Work from 2/2 through 2/7/2008

Gonzalo decided he wanted a larger, keyhole shaped cockpit than the small ocean style shown on the stock plans. The opening ended up being virtually identical to my Guillemot at 29.5″ x 16.8″ (74.9 x 42.7 cm). Because this particular Njord will have a backband, the cockpit opening was moved about 3″(75mm) to the stern to allow for adjustments. The cockpit coaming on the “Nerieda” is going to sit in a flat recess, similar to on my Guillemot. It recesses the cockpit slightly for easier paddle strokes and layback rolls. The flat recess also gives the knees a place to grab onto for bracing. This recess was going to be in curly maple…

I laid out the flat recess by bending some ash battens on the outside of the deck. When it had a pleasing curve, when viewed in profile, I used a pencil to transfer it to the deck and then cut it out with a jigsaw. The aft 6.5″ (16.5 cm) is a flat plane to allow installation of the day hatch (I’ll be using a Beckson pry-out deck plate mounted internally for that. More info to follow later.). I cleaned up the cut edge with combination of sandpaper and files.

To make a nice transition from the deck to the recess I added a strip of thin black walnut. I held it with masking tape until the glue cured.

The recess was then planked using nice, wide strips of curly maple.  I tried to line up the grain the best I could.   I started at the ends and worked toward the crease between the fore and aft panels.

The recess and all the deck was sanded to P120. The outline of the opening was traced onto the recess and cut out.  More sandpaper and files were used to make the sides of the opening vertical.  Short beaded and coved strips of some dark mahogany were then glued to the sides to make the riser.  The outside of the riser was sanded smooth.  To transition from the flat recess and the plumb riser a square walnut molding was glued on.  The molding was shaped with a gouge and sandpaper into a nice cove for the fiberglass to lay flat in.