Finishing the 26ft Sportfisherman Cockpit

My previous post about Kevin Agee's 26ft Sportfisherman project showed the support structure of the foredeck, dry-fitted for a test fit. Then the timber members were removed and set aside to be glued in later. This was to make it easier to finish the inside of the cuddy cabin, without drawing blood from our scalps.

Kevin is working toward a high-quality standard of finish, as good as he can manage as an amateur builder. Over all of the fibreglassed and sand-papered interior surfaces of the cockpit and cuddy cabin he has sprayed two coats of high-build epoxy, followed by two coats of fairing compound applied by roller. Most of this fairing layer has been sanded off and will be covered by sprayed high-build epoxy, then finishing coats.

Cuddy Cabin with the fairing layer being sanded. The white spots are the high-build epoxy layer showing through as an indication that the sanding has gone as far as needed to fair the surface with minimal thickness of fairing.

These are the curly maple foredeck stringers and fiddles for the cuddy cabin seats, epoxy-coated and waiting to be glued in then varnished.

Insides of hull sides with fairing layer sanded (light brown) and low spots filled (dark brown), ready for final sanding. The plywood cutouts for the hatch openings were loosely in place to keep us from falling through the openings. Now they have been removed for trimming to size, then addition of the perimeter framing. 

Parts for the flush cockpit hatches. The plywood cutouts have been trimmed to give 5mm (3/16") clearance all around. The perimeter frames have halved joints on the corners, cut on a table saw. The stiffeners have been cut to fit clear of the gutters into which these hatch covers will fit.

The cover on the left has the perimeter frame and stiffener in the positions where they will be glued. After gluing, the sharp edges will be rounded off and a drip groove will be cut into the lower face, all to be done with a router.

This design is not yet on our website, I want to get this prototype nearer to completion so that any adjustments that we make during the build can be incorporated into the final drawings before I make them available for sale.