INVESTIGATOR 563

I have been meaning to post this for a while but had to get a final pic of my new front door. As part of my refurbishment I replaced the thin ply two part washboards on Spritzig II. There was nothing wrong with them other than I had let the varnish go for a few seasons as I knew they were going to be replaced. The main reason as discussed on the forum before is that they really are inadequate strength wise to stop a large wave breaking over the rear of the boat from entering the cabin . In a worse case they would simply buckle and be useless. Also the shallow groove cut into the trim that locates the board is anemic both from a safety and security point. Using my renovator tool I carefully cut around the existing timber trim leaving the front quarter round section but trimming away the area behind the groove. I them bolted with very fine counter sunk SS bolts 10mm square aluminium channel up against the old quarter round trim part.

The hatch was made from 12 mm eco ply I had left over from a job at work with a 2mm rebate taken from the back to fit the channel and finished in decking oil as per the handrail thread . All in all a much more confidence building front door and I'm now sure water in the cockpit will be going out not into the cabin. It is also strong enough to keep out honest people out on the mooring I have also made a half height piece to be used when in semi rough weather but I somehow think that if the seas were bad enough to have boards in I would want the full height one in place. My wife can hand me anything I need through the top slide hatch. The half height is mainly for camping with an insect mesh infill above. Next I will post a few pics of my new front hatch treatment , not quite finished as yet as I have been too busy sailing.
The final one piece door fits neatly (just ) in the port cockpit locker
The bottom aluminium channel has several holes placed to drain water away. So Far my plastic hawk has been a smashing success in keeping bird poop off the cockpit area. A Bunnys garden accessory.

Ozzie,
I appreciate your attempt to keep our server file size small by reducing the size of your pics. But, me oyes are dim an oy canne see ta pics vera well. Do you think you could post them full size so us oldies can have a good ogle? I think I can remeber setting the max pic size around 60k.

Sorry Ian ,I am spoilt with the ipad where magnification is just finger swipe away

I have added the close up of the channel.

I had the 12 mm board on hand so I used it as it was strong, but I only fitted the 10 mmm channel as it fitted the available space better and was not so intrusive. Thinning down the edge was not difficult. If your doing this, 10mm board would probably do but its just a little more flexy. I am about to fit shock chord loops on the inside to secure the board on the unlikely event of a knockdown.

My washboards and companionway are definitely a future project so I appreciate how you started the thread.

Thank you for this, Ozzie.

terrific pics. i have to fit a channel and make a new wash board so these are just what i need. what about 10mm perspex for a see through wash board. would it be to flimsy.

Mate, not sure about the strength of perspex. Over on TSP there is a lot of stuff on perspex Vs Lexan . One is tougher than the other but scatches easy ...not sure which is which. Would let lots of light in though. Some people have bottom ply and top half clear.

Sorry David, missed this bump up. When I did that thread I oiled my plywood but l found the constant re-oiling a pain so this haulout I’ve sanded it right back and two coats of Dulux oil based undercoat and two coats of white Weathersheild Gloss. Meant to add I did ultimately get some warp in the board so put a piece of 25mm square meranti I had kicking around across it . It fixed the issue and gives me a very handy handle to reach in and grab to pull the board out. I rarely use the half height board so stopped carrying it might resurrect it next summer with a flysceen top bit for overnights.