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Princess Sharpie 28


PeterP

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The wedges and hasps strike me as too complicated. I picture two flat stainless springs set in the sides. Push the light closed and 'snap snap' it's locked in place. A knob on the outside could be connected to a dowel which in turn is connected to the spring. Pull the knob, the spring retracts into it's slot. Twist the knob and the spring is locked in the retracted position and the window opens easily.
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Well, if you want to go even simpler, what about a loop of bungee? Fasten it at the bottom under the window with a padeye or eyebolt, then you could just stretch the loop up and over the whole frame. If sized right, it would exert good downward pressure on the upper edge of the wedge.

About thumbscrews... won't they mar the wood over time?

Another possibility would be a circular turnbutton made of plywood and a screw for the pivot point. Mount it centered just above the top lip of the removable cover. If you make it a slightly irregular circle (more like an oval), you could have it so there is a little clearance for easily installing/removing the panel, but then when you turn the oval 90 degrees, it would close the clearance gap and push down tightly on the top lip of the covers to keep them shut. Not sure if that explanation made sense, but I can picture it clearly in my head. Simple, cheap, quick.

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Yep, that's exactly what I had in mind, except smaller (without the long lever arm) because you wouldn't need much leverage. I'd probably just put some flared ears on the round part... just enough to get a thumb and forefinger grip on. I didn't realize it until I saw your pic, but you wouldn't need it to be an irregular circle like I was suggesting... just a normal (perfect) circle with a slightly off-centered pivot point.

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How are you using the space under the cockpit floor? There is a great big space there on the P26 plans, that needs something other than being closed up. It is a little short and a little to far aft for battery storage. Might be good for a fuel or water tank I suppose.

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Brent, there isn't really that much space under the cockpit sole - which is only 26in wide. The front will have the water lift and some drain plumbing -much of it will be just about inaccessible other than a small window aft to let me get to the strut bolts and the c/pit drain and exhaust through hulls. My two 20gal water tanks straddle the centreboard under settees in the salon. Batteries and 15 gal diesel tank are inside the c/pit seats starboard and port respectively hugging the Beta diesel. Peterp

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Brent:

The access to that large area under the cockpit sole on a P26 is likely access holes / doors cut into bulkhead #4, which is structural. Not only that, but you have the CB to port and mizzen tabernacle to work around. My guess the access door / hole would have to be cut starboard of the mizzen tabernacle under the bridge deck. I'd consider it dry storage for larger, and lighter bulky items, the size of which will be determined by how large you cut the door, if any. It's function would also matter if you leave it a dry compartment or if you put in drain holes. Dry, it also represents a substantial amount of floatation if for some reason the boat were to be flooded. If you put limber holes for drainage along the keelson at the base of the tabernacle, it will flood if the cabin of the boat floods. I'm thinking dry and an access hole up high, and just large enough to allow some air circulation to avoid mold, etc.

I think the natural tendency is to want to fill that much space with something heavy like batteries or water tanks, but keep in mind what that does to the weight distribution and balance of the boat and how she will sit on her lines and how it will affect performance under sail. Best to keep the weight out of the ends as much as possible I should think.

BTW, I'm about ready to order the plywood to start building a Princess 26. Do we need to start a new thread for that?

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Howard, I agree with avoiding filling spaces with heavy stuff just because they are there. I also do not like closed up spaces on these boats.

So far the best thing I have come up with is access thru bulkhead 4 as you mentioned. I am thinking an open passage to starboard of the mizzen tabernacle.

Peter is clever guy, thought he might have an even better idea.

Come to think of it under that cockpit sole should be a fish hold filled with ice and beer.

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Peter I am getting ready to glass my hull with the 17oz bi-axle and was wondering if you wetted out the wood first? Most of all glassing I have done I have wetted out the glass and wood at the same time taking care to watch for dry spots. I have tried before wetting the wood first then the glass and I got a lot of wrinkles in the glass because it stretches while squeegeeing it out. Also the glass tended to float around. But this cloth is so thick I really don't know what I can get by with.

