Yep, we get some pretty good tides here!
Then it was on to real work. First up was installing the pipes in the ribs. I slid the three on the starboard side in, applied primer and glue and pushed on the ninety degree joints. Next up was the verticals. I marked the pipes so I knew where they lined up with the top of the 2x4 they went through, put a thick ring of silicone around the pipe, more primer and glue and as I slid the pipe through the hole I turned it to get silicone all around in the hole. Then it was over to the port side to do the single pipe over there.
Yesterday I purchased a 2" 2'x8' piece of pink foam insulation board. I cut this into individual pieces and pushed them down under the pipes. I found the best tool for this was my Japanese saw as it cuts a really narrow kerf so kept the shredded pieces of foam to a minimum. I left them narrow to allow for air circulation and with the angle there's still a gap down at the bottom to allow water to pass through (if any gets in). Now this foam is closed-cell so it doesn't absorb water, unlike open cell foam will. It really doesn't do anything here other than provide a safety margin if for some reason the hull is breached. It will displace water and as it's lighter than water (obviously!) it will help provide flotation. I ran out before I finished with the areas around the ribs so I'll need to purchase more, but it gives me an idea as to how much more I'll need.
Then it was on to more Bilgekote painting. I opened the door a few inches, set the fan in front to pull air in and cranked the propane and electric heaters all in an attempt to move fresh air in, but keep the temperature at a working level. I managed to find a happy medium of about 60 degrees at chest height.
I painted the bottoms of the two deck pieces leaving a strip down the middle for the epoxy on the center supports to stick to, then went and painted the cuddy area but only under the deck, and the cabin area except for a one inch strip up next to the stringers, plus the sides and ends of the vertical support in both areas.
Then it was epoxy time. I made a medium sized batch of epoxy and carefully coated the edges of the deck panels and the tops of the verticals. I took the leftover and made peanut butter which was applied to the tops of the verticals. The extra peanut butter, plus several more batches, was troweled thickly into the corner between the hull and the stringers as this is where the deck makes contact in the cabin and the edges of the deck were cut at 45 degrees specifically for this purpose.
I laid down the deck in the cabin and drove several screws through the deck into the vertical and then laid down the deck in the cuddy. Coincidentally, the deck in the cuddy ended up being the same height at the deck in the cabin. Totally unplanned!
Up next were the really heavy tools from yesterday.
Yep, 60 pound bags of sand! There's no way to clamp these joints (cheapest clamps I've ever bought, $5.49) and I'm not running screws through the hull at this point, so this seemed the simplest solution. The hardest part about using these? Lifting them up over the sides of the hull and carefully placing them in the boat. The shelves are just about armpit height when I'm standing on the floor so it was a little bit of work getting them in. :-)
Last up was installing the front panel for the bulkhead. I coated the exposed faces of the 2x4s and the unpainted areas of the panel with epoxy, made some thin peanut butter to spread on the 2x4s, put the panel in place and screwed it down.
I decided to stop at this point. Working around the sandbags was a pain and I really don't want to break one open. Put all the tools away that have been slowly spreading out around the shed and called it a night.
First thing tomorrow I'll cut a piece of blocking to go at the rear of the cabin and fiberglass the cabin deck, and cut a piece of blocking/vertical to go in front cuddy deck and fiberglass that as well. I need to get these areas sealed to keep them clean now that they're basically inaccessible. I also need to get a nailer installed on the port side of the cuddy now that I've change the layout, plus there's some touch-up painting to be finished inside the access door on the front panel.
9 Hours