Progress photos A bow grate

[Barry Pyeatt]

I have elected to go with an elongated bowsprit and use a roller furling system. My plan is to use a Lapper on the furler with a fixed forestay and the roller furling system that Capt. Jake and I have been working on. He has it installed on his Weekender "Fire Escape" and it works well.

I also plan on being able to use a Staysail on a clubfoot or the standard jib which has been modified to have a luff wire sewn in. This allows me to raise and lower the standard jib, roller furling lapper or staysail with just a halyard. A second jib halyard will allow me set up and run as a cutter rig or close to it.

Because of this, I felt that a form of bow pulpit would be preferred so that I can more easily reach the furling system as well as any other rigging on the bowsprit. It will also add considerably to the safer handling of gear when it is necessary to go forward.

I had thought of many different possibilities for the pulpit but decided upon a wood grate on either side of the stem and flush with the deck. This is what I was able to accomplish during the later portion of the Summer.

The grating framework has an additional framework surrounding it that isn't shown in the photo here. It is a 3/4" strip which conforms to the outside dimensions of the frame. It is thicker than the framework so it gives a bit of a lip to the assembly. I plan on applying a glass bead non-skid to the grate itself as well as the framework. This will help to make it a little better from a safety standpoint as well.

I also finished up the fabrication of my cockpit coamings. I will wait to finish them and install them until my deck and cabin sides are glassed.

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[adla]

oooh....really lovely..I like the grate....very very nice...

a.

[Greg Luckett]

Very nice looking joinery and finish. :smilecolros:

[Dave R1]

Very nice work Barry.

Is the grate longer than the bowsprit? I assume I'm seeing the bowsprit down the center of the grate, yes? How did you attach the grate to the bowsprit?

I've thought of doing a similar thing on my bowsprit--you've given me a little incentive with your pictures--but my bowsprit is considerably longer than stock. I wouldn't go much beyond the end of the stem with it but but I haven't solved the attaching part of the deal. I made my bowsprit to be unbolted from the boat so I wouldn't want to attach the grate to the boat and the spar.

[Knut]

Very nice work indeed and I am sure dimensioning and attachement to the spar will work fine.

One very different consideration from my side is the overall stability of the boat. If you are alone in the boat and there is no special weight or ballast involved and a normal weight adult person moves all the way out on such a grate, the bow will dip quite deeply. The stern will lift and the sideways stability will be seriously reduced. Not to say that it cannot be done, but personally I would definately not go that far forward in open water (which you may have to, with a roller furling device at the end of the bowsprit).

[Marshall]

I am going to show my ignorance here, but I am used to that. Being a very novice sailor, BUT a weekender builder, what is the bow grates purpose ?

[Dave R1]

Marshall, the bow grate gives the sailor a place to stand so they don't have to try balancing on the bowsprit.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Dave,

The bowsprit sits on top of the stem which is between the grates. The bowsprit sits as normal directly upon the stem. The total weight of the grate assembly is about 8 lbs. The front piece sits against the front of the stem and the grate surfaces are flush with the top of the stem and sit just barely proud of the deck. When the deck is finished, I think they will be essentially flush.

The frame is two sections (layers). The lower layer is also the support for the grate sections on either side and the side against the stem extends below the bottom of the framework to allow it to attach to the stem and offer some solid attachment. The layers of the frame are joined together with staggered joints and all the joints and layers are biscuit joined.

The trailing edge on either side, (against the hull), has been faired into the hull and screws extend up into the stringers for the deck/hull joint.

I also cheated on support a bit by fashioning my trailboards so that they help to support the grate from below. From the side and forward, you can't tell that they extend upwards to help support the grate. The photo attached is of the bottom before frame assembly. The two longer frame pieces that attach to the stem are 3/4" X 1 1/2" high. They give a substantial amont of material to attach to the stem. I just screwed thru them into the stem, but they could be thru bolted with a little more effort.

I drilled pocket screw slots into the rear edges from below to attach to the deck/hull stringers.

Knut,

Extremely valid concerns. I went forward on a Weekender when alone on one just to see how much my weight brought the front end down. In some real weather it could be significant. That brought up the subject of additional support when I do need to go forward for some reason. Certainly if I'm alone it is even more of a concern.

I'm a pretty cautious sailing type after having learned a lot of lessons the hard way. Typically, I tended to repeat them at least one more time just to see if what happened was typical. (My family just says I'm a slow learner.) I prefer to think that the second time was planned in each case. :roll:

My primary reason for going to a roller furling jib is to eliminate the need to go forward when alone or with novice/inexperienced deck hands. "Oh, I'm probably going to hear about that one!) :roll:

I've done quite a bit of sailing in small boats under a lot of conditions and single handed quite a bit. So, most of the time I tend towards caution over everything else.

[Bill]

Very, Very Kewl Barry...

I've always thought those types of grate jobs are...well, GREAT!

I'm hoping when time permits you can enlighten us even a bit more on your construction and finishing methods too. The theory of building the grates isn't to hard to grasp, but, I'm sure you have a hint or two about glue up (or is that epoxy up), (102 or so half lap joints?) without dripping crap all over the place and then managing to stain it so it looks good. Also wondering about sanding..would an orbital with a fine grain paper work ok on all those cross grains? Just a few thoughts..when you get to it...

