The Triton Daysailor | From a Bare Hull: Deck Beam Layout and Construction

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From a Bare Hull: Deck Layout & Deck Beam Construction

Waterline and Cockpit Sole Height
While the shape and depth of the cockpit wasn't necessarily critical at this particular juncture, it will become so later in the process, particularly as relating to the engine placement and location of the waterline. I wanted to keep the sole as low as possible without interfering with the minimum space required beneath for an engine, and without ending up too close to the waterline.

Locating the waterline inside the hull could probably have been done several ways, but I chose the simple method of drilling, from the outside, a small hole at the waterline on each side of the hull, through which I ran a length of small line that I stretched across the inside of the boat. I wasn't worried about the small holes, as they would be a cinch to fill and repair later. Once the line was stretched across, I used a 4' level to transfer its position to the mid and after bulkheads, after which I removed the line and filled the holes in the hull.

During demolition, I had intentionally left a small bit of the old cockpit sole around the rudder tube, so now I could use that as a reference point from which to figure the new cockpit sole height. With a level, I transferred that location tot he aftermost bulkhead (shown in the photo, left); by measuring from the waterline mark up to the sole mark, I could then transfer that new line to the mid bulkhead, once again giving me two solid reference points for future work. I drew out a rough cockpit well shape on the mid bulkhead for my own reference in future planning, and also transferred the height of the sole to my construction drawing.

While I may not have done anything specific with these reference marks at this stage, they will become important later, so I thought it made sense to get them figured out earlier rather than later.

Deck Beam Laminating Mold and Construction
Once I had the proper shape for the main deck beams determined, creating a test beam and laminating mold was straightforward. Using the measurements from the layout step, I recreated the crown shape on a 10' length of 2x10 that I had around, and cut out a mock beam with my jigsaw. This left a sturdy base section that I could use to form my laminating mold.

Click here to revisit the beam layout process.

To complete the laminating mold, I secured the cutout 2x10 to a few scraps of plywood, which I reinforced with other scrap lumber. I wrapped the flat base and the 2x10 mold in plastic to prevent the glued beams from sticking during the process. The resulting monstrosity was over 10' long and awkward, but I managed to fit it on my rolling pipe staging at the front end of the shop, where it was relatively out of the way.

I glued up the deck beams one at a time from three pieces of mahogany, each one 3/4" thick and just over 2" wide. This allowed for finished beams of 2" in width (after smoothing) and 2-1/4" in depth, which seemed more than sufficient to me after I consulted a number of different sources on the subject. I varied the lengths according to the beams needed on the boat, choosing the appropriate section of the beam mold on which to clamp each section. To glue the laminations together, I chose resorcinol glue, a very strong, highly waterproof glue that is easy to mix and use. For each beam, I clamped the glued pieces in place and left overnight, or for the appropriate curing time as necessary. I found that springback was virtually negligible. I could only glue up one beam a day, so I tried to ensure that I got ahead of myself so that I'd never have to wait endlessly for deck beams. So I continued gluing up a beam a day, and in the meantime I got to work on the sheer clamp.

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