To make the tube, I wrapped wax paper over a round hardwood dowel, then wrapped several layers of pre-wetted 9-oz by 4" fiberglass tape around it. After curing, I test-fit the drain plug ...and as it turned out, the tube was too tight (in spite of measuring the wrapped dowel with a caliper to get it right.) I added a couple more wraps of wax paper and did it again ...perfect fit! The drain plug slides in with just a bit of snugness and turning the knob tightens it up very nicely. I used a hole saw to cut a hole through the bottom of the transom, put the tube in and marked it for length, then cut the tube off with a chop saw. All I have left to do is to glue the tube in with a nice thick paste made from epoxy and silica and it'll be done.

Inside the cuddy, you can see how I fit the cuddy deck to the boat. Using a level, I temporarily installed a couple of scrap nailers, one on the inside of the aft cuddy bulkhead and one on the flotation chamber. I decided to make the cuddy deck the same height as the pilot house deck. Next I put a piece of 1/2" thick scrap on top of the nailers and used a level to mark the outline of the deck on the boat. I marked every 12" on this center piece of scrap then measured to the side of the boat to find out deck widths that would allow me to loft the curving intersection beween the deck and the hull. My first-try deck came very close to fitting, but I had to trim a little off of both sides to get it to fit in a bit better.

Notice also that in spite of Renn's remark that it is not needed, I did install an edgewise support under the deck (3/8" scrap ply). By measuring vertically from the centerline scrap, I determined offsets that would allow easy lofting for fitting this piece it. It fit first try.

When a deck is installed, it is impossible to do a nice fillet on the bottom side of the deck-hull joint. Therefore, I seal up the edges of the plywood also. I find that the quickest way to seal the edge of deck plywood is to coat it once (and cure and sand), then use gloved hands to rub silica-thickened epoxy into all the endgrain. When the deck is installed, I give the silica-filled edge areas one more coat of epoxy. The way I do a deck installation is to first mark the deck's intersection on the hull, then I run a bead of thickened epoxy along the mark (no breaks), then I place a bead of epoxy along the lower part of the deck's edges. I lower the deck into place and the two beads of epoxy (hull and deck) squish into each other. I think this is a good way, in addition to the edge sealing, to make sure there is no water path into the plywood around its perimeter. Once the deck is in, then the usual fillet and glass tape treatment is given to the top perimeter.

Note that the bunk front pieces are the first pieces in the boat that glue to the aft cuddy bulkhead. As you can see, I used a cedar 2x4 clamped across the aft cuddy bulkhead to guarantee its flatness prior to fitting the bunk fronts in. On the bunk fronts themselves, I either clamped or screwed-on straight edges so that they'd be straight while being fit into the boat and when being installed. The tops of the bunk fronts on either side of where the porta potty goes wanted to naturally warp outwards, so I had to run a clamp across them to get them to stay vertical. Everything checked out with a level, so I ran a bead of epoxy along the install lines that I marked on the flotation chamber front, deck, and inside of the aft cuddy bulkhead and then installed the pieces. After curing, I went back and added the fillets ...I didn't bother glass taping the bunk front components since they are not structural to the hull like the decks and bulkheads are. Note that the bunk fronts were cut to be 1/2" short of the top of the flotation chamber to leave room for the 1/2" bunk tops which come next.

Coming next: Bunk Tops