Starting again with the forward cabin, I lightly sanded the latest round of tabbing to clean it up and prepare the area to accept the tank permanently, and slightly rounded the two vertical plywood edges at the ends of the tray to prepare these areas for tabbing next.

With the tank back in position in the new tray for now, and everything cleaned up and prepared, I applied epoxy fillets in the areas I needed to tab next, such as the two ends of the main longitudinal bulkhead that I’d left before, the vertical seams at the ends of the bulkhead, and where the end bulkheads met the hull.  Then, I wet out and installed two layers of tabbing in all these areas to complete the structural work required here.  At the forward end, I added a plywood spacer to fill the small space between the tank and the forward bulkhead, where I’d left a little room for the purpose.  Later in the day, with the fiberglass partially cured, I was able to trim with a knife the few areas where the tabbing extended above the plywood.

I planned to secure the tank in a vertical direction with straps and perhaps some solid bracing to come later, but for now it was time to build the support system needed for the berth platform.  I double-checked the position of the tank against the level from forward to aft and the marks I’d made previously at the aft end demarking level using the existing forward end as a guide.  There wasn’t going to be room to lower the forward support at all, in the hopes of reducing slightly the height of the aft end, as the existing clearance would be needed for the hose connections on the tank, but I planned to build in a step at the aft end to make access easier to the relatively high berth.  With positioning confirmed, I installed support cleats on both sides of the aft bulkhead.

Running my long laminated plywood stick from end to end above the water tank gave me the clearance I had to work with for installing support beams across the space, between the height of the imaginary platform and the top of the water tank–about 3″ at the aft end, and a little less forward.  I’d nearly run out of wood for cleat and support stock, so after a trip into the world for more I prepared three laminated beams that I’d cut and turn into the beams required for the v-berth platform.  I glued up each beam from three layers of 3/4″ poplar:  two each at 2-1/2″ height, and the third (which I planned to use for the shortest span at the forward end) at about 2″ height.  I used temporary screws to clamp the pieces together while the glue set up.

To finish up the day, I applied another coat of finish paint to the battery box and its hatch.

 

After the usual round of light sanding of the newest tabbing on the water tank, I wanted the main focus of the day to be the support beams for the v-berth platform, but before I got to that I thought through the options for securing the water tank.  I wanted/planned to use straps to secure it athwartships (it was already basically secure in its tray, but needed something to hold it down), but there were challenges in finding a place to secure the straps on the hull (outboard) side of the tank, where the nature of the original construction and the way the tank filled the space didn’t leave accessible space for anything to secure a strap to in a manner that was strong enough.  With no good options for securing strap eyes on the hull side thanks to the shape of the tank and lack of space in the appropriate positions for such hardware, I finally decided to build rigid supports off the v-berth support beams, and possibly add straps in a fore-and-aft direction if I felt it was necessary.

With that decision made, I could press on, but first, at the owner’s suggestion, I moved the tank once more and drilled a few small drainage holes in the bottom of the support tray; hopefully there’d never be any water in this space to begin with, but it made sense to give it a path out should it ever happen.  The base angled aft and would tend to drain that direction, so I started with a drain hole in the aft end, but added a few more along the length going forward just to give any water several paths out.  The space beneath the floor of the tray was open to the hull for drainage beneath in any event.

I planned three cross beams to support the v-berth platform, generally evenly spaced from forward to aft, but I planned the two after ones to roughly align with the baffles inside the water tank, the strongest part of the tank to use for bracing.  Starting with the forwardmost beam, with some rough width measurements and a template of the shape of the hull, I cut one of my laminated beams to size and adjusted it in place till it was level side to side and fore and aft, in line with the long plywood straightedge I’d made for this purpose.  This beam was forward of the water tank. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I secured the beam to the hull, and in this case to the protruding hull stringers on each side, in a bed of thickened epoxy.  It was nearly lunchtime, and with a couple heat lamps on the epoxy to speed its cure, I figured I could get it secure enough to remove the temporary clamps after break and continue with the remaining two beams.

