Woodie - DS1 project

[RobH912]

Hi - I've been watching your project and progress you are making. Think this is a really good idea.

I'm going to make the bulkhead removable if you need to do repairs. It wouldn't be very pleasant to have to crawl through the hatch and try to make repairs in such a small space. Maybe it is that I don't like confined spaces much.

My SLI Daysailer has a small hatch, I am 6'1" / 175 lbs and crawling in and out is a real PIA and when you are in there it is very small indeed.

[lemsteraak]

Hi Robert, thanks, this is turning out to be a much larger project than I anticipated,

I've got a SLI Daysailer too. I love the way the cuddy is enclosed but not a fan of the hatch. After 30 years the hinges broke from the base and Bomar wants me to buy a complete new hatch. That's another story, if I like the hatch for Woodie, I may make a similar one for the SLI Daysailer

I'm making the main hatch as large as I can on Woodie. You will be able to climb in if you need to but since I'm building the bulkhead from scratch I thought it might be nice to be able to remove it if needed. I've heard good things about butyl tape so I'm thinking of using it to bed down the whole bulkhead, and will be semi-permanent.

I just got out my router and made a groove in the hatch frame to accept 1/4 inch surgical tubing. This should form a nice watertight seal.

[tomodda]

Looking good, and a very ship-shape hatch! That being said, and with all due respect to RobH, I am 6'1" and 260lbs and there is no WAY I would dare to go thru that hatch. I suppose you can reach in and grab things, as long as it hasn't wandered off the for'ard bulkhead. How do you plan to drain out the inevitable water? Can still get in thru the mast partners, even if (miraculously) nowhere else.

Tom

[RobH912]

Lemsteraak - I've seen pictures of what I think is the original SLI hatch cover, looks nice... a plastic raised "box" that opens outward and also looks like it would seal well when closed.

Some where along my boat's life I am assuming the original hatch broke and a previous owner of the boat replaced the hatch with a piece of painted marine plywood hanging down from hinges from the inside the caddy. It swings inward into the cuddy and is held open with a clip on to some bungee and closed with a cleated line running out of a hole in the bulkhead to the cockpit.

You clearly have very good wood working skills so you'll be able to build a good hatch for your SLI DS as well.

Tom - yes felt a little like a Houdini trick getting in & out of the hatch and thought about going to see my chiropractor afterward. Not going to do that very often...

[lemsteraak]

Rob, thank you, I'm going to school checking out your rigging. Your boat looks perfect for heavy weather, I love the mid-boom sheeting and traveller setup.

I thought of building a wood hatch to replace the Bomar plastic one but I've been trying to keep the LSI Daysailer stock for as long as I can. Woodie on the other hand is going to be heavily modified with the intention to make her a "gentleman's racer". A boat that anyone can hop into and sail fast and safe.

I put in the seal with contact cement. This is seriously overkill but it is either this or gardening today. I'm following the instructions here and it is simply doing all the steps - http://www.ptwatercraft.com/SCAMP_hatch ... ctions.pdf Turns out surgical tubing makes a great seal material, who knew?



I'm not an accomplished woodworker, wish I were, I love tools and this is a great project that requires a lot of tools. I was given a very cool old table saw and I've been dying to try it out.

[lemsteraak]

Bulkhead back in place, the opening is large enough to crawl into and easily set the mast heel, no sharp edges. I'm partial but I think is is so much better than a store bought hatch.





Next up, I need to work on the seats. My thought is to have the section in front of the thwart removable with a bin down below for the crew to stash a small cooler. In back of that the seats will be strip planked the same as the bulkhead so that they will be buoyancy tanks. I'm thinking of putting in a small Elvestron bailer (self bailer) but I don't like where they are placed on the modern boats. They are under foot when you are setting up for downwind and setting the spinnaker. I'm thinking either to put it as far back in the cockpit as I can, to replace the drain plug or forward under the thwart. It may drain better under the thwart but it will be easy for the skipper to control if it is in back.

[GreenLake]

Nice! Very nice!

[RobH912]

Yes very nice!

[lemsteraak]

I'm back to work on Woodie. I'm bummed that we will not be having a National's this year. Took the wind out of my sails. It changes the project a little, Woodie will be more of an elegant "club" racer/cruiser.

The next project is what I'm calling the "bookcases". On the old DS1s there is a gap between the flotation tank and the cuddy which I think will be a great place to put in a little cubbyhole, a place for the crew to store gear. You know gloves, water, windbreaker, the kind of things you don't want rattling around in the boat during a race. Here is what the space looks like



My thought is to cover it and make what is called a cove locker, an open locker with a smaller opening so you can stuff thing in there and they will not come out. The other option is to make a proper door. This area will flood if capsized so I'll have the bulkhead finished so water can't migrate there. The first job is to make the cover panel, which I'm salvaging some nice marine plywood. Here is what that looks like.



