Blackrock 24 (Build)

A side view of the new cockpit lay out.



I've gone full width on a portion of the cockpit. Not necessarily a good choice if this were a blue water boat. I think adds a lot of plus' for my intended usage.

Maybe the biggest plus is forward facing helm seating. Sitting sideways and watching over the bow for hours has given me many neck aches. More "floor" space for moving about. The ability to stand at the rail with a decent amount of protection. The ability to have a binnacle and wheel at some point.

I've gone away from hatch type storage in the cockpit and opted for an "open, but protected" theme. There is storage under each p&s helm seat; right side of the picture. On the aft end of the port side facing seat is another storage area; lower, left. The matching area to SB wasn't bullheaded so it went to internal storage; upper right. All storage areas soles above the waterline and will be limbered for drainage. I am making provisions have doors on the forward facing opening.

A funny thing happened on the way to the boatyard. Not really, but with all of the change ups, a piece of ply that was going to be part of the sole in the port side storage has lead many lives now. It became the port side helm seat, but proved to be too small. It was then slated for its earlier life, but this time as a sole panel on the SB side storage. Before any cuts could be made, it was deemed to be the perfect specimen some side deck pieces and so it has finally found its resting place on my boat.

 

Part of the seat lowering process was in concurrence with an extension of the cabin. I took a foot from the cockpit and added it to the aft end of the cabin. This meant I hard to add an intermediate partial frame to the aft end of the cabin. More pieces and part. Se la vie. it was necessary and it gave a nice transition inside as there was no room on the original frame to drop the seating. The quarter berths still have a roomy entrance, but the toe space is slightly cozier. The will be a couple of alcoves above the quarter berths for portable and personal electronics and primitive nav station.



The old frame is in the foreground and the new is behind it without any epoxy. Another surgery that wil take place is the removal of the upper, central portion of the old frame. The level of the cockpit sole behind it is a couple of inches higher than the step with the sunburst pattern on it. That portion of the sole is going to become the upper step. The sunburst step will be lowered to the height of the quarter berth front and the lower step will not be needed. This material removal will fortunately offset some of the material addition of the new frame section.

On the right side of the photo on the foreword face of the new frame, there is a doubler that matches the curve of the frame. The upper edge of this doubler is the old seat height. The aft side of the old frame has a matching doubler that was intended to support cockpit seating. I plan to lay some 3mm ply across the doublers to create a small storage for papers and e-tablets. The same will happen on the SB side.

Unfortunately, I was unable to install the new frame in one piece. You can see the butt in the frame on the right side of the photo and the squeeze clamp. There is plenty of structure around the joint, so I'm not doing anything special here. I did choose to make the cut on the side away from the centerboard on the offhand chance that more loads would be carried that side of the frame.

The sunburst step is hinged on the centerboard side and can be raised for access under the cockpit sole. When there were going to be two steps, they were both going to be hinged to the centerboard box. The lower would notch into the upper when raised and they would hold each other up. The upper step, when up, would have extended into the companion way to block access and prevent "missing steps surprises". Picking up the top step would release the bottom and the top could be let down for entry into to the cabin in the event they had inadvertently been left up. It was a great plan anyways.

 

Seating

I am my own worst enemy. I can't build anything simply.

My cockpit seats could have been flat, but noooo....... I had to do something complicated and make complex and challenging work out of something simple. My seating could have been flat or even sloped, but I've got to put camber in them and make everything a challenge. At least now with the new configuration, I don't have cambers storage locker hatches to deal with.

So here is my simple solution for my induced complexities. The problem was holding down the outboard edge of the seat panel while the inboard edge pushed down into position. It has to be flexed into position and I had no mechanical means to hold the outboard edge down. I was hesitant to attach anything via screws as the exterior surface is finished and I would be loath to penetrate it with a wayward drill it or a too long screw.

Liquid joinery to the rescue. The inboard edges of the seat panels were propped up to the specific height that would let the outboard edges lay in their proper position without any external forces applied. The outboard edges were covered with packing tape to prevent adhesion. With the inner hull surfaces properly prepared and the seat panel positioned, a fillet was run along the outboard, upper edge of the seat panel. With the inboard edge propped in place the fillet took a proper set in that position and became the mechanical means I needed to hold the outer edge in place while to inner edge was flexed into position.

