Breasthook

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.

The breasthook adds rigidity to Justine‘s structural elements near the stem head where the sheer clamps and sheerstrakes are attached. It has a triangular shape and lies atop the sheer clamps and against the stem and sheerstrakes.

The sheerstrakes and sheer clamps are fastened to the stem, but the joints would not be very rigid without a structural member that further secures them. That’s the job of the breasthook.

I used off-cuts from the black locust plank I’d purchased for Justine‘s stem to make up a blank for the breasthook. I ended up edge-gluing six pieces, and inserting two 1/4″ bronze drifts into the blank for some extra reinforcement of the glued joints (and with forethought to where future fasteners would need to go). I made a plywood template of the space the breasthook would occupy and began to bring the blank to its final shape.

I glued up six pieces of black locust as a blank from which to make Justine’s breasthook.

I planed a small amount off the sheer clamps so that the breasthook would lie flat against them, then cut the bevel required for a tight fit against the stem. I then used my block plane to plane the winding bevels on the end-grain surfaces that would contact the sheerstrakes. Some patience is required to get all the bevels to fit simultaneously.

The front of the breasthook is bevelled to fit snugly against the stem, and the sides require a winding bevel to match the inside surfaces of the sheerstrakes.

Once the breasthook was fitted, I gave the underside and bevelled surfaces a coat of red lead, drilled for the fasteners, and spread 3M 5200 on the mating surfaces prior to driving all the fasteners. Finally, I planed a very slight crown on the top of the breasthook to match the curvature of the deck beam mold.

I fastened the breasthook with two fasteners into each sheer clamp, one into the stem, and two driven from the outer surface of each sheerstrake.

Afterdeck beams

Justine has a foredeck and a small afterdeck, both made of 9 mm marine plywood. Both decks are supported by white oak deck beams that run athwartship. I decided I’d tackle constructing the smaller afterdeck first because it would be easier and thus a good learning opportunity.

In the Flatfish and Fish Class designs, the afterdeck height lies about halfway between the cockpit seats and the top of the cockpit coaming. The afterdeck is supported by three deck beams, and the deck beams rest on cleats that are attached to the frames between stations 21–23. It’s not obvious from the plans, but these cleats need to have a significant twist, and some curvature, to fit properly against the frames. I made a jig so that I could steam the cleat blanks, then twist them into the correct shape and clamp them in the jig to cool.

To impart the significant twist in the cleats that support the afterdeck beams I made a jig and proceeded to steam them and clamp them into the jig.

I steamed the cleat blanks in a tube made of polyethylene sheet, then twisted them and placed them into the bending jig I’d made.

The afterdeck beams are white oak, cut to the afterdeck curvature specified in the plans.

The cleats that suport the afterdeck beams have been fastened to the frames and the first of three deck beams placed in position. The ends of the deck beams rest on the cleats and are fastened to the frames with screws.

All three afterdeck beams are in place, and they’ve been painted on all but their upper surfaces. When I lay the afterdeck, I’ll use 3M 5200 where the plywood deck is fastened to the deck beams. Note that the temporary 2 x 4 backing the hull at station 21 has been removed, as the deck beams now maintain the correct beam well aft in the hull. I also used a piece of white oak to made a support to fasten the rear edge of the afterdeck back at the transom.

Foredeck beams

Justine‘s foredeck extends from the stem back to the forward bulkhead of the cockpit. Forward of the cuddy top, the deck beams are continuous from port to starboard. The deck beams are interrupted by the cuddy top, so from stations 10–12 they are half-beams that extend from the shearstrakes to the cuddy coaming on each side of the hull. In this post I’ll just illustrate the installation of the full deck beams up to the forward cuddy bulkhead (from stations 2–8).

Station 2’s deck beam is in place and ready to rivet to the sheer clamp. Once the deck beam was in position, I removed the temporary 2 x 4 that maintained the hull’s designed beam at station 2.

The forward deck beams are fastened with #8 copper nail rivets that pass upwards through the sheer clamps and deck beams. Copper burrs go on the nails protruding from the deck beams, the nails get trimmed to the proper length, and rivet heads are peened atop the burrs.

Category: Breasthook

Foredeck and Carlins