25 November 2010

Hard Top

Bill has been working away at creating the hard top for the dodger. First he made a former out of MDF, then the foam was bent over that and glued together. Two layers of 20mm foam will give us a top that will be thick enough to recess some LED lights into, mount 2 GPS aerials on, and be strong enough to walk on. At some time in the future I might add solar panels so we have added sufficient conduit for that as well.

In the last couple of days we have routed out the foam to allow us to glue in the plastic track for the zip-off clears. These will have a surround of some vinyl product, running through the track at the top and clipped down on the bottom. Stainless steel legs will keep it up, hopefully!

Also nearing completion is the headliner for the saloon and aft cabin. Way back we tested our headliner concept in the forepeak, now we are working through and doing the rest of the boat. I just sealed all the liners this afternoon and the next part of the process, gluing the plywood strips to the deckhead, should be pretty close. I've also nearly finished re-varnishing the interior and I just have a bit around the galley to do.

We decided to lose the piano hinge on the back of the cockpit lockers, in place of more robust (and shiny) chromed hinges on the top of the locker lids. To do this neatly Bill has filled in the watertrap area outboard of the lockers. This will now get glassed over and will be nice and strong. It should also channel water down the gutters on the sides of the lids and keep that area drier - time will tell!