Cuddy Cabin of Sportfisherman.

The cockpit deck of Kevin Agee's 26ft sportfisherman project is in and the insides of the hull sides have been glassed, soon to be faired ready for painting. The deck of the outboard engine bracket has been completed as well. I detailed the deck extensions of the bracket for wood construction but Kevin chose to do these with a Coosa board core between plywood top and bottom skins. The entire structure was glassed inside and out for longevity.

Outboard engine bracket structure has been completed and glassed. Glassing of the
transom is about to be done. The holes in the deck are for access to steering and
control cables and hoses.

Kevin was also working on hull framing, where I modified them to reduce the projection into the cockpit and increased their thickness to maintain strength. The only frame unchanged was at the boxings for the fuel filler pipes, which has to be large enough to contain pipes, vents and fittings.

Boxing for fuel filler being glued up. The next frame forward has been trimmed
and doublers added both sides, then glassed.

Boxing completed and glassed, ready to be trimmed flush with the sheer.

In the meantime I have been working on the cuddy cabin, fitting out the interior and preparing the deck framing.

Cuddy cabin sole dry-fitted, along with the pedestal for the toilet and the two
small shelf seats.

Kevin glued in the plywood soles and seats during the week before my next visit.
He epoxied bolts into the plywood to serve as studs to fasten down the toilet 

My next task has been framing the foredeck to get it ready for the plywood deck. Kevin has chosen to use curly maple for the deck stringers, which will be clear finished against the white-painted deck. The stringers run through the forward bulkhead and butt up against the aft bulkhead of the cuddy cabin, bonded to the bulkhead and cleat. The forward ends of the stringers are notched into the sheer clamp, which involves some careful setting out for cutting the slots and cutting the slots with a tenon saw and chisel.

Cutting a notch in the sheer clamp for a stringer. The length of wood is a straight-edge
to guide the angles of the saw. The back face of the notch is cut at about 45 degrees to
minimise the amount of sheer clamp that is cut away in the process.

Completed notches for deck stringers, through bulkheads and into sheer clamps.

Deck stringers and hatch trimmers dry-fitted and ready for gluing.

Deck stringers are notched into sheer clamps and bulkheads. They will be glued in
after the hull skin inside the cuddy cabin has been faired and sanded.

This build will be completed during the winter and launch is being planned for the spring.

This design is not yet on our website and will appear there closer to completion of Kevin's boat. To see our range of designs, go to our desktop website or our mobile website.