I spent quite a bit of time making the hatchway, hatch and sliding mechanism. It was fiddly but quite satisfying work and I'm pleased that it all worked out well. I used Celery-top pine - a native Tasmanian timber that is traditionally used in boats - for the runners, trim etc. I will use this timber for most of the visible timber work (e.g. coamings, rub rails, toe rails etc). It is expensive because it is getting more scarce but it is well worth it as it is durable and quite a nice golden, blonde colour.
I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a bandsaw for a little while and this has made it easy to cut out the curves beams/trims for the hatch opening and hatch (5 curved pieces in all)
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companionway with internal trim and slider rails fitted |
I also filled all the dozens of screw holes on the deck (with TPRDA epoxy then epoxy putty) in readiness for glassing it
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coachhouse suits the sheer of the boat nicely |
Meanwhile, I have also been preparing celery top pine timbers for the next steps. I have dressed the coaming timbers and scarfed some timber for the rub rails.