Deck & Sheer of 26ft Sportfisherman

There is still a lot of work going on under the wet deck of Kevin Agee's 26ft Sportfisherman project, before the deck skin can be glued down. The tanks are being prepared, with spigots and access openings installed in the right places, as well as neoprene pads to prevent chafe of the tanks. The seacocks are being installed, as well as pumps for fresh water, holding tank and bilge water. Also a bilge blower to keep the under-deck areas fresh and free of potentially explosive fumes. Openings through bulkheads for hoses and cables are being fitted with PVC 2-piece liners to eliminate chafe. All compartments that will not be sealed are also being painted with multiple coats of white epoxy paint for easy cleaning and to make it easier to see what is going on in there for maintenance or in an emergency. Trying to find a leaking fuel hose in a dark and dingy dungeon at sea is no time to be wishing that you had painted a bilge compartment.

Deck beams and hatch gutter frames have been glued in. Bilge compartments that won't be sealed have been painted white. The black areas in the compartment closest to the bottom of the photo are the bases of battery boxes.

Compartment with battery boxes. Pumps in easily-accessible places. The seacocks are also being installed in this compartment. The cable openings through the girders have PVC liners to prevent chafe of the cables.

So, what was I doing while Kevin has had his head in the bilges? I have been shaping the sheer. This is a fairly skilled way of converting expensive Douglas fir and cedar solid timber into chippings from a power plane, followed by wood shavings from a hand plane. The sheer clamp was laminated from Douglas fir before the cedar skin was glued onto the framing. The sheer clamp ended up rectangular in cross-section. It remains more-or-less rectangular for most of the hull length, where the hull and deck intersect at close to 90 degrees. As we work toward the bow this angle becomes progressively more acute, requiring trimming off the top surface until, close to the bow, the sheer clamp is nearly triangular in shape.

The rectangular sheer clamps as laminated into the bulkheads. They are square to the hull skin, so they twist a large amount in the flared part of hull.

Sheer clamps planed down to finish flush with the underside of the deck. At the sheer break the hull/deck intersection is close to 90 degrees, so the sheer clamp is nearly rectangular. Forward flare increases rapidly and the sheer clamp twists to follow the angle of the hull skin. The resulting taper on the inner face of the sheer clamp can be seen, becoming more triangular.

Sheer clamps before planing. Top of the forward bulkhead shows the line to which the top of the sheer clamp is to be planed.

Sheer clamp planed flush with top of the bulkhead. The score mark in the surface is a saw cut that was made into the sheer clamp as an extension of the bulkhead edge, to serve as a guide to get the planed surface correct.  Now the rectangular sheer clamp is almost triangular and the rest of the timber flew onto the shop floor.

Finished sheer, ready to receive the deck.

This design is not yet on our website. To see our available designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Deck Structure of 26ft Sportfisherman

The deck structure of Kevin Agee's 26ft sportfisherman is coming together. Last post about this project I showed the frames for the flush deck hatches. Now the drain spigots for the integral gutters have been added. They will be connected to tubes to drain overboard.

Completed hatch frame, with two drains fitted in the gutter on the right.

The two drain spigots, seen with the frame turned upside-down. The sloped bottom surface of the gutter removes unwanted weight from the frame and increases the bonding area where it contacts the beam ends

We cut all of the deck beams to length and dry-fitted them into the hull, then fine-tuned the hatch positions. The beams were then accurately cut to fit each hatch in its correct location. The outer ends of the beams are notched into a beam clamp on the hull and they have intermediate support from the hull girders, fitting into slots in the top edges of the girders.

Deck beams dry-fitted and trimmed for the hatch frames, ready for all to be glued in. The large opening that has no beams crossing it is where the fuel tank will be installed, with a screw-down flush access panel over it. The centre console will also be over this area.

Same stage, looking aft from the cuddy cabin toward the transom.

This design is not on our website yet because the drawings are incomplete. To see our range of designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Proven DH550 Cruising Catamaran For Sale

The DH550 "Friends Forever" was built by a team of very accomplished professional boatbuilders on a farm in wine country, outside of Cape Town, South Africa. One of the leaders of this team is also co-owner of this beautiful boat and is a very experienced sailor, having competed in the 1994/5 BOC Challenge single-handed around the world race. This he did on a boat that he knew intimately, having been the leader of the team that built it for legendary single-handed racing yachtsman, "Biltong" Bertie Reed, for a previous version of the same race.

DH550 "Friends Forever", doing sea trials on Table Bay soon after launch.

Sailing Southern Africa magazine published an article about her soon after launch. "Friends Forever" has been well-proven since her launch in May 2016. She did her sea trials on Table Bay before heading off cruising. She has crossings of both the South and North Atlantic under her keels, separated by cruising the Caribbean, then extensive cruising in the Mediterranean, ending in Greece. She is now on the market because her other co-owner needs to sell.

She is laid out with a large owner's suite in the port hull, with a utility area forward of that for equipment, storage and an extra single berth. This hull can be closed off from the rest of the boat by a privacy sliding door separating it from the bridgedeck accommodation. She has two double cabins with shared heads and shower in the starboard hull. View a PDF with full description of her accommodation and specification. With that information in your hands, I will let photos speak for her.

"Friends Forever" cruising the Mediterranean Sea.

Diagonal view of saloon, looking forward. Galley and dinette to port, navigation and lounge area to starboard. Helm with engine controls on centreline. There is a second helm in the forward cockpit, mounted on the same shaft.

Opposite view of saloon, looking from the galley.

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Saloon, looking aft.

Aft double berth.

Port heads.

Port heads and shower.

Forward double berth, starboard hull.

Bow storage area

Engine under aft berth.

Forward (working) cockpit, with helm, all sail controls and a liferaft.

View from forward cockpit.

The forward cockpit is well protected from rough seas.

Aft cockpit, able to be completely screened off.

Cabin roof, with solar panels

Asking price for "Friends Forever" is US$1.1 million. If you would like more information about her, please email me and I will connect you with the owner.

To see more of this and our other designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.