Black Pearl: Cockpit Recess and Black Seal Coat
Dec 11th, 2006 | By Dan (CSFW) | Category: 06.11 Black Pearl (CT)The Customer wanted the cockpit to be recessed slightly like on my Guillemot. Flattening the curved deck in the area of the cockpit drops the cockpit slightly and usually makes it a flatter surface. It was possible to drop the front about a 1/2″. The back could not be recessed due to the aft deck already being flat. I traced the cockpit cutout on to the deck then eyeballed in the limits of the recess. I looked at it from the side and tried to get a fair line. I cut out the recess with a jigsaw then faired it with a spokeshave and knife. I stripped betweenw ith scrap 3/16″ western red cedar strips.
I then sanded the entire deck with a combination of random orbit sander and a longboard. I put some wax paper between the deck and hull and rolled on a black tinted seal coat. When dry I cut out the final cockpit opening. Here is the final front recess (just over a 1/2″).