In the afternoon, I cut and fit the remaining two cross beams, both of which ran across the water tank generally in line with the baffle positions inside the tank.  I also worked to ensure the beams would remain clear of the inspection ports into the tank.  To help hold the beams in their proper position, I could use some shims between the beam and the tank on the starboard side, and to port I clamped the beams beneath the plywood straightedge that ran between the forward and aftermost supports already in place.  This ensured the beams were level from side to side, and also fore and aft.

With the dry fit complete, I secured both beams permanently with thickened epoxy adhesive.  I left these to cure overnight, and next time would finalize the installation with tabbing between the beams and hull at each location.

There was nothing else I could do in the v-berth for the moment, so I turned to the propane locker.  I’d meant to add some little cleats in the bottom of the locker for the hollow bases of the propane bottles to rest upon, holding them from sliding, and it would have been easier to do so before the locker was fully built and in place, but the detail had slipped through the memory cracks.  But now, earlier I’d made up some basic cross-shaped braces from strips of prefab fiberglass that just fit within the round bases of the tanks and would hold them from any movement.  Now, I removed the paint from the bearing surfaces inside the locker, and epoxied the crosses into place.

I had time to knock one additional small project off the list:  installing a shutoff valve at the inception of the fuel supply line at the fuel tank, which the owner had asked me to do.  When I’d initially glanced at the hoses connected to the tank, it looked like a simple job to install a straight inline valve, which I assembled on the bench with two straight hose nipples, but up in the boat I discovered that the line I’d been imaging was actually the return line, and the supply line hose took a sharp bend right after the tank and required a different configuration.  This was simple enough, fortunately, as I could swap out one of the straight hose barbs for a 90° elbow, which then allowed the valve to fit well within the natural course of the existing hose.

First thing, I finished the modifications to the teak cockpit seat lid.  It took one more round of test-fitting and a final modification before the seat fit properly and I could reinstall it.  I’d finish up the installation of the new cockpit locker and propane locker hatches soon.

Next:  on to some sanding, first the primer coat on the new battery enclosure.

Then, I lightly sanded the tabbing securing the water tank bulkhead, just to remove hard edges, and afterwards I test-fit the tank and marked each end where the 4″ flat I’d designed into the top of the tank landed on the bulkhead and on the hull.  This was where I needed to build a support platform.  I also marked the ends of the tank so I could properly position forward and aft support bulkheads.

With the tank tipped out of the way once more, I cut a support cleat and installed it between the forward and after reference lines, then went through my normal template process to eventually come up with a scribed plywood platform to fit the space.  I secured this to the cleat with screws, then test-fit the tank again to ensure it landed properly on the platform, and to make some additional reference measurements for the small bulkheads at the ends.

I templated and eventually cut and fit the final 12mm plywood bulkheads at each end of the tank space (leaving a bit of extra room at the forward end that I could fill with a spacer later).  Then, after final preparations, I tacked these bulkheads in place above the base platform with hot glue to hold them securely, and installed epoxy fillets along all the inside edges and corners of the space, including  to bond the platform to the hull and inboard bulkhead.

While I let the fillets tack up a bit, I prepared two layers of tabbing for all of the seams and, when the time was right, wet them out with epoxy and installed them all around.  This tray would provide a strong and sturdy base to support and secure the tank.  Later, I planned to also tab the exterior portions of the two transverse bulkheads, but at the moment the tank’s awkward position made working at the forward end unnecessarily difficult, so I held of on the additional tabbing for another time, once the tank was in place in the cradle.

This left enough time to do final preparations and apply the first coat of semi-gloss enamel to the battery box.

I finished up the hatch support cleats on the top of the battery box, then installed it permanently with glue and screws.  Before installing the top, I cut an oval opening in the bulkhead leading to the port settee, which would give the battery wiring passage through.  I sized the hatch as large as I practically could in the space, leaving an opening large enough for two batteries to pass through simultaneously–not that that would ever happen, but it allowed plenty of maneuvering room.

