plywood. Each piece was first scribed and fitted to one side of the bulkhead opening, then the separate pieces were screwed together, in place, in the hull. I used the assembled pattern to mark a piece of 1/4″ luan plywood to make a full-size template to check the fit before cutting into an expensive piece of 12 mm marine plywood.After ensuring that the thin plywood mock-up (white piece in photo) fit well, I traced its profile on the 12 mm sheet, then cut it out. I left a bit extra for beveling the bulkhead’s outboard edges.
The bulkhead lies just aft of and against the frames at station 8. It’s fastened to the frames with #8 x 1 1/4 screws. A rabbet had been cut on the forward side of the top of the floor at station 8 and the bulkhead is also fastened there. I drilled for the fasteners, cleaned out the debris, then applied 3M 5200 adhesive bedding compound to all the joints before finally driving the fasteners.
Watertight bulkhead in place and fastened to the frames at station 8. The bulkhead’s top edge fastens into a rabbet in station 8’s deck beam (seen here resting atop the forward deck beams).
The deck beam at station 8 is 1 1/4″ thick to accommodate a rabbet for the bulkhead on its forward side, as well as a housing on its after side into which the forward end of the mast partner will fit.
Front of watertight bulkhead after installing the deck beam and driving all the fasteners. Stiffeners will be added where the red lead stripes have been painted.
If Justine were to capsize, there would be considerable pressure on the watertight bulkhead. So Joel White’s design adds five oak stiffeners on the bulkhead’s forward side to prevent it from collapsing. I also used 5200 on these joints, in addition to screws driven from the aft side of the bulkhead, to secure the stiffeners.
White oak bulkhead stiffeners have been added to the forward side of the bulkhead, and the entire watertight compartment has been given several coats of paint.
To further seal the bulkhead joint, and improve its appearance from inside the cuddy, a curved piece of trim molding is fastened on the aft side where the bulkhead meets the hull. More 5200 was used in these joints.
A molding has been added along the perimeter of the bulkhead, on the cuddy side. This dresses the joint up and allows an additional application of 3M 5200 adhesive bedding compound to further seal the bulkhead’s joint with the hull. In this photo the deck beam at station 9 is in place and the mast step has been fastened spanning the floors between stations 8 and 9.
I finished installing the watertight bulkhead in March 2015.
