lazzerette deck blocking

Comment

Comment by bob mitchell on April 16, 2013 at 11:48pm

while yours(original) will be different than mine, it still needs to be really strong. I have extra blocking for saome design modifications I am making for the davits and winches. As far as the pieces between the frames, that will support the frame that is cut to make room for the hatch,-- if you can get your body into your new hatch opening you can screww threw the existing frames into the header ends - epoxy as well. You can see I have doubled header, but I am a cronic overbuilder. Plane the header so its top surface matches the curve of lazerette deck.

      To finish the the hatch I will frame opening with 3/4" ply so the opening is above the deck 4 or 5". You might not want to do the if you want the big flat lazerette space - but for my higher cockpit floor it will be level with the back cockpit wall to form a nice table or seat.

Comment by Eddie Offermann on June 30, 2012 at 11:05am

I really like the idea of the 14" higher raised floor - for all of the reasons you mention. As Hans mentioned above, the view over the pilothouse from the cockpit probably works better if you're Ack's 6'4". I'm a bit over 6'1" and I have to adopt the standard Newporter stance of standing atop the Cleopatra and steering with my foot when nearby visibility is important. Out at sea, it's not such a big deal - but sailing out of Marina Del Rey can get hairy. It's the largest man-made harbor in the world and the channels are often busy with kayakers, paddleboarders and sailors in sabots.

I am wanting to add a hatch to the Cleopatra eventually - There's a huge amount of storage space there accessible through two tiny, awkward doors.

My cockpit floor, too, retains some water when heeled over - there's a grate on the floor which essentially solves the wet floor problem (it doesn't drain right away but you don't need galoshes) while introducing a new one: It's always in the way when wanting to access storage under the cockpit. This means another large storage space doesn't make a great sail locker. My grate at present is a half-and-half arrangement. (Well, there are really four pieces but the sole forward of the steering station is comprised of two huge grates) I've contemplated making a new sole grate (this one was varnished which hampers traction and is nearly impossible to maintain since it is both in the sun and constantly walked on). The new one would have a separate piece over the hatch in the floor so I don't have to pull up the entire floor just to open it.

If the side bench/storage bits merged with the Cleopatra in a wrap-around fashion, I would probably need to join them with the storage that lies *behind* them. This would work great for me because again - that's more inaccessible storage space on board. To get to those right now I have to pull out the flooring grate on that side and move the bench... which can be freaking HAZARDOUS while underway.

Just some more thoughts for folks contemplating adjustments to the cockpit!

Comment by bob mitchell on June 29, 2012 at 10:19pm

    IN RESPONSE TO EDDIE AND PAUL's COCKPIT/LAZZERETTE MODIFICATION. You know I put a hardtop dodger with a steering station. Raised the floor 14" - which makes self bailing much better, and creates a huge, accessible mechanical room under the cockpit. But best of all is that it moves the cockpit hatch back to the lazzerette (first open area) - Not to mention I can see where I am going and am out of the weather . (Old man stuff)  It is a radical alteration, but thought it might lend some ideas to more reasonable alternatives.   The new transom curve top cut has not been done yet.

 

Comment by Hans Petrie on August 23, 2011 at 6:04pm

One advantage though of the very low cockpit is that it feels very safe when you are on big scary ocean at night and the waves are towering over you.

Comment by Hans Petrie on August 23, 2011 at 6:03pm

An option rather than re-decking and raising the cockpit 2" I think would be to put in a grid.  That would not eliminate the draining problem.  Keep in mind that the cockpit still drains the majority of water.  But you have to wear rubber boots in heavy weather because there is about 2" of water that refuses to drain out.

 

I'm thinking of putting some extra drains in that go into the bilge.  This would cause excess water to drain both through the normal cockpit scuppers but also into the bilge.  I would of course, put a seacock on the bilge drains so they could be shut off if necessary.  But that would keep the little bit that never drains out of the scuppers in the bilge and the bilge pumps would take care of it.  Another way of draining the cockpit is to sail downwind for awhile.  The excess water drains out in a few seconds.  It seems to have more to do with the heel of the boat and the lowness of the cockpit and the scuppers themselves being only 2" above the waterline!

 

Comment by Hans Petrie on August 23, 2011 at 5:57pm

Raising the cockpit floor is an interesting option.  I have often toyed with the idea myself for several reasons.  Although I'm 6'2", Ack was 6'4" and that extra 2" he could probably see over the pilot house roof easier.  I feel like sometimes I'm on tippy toe while navigating in tight quarters.  Lowering the pilothouse roof is, of course, not an option because at 6'2" it just barely clears my head with a slight stoop.  This is probably due to the fact that the perkins M50 is slightlightly taller and the floor (sole) of the pilothouse had to come up about 3/4" over the plywood that covers the water and diesel tanks.

 

Final reason.  When sailing in heavy weather to windward with a good heel the cockpit fills full of water and never drains.  The cockpit is so low that the cockpit drains do not adequately empty it because the cockpit is too low to the waterline.  Raising the cockpit would resolve this issue, I think.

 

Comment by bob mitchell on August 22, 2011 at 9:26pm

Of course, this is not the original Newporter framing or blocking, since I raised the cockpit floor 14" to go with the new helmstation. Hopefully no one will take offense that I took a dead boat and am trying to rebuild it into what I want. The forward opening will be a hatch (eliminating the hatch in the cockpit floor), while the rest is covered. The davitts will be a little different, more like on a schooner or skipjack, where there are two separate contact points - an aft vertical supporting a curved pipe with  forward attachment. That to some degree explains the 4x4 set up for a compression load across the back (it was an extremely light pressure treated 4x4 that I had been supporting the boat with when I was doing the apron - and it had a curve that almost exactly matched the deck crown, so why not?)