With that done, I turned my focus to the water tank.  I’d been anticipating the tank’s arrival for a long time and couldn’t wait to have it installed and off my mind.  The first order of business was to somehow get the tank up into the boat.  My magic spell repertoire failed me, and I had to come up with a way to do it myself after all.  The tank was heavy, but worse than that it was awkward.  The large end was too far around to fully grasp, and the weight distribution was too unbalanced to carry it in any sort of logical way up a ladder and 10′ above the shop floor.  I had no mechanical means at my easy disposal and in any event figured by the time I’d worked something out, I could otherwise have the tank up there some other way.   I wrapped the tank in an old blanket to protect the boat (and, less importantly, the tank) and to give me some purchase on the slippery plastic surface.  I attempted to install ratchet straps or a line to give me a sort of bridle, but the angled shape of the tank just caused these to slip free.

Eventually, I set up a section of staging next to the boat, and lifted the tank up onto the platform.  From there, not without difficulty, I got the tank up over the cockpit coaming and into the cockpit to the point that I could manipulate it from above.  Then, it took a bit to get it down the companionway.  The plywood mockup had fit–just–so I knew the tank itself ought to fit, but for a few minutes it had me doubting.  Eventually, I removed the companionway hatch slide, which gave me just a bit of extra room that allowed the tank into the boat easily.

I wrestled the tank into the v-berth where it belonged, and, holding it generally in place by hand and after removing the temporary blanket, made some rough reference marks on the hull at the inboard edge to mark where I needed to build the first support bulkhead.  Then I rolled and tipped the tank across and on top of the holding tank to port to keep it out of the way.

Starting with a cheap plywood template, I went through the usual steps to mock up, scribe and cut, and eventually transfer to real plywood the shape of the hull, and cut so the ends were plumb and the top level.  I secured the bulkhead with hot glue blocks and braces along the top to hold it steady.

I installed epoxy fillets along both edges of the bulkhead (the outboard, or righthand in these photos, side was unencumbered, while the inboard side had a couple glue blocks near the end that had me stopping the fillets a foot or so short of each end for now), and, while I let the fillets set up a bit, I prepared two layers of heavy tabbing for each side of the bulkhead and then wet out and installed them.  I left this arrangement to cure overnight, and for the moment that was all I could do for the water tank.

After final preparations and masking, I applied a coat of primer to the new battery box exterior, looking to catch its construction up with the adjacent areas.

Finally, with the time remaining in the day I worked on modifying the teak cockpit locker seat/lid so it would close properly over the new locker and propane hatches.  For this, I removed the hatch from its hinges and brought it to the bench for easier working, eventually using a planer and sander to modify the underside cleats to fit.  Not wanting to take too much, I kept the changes conservative, checking the fit in plate a couple different times, and by the end of the day I was close, but there was still a bit more material to remove, as the lid was still hitting the plastic access hatch before closing all the way.  I left the final modifications for next time.

I started with a light sanding of the battery box inside and out:  inside to clean up the new tabbing; outside to prepare the exterior for primer and paint.

Next, I installed all the support cleats for the top that I’d pre-cut last time.  Then, from a blank slightly larger than needed, I cut the top panel to fit and began work on the large access hatch and support cleats.  I had to leave the shop before I completed the hatch, however.

During the rest of the day, I drove to the tank vendor, located in another part of the state, and picked up the new water tank, which I looked forward to getting into place soon in the forward cabin.

Over the course of morning, I continued work on the battery enclosure, starting with an additional vertical support beneath.  Before, I stood on the platform as it was (I’m not small fry) and there was no movement, but even so I decided additional support would be a good safeguard since the rest of the walls of the enclosure would not provide any direct-to-hull support on their own.

The remnants of an old engine foundation provided a natural place for the support to rest, and it took little time to cut a trapezoidal piece of 12mm plywood to a friction fit, after which I installed it with epoxy adhesive and tabbing.  The nature of the old foundation was rough, uneven, and terrible, and the contours even under better circumstances would have made tabbing there a challenge, so since all I needed to do was hold the support in place, I didn’t worry about tabbing the base, relying on the adhesive alone, and saw no reason to go crazy trying to make the area acceptable for tabbing given the requirements.  I tabbed the top to the underside of the platform to secure it, however.

