Category: Decking

Foredeck and Carlins

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.

The photo above was taken in September 2015.

Aft Storage Compartment

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.