The Starling Project - Part 22

 

I made cardboard patterns to assist with the cutting of the plywood deck panels. I used the same  strategy for these deck panels as I have done for the hull panels and found it worked well. I cut the plywood using a handheld electric jigsaw.

Here are the newly cut deck panels that I have made slightly oversize. When they are glued and nailed in place I will trim them with a wood plane. The challenge will be to make a clean and accurate join between the bow and stern panels and to keep the plywood unmarked so that I will have a nice clean deck to varnish, rather than a deck that I have to paint to hide all the mistakes!

The Starling Project - Part 21

Today I had some much needed help from my brother Tony who held the cockpit floor battens in place while I fastened them from beneath the hull with brass wood screws. To do this I had to lie on the concrete floor and drill pilot holes with the electric drill, then drive the screws home manually with a screw driver - a very cold job until I got a couple of layers of cardboard to lie on to keep the the cold at bay.

Renovating a boat is a very good metaphor for life in general. Nothing ever goes exactly as you have planned it. I am only 90% satisfied with this little job as inevitably some things went wrong. But 90% is a reasonable percentage. A couple of times when I was building my yacht 'Mariner' I had to completely rip the work out and start again.

The next job is to put the plywood deck on.

The Starling Project - Part 20

I have cut four battens to length for  the cockpit floor. These  battens will serve two purposes. First they will provide foot grip on what would otherwise be a flat slippery cockpit sole and second they will strengthen the 6mm plywood cockpit floor.

As I planed and sanded these battens I found, yet again, the usefulness of this 'WorkMate' bench to hold small woodworking jobs.

The next step is to install these battens permanently on the cockpit floor with glue and screws.