Afterwards, I continued building the remainder of the enclosure above, fitting and installing the three additional facets of the enclosure.  I let these all hang down even with the level of the bottom part of the first piece, which would give a landing point for the cabin sole supports later.  I secured each section with epoxy adhesive wherever possible, e.g. along the angled seams with the previous section, and where the panels met the 1″ thick edge of the platform itself.  I used screws into the platform edge and little glue blocks as needed to hold the pieces in proper position and alignment.  The final section, where I’d clipped the corner to avoid the mast step, met the inboard edge of the main bulkhead at a 45 degree angle to close off the box.

Next, I cut two layers of tabbing to secure the sides to the platform, much as I’d done with the two sides adjacent to the main bulkhead and port settee earlier, and added a single layer of tabbing at each of the vertical seams to tie everything together with great strength.  Then, preparing for next time, I measured all the sides and cut pieces of cleat stock to fit so they’d be ready for installation once the enclosure was cured.

With the time left in the way, I worked on the new cockpit access hatch, to be located forward of the propane box on the port side.  The shipping box provided a cutout template on the side, which I carefully cut out and then used to lay out the hatch’s position on the cockpit seat after first making a couple reference marks off the hatch itself to determine its best alignment, specifically so the forward support from the hinged wooden lid would miss the forward end of the hatch.

With the position determined and the template marked, I cut out the opening and dry-fit the hatch.  I held off on final installation for now because I had to first make some modifications to the hinged seat so the supports could clear the hatch, as well as the hatch for the propane locker.  There wasn’t enough time left in the day for this now, but I’d be continuing work as time allowed between some of the larger ongoing projects over the remainder of the week.

 

I started with some quick rounds of light sanding:  the head and forward cabin areas I’d primed several days before, and the mahogany ceiling strips from the forward cabin.  Getting this sanding out of the way would ensure it’d be straightforward for the next coats whenever time made itself available.  For now, I didn’t bother cleaning or re-laying out the ceiling strips as I knew I’d be making some dust in the boat later.  I also gave a quick sand and first coat of finish paint to the lonely refrigerator panel I’d been working on.

I spent most of the day working on the battery box, which would become part of the port settee in the main cabin.  I’d previously built the 1″ thick laminated platform to hold the batteries.  Now, I prepared the main cabin by removing the cabin sole in way of the battery location.  This happened to be a separate section of sole and came out by hand without any effort, including the cross beams.  I cleaned up the dust and detritus that had made its way beneath the sole during other parts of the project so far.

At the forward corner, the hull took a sharp upward turn, and this point dictated the level of the entire battery box.  To help lower the platform as much as possible, I eased the underside of the forward corner, allowing the base panel to fit into the space nearly an inch lower.  I did some preparatory sanding to remove paint from places I planned to use epoxy or other adhesive and then, after some basic layout to level the platform in both directions, secured support cleats on the two sides where possible.  I temporarily secured the platform to the cleats with screws to check its fit and level in both directions.  At the forward inboard edge, I made a mark to pare off that corner as well, lest it interfere with the mast step.  With the platform in its final position, there was ample height for the batteries and all appurtenances, as shown with the plywood template leaning against the forward bulkhead; the template, as shown, included the height of the terminal fuse blocks as well as the batteries themselves.

With the dry fit and support in place, I removed everything and, after final preparations, resecured the two cleats with screws and epoxy adhesive, then installed the platform with more epoxy adhesive in the forward outboard corner and on all the faying surfaces and screws into the cleats to secure it.  Then, I installed two layers of heavy tabbing to secure the platform to the nearby bulkheads.  This coincided with lunch, so it was a good time to let the epoxy tack up briefly before continuing.

