THE SKYLIGHT IS FITTED AND FRONT HATCH SECURED.

The skylight was set in position and one opening light clamped shut. This allowed the remainder to be lifted up and a layer of  sikoflex spread under the centre piece. This was then lowered into position and screwed down. 

Wooden plugs were then made to cover the screw heads and having been coated with epoxy glue, were tapped into place

Wednesday Phil then prepared the front hatch opening by adding corner angles where the frame left a gap and having sikoflexed the surface of the frame, set and secured the opening light with the hinges facing forward
Thus if  a wave should wash over the bow (front) of the boat when the hatch is open it will not be ripped off by the force of water.







To meet safe practice ,the boat will need a safety rail around the deck  to stop crew being washed overboard.
The rail needs to be  at least two feet high with safety wires threaded through.
Last week Wednesday Phil visited a steel yard and purchased  three lengths of galvanised  ,one inch thick gas pipe.
Unfortunately the lengths would not fit in his car so a blunt hack saw was employed with vigour  to remedy the situation.

Back at the yard, wisdom took over and a grinder  was used to chop desired lengths.

 These were then drilled on a pillar drill to take the wire safety lines.








For homework, Phil decided to try to bend the capping planks which will fit around the cock pit sides.
These are impossible to bend to the correct angle with brute force and threaten to snap when forced so steaming the planks is the best option.
Phil hasn't done this before so creative thinking was employed.

 A steaming box was made from a plastic down spout and a wallpaper steamer used to create the steam. The rails were pushed into the tube and steamed for a good hour.

A copy was made of the bends on the cock pit sides in one inch thick ply wood.

The two steamed rails were then placed against the pattern and bent to the correct shape using long clamps.
Once this was achieved ,they were left to dry out for a day. 


To be honest' the results showed the system worked but the curve sprung back quite a bit so Phil redid the process having added a one inch block  at both ends of the ply wood .This increased the angle of the bend so that when the planks are released the desired bend will have been achieved.( here's hoping ).