Building ‘Sharpy’ Part 4

Cockpit


Forward Section



It gives me great pleasure to be able to tell you that a ‘Sharpy’ is being built in the USA. The builder wishes to be anonymous, but he is very happy for me to publish photos of his boat. I’ll start with two of them - one of the cockpit and the other shows the forward end of the boat.
Here is my abridged reply to his email giving me permission to publish his photographs.


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Well, (Mr. Anonymous),

Thanks for the 'go ahead' with your photos. I think they might encourage others to build 'Sharpy'.

……………………………………………………….. All of these home-built craft have differences, some of which may improve their performance or functionality. Feedback via the Internet through group discussions, forums, blogs or websites is automatically archived, and photos are particularly useful, because things seen are easier to understand than those described by words.

Builders come up with their own solutions to problems, and they have their own methods of working. Those who share information online about such things, add to the pool of knowledge.

I look forward to seeing photos of your ballast castings, and to making them available to potential builders of 'Sharpy' by uploading them to my Blog.

Best wishes,
Bill.

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What can we learn from the photos? They give us a lot of information. The cockpit photo reveals where the two floor panels are butted together and where the side panels are joined. It clearly shows the construction of the keel box. There’s a support frame at the aft end, and under the coaming, on the port side, we can see a knee for strengthening the side deck. Either side, on the floor of the boat, there are single stringers. At the bottom of the side panels there are chine logs. Careful examination will reveal that the support frame for the keel box, bulkhead, and knees, have been thickened by the addition of beading at the edges where they come into contact with side panels. The forward waterproof bulkhead is far enough in front of the keel box to give space for the foot steering bar that will be installed later. There’s a slot at the apex of the coaming for the support block that will be part of the keel hoisting and lowering system. At the top of the photo you can see where the raised foredeck joins the sloping side decks.


The photo of the front part of the boat gives us more information. We can see the mast support, the sheer logs and the number 1 bulkhead, plus the central deck support beam. It also reveals what will become two watertight chambers. The original plans recommend filling these compartments with polystyrene pellets in plastic bags - presumably, the sort that will not degrade. Mr Anonymous will be adding watertight hatches, so that he will be able to access the compartments.