In the afternoon, I worked on the after bulkhead to define and support the platform and storage box further.  I’d left space for, and now installed, a vertical support cleat at the aft end of the platform, then cut and scribed a slightly-oversized piece of plywood to fit, eventually trimming it to the correct height and width, with a 22.5° angle at the inboard corner where the box would continue to wrap around the platform.  Eventually, with the fit complete, I made the installation permanent with a support cleat beneath the platform (marked in place and installed down in the woodshop), and installed the new aft panel with epoxy adhesive on all possible faying surfaces, finishing up with two layers of tabbing where the bulkhead met the hull (beneath the platform).  This part of the platform formed the main basis of support for its entire eventual weight; I’d not yet determined whether the remaining sides would sit atop the new cabin sole or form the support for the sole itself, but in either event I wasn’t counting on these sides being critical structural support for the weight of the batteries.  Ultimately, I also planned to fiberglass all the inside seams of the box, once complete, so the entire structure would work together for increased strength.

I thought I’d probably install a longitudinal support beneath the platform, generally on top of the old engine foundation that ran beneath, but that would be a job for next time as the day was running short, and before I left I wanted to get the propane box painted inside and out.

 

After a day away on unrelated business, I was looking forward to the final installation of the new propane locker.  As a first step, I did a rough installation of the solenoid inside the locker to test the concept and pre-drill and thread the holes to make installation easier once up in the boat.  I awaited final installation of the solenoid now because I wanted first to paint the inside of the locker, but this would also wait till after the locker was permanently installed.

After final cleanup to prepare the bonding surfaces, I applied polyurethane adhesive sealant (5200 fast cure) liberally to the support cleat, and both faying surfaces on the box.  Then I messily pressed it into place and wedged it tightly with a pre-cut support stick before final alignment and clamping all around the opening in the deck above, with good contact and squeezeout all around.  I cleaned up excess sealant where necessary.

For a final reference check before I located and installed the vent/drain through hull, I measured, from inside the starboard locker, the position of the old vent using the interior of the hull/deck joint as a reference, then transferred this measurement to the inside of the port locker (top mark).  Then, with a level, I marked across from the vent fitting in the bottom of the propane locker:  about 1″ below the reference mark.  This still gave the vent ample clearance above the waterline, as the old starboard fitting was 6-7″ above the DWL according to the paint.  Boats are never perfectly symmetrical, but this was as good a check as any.

From there, I drilled a small pilot hole from inside at my chosen through hull location, to mark it on the outside so I could make the final hole with a 7/8″ hole saw.  In the closeup photo of the hole, one can see the blur of the black vent fitting nipple on the propane box inside the boat. I installed a 1/2″ Marelon through hull with plenty of sealant, secured from inside with the fixing nut, then installed 1/2″ vent hose to complete the installation.

After receiving a delivery of five more sheet of plywood with which to complete the various remaining new construction in the cabin, I spent the afternoon on some smaller tasks that would help advance several other portions of the project, and because I didn’t want to get into the battery locker construction this late in the day and week–that would be my fresh start next week.  So with the ceiling strips from the forward cabin all laid out and prepared for this sort of eventuality, I applied a base coat of gloss varnish to the 26 pieces.  I hoped to do the single gloss base coat, and then a coat of the final finish of rubbed-effect satin varnish.  As there were a few old coats of varnish already on these strips, and given their overall condition, I didn’t see the need for more than this as long as I was happy with how the base coat turned out.  This was in any case a nice change of pace from the past weeks of work.

Though I still had new work to complete in the forward cabin, mainly the new water tank installation (tank was now complete, and I planned on picking it up in the next few days) and new platform, I could go ahead and paint out many areas of the space now, including the hull (to be hidden behind those ceiling strips) above the general location of the new berth platform, and portions of the hull beneath it on the port side, where the holding tank was already in place.  As always, painting out these spaces makes an immediate and significant impact on the feel of things and the sense of progress.  Before painting, I installed some wire mounts along the upper port side to secure those wires leading forward later, and some additional ones to help secure some of the wiring led through beneath the berth platform too.

Finally, I applied a coat of primer to the last piece of the refer compartment that hadn’t yet received it–the small after section of the inboard side of the locker.  I also cur off the excess bolt length from the forward stove bracket in the galley, so now that bulkhead would be ready to receive its cosmetic staving.