I will be having a wood overlay on the fiberglass to make Woodie look more like a ..... wooden boat. Please disregard the mismatch between the plywood and fiberglass, I've got some really nice Walnut cut to go over this area. I was working out the depth of the locker and where the seat will be going and had a thought. Maybe we don't want the seat to go all the way to the bulkhead?. This might be an area where the crew can put their feet and face forward and also stand when handling a spinnaker or whiskerpole. The seats would go forward and end flush with the thwart. I'd love anyone's thoughts on this.

[tomodda]

@ lemsteraak:

Yes, I keep staring at the space forward of the "tanks" and wondering what to do with it. Some kind of shelves, eventually. I'd think that glassing/plywooding it in is overkill, but it's your boat...

As for space forward of the thwart, absolutely! The thwart on these older DS1's lines up exactly with the front of the tank, you have about a foot till your bulkhead. My favorite place to sit on the DS is up against the sidewall on the high side, right at the thwart with one leg on either side, facing amidships. Very comfy, can see everything, and the perfect spot for single-handing.

Of course, when I'm not alone, my "usual" crew likes to sit there too, but he'll often do it from the low side and stretch his legs over the thwart. He's a skinny little fellow, I've got a hundred pounds on him, but it still screws the boat's trim.... Occasionally, I'll dip the lee rail under and put some water down his back, just to discourage him, but he keep going back for more! In his defense, he's a good friend and an excellent helmsman

But I digress. Yes, leave some space for'ard of the thwart, it's also a good place to stand and fiddle with the base of the mast, untangle the jib sheets, put "stuff" that doesn't go into the cuddy, etc. With your setup, you may want to put some line bags on the back of the bulkhead for loose tails, keep them out of the cockpit. I still don't understand how you are going to fit thru that hatch, though. Maybe you should borrow my crew....

BY the way, your project continues looking first class. Here's to NEXT YEAR at the Nationals!

Fair winds!

Tom

[GreenLake]

Had been tempted by the Nationals this year, based on timing and location. Will see what will happen next year. (I do want to sail the Texas 200 again, and had thought 2021 might be a good year for that).

Back to "woodie".

I'm with Tom that I enjoy the way the seat tanks on the '60s DS1s ends a foot or so before the cuddy so one can stand there, or sit and fully face forward. Now, I sailed with someone on a DS2 who liked to sit all the way against the bulkhead and face aft. (But that may have been the better to watch me ).

I can see some open cubby holes for gear, just about as deep as the side decks. I wouldn't overthink the question of "lids" or "hatches". This is for stuff that needs to be at hand, and would otherwise float around the cockpit. If it's critical gear that can't be lost overboard. it needs a lanyard (to your person or to an eye strap in the boat). If it shouldn't get wet, you really need to store it on the inside of your big hatch.

[lemsteraak]

Thanks for all the good input. I like it, I'll keep room so the crew can face forward. I've been looking at sheathing the fiberglass sides of the cockpit with a 3/16 inch walnut veneer that I milled up but I'm concerned about the stability. I think the wood and fiberglass will fight so I'm going to keep the original design with the cockpit coaming and modernize it a bit.

At our last race, we had a discussion (with proper social distancing) about what to do about our slippery cockpit soles. We have all taken out our floorboards, and in high winds, like we just sailed in, we slip and slide a lot trying to move about. We don't want to add any weight but need something with grip. The one skipper, who has nice rubber pads for grip, tore his hamstring so that may not be the best solution. I'm thinking of cork, cutting strips of cork to glue down on the hull. Finished side down so the rough cork underlayment will be up to add grip. Has anyone tried this? Cork is naturally anti-microbial so it should stay nice for awhile. One downside is that it will be sacrificial and contact t adhesive is a pain to remove.

[GreenLake]

Look up discussion on no-slip decks in forums devoted to larger sailboats.

Sometimes as simple as adding sugar, salt or sand to standard paint. (The two former dissolve, but leave a bumpy surface).

[lemsteraak]

I've seen that where you put anti-skid in varnish and it looks very nice, good suggestion.

I'm still working away, slowly, and since time isn't an issue I'd like to keep the original feel of the boat as much as I can. So, the original coamings are going back in. They are in rough shape with big black marks around the fastening holes. The black wouldn't come out with a light wood bleach, this means the discoloration will come back. I'm swapping sides and using what was once the backside of the coamings to be the front, on the other side. They are now roughed in, but it has rained all June here so I'm working on the wood for the seats. I bought some pristine western red cedar to mill up for strip planks to build the seats. Since I'm rebuilding the boat, why not reuse as much as I can? Woodie is going to be a racing boat and she came with floorboards that are never going to be reused. The original seats were toast but the floorboards are in pretty good shape and appear to be of some sort of what seems to be a mahogany. Here is the plan.


I'm drilling out the bronze boat nails that held everything together with a small bung cutter.


I'm making larger bungs out of some of the scrap and gluing in these bungs to fill the holes where there were fasteners.

The wood from Woodie's floorboards are going to be her seats

[GreenLake]

clever!