I have had a project in mind for end tables along this idea and have hesitated until I think my processes would work out...

Have a good holiday!

b.

[ken connors]

excellent job Barry. with my boat being at a mooring all season, raising the jib was a pain. usually i would take the tender out, get in the boat, attach the jib hanks to the forward shroud except for the lowest two or three hanks. for those i would have to get back in the tender and float to the stem to attach those last hanks. i thought of a grate every time i was bouncing up and down with my tender banging into the bowsprit chain :x

with all the other projects im hoping to put into the boat this winter im not sure i have the time build a grate like yours. since there is a pitch to it anyway(to allow water run-off) do you see any problems with a solid pulpit?

[Barry Pyeatt]

Hi Ken,

Been wondering how you have been and if you have had a good late summer/fall with your Vacationer. Hope you had some good sailing adventures.

I've got lots of catching up to do and a lot of posts to read to get up to speed.

No reason why a solid decked pulpit along the same thinking wouldn't work just fine. I think Mike (Alaska Vacationer) and I had this same discussion a year or so ago and he did something similar to that. I did one on a similar sized boatl (to the Vacationer), for a friend a number of years ago. He loves it and it has made a substantial difference to him in safety and convenience. It was a solid deck with a solid safety rail attached to give him something to brace against when he is out there.

I opted to go with a grate design just because I wanted the challenge and felt that with a cockpit grate as well it would add a little class to the project.

I sized and shaped mine primarily based upon using a line starting at the tip of the bowsprit and streatched back to the side of the hull about 2/3 of the way back to the first chainplate. It worked out to about 14" wide at the front and about 20" wide at the back. That gives me enough room to be able to either stand or kneel on it or have some support if necessary to stretch out on it to reach the tip of the bowsprit. I think it also looks more like it belongs as part of the boat than some of the others I've seen.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Bill,

I've fashioned a lot of grates in the last 40+ years of serious woodworking. Some dismal failures until I learned a few things about wood choices, wood stabilityand some things to consider about how wood moves with changes in humidity and seasons.

What we are essentially trying to do is cut parallel grooves of a set depth along a board of consistent thickness and as straight as possible. Then rip that board into perfect square profile as wide as it is thick. Then they should interlock and align perfectly. But the wood doesn't always do what we expect it to do. Rip a board into thin strips and they go all over the place until they get conditioned to the exposure to all the surfaces and cool down from the working of it. So I see a lot of frustrated newbies to this type of work give up before they really get started.

The grooves "dados", (because the run cross grain) can be fashioned in a number of ways. A saw can cut two parallel cuts and you can chisel out the wood between the cuts and repeat down the length of the board. A table saw with a dado attachment makes it a lot quicker and easier with a little attention to fine tuning. A router with a straight "box" bit of the correct dimensions and a simple jig to attach to the base plate makes it even easier, quicker and extremely accurate.

Then it is just a question of selection of the right wood grain and type of wood to use and fine tuning the depth and spacing of the dados so they are accurately laid out. That just takes patience and trial cuts until you get it adjusted right.

Once the boards are dadoed full length, you can rip them to the correct width strips on a table saw. I always cut mine a little over sized and then run them thru a thickness planer to the finished dimension, but they can be sanded to that dimension as well.

Then just interlock pieces to put it together.

OH...how do you hold it all together? Friction. If you cut it all correctly, it will interlock easily, but tightly. You can put a small brad thru the ends of each strip to hold it or a dab of your favorite adhesive on the flats that join at the ends of the strips.

Seasonal wood movement will either make it locked together so tightly you can't get it apart when the wood swells or fall apart when it shrinks. The wood has to move and be allowed to move or it will eventually split itself apart. On a boat that lives outside thru dramatic changes in temp and humidity, that can be instant frustration. On a piece of furniture or accessory that is kept indoors, it isn't quite as quick but it will happen eventually if it is all glued together at every joint.

Sanding can be a pain or a relatively simple, but extensive task. I have cut trianglular strips and glued a strip of sandpaper to the wide flat that is the same dimensions as the width of the voids. That makes sanding the interior quick and simple. The flat surfaces top and bottom can be sanded with a pad sander or a ROS.

Finish work can be work or easy. I generally oil them, oil based stains and oil based finishes. Once they dry they can be waxed for indoor use. If they are going to be used as a trivet for hot plates, I will oil finish them and that is all.

On a boat oil finishes will work well but need renewing frequently if you want them to look good and to protect the wood. A really good spar varnish with high UV protection is another choice, but needs to be redone periodically. Unfortunately Epoxy coating doesn't offer any UV protection. They can also be painted which can work out OK, but the paint (or other hard finish), will crack along the lines of the interlocking pieces with wood swelling and shrinking. That in itself isn't such a major issue, but the exposure to the elements and moisture can be and most grates don't hold up for many seasons before they look terrible and need to be replaced.

A good exterior solid color wood stain can be used and holds up pretty well and many of them can be color matched with tint bases from some mfg. If they have any real traffic on them as in a cockpit sole, they will look worn quickly if painted or stained. But that is part of a boat and boating.

Dave,

Would you send me your e-mail address again. I have some materials to forward to you.