After the usual prep and light sanding of the fresh fiberglass securing the top on the propane box, I laid out and then cut the access port.

In the cockpit, I worked out the final layout and positioning, then cut a small hole through the molded seat to help me align the box from beneath.  I’d been thinking about the box installation, and decided I could enhance the bonding of the box to the boat if I also bonded the front of the box to the inside of the cockpit as well as the top, so once more I descended upon the quarterberth locker with sander in hand to remove the paint from and prepare the face of the cockpit well from within.  The plywood bulkhead closing off the cockpit from beneath extended all the way up to the top here.

After cleaning up, I test-fit the propane box from beneath.  I found I could prop it up sufficiently from within, then grasp it from above, through the opening, and pull it into position, securing it with clamps.  Once I did this, I made a minor adjustment to the position from beneath till I was satisfied with where it ended up.  I wanted the top opening to be as far aft as possible without it–and its eventual cover hatch–interfering with the structural supports of the wooden hinged cockpit seat above, and also had to ensure there was room for the opening given how the width of the seat  tapered severely aft.

To help support the box, I cut and attached a wooden cleat beneath.  I secured this to the prepared bulkhead with epoxy adhesive, and some hot glue to hold it while the epoxy cured.  While the box was still clamped in place, from above I reached through the opening and traced the outline of the actual access port in the top of the box onto the underside of the cockpit.  Then, after removing the box, I drilled small pilot holes from beneath at each corner, which defined the opening from above and allowed me to make the final cutout.

Down on the bench, I worked to prepare the final details of the box and propane installation, including installing three gas-tight through-box fittings for the pair of propane supply lines (stove and cabin heater) and the wiring for the solenoid.  These would be accessible after the box was installed, so for now I awaited the final installation till the box was in place and I’d finished up any painting.

I also installed the box drain/vent fitting in the bottom, securing it permanently with sealant.  Once the box was in place, I’d locate and install a new through hull to complete the vent system.  On the back (outboard) side of the box, I epoxied in a 1/2″ thick backer block in the area where I planned to secure the solenoid from inside; this block would give the mounting screws somewhere to go without penetrating the box itself.

That was all I could do on the propane installation for now, and with a bit of time left in the day I turned to the head and forward cabin where, after final cleaning, I applied a coat of primer to the overhead and cabin side liners in these spaces; I’d done the masking earlier.  In the forward cabin, I left the flat parts of the liner beneath the foredeck and sidedecks to be prepped and painted later, once the water tank and new berth platform were in place.

Finally, I used up the rest of the day cleaning and laying out the ceiling strips from the forward cabin, which I’d removed and sanded long ago, so that they might be ready for varnish some other day when I had a suitable short period of time between some of the larger jobs.

To begin, I unclamped the countertop, which had had ample cure time.

I thought I might as well wrap up the plumbing work with the sink and related area, as I had everything I needed and there was no time like the present.  I’d purchased some adapters to connect the compression threads on the existing sink supply hoses to the hose nipple (for supply from the tank) on the cold hose, and a plug on the hot water hose.  I also made up a bronze adapter to convert the 1-1/2″ sink drain pipe to the 1″ through hull.  I made up these supply and drain connections in the boat as needed, and also installed a winterizing/flushing adapter on the new engine intake seacock that the owner requested, and finished up its hose as well.

To finish off work in this space, I secured the engine room light to its overhead panel, and test-fit the two removable side panels with their insulation.

Over the weekend, the owner and I discussed the propane locker installation, and by happenstance he received some useful information from the owner of a similar boat.  Now, I could start to look at some of the ideas and how they might work on the boat and within the various requirements and confines of the installation.

The photos below come from the other boatowner, and were useful in helping me determine a feasible way forward.  The main issue complicating the prefabricated box’s installation was the difficult access to the aft end of the quarterberth, and the impossibility of my doing any serious fiberglass work in that environment.  That was why I had originally conceived the top-down installation, which had been the working plan for some time but which ran into some issues when the realities of the installation location forced a change of direction in order to maintain the potential for the owner to have access to the forward part of this otherwise-empty locker.