It is very curious to see these fillets after the tape was removed and the panels put back in place. The fillet fits the panel perfectly and if you didn't know better, you would think that the panel was glued in place.



Progress feels like it goes at a snails pace sometimes. With all of the cockpit seat panel cut, I finally have enough good sized cut-offs to finish cutting out the deck panels. I've stripped the cabin sides/coaming off and will be doing the last pieces that go under the deck and finally start installing the deck permanently. Wee who!

 

One more post and I am almost caught up. But, then I'll do some more work and I'll be behind again.

A shot of all of the seat panels fitted, but still rough. I will size the aft seats first(fore and aft) and then I'll set the distance between the fore and aft seats. 18" is a good bracing distance between the seats. I noticed a squeeze in the shoulders when bending over to retrieve items from the storage area. The gap in the panels is currently around 16" so it is still undersized. Shoulder width will be important if I want easy access to the storage areas.

The inboard edges of the forward seats will be trimmed flush with the support structure and a large radius will be employed. I've already applied a triangular piece of wood to the inside corner to allow for the radius. The exposed fore and aft edges of the seats will have overhangs to provide toe space, additional sitting area and a slight amount of protection to the underlying storage areas.

At first, the cambered seating area came about as a means to drain water from the seats. With the decision to go from 1/2" ply to 3/8" ply, I was very happy to have the cambered surface for strength (rigidity) reasons. Flexed into place with only screws on the inboard edge, there is only a slight bounciness in the areas of largest unsupported span. Once it's filleted and taped, I expect a fairly firm surface.



I have since pulled the seat panels and started preping for decking. When the deck is permanently installed, I can do the permanent install on the seating.

 

A "floating" stringer, under the unsupported ares in the seat tops will remove any bounciness. Just glue and 1x2 across the longest dimension. The ends don't need to land on framing, it's just floats. I like to taper the ends to near nothing, but no one is going to see it, so why bother.

 

'Floating' stringers are effectively how things like guitar tops are braced. They work fine, use as many as you need depending on span. Like PAR says, I also prefer to taper towards the ends if using these and round off the tops. None of the stuff removed is doing any real work and a tapering of any stress becomes a little more even.

Keep up the good work, you can definitely see it getting there....

 

Eyelashes.

Thanks for the comments guys. I'll keep that one in my hip pocket if I find out I need it.

Another trick from my magic box.

I had only rough cut the after deck and draw around the perimeter with it in place with a pencil on its underside to the cut to line. Apparently, I did this more than once and I had several cut lines to choose from. No good. Back on the the boat it went. This time, instead of redrawing another perimeter line, I drew eyelashes from the hull-deck interface. Eyelashes. So embarrassing.

 

I've switched to using a fine line Sharpie for the "final" line. Sometimes a ball point is used. I'm finding it difficult to see the line when cutting and pencil lines on meranti and many other species just doesn't cut it, especially if sharpened enough to be accurate.

On the floating stringers, I usually taper the longitudinal sides at 45 degrees and round over (heavily) the exposed corner. On the ends I take a belt sander and put a fairly dramatic taper in it, say 6:1 or better, for the same reasons Suki recommends, to mitigate localized stress risers.

I discovered this using thin plywood seating (1/4") or paneling. I had painted with primer and was wet sanding, looking for high spots when I noticed a 1x2 stringer, set on edge under a seat top was making a "proud" hump in the panel, sort of an "oil can" kind of thing. This stringer was simply glued under the seat and when slightly "tweaked" into place, showed this hint of a stress riser. I didn't fix this on this particular boat, but the mental note let me access the options on future situations.

Your curved and raked seat tops will look and function great, worth the trouble and shows a level of professionalism in the design, that only a few will notice. I've noticed, keep stroking my friend.

 

You make me blush. Thanks, Bud.

 

The latest stuff.

Going clockwise from the upper left:

An old bowsprit put to use locating mast heel and deck opening. Some deck installation is shown also.

The mizzenmast step sans the mortise. Lots of glass to harden things up. Note the limber holes forward(left) of the step. I was going to go larger, but was concerned about loosing items through the limbers. I when smaller, but multiple. The 9/16" paddle bit worked well to add these holes.

