11 November 2013

Cockpit floor supports


Last season I experimented with propping the cockpit floor boards up on the edges of the flat fenders, to give me a raised, high level platform to use at anchor. It was very successful and I had the floor up like that most evenings when I was on board. Also nice for lounging in the sun. But getting them up and the fenders into position was quite a hassle and I probably came nearer to falling overboard raising and lowering the floor than doing anything else.

So I have fitted some permanent 18mm plywood brackets on each side of the cockpit which I can just lift and drop the floor boards onto. They took a little fitting, as I needed to glue backing pads for them to screw through into. One of the end brackets doesn't have such a pad as I simply could not reach down inside the quarter berth and behind the bilge pump to fit it. That bracket is on large, short screws just into the cockpit side, but I think it will be fine. I had thought of fitting a single long strip down each side, but the backing pad problem would have been even greater for those.

I am very pleased with the result. It takes only seconds to lift and fit the boards and they are very solid. I can almost lie across the cockpit, and certainly can lie out at an angle, so camping in the cockpit is now a possibility.

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