This series of photos shows a box designed for three of the small tanks, which looked identical in size to the two tanks for which I’d built the fiberglass propane box to fit, and the other elements of the installation were similar as well, including the installation of an opening hatch on the forward side.  Neither the owner nor I wanted to get into the difficulties, and cosmetic requirements, of a “real” hatch, complete with gutters, etc., though this would be the ideal scenario, probably, were time, budget, and access not factors in the choices made.  The box in these photos, made from plywood, featured a full top and then a (in this case) round access hatch to install the tanks within.  The locker hung from the bottom of the cockpit seat above, secured with a series of bolts that were visible in the photos.

In the shop, I made a rough measurement from the aft end of the cockpit locker (from the cockpit) to show the position of the forward end of the locker if it were pushed as far aft as possible, about 20″ forward of the aft end of the space.  That’s the end of the tape measure in the photo.  However, I positioned a mockup of a square access hatch forward of that because, looking at the way the wooden locker lid above is built, and which has to close down on top of whatever I built beneath it, it made sense to choose a position for the locker opening where it interfered with as little of the cockpit lid structure as possible.  These structural supports on the lid can be seen in the photo, as well as marks on the gelcoat of the structural seat where these members bear.  So avoiding the main areas was a goal of the final location in any case.  This location still left room for a 24″ long hatch in the space forward, which fit the dimensions of one of the prefab plastic hatches the owner had brought to my attention and was interested in using.

Now, I measured the angle of the seat and cut the LPG box to the correct angle, then made a plywood mockup of the top, which in the final construction would be made of sheet fiberglass like the rest of the box and fully glassed all around.  This mockup was slightly oversized for the moment.  I cut a rectangular hole to match the plywood template I laid on deck, which was about the practical minimum size of 9-5/8″ square to fit the tanks through and leave a bit of clearance space; the opening could be slightly smaller, but I saw no benefit to that, preferring decent access within.  The tanks fit easily, with ample room inside the box and through the opening for manipulating the propane connection and regulator.  The tank itself is about 9-3/8″ round, as seen in the round template.

For installation, my plan was to secure the box, with its flat top pressed tightly to the underside of the cockpit, with 5200 between the top of the box and the underside of the cockpit.  The owner wanted to avoid bolts visible from the cockpit, so I’d have to come up with a way to hold the box securely while the adhesive cured, but I didn’t conceive of any problem with the adhesion of the polyurethane, particularly with the large bonding surface available.  The adhesive would have to be capable of supporting the weight of the box and two, ten-pound tanks, so 35-40 lb. total for the whole arrangement.  It would be possible to use bolts to augment the adhesive if needed, but the owner hoped that I could avoid that for appearance purposes.

This installation concept, largely thanks to the owner of a sistership who happened to get in touch with the boatowner at an opportune time, seemed feasible, as simple as possible, and workable with what I’d already accomplished with the box, and would leave enough space for the propane through-fittings for the two supply hoses, as well as the regulator, solenoid, wiring and related that would be inside the box.  With the new deck hatch opening just forward, there’d be good access to these hoses for installation and inspection going forward.

With approval of the concept, I continued work on the box, cutting a piece of fiberglass sheeting to fit (slightly oversized), and trimming it down to its final size.  I secured it with some dabs of hot glue so I could ease all the corners to prepare for fiberglass, after which I applied some lightly-thickened epoxy to fill the seam and fair in the existing tabbing for a smoother fit.  I left this initial application of epoxy to tack up briefly.

While that was underway, I prepared the underside of the cockpit seat from inside the quarterberth locker.  By removing the last of the galley supports, I had reasonable access for the task, which I took care of quickly, heavily sanding the laminate to remove unevenness and any coatings.  This area was gelcoated from the factory, so I didn’t have to remove all traces.  Later, I went back and cleaned up the sanding debris.

In between, I went back to the shop and installed tabbing over all the seams to secure the new propane box top in place all around, and make it vapor-and water-tight.  I installed fiberglass in the center portion of the top as well, so that the finished top would be smooth and even for good bonding when the time came.  I’d cut the hatch opening later.