New look hatches
Strengthen bulwarks  Get rid of stern crossbeam and Heath Robinson outboard bracket mount
in vicinity of back stays 
I was of two minds what to do about this. Altogether the boat had 6 crossbeams.
where people climb on the 
Three of these are structural, and while the others (bow, stern and intermediate
boat:
between rear main beam and stern) aren’t, they do stiffen the boat up somewhat.
There was also a somewhat odd looking frame that sat between the rearmost
One of the downsides of the conversion
crossbeams which had a rise-and-fall outboard bracket on it. This frame had
to lashed beams was the necessity of
begun to rot, the outboard bracket needed rebuilding and the whole setup looked
cutting through the bulwarks. I assume
cluttered. I removed the rearmost crossbeam (between the sternposts) and
that as one piece they would be fairly
replaced the old outboard bracket and frame, with an arrangement that hinges
strong, but sliced into sections they
from the front of the small cockpit pod I eventually built. Height is adjusted by a
had lost a lot of support. This was
block and tackle. I started out with a 4hp short shaft outboard which had plenty of
particularly noticeable when people
power but kicked out of the water too readily in a chop. In rough conditions I found
would inadvertently stand on them
that lowering the bracket enough to keep the prop immersed resulted in the motor
getting on and off the boat. I had
getting too much water over it. Eventually I switched to a 5hp L/S Mercury which
thought of removing them completely
has been most satisfactory.
for a cleaner look (they had earlier been
completely removed from the insides of
the hulls to facilitate the fitting of hard
decks), but couldn’t bring myself to do
Remedy 4 rot spots in deck on one hull.
it – there was precious little free board
If there is one tool that is indispensible for this kind of work it is the angle grinder.
as it was. I installed some extra knees
Fitted with a 60 grit disc it makes short work of grinding out areas of rot etc.,
supporting the bulwarks in the vicinity
as well as being a quick method of initial shaping. There was one point near the
of the backstay, at the rear of the cabin,
sternpost on one hull where a wire had been run through the deck and not sealed
and now direct people to embark there.
properly. This was the only part of the hull I replaced. Otherwise it was grind back
With the extra support it doesn’t matter
to solid wood, epoxy fill, sand and glass. Easy.
if someone stands on the bulwark and
I no longer have visions of sections of it
snapping off.
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  JULY 2009 : MULTIHULL REVIEW  37
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