Cut Down Day - Building Lift Outs

I knew this day would come and I'd been dreading it. After carefully picking, sculpting, and varnishing the padauk boards that would serve as the sole, I knew that I'd be building lift outs from them. That meant my 8' long boards would in some cases be split into four smaller pieces. This needed finesse, precision, carpentry, and a big set of .. guts to actually yank the miter saw and split the wood that took so long to carefully create.

The first task was to move the bilge pump aft one bay. I put it where the lead ballast goes, and that's just no good. That meant re-routing the wires back through the conduit and screwing a couple more holes into the centerboard trunk. An upside is the white / positive wire was a little short the first time through, so this gave me a chance to make it the same length as the brown (hot wire) and black (negative). Not that that really means anything, but it's nice to know things are even.

Bilge pump gets a new home.

I then hopped into the boat and stared at it for awhile. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but I was torn whether or not to add a lift out between bulkheads 3 and 4 and one more bay aft than the manual suggested, spanning 3 bays instead of 2. I was always going to put one near the back of the boat for access to the conduit so that wasn't much of a decision. The sole provides some structural support - imagine a twisting soda can - but I wasn't cutting the really long ones right up against the trunk nor the outboard ones, nor the ones at the very front, so between all that, I felt OK about removing these.

Honestly, the number one thing I was worried about was how this would look when done. I didn't want a bunch of different looking boards, all uneven and stuff, scattered throughout the sole. I plan to spend a lot of time in the cabin, curled up at anchor somewhere sparkling beautiful, and having uneven cuts would spoil it for years to come. This was one of those things that if I messed up, I would redo. No amount of epoxy can fix an error here.

In the end, I decided on a set of 4 lift outs: the area between bulkheads 3 and 4, right in front of the centerboard trunk; a 3-bay span port and starboard, which would include the areas shown in the manual plus one more bay aft; and the last one up between bulkheads 7 and 8 where the electrical conduit and bilge return run under the boards. This last one isn't technically a lift out because it will be screwed down, but the boards will be cut as such to allow easy access if I have to get back there to fix something.

The best thing about this schedule is that it would look symmetrical, maintain stability, and provide much-needed storage. For what seems like the tenth time, I pulled the sole back out and trucked the pieces to be cut downstairs to the basement shop. Carefully measured, then precisely cut, I'm happy with the way they turned out. 

First cuts done.

Accent board and a couple more sets done. I had a tough time cutting the accent board but once committed, I'm committed!

Each board got a brand new bit of frogtape and will get a dollop of epoxy tomorrow. But I've got my lift outs. Now that there were many more of them, I had to come up with a naming scheme. Nothing brilliant, I know, as PocketShips all over the world have soles and therefore had a naming scheme. But mine went something like this: P2-B for "Port side, 2nd plank from centerboard, 2nd plank from the front." (ignore the non-nautical terminology).

Close up of bulkhead 7's lift out section. The accent board will not be cut nor screwed down. A new cleat will be installed here to support the cut boards.

Good view of the lift outs forward and on the sides.

Close up of the space now able to be used. This is between 3 and 4. The contraption is / was 100' of wire. There is surprisingly a lot of room in this compartment. The conduit carries forward the RAM3 and the bilge wires. All the wires in the transom run through the larger one up a little higher.

View from above. I haven't cut the finger holes yet.

Now, one thing this exercise does is that it forces new cleats in certain areas. The sole needs three 9" cleats and four 7" cleats to ensure things don't fall into the storage areas. Getting the cleat schedule worked out was an important part in the build, both functionally and aesthetically. As I write this, the cleats sit cut, ready for installation over the next couple days. They will be epoxy'd and screwed into the existing cleats and/or bulkheads, then painted. Did I mention how much I love my heater?