Boat Update

Alright, so been super busy with working the two jobs, school and the boat. Haven't had much time to post but I thought I would just stick up some pics of the progress with quick explanations and leave it at that. So without further adieu...

After sanding and cleaning I fiber glassed in the new bulkhead board for the bed support. We also glued in Reflectix insulation (1/4 inch thick) to the walls and epoxied in blocks to the hull for the attachment strips. This took a couple of days to finish. All wood is either oak (blocks) or 3/4 inch CDX plywood. 

another shot to show the initial insulation and block method.

Next we connected the blocks with 1/2 inch thick strips of luan, which is a hard wood material that comes in 1/4 inch thickness, cut strips from a 4x8 sheet. Its very flexible and allowed for the curvature. Next we cut and inserted 1" thick polystyrene that also has a reflective side into the "boxes" the strips had created and stuffed extra Reflectix under the strips in the hollow spaces. Not shown in this shot it we then used ducting tape to seal it all together and eliminate drafts. This will help to keep the interior and the hull isolated from each other and has basically eliminated sweating in the v-berth. Worked better than I hoped. Should also keep us pretty warm this winter!

another close-up of the wall look. Still feels like living in a jiffy pop! lol

So after the insulation we stapled in this plastic sheeting that is very flexible and almost indestructible to the strips and covers the insulation. This gives a water barrier on the inside for sweating and is also easy to clean until I get the wood panelling up and protects the insulation from our cats and incidental damage. I also cut a large door that pulls out into the bulkhead for access to the storage space under the bunk. Then the 2x4 bed supports were attached and support (cat blockers) blocks installed on the bulkhead top. We don't want the cats being able to get below.

This is the floor of the v-berth storage with an 8x8 inch access door for cleaning out the front of the keel. This area used to collect a lot of water, but since sealing the windows and the bowsprit along with the lack of sweating it has been bone dry for 3 weeks. None the less thought it was good to be able to check it quickly and easily in the future. As you can see I used hurricane straps to connect the 2x4 supports to the bulkhead. I am not sure how they will hold up, but once the rest was done they were redundant so I will watch and see.