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.