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Scott, normally,I like to wet out first, but in this case I draped the whole side of the boat with the cloth dry on dry. It was easier to arrange things single handed this way. I had little nail tabs holding the glass in place so it would not slide around while squeegeeing epoxy. I did epoxy in vertical strips 4-5ft wide -wet out - keep rolling with bubble buster until it starts to tack then move over for another strip. My thinking was - if things screwed up I would make a vertical cut (60in - rather than 28 ft horizontal) let it set up and tie back into it another day. For that very same reason I had a 2 ft extra cloth at the bow end. ( I started wet out from the back). Don't worry about dry spots you will see them. The cloth is pretty transparent. You will get little milky white islands that look like dry spots but they are just clumps of glass fluff. Make sure the slick side is out on the cloth - less sanding later. Also, I had two kinds of bubble busters: plastic and aluminum. I ended up liking the aluminum better. If I forget to cleanup I can run a propane torch over the metal roller and wire brush it clean in five min. The plastic takes forever . Don't stress-especially if your brother helps - one guy wetting out one guy rolling bubbles you'll be done in a few hours. By the way the nail tabs mentioned above are 1in square pieces of 1/4 in ply with a brad in the middle. Sort of souped up thumb tack.Good luck PeterP

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  • 1 month later...

This one is for Scott I guess. I did not feel like I had made much progress to justify a post but since he asked for pictures there it is. I got both tabernacles made, re-made, modified and tweaked then finally put in. Lots of glass on those things - didn't want to do Travis on my masts - so I beefed everything up big time. Put the lid on the coach roof and lo and behold it turned out pretty slick after all the headaches it's given me. There were five small dishes in all - all along the edges scarcely 3/16in deep and the biggest one about 10in across. Will have that faired in no time. The last shot shows her as of this this evening: two Bomar hatches in and all the portlights cut out - 8 rectangular opening and 4 round fixed. Will be running some 12oz glass next. Cheers and cheer up Scott! PeterP

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Thanks Peter, she's looking good. That method of foam coring the coach roof looks like it will be real stout, much cooler and no raining inside. I am a little curious as to why the front hatch is hinged in the direction you have it? Mine on my Belhaven was mounted to open forward. It would scoop up a lot of air at anchor because the boat was always be pointed into the wind swinging on her line. Only down side I had with it was sailing or motoring into rough seas it would have to be closed.

Thanks again for the update it will make all that sanding go down a little easy er. Hope to see her in person soon.

Scott

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Scott, to be honest about that hatch I am still undecided. I am thinking the way it is now I can put a wind scoop in there when at anchor and get all the draft I need plus I'll be able to leave it cracked open when under way and get some suction going. Whatever happens they are easy to unscrew and turn around. That roof is a piece of work. Getting all that stuff to line up half decent was not easy. I hope you have easier time with it than I did. The Blueboard is much better stuff to work with than regular Styro. Sands well too. If I had known how good it was to work with I would've made my lead shoe plug out of it. PeterP

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Peter:

Difficult to believe, but its been almost a year since I was by to visit. It may not seem like it, but you have made a lot of progress.

On the hatch issue, the builder of my current trailerable boat installed aft facing hatches in case the owner failed to dog them down tight before hitting the road. That way, the wind at highway speeds will force them shut, vs. ripping them open and off. The funny thing is, they seem to work just as well. When the hatch is open, wind flows past it, creating a pocket of negative air pressure and cabin air is sucked up and out through them. If the cabin is hot and stuffy, opening the hatch cools it out pretty quick. The hatch is over the sleeping bunk and I find it comfortable having the air drift past, up and out vs. having it forced down on me. You can also leave it cracked open slightly in a light rain.

If it's a stuffy evening and not much air moving, some guys anchor stern to the wind in an attempt to push air through the open hatch, up and out. They anchor off the bow as they normally would, then walk the anchor line back to a rear cleat. If the wind picks up later on, they simply drop the line off the stern cleat and the boat will swing around, bow to wind.

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I've had a hatch rigged that way with a dorade box in the anchor locker to provide an air intake (with a small scoop) and the hatch to provide egress. It worked really well especially as the weather here is typically hot and wet in summer so it could be left a little open in rain. The anchor locker intake does need a method of closing it if the sea conditions are bad and you are shipping waves over the bow...a screw in deck plate or something similar will do.

Cheers

Peter HK

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If it's a stuffy evening and not much air moving, some guys anchor stern to the wind in an attempt to push air through the open hatch, up and out. They anchor off the bow as they normally would, then walk the anchor line back to a rear cleat. If the wind picks up later on, they simply drop the line off the stern cleat and the boat will swing around, bow to wind.

That is an interesting idea, I may have to try that.

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