Bow Deck Installed!

Warning: this is a long post. But only because there is a lot to report. Yesterday the small one and I went to the fishery supply store and bought some wire. With that done I had no more excuses for not having the deck installed on the bow. I installed the wires for the bow light yesterday, note the wires in anchors in the pictures below.

I started out by chasing the threads out of all the trampoline pad eye T-nuts.  I'm going a bit against Bernd's recommendation but I've had many a day ruined by fouled threads. And if I have a problem with these threads I want to know now instead of after the deck is installed.  It was harder to do than it should have been, likely because I was sloppy with the epoxy when installing the T-nuts. But after some fiddling it all looks like it will come together just fine.

I can't emphasize how weirded out I am by installing this deck piece. I think the issue is that I am cutting off my access to this part of the boat. I suspect it is a similar emotion as kids leaving the house (I've done the best I could, and now the this bow has to go it alone).  A symptom of this is that I checked continuity of the bow light wires. Basically checking to make sure that brand new copper wire conducts electricity. It tested fine. I suppose I will to weird stuff when the kids leave the house too.

The next task was to put in the capsize (or holed) flotation. Per Bernd's recommendation I am using plastic jugs. I overshot a bit as Bernd called for 150 liters of flotation in the second compartment (between bulkheads 2 and 3).  I could not fit it all in that compartment, due to the lazarete. So I put in the entire case of jugs (48 gallons) in the first two compartments. Here is the before picture.

And the after picture, showing the lazarette floor installed.

For deck installation I ran into a problem where the flange on one of the 1/2" T-nuts was running into the bulkhead before it was in it's clearance hole. So without panic, I cut off a section of the flange with a dremel tool, while the epoxy was already mixed. While the solution was straight-forward, I'm most proud that I did not freak out. With that issue fixed I installed the deck. I used a couple of cleat and chock holes and the beam holder holes to initially hold the deck in place. Then I went back afterwards and ran a few screws around the deck to get it well seated. Here is a picture of the final installation.

Last picture shows how everything lines up to the threaded beam holder fastener, the entirety of the hole is lined with epoxy.

Still a few things to do on the forward deck. The lazarette cover hole has to be trimmed out and the T-nuts for the last cleat (for a fender) still need to be installed. Access through the hole for the lazarette cover should be sufficient for that. Lastly will be the requisite epoxy coats. Then it will wait for fiberglass with the rest of the deck.