The other side of the limbers. A 1/2" round over router bit worked well for cleaning up this side.

A view from ahead.

The starboard side storage area. This side will get the limber treatment also. I located this sole as close to the waterline as I was comfortable to gain as much storage area as possible. The port side sole higher due to previous installation of mast step structure.

 

Well it's been almost a month since I posted. Christmas, work, house guests and all of the other stuff that takes priority does slow down the boatworks. Here is a couple of shots of the cockpit. It has been my mainstay for the west few weeks. I feel like there is enough progress to post a little something.



The upper photo is looking forward. To port is one of three cockpit storage areas. The seating is only 3/8" thick so to keep from having a sharp edge, knee knocker at the overhangs, I add 2 layers of 1" wide 3/8" ply. This lets me put a nice radius on the edge and also gives a nice edge to grab. In retrospect, I could have use a single piece of 3/4" ply to the same ends and saved effort and complexity. Maybe next time.

The lower image is looking aft. The other two storage areas are visible here. The motor well is located between the aft seats. The forward edges received the same treatment as the forward seats. The inboard edges are still in a state of flux. I'm making some decisions about motor size will not do anything final here until I have a physical motor to play with. A second unknown is the final configuration of the tiller. This may also impact certain aspects of the helm sear layout. I have rudder fittings on order so that will let me progress with tiller and the way it interacts with helm seating and also the mizzenmast mast.

I am reconsidering the need for the kicker motor to have battery charging capability. I only plan to have the ships battery power led lights (both inside and outside), charge portable electronic devices and a bilge pump. I'm thinking that solar capability makes a lot of sense as it changes the ships battery any time there is adequate light available. I'm also thinking that I can reduce my motor size for a lighter weight installation. Along with the lighter motor are more options lifting and stowing it for extend cruising without the drag of drive leg.

I think that is it for now. Some progress. Some ideas. Each gets me a little closer to the water.

 

A chain saw engine, driving an alternator works good. Put in an insulated box, so you don't have to listen to it scream and it takes up little space. It's better on fuel than running a main engine or genset.

I usually employ a hunk of 1x2 to make revealed edges thicker (like your seat edges). I find it's lighter and easier to shape, plus they can be varnished if desired.

 

I was able to use some Racelite hardware to attach my rudder. Some stock gudgeons worked fine, but I had to modify the pintles to fit my application. I used their heavy duty 790 hardware with 1/2" pins. The pintles were made to fit a 1" rudder and to get them to work, I had to straighten out the tangs to form roughly a 60 degree V. I took some 1/8" x 1" stainless steel stock to make straps to attach to the rudder head that would fit in the V formed by the pintle tangs.



I get about 55 degrees rudder displacement either side of center. I can tweet things to get a little more throw if I think I need it. Most likely not. I was also able to check clearance with the mizzenmast mast and all is working to plan. I was afraid the tiller would strick the mizzenmast, but my fears were unfounded.

Between getting the rudder located and finishing the majority of the cockpit, I have opened up innumerable options for what I can work on. I've been installing the deck and finished the initial install on that today. That opens up my ability to start working the cabin sides though I may work the toe rails before putting on the cabins sides. With the rudder head in place, I can work on the rudder blade and finalize its attachment. I'm also looking at getting the centerboard in place before the cabin is installed. I could even start building masts if I wanted though I am still numbers and spreadsheets regarding my masts. There is also some minor construction to do up in the bow in association with the step/chain lockers/mast guide for stepping. I think this last item will wait until the cabin is on and I'll have mostly left overs in my plywood stack.

 

I like the RaceLite stuff, a nice family run outfit, good welds and material.

 

Looking good, I take it you will be locally filling the V formed by widening the pintles on the stock? Just can't hold things rigid enough at that point of attachment or you risk movement say if the rudder snags on weed, a net or lobster pot line....
I'd also like to know a little more about the lower gudgeon on the hull attachment as it will be 'permanently' submerged. Are the screws bedded in epoxy? or are there recessed nuts inside the skeg? Just concerned about water ingress and possible compression problems in the timber. Small but important detail....