This week, Oliver and I focused primarily on the Teak Decking. Brendan stuck around with us for half the week showing us how to cut nibs into the king planks using a very sharp chisel and to help figure out a system for fastening the teak deck planks. After that, he let Oliver and I loose and we laid down plank after plank. It is a little tricky and is definitely a two person job, at least as long as the planks stay full length. We have 15' and 10' planks and we space them specifically to stagger the butt joints where they meet. The first plank was difficult because it had the most bend in it as it followed the shape of the sheer. As there was nothing to clamp against with this first plank, we had to create a system of screwing down blocks that we could wedge off of. After the first plank, however, we could use a clamp to pull in the next plank to the one previous. After the teak is wiped down with acetone to remove the oils and help the glue stick, we lathered both the hull and plank with G Flex and then bent and held it into place. A series of blocks are then used to hold it out board and down, given a 3/16" space between it and the previous plank, which is held consistent by using plastic 3/16" spacer blocks. By the end of the week, we had installed mostly all of the full length planks, which puts us nearly half way down.
Brendan, after getting us situation, worked on cutting and fitting the mahogany hand holds that I had just varnished. He got those installed with G-flex and bunged. He also put another puff coat of paint on the coach house roof. Then, he installed the coach house stringers and we helped him on Friday to install the coach house roof, which went smoothly. We used the chain hoists to raise it over the deck and after dry fitted it and making sure everything was going together correctly, we lathered the perimeter of the coach house and the stringers with a generous amount of 5200 and laid the roof down. Then we fastened it with wood screws and cleaned up the mess.
With the roof on, it gives you a whole new perspective on the interior. It with the interior of the coach house painted, I think it will bring in a lot more light, especially considering thats where the light enters the boat from the port holes. I can stand up fully in every area of the coach house and at six feet tall, thats not too bad.
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